USA: Conquer Germany, become a superpower with German toy's built by Germans but claimed to be "American". Home of Aviation 1900's: Europe Home of Aviation 2019: USA
I´ve lived most of my adult life in these areas mentioned in Bavaria and Austria and will soon be retiring here. Thanks for giving me a great new hobby here : gold hunting.
@@DB-yj3qc As you so rightly say, you need the diving equpment and, of course, the skills for such deep waters. But there are still supposed to be cachés buried and hidden elsewhere in the countryside.
My Uncle fought under Hodges thru Germany in April-May 1945 ending up in Leipzig. His platoon was tipped off by a German that there was a fortune in a safe in a town bank. He and his buddies blew open the door of bank safe with a satchel charge. They were experts and did it just right. No gold in the bank vault but it was full of booze and the explosion didn't break a bottle. The platoon stayed drunk for a week. Might be the true story behind "Kelly's Heroes".
There's a comment with a very similar story just on top of yours. I wonder if your uncle knew people or perhaps was one of those mentioned by the other guy??? Would be amazing if so :D
Dr. Felton is one of the top historians in the world and in my opinion the preeminent WW2 historian, I always find his documentaries interesting and extremely well researched.
Mark’s channel is 110% better than the history channel and you always walk away with more knowledge of history than you had before. Keep up the GREAT work!
I would love to see the colonel’s bank statements after he returned to US - what funded his “successful business” after his dishonorable discharge? Great story Dr Felton thank you !
I heard a similar story back in the early 80's. A retired Army Master Sergeant I met while stationed in San Antonio talked about some of the stuff that happened during the War. He was assigned as member of a Military Police unit in Germany at the end of the war. (he had been a Cop before the war.). A few weeks after the war ended, one of the local Army units (Platoon size of about 35 men) didn't report in and a squad sent to find them only found some abandoned vehicles. They thought that German Fanatics (Werewolves) had got them. During the investigation they found no signs of them or any bodies. The Army eventually reported them as MIA and notified their families. About three years later the MP was assigned to a base in Virginia and got a call from local police about a guy they caught stealing a car. When they searched him, they found a bag with an expired military ID, plus the guy had no driver's license. They thought he might be a deserter. So, when he showed up to talk to the guy he recognized as one of the guys from photos of the unit that had disappeared in 1945. Turns out he had just gotten in the country as crew member on a freighter. He was broke and was trying to steal a car to meet one of his old war buddies for some money. Eventually, the story came out that these guys had found an abandoned German truck with a bunch of British, American, and German paper money and gold coins. They buried the German money and took the rest. They split up and headed out of the war zone thru various means and bribes. Most of the guys didn't go home and the few that did were eventually caught. Only a couple of guys were charged with desertion (an officer and a senior NCO) and the rest were dishonorably discharged (the uncaught soldiers were dishonorably discharged in absentia). Many of the other guys were never found or the Army just didn't care after a while. He said the investigation estimated that the total haul was probably in the neighborhood of a couple of million dollars in Pounds, Dollars, and Gold Coins. It's also possible that some of that money may have been counterfeit manufactured by the Germans. An interesting story I could never verify, but some of the stuff I heard later made me think he was telling the truth.
for Great story! I have a similar anecdote from the Vietnam War. In the early to mid 1980s, I lived in a coastal area of Southern California. One of my friends lived in one of the nicer neighborhoods. The homes were around $300k in the early 1980s. My other classmates in this neighborhood had parents who were: surgeons, airline pilots that had been flying for an airline for 30 years etc. Well my friend's dad was much younger than the other fathers. He had been a junior enlisted Marine in Vietnam and was now a plumber around town. When I say a plumber, not a company owner, didn't inherit a company, he drove around town in a Chevy van and unblocked toilets or fixed a leak in the wall etc. Even though I was between 12-15 during this time, this person's story never made sense. He had only been out of his plumbing apprenticeship for 6-7 years. The mom didn't work and the dad had come from a very poor background. My father had been a Marine in WWII and Korea and had died when I was very young so, this man was very kind to me and would talk with me like a second son when I would come over to meet my friend and swim in their pool. He talked a lot about being poor while growing up and he mentioned fighting at the Battle of Hue as the worst combat he saw while in Vietnam. Well fast forward into the early 1990s; I'm working as an EMT in an ER. There was a grizzled but very friendly retired Navy Corpsman working a few shifts as an EMT at the hospital as well. He had done 30+ years as a Corpsman, most of it with the Marines. He served from the the end of Korea, 4 tours in Vietnam and retired before the first Gulf War. One slow night he was telling funny war stories. One story he mentioned that drew my attention was that he was at the Battle of Hue. He reported that several banks in Hue were looted by Marines using C4, satchel charges and other explosives to enter the vaults and cages. He laughed saying that, "some of them probably got very rich". He said that CID agents had come out but, the battle was very active and in his words, "they looked around a bit talked to a few people and left" and "they didn't want to get their asses shot off". I have tried looking for confirmation regarding this story but, with each passing year it gets harder to find any first hand accounts.
You mean copies of texts of history forums - sometimes even including the inaccuracies that are written there without checking? Real trustworthy content is over at "TIK-History"
I remember a story from a veteran at our Legion Post about the treasure found in a cave in Germany. He was posted as a guard, which he hated because the other men in his company were basically just goofing off in their barracks. But he related to us the image of thousands of sacks of coins, gold bars, and jewelry plus hundreds of paintings. General Eisenhower even visited the cave to see the sight. He was asked if he took anything for himself, but he said it never occurred to him. Which was probably why he had been elected our treasurer!
It's called a war prize. Including but not limited to rings necklaces jewelry paintings it included gold bars, gold/silver bars, engagement and marriage rings necklaces from dead soldiers, mauser guns, pots pans forks, knives, spoons, glasses regular and sun glasses, paintings, silver and gold doorknobs, mirrors, swords and other odd personal items that are poorly documented or have no document of there origins and either came from dead bodies men women or children who were running away from the war or the items were left behind and the property for seized.
@@alexcholagh8330 i thought it was callled looting & theft. Not making value judgements, just saying! If i saw my prosperous future in front of me...hand it in? Get ready!
@@dominicseanmccann6300 looting and theft is more lowkey in terms Both sides allies and the axis and who ever supported them did more then these horrible crimes. Many are in banks,someones house or mansions or business even storage many don't know there stolen and many who know such items that are stolen keep quiet to themselves. It's sad but there is way more then estimated 6 billion at least 18 billion maybe beyond that.
@@alexcholagh8330 Theft is a funny one, legal theft and moral theft are often out of step. Is a bank or other financial organisation morally wrong for committing legal theft? Is a poor man who has risked his life morally wrong for committing illegal theft? The law is clear, but is also weighted towards the rich, so....
My grandfather served in the 10th armored division. And he actually talked about things such as this. Unfortunately nothing was ever recorded when he told his stories but damn he had me under his spell when he told these stories.
My favorite film line of all time came from this film: "Why don't you knock it off with those negative waves!? Why don't you dig how beautiful this place is? Why not say something hopeful and nice for a change?"
@@Storm-lg4mx And democrat Hollyweird rears it's ugly head again. Back to the movie, too many good lines to pick just one, for example when they got to the bridge.... Oddball: It's still up! Allied planes: BOMB Oddball: No it ain't! See what sending out those negative waves did, Moriarty?
Years ago I interviewed a retired OSS man who captured SS #2 in the Totesgebirge at the end of WW2. He was living in a huge fancy home on prime real estate on a lake in Northern Wisconsin. One time I took my father (a WW2 vet) to meet him. After we left my dad said to me: "How did a guy working for a civil servant's salary end up with such a fancy house and property like that? I'll bet he got some of that missing Nazi gold." True story.
@@glenirwin1110 who is going to check? 1000s of soldiers returning from war in ships and trains, with duffel bags and army gear, one or two bars between the clothes and no one will notice.
@@PatricioGarcia1973 My point was if they were caught with Gold of any type in the U.S. they went straight to Federal Prison. They could take it across the border to Canada. Or was there a black market? Significant discount. You always hear stories of people bringing back Nazi Gold but you never hear about how they could have turned it to dollars without going to the can. Anybody out there know how they did it?
