We begin in Hungary where prior to the war almost one fifth of the population was Jewish and had been integrated into the countries fabric. The government was increasingly sympathetic to fascism and gradually tightened laws against the Jews eventually the Arrow Cross party became the fascist government of Hungary. As the war went badly for Germany things got worse and with the Soviet Army only 100 miles from the border Hitler launched an invasion of Hungary in March 1944.

Until 1944 the Hungarian government had not cooperated with the Nazi but this all changed as the facist dominated government were eager and willing to collaborate and the SS saw the opportunity to continue their work of mass murder to solve the Jewish problem. Consequently the estimated population of 800,000 Jews were forced to hand overall of their valuables to government official including gems, gold, jewelry, gold coins, silver, wedding rings in fact anything of value. With typical efficiency everything was bagged, boxed and identified with receipt given to the owners.

After handing over their valuables the majority of Jews at a rate reaching 12,000 per day were shipped off to the concentration camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau where most never survived.  Meanwhile the Hungarian authorities resorted all the confiscated valuables into categories destroying the identification of the original owners but the inventory was fairly exact.

Car from the Gold Train

By December 1944 the Red Army were on the outskirts of Budapest and a decision was made to evacuate the Jewish booty and this was supervised by a Hungarian Árpád Toldi, the commissioner of Jewish affairs appointed by the SS. The valuables, estimated at around $5 billion in today’s terms, were packed into  a 42 car freight train that was designated for Germany. As the train moved slowly westwards through Hungary and Austria. Toldi bought off bands of marauding troops with small batches of loot but large amounts of gold and precious stones were off loaded into  trucks along the route and stories of Nazi gold  springing up all along the route ensured the  “Gold Train”  became one of the many myths of Nazi treasure.

However, the majority of the loot ended up in allied hands. Toldi  had two trucks loaded with valuables and they headed towards the French zone where they were seized by French troops at St. Anton. According to a report written by the Central Board of Jews in Hungary and referring to available reports at the time the trucks seized by French troops contained:

31    cases of gold

2        case of gold coins

3        cases of gold watches

8        cases of brilliants

2        cases of selected brilliants and Pearls

The French returned these valuable to Hungary but they did not reach the hands of any remaining owners or relations, but were mostly were stolen by the communists.

The Gold Train eventually fell into the hands of the United States Army nesr the town of Werfen in Austria in May 1945 and according to the Central board contained the following:

10              45kg cases of gold

1                100kg cases of gold coins

18              35kg case of gold jewels

32              30-60kg cases of gold watches

1560          cases of silver of different weights

1                case of silver bricks

1                trunk of currencies and brilliants

100            artistic picture

3000          Persian carpets

2                wagons of mixed valuable

American soldiers guarding the gold train

The Central Board of Jews and the Hungarian government were aware that the majority of the contents were in American custody and passionate pleas for them to return the valuables to Hungary, where they could be returned to their rightful owners or surviving family members, were continually ignored. Despite the clear country of origin ownership,  Americans decide that the contents were  ownerless property and that it should be sold for the benefit of non-repatriable  refugees who could be accessed through the International Refugee Organization (IRO). It is a matter of fact that some of the property from the train ended in the possession of high ranking US Army officers but the majority was sold off through US Army exchange stores in Europe and the remainder auctioned off in New York in 1948  with proceeds going to the IRO.  Approximately 200 paintings seized from the train should have been returned to Hungary but they came into possession of the Austrian government and disappeared to this day they have not surfaced.

As a result of Bill Clinton’s creation and subsequent freedom of information in 2001, there was a lawsuit against the United States government. This was filed by Hungarian Holocaust survivors in a Florida district Federal Court for the government’s mishandling of the assets on the Hungarian Gold Train. In 2005, the government reached a settlement worth $25.5 million. The money was allocated for distribution to various Jewish social service agencies for the benefit of Holocaust survivors. Hungarian Jewish survivors did not receive any money directly so justice was not seen to be done.

Árpád Toldi

There was gold, gold coin, jewelry and precious stone that did not end up in allied hands, spirited away by Toldi during the long  journey and the amount returned to Hungary, from the French. that was stolen by the communists and ended up in Russian hands.  The trail has disappeared  leaving many unanswered questions, the most important of which where is the gold now ?.

Toldi himself tried to enter Switzerland with a convoy of trucks but was turned away at the border. After hiding for some time in the French zone he gave himself up to the French authorities and led them to some bags of precious stones.  After a few months detention he was released and then disappeared. It is rumored that he lived under the protection of high ranking French officials but not substantiated.

This is a terrible story where thousands of people lost their lives and their wealth. Could it happen today, unlikely, but less unlikely is a family losing its wealth through crisis.   If a family were to put aside some of its wealth in the form of tangible assets in a safe haven, such as well documented vault in a stable country such as Switzerland, then there is a strong chance of surviving that crisis

Maurice Hall