One of the enduring mysteries of the Second World War was the location of a lost Nazi
Gold train. It’s believed by some that a train filled with gold and treasure was hidden
by the Nazis southwest Poland as the final days of the Third Reich came. It’s believed
that the train is full with paintings stolen during the conflict, jewellery and many other
riches, but despite numerous searches nothing has turned up. However there was a Nazi train
that was found as World War 2 came to an end, and found onboard was a huge amount of stolen
property. So join us today as we look at the ‘Found nazi gold train,’ and remember
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In March 1944, the tide of the war was turning against the Germans. The Soviet Red Army were
beginning to advance and push the Germans back, and with this Hitler invaded Hungary
with the Soviet’s not too far away. The Hungarian government collaborated with the
Nazis, and instilled many elements of persecution onto the Jewish population, forcing them to
hand over all of their valuables. Hungarian Jews were eventually deported to the concentration
camps, and most of them were murdered at places such as Auschwitz Birkenau. The effect of
the war on the Hungarian Jews was devastating with hundreds of thousands exterminated. Their
property that included jewellery, wedding rings, gems, anything of value was confiscated
en mass. Names were taken and receipts were issued and kept, but through resorting and
collection it became impossible to identify the sheer amount of property that was taken.
Budapest as a city saw a great deal of conflict towards the end of the Second World War. It
suffered greatly from British and American bombing raids, and towards the end of 1944
the Soviets were bearing down on the city having pushed the Germans back further. The
SS placed Arpad Toldi in charge of smuggling as much stolen Jewish property out of Hungary
as possible, and to keep it out of the hands of the Soviets. Toldi then took a number of
steps to try to get as much stolen wealth out of the city, and he came up with a plan
to load as much as possible onto a large 46 carriage freight train. This shows you the
sheer amount of property that was stolen. There would be a staff of over 200 on board
the train, who would head from Hungary through Austria and back to Nazi Germany.
There were on board, 7 cars used to carry a group of miners who were kept on board to
if anything went wrong to offload the valuables, dig holes and bury them in a large hole to
hide them, and then later the gold could be retrieved. Also were over a dozen carriage
which were used by the soldiers from Germany and Hungary who were tasked with guarding
the train. A de-railment was possible at this time, as the British and Americans made steps
to bomb train lines, so if the train encountered any trouble these soldiers would be tasked
with protecting the train. There were 24 carriages used to house the loot and stolen items, which
shows how much was taken. There must have been millions of pounds of valuables on the
train.
It’s said that on the train was gold bars, jewellery, gemstones, pearls, watches, paintings
which were also taken, and even diamonds. Other luxuries included expensive porcelain,
furniture pieces, clothes, cameras, stamp collections, and foreign currency. By the
end of December 1944, the train was ready to leave, and onboard were Toldi’s family,
and it began its journey before Christmas. It’s first stop was the town of Fire, and
Toldi then seized more gold and jewels from this town that had been kept at a nearby castle.
The train continued and then stopped at other towns where more gold and valuables were collected
and placed onto the train. It then stopped for 92 days to count and catalogue the valuables
near to the Austrian border, and it was estimated that in todays money the train would hold
property worth possibly around $2 billion dollars in modern money.
The train then began its journey west in Spring 1945 again, but things were changing. The
end of the war was coming, and Toldi the leader onboard began to become paranoid. He believed
the Soviets were hunting him and the train, and in a way to offload some stolen property
he even bartered some off the gold and jewellery with the staff onboard. Toldi with this paranoia
left the train with his family, they abandoned the train on the 30th March 1945 as the train
entered Austria, and the Soviet’s were only around 10 miles behind the train. He left
his adjutant Lazlo Avar in charge of taking the train to its final destination, and Toldi
and his family tried to enter Switzerland but were not allowed in. He then asked an
SS officer and friend to help him, and Toldi bartered with the SS man offering 4 crates
of valuables for false passports.
The train continued into Austria and stopped to offload some of the valuables to trucks,
but these specific crates were then lost to time and today their location is unknown presumably
stolen by German soldiers. The train then came to the town of Werfen, near to the Brechtesgaden
Alps, where Hitler’s Eagles Nest was and Berghof. The train never reached Germany and
it’s intended destination, with it then being seized by the Allies. The French first
took control, and then handed over to the US Army. When the Americans took control,
all of the staff on board were arrested and separated from the train, and a small number
were asked to help unload the train.
Emptied from the train were 1500 crates containing the riches as well as 5200 pieces of furniture.
The Hungarians knew the train did not reach its intended direction, and repeatedly asked
for the property to be returned, but the US continued to ignore the calls. The ownership
of the goods was impossible to work out, and the US stated that the belongings were to
be given to aid refugee organisations, but there was a significant amount of property
stolen from the train. High ranking generals and officers benefitted from stolen wealth
from the train, and some even had their homes furnished with the goods taken from the train.
Other soldiers looted smaller parts of the train, pocketing the goods and then selling
them off. Lots of the riches were taken back to America and then auctioned off, with millions
of dollars of stolen jewish gold ending up in America. Lots of the riches of the gold
train found their way into private hands.
The details of the Hungarian Gold Train were kept secret until 1998, and it was seen that
the US did not correctly and to a high standard deal with the goods of the train. The mishandling
of assets was brought in front of the court, and a settlement of $25.5 million dollars
was reached with various Jewish charities recieving much of the funding. However today
there are still many lost elements of the riches of the Nazi Gold train. Lost still
are 200 paintings which were seized from the train, and many of these were seen as of great
cultural importance for Hungary, and their location remains a mystery. The story of the
found Nazi Gold Train is not over, and in the future it’s bound to emerge that more
riches from the train have been found.
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