My grandfather was a US combat engineer. On one occasion, he and his buddy drew lots to see who would go on a dangerous mission across the Rhine to set explosive charges. My grandfather drew the long straw, and he watched his buddy head out to almost certain death. A couple days passed, and then his buddy turned up with drunk and with his coat stuffed with Germany currency. Turns out, the Germans had withdrawn, so his buddy used the explosives to blow a bank vault. While he didn't get any gold (that I know of), it shows the temptation that is there when opportunity presents itself
I heard some similar story(ies) when Iraq fell and the bank got raided. No way to know if was true or not, plus WWII was more wildly handled than any invasion(s) of Iraq ever were! 😅
While the Western allies generally did not engage in the kinds of atrocities that were common among both German and Soviet troops, the Western armed forces did engage in widespread looting, theft and black market activities.
the quality and purity of late war alcohol in Germany was highly questionable, drinking it is hazardous. also, it probably was not safe to carry the explosives bank, or leave it somewhere. presumably he felt he needed extra practice is setting explosives, so the bank vault is a good place to test his skills. How one files after action reports could be the difference between a commendation or court martial
What fun! Finding a cache of Nazi gold in the chaos of the war's aftermath and absconding with a fortune; the stuff that dreams are made of! Thanks for another fascinating tale, Dr. Felton.
Is there a such thing as "Nazi gold" or is it just "gold" or stolen gold? What do we call the Iraqi gold that we stole? The Libyan gold that we stole? There seems to be a pattern of behavior here.
This caper could certainly be the inspiration for Kelly's Heroes, and - dare I say - a contributing influence for Three Kings. Both of which embody "where there's gold, greed is soon to follow." Somebody's grandchildren are enjoying the life today as a result of what happened over 70 years ago. Another golden report rooted in real-life events. Well done, Dr. Felton.
My great uncle was in WW1 and he used to tell a story about a bank that had been hit in France with artillery. They were marching through a rainstorm that slowly turned into sunshine coming up to a small town. He saw shimmering on the road and it looked completely solid gold. Closer they got and it turned out to be thousands of gold coins blasted onto the cobblestone streets. He didn’t take any coins and the troops were closely watched as they marched through. Supposedly they didn’t care much after a huge battle.. (muse Argonne?)they were just happy to be alive.
My grandfather was in Argonne in WW1. He was with an artillery group. I don’t think he ever mentioned any stories of gold or plunder. He did talk about how he has several Lugers and Mausers. He said they were told they would searched before boarding a ship back to the US so he dumped them all into a latrine. He always got mad talking about that because no one was searched lol. If someone took any loot it could have easily been stowed away…at least in WW1
One of the first movies that I was allowed to go with my friends. We were 9 or 10 at the time and I now own a copy of that movie. One of my absolute favorites.
There were other things in those woods. I had a roommate in Austria many years ago who told about playing the woods with his friends, and picking up something, walking back home and tossing it to his Dad in his living room, and saying, "Dad- what's this?" His Dad leaped three feet and instantly bundled everyone out of the house. A live hand grenade.
to anyone that finds hidden gold.. Here are a few tips. 1. Dont run your mouth. 2. Learn gold smelting and tech recycling the value of education is worth it's value in gold.
Well just look up 'Riese'. Penemunde is a small change in money spent on construction. Still majority is not accessed and under Polish Army control. The problem is with papers detailing traps installed and Germany keeping those classified.
I always assume that 99% of all treasures found are never reported or publicized by their finders. So think there may be some random person in the suburbs of NYC with millions in gold bars just sitting under their bed. I know for a fact that a member of the 101st airborne took alot of Hitler's personal silverware collection to NYC after the war and it has never turned up since - meaning there is some random family with Hitler's treasure just sitting in their house, probably just in some box in a corner with the rest of their grandpa's 'old junk'.
@@geigertec5921 Lot of Hitlers Silver has turned up in various auctions and internet sites now. I have seen some of it and have some Eva's "items" from the Berghof.
I wouldn't blame an ordinary GI to slip a gold bar into his duffle bag.... after having his civilian life interrupted by war, enduring combat, and seeing his friends die in action - seems like a fair trade to me.
@@rheinmoses29 hahah whatever mate you clearly have plenty of money. I actually have held jobs (locksmith by trade) where I had access to a lot of wealth however it would have never ever, ever had crossed my mind as it was peoples personal belongings definitely not the US government. Besides it’s all stolen gold anyway. Germany stole it off other countries Jews all sorts and then the US government who are the biggest thieves of all stole it off them. A few bars missing who gives a crap. With the amount there know one would have even noticed. It’s no longer someone’s life savings it’s the treasury’s. Also in the Stone Age they didn’t use gold they used rocks, same thing that’s in your head.
My grandfather who served in World War II, told me many of the officers were just thieves and took whatever they wanted from the enemy, often confiscating it from their own enlisted men. Some of them probably had the loot shipped or stashed until they could get to it after the War. So, there was a certain truth in the attitude of the average GI towards officers in the movie, "Kelly Heroes."
John Smith that example why there was more frag of unpopular officers during World war II than Korea and Vietnam, their Greedy, if I was GI enlisted man and my friends stumbled on Gold, Diamond or any values, greedy officers will not get any, unless he an equal shared officer with his men know how to look the other way around.
During WWII American GIs were allowed to take home some war 'souvenirs', including weapons. Single shot or semi-auto weapons under .50 call were OK....not full auto. To legally take the trophy weapon home a GI was required to present said weapon to his commanding officer, who inspected the weapon to make sure it did not violate the rules for eligible war trophies. If all was OK the officer in charge would issue 'capture papers' for the weapon. Today in the United States war trophy weapons with their capture papers are valuable collector's items. Years ago I met a WWII vet who owned a very nice Luger pistol he brought back from Germany. I asked him if he still had the capture papers which would have added a significant premium to the value of the weapon. The old vet informed me that he never had any papers for the gun, and he sneaked it home in his sea-bag. I then asked the old guy why he didn't get capture papers for the gun and he proceed to tell me that his commanding officer was a 'thieving bastard' who stole all the best stuff for himself so the GIs stopped asking him to fill out capture papers.
@@MrSloika Yes, my grandfather told me very similar stories about thieving officers. The movie "Kelly Heroes" may have been total fiction to a certain extent but the attitude of the GI towards their own officers was dead on accurate. By the way, many of the actors in "Kelly Heroes" had served in World War II.
@@MrSloika I believe you. When I was a youngster I learned my dad also had had a captured luger. On the boat ride home, before a "hygiene inspection", he threw it overboard. He wouldn't tell me why. Now I know why.
Makes Otto Skorzeny's post war liaisons with various intelligences even more intriguing. Did he know about stashes of gold? Thankyou Doctor Felton for another brilliant story.
My great grandfather was Alfred singleton, same person mentioned in this video. During the war he once saved his entire half track crew when he noticed a German cannon aiming at their truck and he told the driver to reverse, resulting in the cannon shell hitting the engine of the half track instead of the crew compartment. Because of his actions all of the crew were unharmed except great grandpa was injured by the explosion. He earned a Purple Heart for his heroic actions.
Kelly's Heroes remains my favourite WW2 movie. When I first watched it as a young lad I wondered "could someone actually pull that off"?. Now I know the answer. Golden video(sorry, couldn't help myself). Thank you once again for the well researched and informative videos you produce.
I've watched Kelly's Heroes a half dozen times or more. Oddball was my favorite character with his "There you go with your negative waves" my all time saying.
+David Barr. “Kelly’s Heroes” was mostly filmed in Yugoslavia, and Yugoslavian Army soldiers played the Germans. I enjoyed that movie too - but I was very young then.
@@Jreb1865 He was a real German soldier captured in Normandy. Have to find the interview with him? Great 🎬 movie. Watch it once or twice a month? Love them positive waves man.
Newly stationed in Germany, right after the fall of the wall, all new servicemembers and dependents are sent on a vacation (of sorts) to Berchtesgaden and put up in the General Walker Hotel. Which was the barracks for the elite SS guards of the Nazi Elite in that region. There were many tours of the ruins, including the Eagles Nest and the connecting bunkers. We also went to the salt mines of Salzburg, Austria. It became easily apparent why these locations were chosen for the plundered loot. The depth of the mine was bomb proof and it wasn't moldy. I have always been interested in WW2 and everything that entailed. My grandfather was stationed with the Flying Tigers as an aircraft mechanic and his stories began my interests. Great video as are they all!
For some context, $12 billion in USD was transferred from the Federal Reserve to Baghdad, Iraq between April 2003 to June 2004 to fund rebuilding and private security objectives. Approximately, $9 billion of that sum is unaccounted for. Fraud being the primary cause of the disappearance. Even more astonishing, is the fact that the UN originally seized some 23 billion USD in Iraqi funds, turning it over to the US led coalition at the onset of the conflict for the purpose of rebuilding the country. What if anything do these stories relate? Obviously, quite a lot of folks got extremely opportunistic and ultimately, incredibly rich. Bastards, all of them!
Great story as usual, Mark! I watched a documentary years ago called Blood From A Stone. It tells the story of a couple of American soldiers who went behind enemy lines and found a large amount of jewels that the Nazis had stolen from civilians. They took what they could carry but later, after being pinned down in a fox hole had to bury them. The story came up by the surviving G.I. in the late '80s or early '90s. A man exhaustively searched eyewitness accounts and the region where the soldier told of what had happened and finally found the fox hole. The video shows when they actually dug up the jewels. They were donated to the families/descendants of the people who they were stolen from.
Remember that movies are ultimately just fiction. One crime just doesn't justify another. Altogether the Allies stole at least as much from Germany and Germans as the Germans took from from occupied countries. Another thing is that in a court of law the evidence considered to be the least reliable is eyewitness testimony. I v'e spoken to a good number of people that lived through the German occupation of the low countries (Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg 1940-1945, and invariably they told me that me the Americans were the most light fingered of all the foreign troops that came through their countries. More unreliable eyewitness testimony? Who knows right? :) Another thing is that Europe at that time (1939-1945) and until the fall of the Soviet Union back 1992was different than it is today. Western Europe and most of Central Europe had a 1st-2nd World Standard of living. Germany east to west and north to south plus Austria was always a first world country going back quite far into history. That would include 1/3 more territories in the East that are today part of Poland. To the east and most all of the Soviiet Union was closer to 2nd-3rd world than anything thing in Europe. Many of the Soviet troops invading Germany in 1944-45 encountered indoor plumbing for the first time in the lives and would take toilets out of the floor thinking they were valubles. The further west that the Soviet troops advanced they went the more first world the infrastructure and what they saw was 1st world. Even the ruins in many bombed out Eastern German cities were amazing to them. The point being that the Soviet Union had one major paved highway that ran from Minsk to Moscow. Not much else was really "first world" infrastructure. Even "Leningrad" today's remamed "St Petersburg", although culturally the most beautiful and modern of the Sovien cities, it was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe and shelled via the use of an advanced artillery grid-pattern to destroy as much of the city as they could possible destroy over the years of the siege. Sadly for the Russians the Germans were really very good with their use of artillery and only in the post war period were they able to rebuild Leningrad/St Petersburg/"The Winter Palace" to a high degree and even the remaking of the "The Amber Room" (something very worthwhile to read up on and have a look at if you aren't aware of what it was and was remade to be today. With all this about the Soviet Union and looting thanks for undertaking this long read. It should help to explain the end of the war period just a little bit.
What a way to spend part of a Sunday with another amazing history lesson from Professor Felton! Thank you Sir!!! I do love Kelly’s Heroes and often wondered if there was some adjacent truth in true history.
@@Jonny_RedI probably am a weird sandwich! You need to have seen Kelly's Heros. One of the main characters is a Sherman tank commander played by Donald Sutherland. He is the weird one, he likes to make dog woofing sounds, goes into battle with music playing out of a loud speaker on the tank and likes to fire shells loaded with pink paint that makes pretty patterns. The movie was made around the time of hippies, and a certain amount of historical artistic license was used in this character. Iconic movie from my era! Pura Vida!
@@essexfarmer9610 ive seen it a fair few times, its my favourite film lol ❣❣ The 'weird sandwich' quip is a line from it 😄😄👍👌 I love my war films and another one that has fun and capers aplenty like Kelly's Heroes is Hannibal Brooks which I'm sure you've seen yourself?? Then all the Dirty Dozen films, and Escape to Athena ... 60s and 70s the best era ❣
@@Jonny_Red My favourites are Groundhog Day, Shawshank Redemption, Saving Private Ryan, Pretty Woman, Hacksaw Ridge, The Martian, Memphis Belle and maybe Fury too. Not sure how Hollywood would have prospered without WW2!
Hi Mark. Lived in Kaiseslautern 4 years and Heidelberg 4. Vacationed many times in Garmisch and even at the US vacation House on the Ubersaltzburg. I think what Fisher did was abominable and the US handling of it even worse. Was never aware of it. Your videos teach me what I should have been learning while there. I’ve gotten so much enjoyment out of them: many many thanks.
Mark, now you got us all eager for digging up lost Nazi gold. I just tried to buy metal detectors and spades in several internet shops but they had all suddenly been sold out.
My mom used to live on Lookout Mountain in GA. There was a road that had been used in the Civil War to get to the battle of Chickamagua. Using a metal detector We found a big horse shoe with big nails in it. We pretended it was from the Civil War. But of course we didn’t know that it was. Thank for reminding me of a happy memory!!
@@daniakalaina My neighbourhood on 1 story bungalows/ villas was built from the 1950s onwards. However just around the corner my neighbour found a very old horseshoe. It turns out that a few hundred meters up the road used to be an old inn, until the early 1600s. My local street's name "Rider's Hill" (though there's no hill over 50 cm. high here) suggests it might have been part of the old Renaissance highway from Copenhagen going southwards. I still keep the horseshoe.
When the Dutch east indies fell thousands of refugees took to boats, ships and sea planes and headed for Australia. One Ship reportedly had a private treasure from a rich company or family in Java. With boatloads of refugees to deal with in Perth Australia no one noticed when some of those boxes of treasure went missing. The contents worth millions were never seen again and there are no suspects.
So with sheer good luck, this cache of private treasure escaped from the plundering invaders of General Yamashita and then to be partly stolen by somebody in Australia. Thank you for the interesting information.
Our Father flew some missions under the OSS...part of "Col. Bernt Balchens" clandestine operations. Until he was in his mid 80's Dad would just chuckle and say it was some "hush hush" activity that he couldn't divulge. I finally "pried" details out of him when he was 86 in 2002 when I found some photos of him and his fellow fliers in Stockholm Sweden taken during the war. After my research I learned more about the overall operation than he was ever told and was able to share it with him before he passed away...I also located one of his crewmates (Pilot, Lt. Melvin Westbrook) and they were able to reconnect after all those years.
The most interesting heist of German money was by Alan Wicker, of Wicker’s World (BBC travel program). A German army division surrendered to him in Italy, and handed over their entire treasury. And Wicker became very wealthy for the rest of his life…. R
He died at the age of 91. He handed over the German payroll and foreign currency to the US military that was close by. He didn't take any. He earned his money in writing and broadcasting.
Bloody hell been a long time since I've caught your video under 50 likes! Just a few years ago I was regularly 1 Great to see your well deserved success Dr Felton. Peace Charlie 🇬🇧
My father was the officer who was the first American to occupy VonRibentrophs castle. While I don't have any gold, I do have his shoe trees with his name on them!
There was also the incident when the Americans having took over a German castle found a false wall and knocked it down to find a fortune in jewellery which actually belonged to the aristocrats who owned the castle. The soldiers were taking diamonds off gold jewellery and sending them to New York but they were caught but not before destroying priceless antiques. They only got a year in jail.
You can only go so far punishing conscripts: it's bad enough telling people to risk their lives for strangers living on another continent, so punishing them for not respecting other people's riches is a hard sell.
Looting at the end of the war was an age old tradition for troops. After long sieges the commanders would allow 1 day for looting the town the besieged. Move up to 1945 and if you’re a grunt and you already saw officers taking things , why wouldn’t you take something for yourself or your family back home? You were literally dragging yourself from the Great Depression and any family you had were subjected to rationing. I know I would in that instance and I really don’t think they should’ve received that 1 year.
The movie Kelly’s Heroes was based on the discovery in a French town of a mechanically disabled Sherman tank, several destroyed German tanks and a hole blown through the wall of the town’s bank. This was discovered after the allied forces captured the town. There are no records that would provide evidence of US forces operating behind enemy lines. The movie is a fabricated story based on the evidence found. The soldiers,,except for the tank crewmen, in the movie are wearing 35th Infantry patches on their uniforms. No one is sure what was in the bank. This was explained to me by a NCO while I was in the army reserves.
My grandmother's goldfish's second cousin removed was first to land on D-Day, I always remember how he told me he singlehandedly stormed the bunker on Dog Green with a penknife and an empty magazine, dispatching an entire German platoon with his helmet and a bully beef tin. He never liked to talk about it.
Thank you so much for all of your hard work on this! I had heard some of this but most is new to me! Love how detailed you are on all of your episodes!!!
All fiction is based in some truth. The Fairy tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, for example-- was based on true child disappearances. *James Bond was largely based on Ian Flemming's experiences as a M15 agent. *All the sci-fi flicks that have been made about UFOs, Area51, Aliens, etc --- the government now admits these things exist.
The actual history was changed in the film showing Kelly's Heroes, with the help from a German Tiger tank crew, spirited the gold from the central bank in Paris, France. 🤣🤣🤣
@@MrSniperdude01 admits they don’t have a clue what they are. Proving me right they got radar contact and a bunch of blurry somethings. Now that they done lying about how much they did not know maybe better answers. Roswald though was US ballon spy program I believe covered by Mark. A lot of the early UFO stuff US classified projects after all that the areas they test for
It’s interesting to note that most commenters either find it humorous that someone might have stolen tons of gold …indicating little criticism of the action…. Or they express anger/dismay that someone would steal it and get away with it…not because they believe it wrong but because the commenter feels angry-jealousy over it having rec’d none of it themselves. The saddest part is the thought of how much of that gold came from theft by the Nazis of the property of ordinary people…or their teeth…. for which the culprits will never be held accountable.
If I had battled the Hun across Europe for 3 years,and if I happened to stumble across some gold bars, I would have damn sure tried to get it back home if I could.
I had a classmate back in the 70's whose Grandfather "liberated" enough gold during his service in Germany in 1944/45 to start a small dry-cleaning business. The old man's stories were very interesting and no, he had zero regrets for the theft.
Regrets? What regrets? Did you think the Nazis had any regrets in looting Europe? Did you think the Soviets had any regrets in looting eastern europe, austria and eastern germany? Probably a lot of the missing gold and other valuables might be found in the Vatican, Switzerland....the british royal family, american politicians....some body knows.....
@@stevew6138 (I suspect Bruce uses different types of pipes. I miss my EA Carey pipe days. Senior apartments suck but it beats the street. Best wishes!) HEY BRUCE -- MY GRANDFATHER IN ITALY DID BLACK MARKET DURING WWII. ANY COMMENTS? 😆
There was a lot more stolen at the of WWII than just gold. Art, weapons, scientific and industrial equipment and papers....on and on it went. I'd like to see Dr. Felton expand on the topic of loot in wartime Europe.
I read a book on this. Even the Colonel of the German Mountain regiment (Adolf Weiss) that was given the job of guarding the loot in Bavaria emigrated to Argentina and opened a successful engineering company. An American lieutenant and Sergeant turned up with a four ton truck and loaded it up with foreign currency and gold coins, drove off and were never seen again. Four tons of notes and gold.
It’s surely possible that post-war networks of Wehrmacht and SS veterans recovered some of this gold. Maybe some of it found it’s way to Argentina; a clandestine organisation capable of smuggling war criminals to South America probably had the means to move bullion too.
@The Jayser, Martin Bormann new and so did the top leader ship of the Nazi regime; the war was lost in 1943! Borman During the war transferred through Swiss banks billions to Juan Peron’s Country of Argentina! The big pay off for post-World War II !
German tank commander: You the American Army. Oddball: No baby, we ain't. You know what's inside that bank, man? There's sixteen million dollars worth of gold in that bank sweetheart.
You can put yourself in that position can't you? "Boss we found a thousand gold bars......" then " boss we found 500 gold bar's. ..." then boss we found 200 gold bars...... and on and on? It's just human nature! !!
I hate this human nature nonsense. It's in many humans' nature, but it's not universal. People at different, and many aren't as compelled to steal as others, even if given the opportunity.
I had always heard that the real Kelly's Heroes story originated from the World War II exploits of the late Castle Donington resident & tank driver, Frederick Bernard "Tom" Wheatcroft who had a building construction business, an extraordinary race car collection & may have owned the Donnington Park race car course. However, it's just a rumor.
The allies were looking for gold but in retrospect they should have also collected a few King Tiger and Panther tanks, had they forseen how valuable they were to become these days!
@@andywilliams1160 true, the Tiger Tank could go no further than 50 miles before it break down, unless Odd Ball live to his 100 with the Tiger Tank, will maintenance, he could get a good market price, he double that Krauts SS soldier share of the loot, the Nazi is laughing all the way to the Banks in Switzerland.
There should be a "paper trail" on the Fischer or Fisher family and their purchases and properties and investments. I assume the research has been done or is ongoing.
So all the gold was taken to a Federal Reserve collection point in Frankfurt. In other words handed over to a privately owned banking cartel. Which leaves me with one conclusion, the Govt don't like the competition from unofficial looting.
Imagine having a country loot Europe then you in turn loot that country and take all the gold they stole including their own gold as well, all the while using a created war as a cover ? They always say follow the money and all roads lead to a privately owned bank, The Federal Reserve ???
Man those were some lucky guys....the ones that kept their mouths shut and managed to organize it. The fact that to this day no one spoke is what is amazing
I was traveling (driving) through Germany many years ago...suddenly I saw a white mountain. White ! - Asked what it was...it turned out to be spoil from the mine at Merkers. Immediately decided to stop in a nearby village and check it out the next day. -Went down there ... (on the bed of an Unimog truck) !! So I've been down there ! In the gold chamber ! Amazing ! Deepest mine in Europe. Cheers, K 🇮🇸 😀
Uploaded 5 min ago, 16 min long, people already commenting on what a good video it was.... 🤔 I knew the man has skills, but damn, time is not linear for Dr Felton
Yeah, when it comes to tons of gold stashed all over Germany things would probably get a little "sketchy". Great story Mark! You had 100% of my attention from beginning to end.
“Sir, we found a 1000 tons of gold!”
“What, you say you found a 100 pounds of gold?”
“Yes sir, we found 10 ounces of gold.”
Lmfao
Sounds like drug busts in the 80s.
By the time the defendant made it to trial the amount had been lowered to just enough to justify a felony.
Best comment here !! Untold amounts (tons) of precious gems too - lots were easily pocketed long before higher ups got their mitts on ‘em.
USA: Conquer Germany, become a superpower with German toy's built by Germans but claimed to be "American".
Home of Aviation 1900's: Europe
Home of Aviation 2019: USA
Hahaha ...your a funny guy 😅
I´ve lived most of my adult life in these areas mentioned in Bavaria and Austria and will soon be retiring here. Thanks for giving me a great new hobby here : gold hunting.
So jealous. One of the most breathtaking and gorgeous areas on the planet.
@@mattomite9097 Luvly jubbly
I could give you a few places to go look for some... but it's in very deep water in Austrian alpine lake. That happened to flood near end of WW2
@@DB-yj3qc As you so rightly say, you need the diving equpment and, of course, the skills for such deep waters. But there are still supposed to be cachés buried and hidden elsewhere in the countryside.
I’m a war expert now…..thanks to you I can impress my friends
My Uncle fought under Hodges thru Germany in April-May 1945 ending up in Leipzig. His platoon was tipped off by a German that there was a fortune in a safe in a town bank. He and his buddies blew open the door of bank safe with a satchel charge. They were experts and did it just right. No gold in the bank vault but it was full of booze and the explosion didn't break a bottle. The platoon stayed drunk for a week. Might be the true story behind "Kelly's Heroes".
I wonder how long it took them to dispose of their ill gotten gains.😀🥂
There's a comment with a very similar story just on top of yours.
I wonder if your uncle knew people or perhaps was one of those mentioned by the other guy??? Would be amazing if so :D
Sounds like they were Reichstanked
Fake Valor. Your uncle peeled potatoes at Fort Bragg
@@richardnixon4345 You don't even know who his uncle was Tricky Dick.
Dr. Felton is one of the top historians in the world and in my opinion the preeminent WW2 historian, I always find his documentaries interesting and extremely well researched.
fun fact: nobody cares
Yes they do, sorry nobody cares about you@@dannyzuehlsdorf3697
Kelly's Hero's - The look on Don Rickles face when he looked at the bar of gold was priceless .
Best Crap Game line: "Maybe he's a republican"
And the late, great, Donald Sutherland as Sgt. Oddball: "Have a little _faith,_ baby! Have. A. Little. _Faith!"_
Dr. Felton posts a banger once again. Will this man ever stop? I hope not!
Unstoppable!! Amazing and intriguing content AS ALWAYS!
Mark’s channel is 110% better than the history channel and you always walk away with more knowledge of history than you had before. Keep up the GREAT work!
History Channel? They are rank amateurs compared to Mark Felton.
_Unless_ you want to know about the secret Nazi base ... on the dark side of the moon. THEN the "History Channel's" your ticket!
I would love to see the colonel’s bank statements after he returned to US - what funded his “successful business” after his dishonorable discharge? Great story Dr Felton thank you !
How many crooks came back to the USA to further corrupt it?
Plenty of nazi went back to live in America so thiefs are normal 🇺🇸😂
@@richardyatesyates3893 lol your so fragile
You assume this guy was on the up and up.
He said there was nothing there son...👀👀👀🤣🤣🤣💯💯💯🤛🤛🤛
I heard a similar story back in the early 80's. A retired Army Master Sergeant I met while stationed in San Antonio talked about some of the stuff that happened during the War. He was assigned as member of a Military Police unit in Germany at the end of the war. (he had been a Cop before the war.). A few weeks after the war ended, one of the local Army units (Platoon size of about 35 men) didn't report in and a squad sent to find them only found some abandoned vehicles. They thought that German Fanatics (Werewolves) had got them. During the investigation they found no signs of them or any bodies. The Army eventually reported them as MIA and notified their families. About three years later the MP was assigned to a base in Virginia and got a call from local police about a guy they caught stealing a car. When they searched him, they found a bag with an expired military ID, plus the guy had no driver's license. They thought he might be a deserter. So, when he showed up to talk to the guy he recognized as one of the guys from photos of the unit that had disappeared in 1945. Turns out he had just gotten in the country as crew member on a freighter. He was broke and was trying to steal a car to meet one of his old war buddies for some money. Eventually, the story came out that these guys had found an abandoned German truck with a bunch of British, American, and German paper money and gold coins. They buried the German money and took the rest. They split up and headed out of the war zone thru various means and bribes. Most of the guys didn't go home and the few that did were eventually caught. Only a couple of guys were charged with desertion (an officer and a senior NCO) and the rest were dishonorably discharged (the uncaught soldiers were dishonorably discharged in absentia). Many of the other guys were never found or the Army just didn't care after a while. He said the investigation estimated that the total haul was probably in the neighborhood of a couple of million dollars in Pounds, Dollars, and Gold Coins. It's also possible that some of that money may have been counterfeit manufactured by the Germans. An interesting story I could never verify, but some of the stuff I heard later made me think he was telling the truth.
it was all fake money, my man, which is why the punishment was light, the CO who lost it got 2 years.
for
Great story! I have a similar anecdote from the Vietnam War. In the early to mid 1980s, I lived in a coastal area of Southern California. One of my friends lived in one of the nicer neighborhoods. The homes were around $300k in the early 1980s. My other classmates in this neighborhood had parents who were: surgeons, airline pilots that had been flying for an airline for 30 years etc. Well my friend's dad was much younger than the other fathers. He had been a junior enlisted Marine in Vietnam and was now a plumber around town. When I say a plumber, not a company owner, didn't inherit a company, he drove around town in a Chevy van and unblocked toilets or fixed a leak in the wall etc. Even though I was between 12-15 during this time, this person's story never made sense. He had only been out of his plumbing apprenticeship for 6-7 years. The mom didn't work and the dad had come from a very poor background. My father had been a Marine in WWII and Korea and had died when I was very young so, this man was very kind to me and would talk with me like a second son when I would come over to meet my friend and swim in their pool. He talked a lot about being poor while growing up and he mentioned fighting at the Battle of Hue as the worst combat he saw while in Vietnam.
Well fast forward into the early 1990s; I'm working as an EMT in an ER. There was a grizzled but very friendly retired Navy Corpsman working a few shifts as an EMT at the hospital as well. He had done 30+ years as a Corpsman, most of it with the Marines. He served from the the end of Korea, 4 tours in Vietnam and retired before the first Gulf War. One slow night he was telling funny war stories. One story he mentioned that drew my attention was that he was at the Battle of Hue. He reported that several banks in Hue were looted by Marines using C4, satchel charges and other explosives to enter the vaults and cages. He laughed saying that, "some of them probably got very rich". He said that CID agents had come out but, the battle was very active and in his words, "they looked around a bit talked to a few people and left" and "they didn't want to get their asses shot off". I have tried looking for confirmation regarding this story but, with each passing year it gets harder to find any first hand accounts.
TY Dr. Felton. Such a moral dilemma. If I was in control of GOLD bars of unknown ownership ....who will miss it ?
One of your best Mark, just the right balance of fact, supposition and rumour coupled with massive amounts of gold !
Agreed this one is really good!
Thank you Mark Felton for consistently publishing trustworthy and high quality content.
You mean copies of texts of history forums - sometimes even including the inaccuracies that are written there without checking?
Real trustworthy content is over at "TIK-History"
@@Oberkommando you mean the satire troll?
I remember a story from a veteran at our Legion Post about the treasure found in a cave in Germany. He was posted as a guard, which he hated because the other men in his company were basically just goofing off in their barracks. But he related to us the image of thousands of sacks of coins, gold bars, and jewelry plus hundreds of paintings. General Eisenhower even visited the cave to see the sight. He was asked if he took anything for himself, but he said it never occurred to him. Which was probably why he had been elected our treasurer!
Honourable man. Don't know what i would do. Kept his self respect.
It's called a war prize. Including but not limited to rings necklaces jewelry paintings it included gold bars, gold/silver bars, engagement and marriage rings necklaces from dead soldiers, mauser guns, pots pans forks, knives, spoons, glasses regular and sun glasses, paintings, silver and gold doorknobs, mirrors, swords and other odd personal items that are poorly documented or have no document of there origins and either came from dead bodies men women or children who were running away from the war or the items were left behind and the property for seized.
@@alexcholagh8330 i thought it was callled looting & theft. Not making value judgements, just saying! If i saw my prosperous future in front of me...hand it in? Get ready!
@@dominicseanmccann6300 looting and theft is more lowkey in terms Both sides allies and the axis and who ever supported them did more then these horrible crimes. Many are in banks,someones house or mansions or business even storage many don't know there stolen and many who know such items that are stolen keep quiet to themselves. It's sad but there is way more then estimated 6 billion at least 18 billion maybe beyond that.
@@alexcholagh8330 Theft is a funny one, legal theft and moral theft are often out of step. Is a bank or other financial organisation morally wrong for committing legal theft? Is a poor man who has risked his life morally wrong for committing illegal theft? The law is clear, but is also weighted towards the rich, so....
Kelly's Heroes is my all time favorite film and Clint movie...seen it many times since I was a kid and I never get tired of it.
My grandfather served in the 10th armored division. And he actually talked about things such as this. Unfortunately nothing was ever recorded when he told his stories but damn he had me under his spell when he told these stories.
My favorite film line of all time came from this film: "Why don't you knock it off with those negative waves!? Why don't you dig how beautiful this place is? Why not say something hopeful and nice for a change?"
Have you tried talking to him...maybe he's a republican.
Don Rickles
Donald Sutherland what a great role
"There you go with those negative waves again, man."
@@Storm-lg4mx And democrat Hollyweird rears it's ugly head again.
Back to the movie, too many good lines to pick just one, for example when they got to the bridge....
Oddball: It's still up!
Allied planes: BOMB
Oddball: No it ain't! See what sending out those negative waves did, Moriarty?
Joseph, I walked into that one...Ha!!!
Years ago I interviewed a retired OSS man who captured SS #2 in the Totesgebirge at the end of WW2. He was living in a huge fancy home on prime real estate on a lake in Northern Wisconsin. One time I took my father (a WW2 vet) to meet him. After we left my dad said to me: "How did a guy working for a civil servant's salary end up with such a fancy house and property like that? I'll bet he got some of that missing Nazi gold." True story.
No doubt he "dipped into the till"...lol
did he capture ernst kaltenbrunner?
It was Illegal for U.S. citizens to own gold. They could not have brought it home. Now, if it could have been sent to Switzerland...
@@glenirwin1110 who is going to check? 1000s of soldiers returning from war in ships and trains, with duffel bags and army gear, one or two bars between the clothes and no one will notice.
@@PatricioGarcia1973 My point was if they were caught with Gold of any type in the U.S. they went straight to Federal Prison. They could take it across the border to Canada. Or was there a black market? Significant discount. You always hear stories of people bringing back Nazi Gold but you never hear about how they could have turned it to dollars without going to the can. Anybody out there know how they did it?
My grandfather was a US combat engineer. On one occasion, he and his buddy drew lots to see who would go on a dangerous mission across the Rhine to set explosive charges. My grandfather drew the long straw, and he watched his buddy head out to almost certain death. A couple days passed, and then his buddy turned up with drunk and with his coat stuffed with Germany currency. Turns out, the Germans had withdrawn, so his buddy used the explosives to blow a bank vault. While he didn't get any gold (that I know of), it shows the temptation that is there when opportunity presents itself
I heard some similar story(ies) when Iraq fell and the bank got raided. No way to know if was true or not, plus WWII was more wildly handled than any invasion(s) of Iraq ever were!
😅
While the Western allies generally did not engage in the kinds of atrocities that were common among both German and Soviet troops, the Western armed forces did engage in widespread looting, theft and black market activities.
@@MrSloika And I don't blame them one bit.
the quality and purity of late war alcohol in Germany was highly questionable, drinking it is hazardous. also, it probably was not safe to carry the explosives bank, or leave it somewhere. presumably he felt he needed extra practice is setting explosives, so the bank vault is a good place to test his skills. How one files after action reports could be the difference between a commendation or court martial
@@MrSloika good joke dude. US had some of the worst warcrimes in ww2
What fun! Finding a cache of Nazi gold in the chaos of the war's aftermath and absconding with a fortune; the stuff that dreams are made of! Thanks for another fascinating tale, Dr. Felton.
Is there a such thing as "Nazi gold" or is it just "gold" or stolen gold? What do we call the Iraqi gold that we stole? The Libyan gold that we stole? There seems to be a pattern of behavior here.
@@karlheinzvonkroemann2217 It looks like we are constantly fighting over the same looted and melted gold, from era to era in all corners of the Earth.
This caper could certainly be the inspiration for Kelly's Heroes, and - dare I say - a contributing influence for Three Kings. Both of which embody "where there's gold, greed is soon to follow." Somebody's grandchildren are enjoying the life today as a result of what happened over 70 years ago. Another golden report rooted in real-life events. Well done, Dr. Felton.
Three kings was based around Kuwaiti bullion stolen by Hussain.
3 generations later, nobody cares where the money came from.
@@Lineandsinker87 But the "recovery" by the four Americans could see root in this story.
@@TommygunNG could say the same for the “monuments men” as well I suppose.
Extra points for using the word "caper".
My great uncle was in WW1 and he used to tell a story about a bank that had been hit in France with artillery. They were marching through a rainstorm that slowly turned into sunshine coming up to a small town. He saw shimmering on the road and it looked completely solid gold. Closer they got and it turned out to be thousands of gold coins blasted onto the cobblestone streets.
He didn’t take any coins and the troops were closely watched as they marched through. Supposedly they didn’t care much after a huge battle.. (muse Argonne?)they were just happy to be alive.
My grandfather was in Argonne in WW1. He was with an artillery group. I don’t think he ever mentioned any stories of gold or plunder. He did talk about how he has several Lugers and Mausers. He said they were told they would searched before boarding a ship back to the US so he dumped them all into a latrine. He always got mad talking about that because no one was searched lol. If someone took any loot it could have easily been stowed away…at least in WW1
You had me at Kelly’s Heros.
Heroes*
One of the first movies that I was allowed to go with my friends.
We were 9 or 10 at the time and I now own a copy of that movie.
One of my absolute favorites.
There were other things in those woods. I had a roommate in Austria many years ago who told about playing the woods with his friends, and picking up something, walking back home and tossing it to his Dad in his living room, and saying, "Dad- what's this?"
His Dad leaped three feet and instantly bundled everyone out of the house.
A live hand grenade.
Let's not forget the story of the British Collector that was restoring his T55 he got from Iraq and found a few gold bars in one of the fuel tanks.
his mistake was running his mouth and government took the gold.
to anyone that finds hidden gold.. Here are a few tips. 1. Dont run your mouth. 2. Learn gold smelting and tech recycling the value of education is worth it's value in gold.
I often wonder what undiscovered loot hasnt been found. Thanks for bringing this subject to a wider audience.
Well just look up 'Riese'. Penemunde is a small change in money spent on construction. Still majority is not accessed and under Polish Army control. The problem is with papers detailing traps installed and Germany keeping those classified.
In texas?
I always assume that 99% of all treasures found are never reported or publicized by their finders. So think there may be some random person in the suburbs of NYC with millions in gold bars just sitting under their bed. I know for a fact that a member of the 101st airborne took alot of Hitler's personal silverware collection to NYC after the war and it has never turned up since - meaning there is some random family with Hitler's treasure just sitting in their house, probably just in some box in a corner with the rest of their grandpa's 'old junk'.
@@geigertec5921 Lot of Hitlers Silver has turned up in various auctions and internet sites now. I have seen some of it and have some Eva's "items" from the Berghof.
They say Yamashita's gold hasn't all been found in the Phillipines.
I wouldn't blame an ordinary GI to slip a gold bar into his duffle bag.... after having his civilian life interrupted by war, enduring combat, and seeing his friends die in action - seems like a fair trade to me.
I’m slipping about 3 or 4
Facts, i agree! but dont forget those gold bars are quite heavy, you can only carry so many, each bar im guessing cost around 120 - 200k
@@jimmydesanta1363 I would be taking as many as possible… dragging them in my sphincter if I had to.
Your moral standards apparently are the same as in the stone age. It cannot take very long that you land in jail.
@@rheinmoses29 hahah whatever mate you clearly have plenty of money. I actually have held jobs (locksmith by trade) where I had access to a lot of wealth however it would have never ever, ever had crossed my mind as it was peoples personal belongings definitely not the US government. Besides it’s all stolen gold anyway. Germany stole it off other countries Jews all sorts and then the US government who are the biggest thieves of all stole it off them. A few bars missing who gives a crap. With the amount there know one would have even noticed. It’s no longer someone’s life savings it’s the treasury’s.
Also in the Stone Age they didn’t use gold they used rocks, same thing that’s in your head.
My grandfather who served in World War II, told me many of the officers were just thieves and took whatever they wanted from the enemy, often confiscating it from their own enlisted men. Some of them probably had the loot shipped or stashed until they could get to it after the War. So, there was a certain truth in the attitude of the average GI towards officers in the movie, "Kelly Heroes."
John Smith that example why there was more frag of unpopular officers during World war II than Korea and Vietnam, their Greedy, if I was GI enlisted man and my friends stumbled on Gold, Diamond or any values, greedy officers will not get any, unless he an equal shared officer with his men know how to look the other way around.
During WWII American GIs were allowed to take home some war 'souvenirs', including weapons. Single shot or semi-auto weapons under .50 call were OK....not full auto. To legally take the trophy weapon home a GI was required to present said weapon to his commanding officer, who inspected the weapon to make sure it did not violate the rules for eligible war trophies. If all was OK the officer in charge would issue 'capture papers' for the weapon. Today in the United States war trophy weapons with their capture papers are valuable collector's items. Years ago I met a WWII vet who owned a very nice Luger pistol he brought back from Germany. I asked him if he still had the capture papers which would have added a significant premium to the value of the weapon. The old vet informed me that he never had any papers for the gun, and he sneaked it home in his sea-bag. I then asked the old guy why he didn't get capture papers for the gun and he proceed to tell me that his commanding officer was a 'thieving bastard' who stole all the best stuff for himself so the GIs stopped asking him to fill out capture papers.
@@MrSloika Yes, my grandfather told me very similar stories about thieving officers. The movie "Kelly Heroes" may have been total fiction to a certain extent but the attitude of the GI towards their own officers was dead on accurate. By the way, many of the actors in "Kelly Heroes" had served in World War II.
I kind of see war loot as a soldiers right within reason.
@@MrSloika I believe you. When I was a youngster I learned my dad also had had a captured luger. On the boat ride home, before a "hygiene inspection", he threw it overboard. He wouldn't tell me why. Now I know why.
I came for a clip of ' stop with the negative vibes Moriarty ' and ended up here.
Thank you Mark.
Today in honor of Donald Sutherland's passing & the entire cast of Kelly' Heroes.
Sutherland as Sgt. Oddball: "Have a little _faith,_ baby! Have. A. Little. _Faith!"_
"And all you need to do for an equal share...is crank that turret around and blow a hole through that door."
(Cut to door) BOOM!!
Makes Otto Skorzeny's post war liaisons with various intelligences even more intriguing. Did he know about stashes of gold? Thankyou Doctor Felton for another brilliant story.
Lived pretty well in Spain after the war.
He owned supermarkets snd personally funded SS welfare organisation Der Spinne.. I wonder where the money came from.
4 minutes ago this was published and I knew I had to watch the video. Mark Felton Productions is my favorite channel with WW2 information on TH-cam!
My great grandfather was Alfred singleton, same person mentioned in this video. During the war he once saved his entire half track crew when he noticed a German cannon aiming at their truck and he told the driver to reverse, resulting in the cannon shell hitting the engine of the half track instead of the crew compartment. Because of his actions all of the crew were unharmed except great grandpa was injured by the explosion. He earned a Purple Heart for his heroic actions.
Mark, your video channel is truly remarkable. I'm a recent subscriber and appreciate your unbiased approach to explaining the history of World War 2.
Kelly's Heroes remains my favourite WW2 movie. When I first watched it as a young lad I wondered "could someone actually pull that off"?. Now I know the answer. Golden video(sorry, couldn't help myself). Thank you once again for the well researched and informative videos you produce.
In 2003 in Iraq, some GI's tried the same with Iraqi national bank gold bars, but were caught.
I've watched Kelly's Heroes a half dozen times or more. Oddball was my favorite character with his "There you go with your negative waves" my all time saying.
@@mardiffv.8775 You won't hear about the one's that weren't caught ... !
There couldn't be any "negative waves" to pull off such an operation successfully...................
+David Barr. “Kelly’s Heroes” was mostly filmed in Yugoslavia, and Yugoslavian Army soldiers played the Germans. I enjoyed that movie too - but I was very young then.
Loved that film! With Donald Sutherland Clint Eastwood Telly Savalas Carroll O'Connor and the rest, how could it not have been a great film!
The best!!
And Don Rickles as Crap Game.
@@larryh502 Give $50 to carry this cannon?
Always liked the SS guy in the Tiger tank...lol He always reminded me of John Belushi...
@@Jreb1865 He was a real German soldier captured in Normandy. Have to find the interview with him? Great 🎬 movie. Watch it once or twice a month? Love them positive waves man.
Thank you Dr Felton for doing always interesting videos of unknown events of ww2!
Newly stationed in Germany, right after the fall of the wall, all new servicemembers and dependents are sent on a vacation (of sorts) to Berchtesgaden and put up in the General Walker Hotel. Which was the barracks for the elite SS guards of the Nazi Elite in that region. There were many tours of the ruins, including the Eagles Nest and the connecting bunkers. We also went to the salt mines of Salzburg, Austria. It became easily apparent why these locations were chosen for the plundered loot. The depth of the mine was bomb proof and it wasn't moldy. I have always been interested in WW2 and everything that entailed. My grandfather was stationed with the Flying Tigers as an aircraft mechanic and his stories began my interests. Great video as are they all!
There was a character in Kelly’s Hero’s named Fisher. He was the one who did the instant math on the value of the gold going on the truck.
and for his ability, he got a cookie. Classic Rickles.
I liked the bit in Kelly's when they explain what the German has to do for a share, and you see the close-up of the tank commander's face!
He is a republican
@@Graymenn but is really a Democrat, since they've got all the wealth
Nein
and in the next shot we see his tank blow the bank doors open. Great scene.
That Tiger Tank commander became quickly disenchanted with the Fuhrer, and wisely decided to cash in on his military pension early.
Kelly’s Heroes is one of my favorite movies ever
For some context, $12 billion in USD was transferred from the Federal Reserve to Baghdad, Iraq between April 2003 to June 2004 to fund rebuilding and private security objectives. Approximately, $9 billion of that sum is unaccounted for. Fraud being the primary cause of the disappearance. Even more astonishing, is the fact that the UN originally seized some 23 billion USD in Iraqi funds, turning it over to the US led coalition at the onset of the conflict for the purpose of rebuilding the country. What if anything do these stories relate? Obviously, quite a lot of folks got extremely opportunistic and ultimately, incredibly rich. Bastards, all of them!
Didn't the explosion of the world trade Center happened right after? Some said to divert attention away from this this massive theft.
Some portion of it went to bribing people to cooperate with the US.
Great story as usual, Mark! I watched a documentary years ago called Blood From A Stone. It tells the story of a couple of American soldiers who went behind enemy lines and found a large amount of jewels that the Nazis had stolen from civilians. They took what they could carry but later, after being pinned down in a fox hole had to bury them. The story came up by the surviving G.I. in the late '80s or early '90s. A man exhaustively searched eyewitness accounts and the region where the soldier told of what had happened and finally found the fox hole. The video shows when they actually dug up the jewels. They were donated to the families/descendants of the people who they were stolen from.
Remember that movies are ultimately just fiction. One crime just doesn't justify another. Altogether the Allies stole at least as much from Germany and Germans as the Germans took from from occupied countries. Another thing is that in a court of law the evidence considered to be the least reliable is eyewitness testimony. I v'e spoken to a good number of people that lived through the German occupation of the low countries (Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg 1940-1945, and invariably they told me that me the Americans were the most light fingered of all the foreign troops that came through their countries. More unreliable eyewitness testimony? Who knows right? :) Another thing is that Europe at that time (1939-1945) and until the fall of the Soviet Union back 1992was different than it is today. Western Europe and most of Central Europe had a 1st-2nd World Standard of living. Germany east to west and north to south plus Austria was always a first world country going back quite far into history. That would include 1/3 more territories in the East that are today part of Poland. To the east and most all of the Soviiet Union was closer to 2nd-3rd world than anything thing in Europe. Many of the Soviet troops invading Germany in 1944-45 encountered indoor plumbing for the first time in the lives and would take toilets out of the floor thinking they were valubles. The further west that the Soviet troops advanced they went the more first world the infrastructure and what they saw was 1st world. Even the ruins in many bombed out Eastern German cities were amazing to them. The point being that the Soviet Union had one major paved highway that ran from Minsk to Moscow. Not much else was really "first world" infrastructure. Even "Leningrad" today's remamed "St Petersburg", although culturally the most beautiful and modern of the Sovien cities, it was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe and shelled via the use of an advanced artillery grid-pattern to destroy as much of the city as they could possible destroy over the years of the siege. Sadly for the Russians the Germans were really very good with their use of artillery and only in the post war period were they able to rebuild Leningrad/St Petersburg/"The Winter Palace" to a high degree and even the remaking of the "The Amber Room" (something very worthwhile to read up on and have a look at if you aren't aware of what it was and was remade to be today. With all this about the Soviet Union and looting thanks for undertaking this long read. It should help to explain the end of the war period just a little bit.
Whenever you hear the iconic theme music you just know that it’s going to be an epic episode from Doctor Mark Felton .
What a way to spend part of a Sunday with another amazing history lesson from Professor Felton! Thank you Sir!!!
I do love Kelly’s Heroes and often wondered if there was some adjacent truth in true history.
Woof woof!
@@essexfarmer9610 'what are you, some kind of weird sandwich?' 🤣🤣🤣
@@Jonny_RedI probably am a weird sandwich! You need to have seen Kelly's Heros. One of the main characters is a Sherman tank commander played by Donald Sutherland. He is the weird one, he likes to make dog woofing sounds, goes into battle with music playing out of a loud speaker on the tank and likes to fire shells loaded with pink paint that makes pretty patterns. The movie was made around the time of hippies, and a certain amount of historical artistic license was used in this character. Iconic movie from my era! Pura Vida!
@@essexfarmer9610 ive seen it a fair few times, its my favourite film lol ❣❣
The 'weird sandwich' quip is a line from it 😄😄👍👌
I love my war films and another one that has fun and capers aplenty like Kelly's Heroes is Hannibal Brooks which I'm sure you've seen yourself?? Then all the Dirty Dozen films, and Escape to Athena ... 60s and 70s the best era ❣
@@Jonny_Red My favourites are Groundhog Day, Shawshank Redemption, Saving Private Ryan, Pretty Woman, Hacksaw Ridge, The Martian, Memphis Belle and maybe Fury too. Not sure how Hollywood would have prospered without WW2!
No I'm not jealous at how good a history channel Mark Felton is or anything...
If history was taught like this at my old high school, I may have actually paid attention.
Hi Mark. Lived in Kaiseslautern 4 years and Heidelberg 4. Vacationed many times in Garmisch and even at the US vacation House on the Ubersaltzburg. I think what Fisher did was abominable and the US handling of it even worse. Was never aware of it. Your videos teach me what I should have been learning while there. I’ve gotten so much enjoyment out of them: many many thanks.
This was one of my favorite movies as a kid so glad my dad found it in the used dvd bin!
Mark, your videos are the real golden treasure,thanks for all the great content
Kelly’s heroes is one of my favs for war movies. Oddball is classic character.
Definitely an andi-social type
Mark, now you got us all eager for digging up lost Nazi gold.
I just tried to buy metal detectors and spades in several internet shops but they had all suddenly been sold out.
My mom used to live on Lookout Mountain in GA. There was a road that had been used in the Civil War to get to the battle of Chickamagua. Using a metal detector We found a big horse shoe with big nails in it. We pretended it was from the Civil War. But of course we didn’t know that it was. Thank for reminding me of a happy memory!!
@@daniakalaina My neighbourhood on 1 story bungalows/ villas was built from the 1950s onwards. However just around the corner my neighbour found a very old horseshoe. It turns out that a few hundred meters up the road used to be an old inn, until the early 1600s. My local street's name "Rider's Hill" (though there's no hill over 50 cm. high here) suggests it might have been part of the old Renaissance highway from Copenhagen going southwards. I still keep the horseshoe.
Is Mark a psychic? I literally was just watching Kelly Heroes and then I see my favorite historian uploads this video.
Great job as always Mark.
😃
When the Dutch east indies fell thousands of refugees took to boats, ships and sea planes and headed for Australia. One Ship reportedly had a private treasure from a rich company or family in Java. With boatloads of refugees to deal with in Perth Australia no one noticed when some of those boxes of treasure went missing. The contents worth millions were never seen again and there are no suspects.
So with sheer good luck, this cache of private treasure escaped from the plundering invaders of General Yamashita and then to be partly stolen by somebody in Australia.
Thank you for the interesting information.
Our Father flew some missions under the OSS...part of "Col. Bernt Balchens" clandestine operations. Until he was in his mid 80's Dad would just chuckle and say it was some "hush hush" activity that he couldn't divulge. I finally "pried" details out of him when he was 86 in 2002 when I found some photos of him and his fellow fliers in Stockholm Sweden taken during the war. After my research I learned more about the overall operation than he was ever told and was able to share it with him before he passed away...I also located one of his crewmates (Pilot, Lt. Melvin Westbrook) and they were able to reconnect after all those years.
What a story, just imagine finding such a loot. Very intresting story Dr. Felton. Thanks once again!
“Crazy! I mean like so many positive waves maybe we can’t lose! You’re on!” Oddball
The most interesting heist of German money was by Alan Wicker, of Wicker’s World (BBC travel program).
A German army division surrendered to him in Italy, and handed over their entire treasury.
And Wicker became very wealthy for the rest of his life….
R
How do you know this?
@@coops1964 .
It is a well known story, the cash and the prisoners were handed over to an advancing US armoured column.
AHH that explains the 'well heeled and we'll keeled' Alan Whicker.
Explains Whicker Island too.
He died at the age of 91. He handed over the German payroll and foreign currency to the US military that was close by. He didn't take any. He earned his money in writing and broadcasting.
Thanks!
All those lovely pictures of a large lake... Bodies of water are good hiding places for heavy bars of gold...
Bloody hell been a long time since I've caught your video under 50 likes!
Just a few years ago I was regularly 1
Great to see your well deserved success Dr Felton.
Peace
Charlie 🇬🇧
My father was the officer who was the first American to occupy VonRibentrophs castle. While I don't have any gold, I do have his shoe trees with his name on them!
Then you should read the name twice 😜
Thoughtful gift…
There was also the incident when the Americans having took over a German castle found a false wall and knocked it down to find a fortune in jewellery which actually belonged to the aristocrats who owned the castle. The soldiers were taking diamonds off gold jewellery and sending them to New York but they were caught but not before destroying priceless antiques. They only got a year in jail.
You can only go so far punishing conscripts: it's bad enough telling people to risk their lives for strangers living on another continent, so punishing them for not respecting other people's riches is a hard sell.
I believe your referring to Captain Kathleen Nash and Colonel Jack Durant who stole the Hessian crown jewels.
And it wasn't in NY, but Chicago
Looting at the end of the war was an age old tradition for troops. After long sieges the commanders would allow 1 day for looting the town the besieged. Move up to 1945 and if you’re a grunt and you already saw officers taking things , why wouldn’t you take something for yourself or your family back home? You were literally dragging yourself from the Great Depression and any family you had were subjected to rationing. I know I would in that instance and I really don’t think they should’ve received that 1 year.
@@tarn1135 battles have been lost when the winning side stops to loot.
The movie Kelly’s Heroes was based on the discovery in a French town of a mechanically disabled Sherman tank, several destroyed German tanks and a hole blown through the wall of the town’s bank. This was discovered after the allied forces captured the town. There are no records that would provide evidence of US forces operating behind enemy lines. The movie is a fabricated story based on the evidence found. The soldiers,,except for the tank crewmen, in the movie are wearing 35th Infantry patches on their uniforms. No one is sure what was in the bank. This was explained to me by a NCO while I was in the army reserves.
My grandmother's goldfish's second cousin removed was first to land on D-Day, I always remember how he told me he singlehandedly stormed the bunker on Dog Green with a penknife and an empty magazine, dispatching an entire German platoon with his helmet and a bully beef tin. He never liked to talk about it.
Story sounds kinda fishy to me! 😁👍
Another example that totally embellishes the facts and reads like a fantasy story - it was an empty bully beef tin lol.
Thank you so much for all of your hard work on this! I had heard some of this but most is new to me! Love how detailed you are on all of your episodes!!!
Have seen the film Kelly's Heroes once, and was curious to see if it was based on actual history. Cool to know it was.
Watch it again!
All fiction is based in some truth. The Fairy tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, for example-- was based on true child disappearances.
*James Bond was largely based on Ian Flemming's experiences as a M15 agent.
*All the sci-fi flicks that have been made about UFOs, Area51, Aliens, etc --- the government now admits these things exist.
The actual history was changed in the film showing Kelly's Heroes, with the help from a German Tiger tank crew, spirited the gold from the central bank in Paris, France. 🤣🤣🤣
@@MrSniperdude01 admits they don’t have a clue what they are. Proving me right they got radar contact and a bunch of blurry somethings. Now that they done lying about how much they did not know maybe better answers.
Roswald though was US ballon spy program I believe covered by Mark.
A lot of the early UFO stuff US classified projects after all that the areas they test for
Well Done as always Dr.Felton, Keep them coming !
It’s interesting to note that most commenters either find it humorous that someone might have stolen tons of gold …indicating little criticism of the action…. Or they express anger/dismay that someone would steal it and get away with it…not because they believe it wrong but because the commenter feels angry-jealousy over it having rec’d none of it themselves. The saddest part is the thought of how much of that gold came from theft by the Nazis of the property of ordinary people…or their teeth…. for which the culprits will never be held accountable.
One of your top videos, Dr Felton! Thank you.
If I had battled the Hun across Europe for 3 years,and if I happened to stumble across some gold bars, I would have damn sure tried to get it back home if I could.
Same! My ten commandments honesty only goes as far as 2 bars. Count me in...
I wouldn't, couldn't, blame any combat GI who did grab a bar or two.
It's your golden opportunity. (No pun intended)
No regrets! 🤣
I had a classmate back in the 70's whose Grandfather "liberated" enough gold during his service in Germany in 1944/45 to start a small dry-cleaning business. The old man's stories were very interesting and no, he had zero regrets for the theft.
Regrets? What regrets? Did you think the Nazis had any regrets in looting Europe? Did you think the Soviets had any regrets in looting eastern europe, austria and eastern germany? Probably a lot of the missing gold and other valuables might be found in the Vatican, Switzerland....the british royal family, american politicians....some body knows.....
@@brucemarsico6 Bro, I was simply adding two seconds worth of history on the subject from a firsthand source.
No regrets. 👌
It was his lucky find.
@@stevew6138 (I suspect Bruce uses different types of pipes. I miss my EA Carey pipe days. Senior apartments suck but it beats the street. Best wishes!) HEY BRUCE -- MY GRANDFATHER IN ITALY DID BLACK MARKET DURING WWII. ANY COMMENTS? 😆
@@richburnham7326 Man, I haven't thought about the E.A. Carey pipe club in years.
Rule 1 of war, no looting.
Everyone: *I'ma pretend I didn't see that*
Rule 2 (Unofficial) "Go ahead, nobody's lookin'!"
There was a lot more stolen at the of WWII than just gold. Art, weapons, scientific and industrial equipment and papers....on and on it went. I'd like to see Dr. Felton expand on the topic of loot in wartime Europe.
Haha yeah right
No looting IF no one caught you in the act. Plus, never loot civilian, we are professional looter.
Kelly's Heros happens to be one of my all time favourite movies.
The good Dr. Delivered again🔥👍
I read a book on this. Even the Colonel of the German Mountain regiment (Adolf Weiss) that was given the job of guarding the loot in Bavaria emigrated to Argentina and opened a successful engineering company. An American lieutenant and Sergeant turned up with a four ton truck and loaded it up with foreign currency and gold coins, drove off and were never seen again. Four tons of notes and gold.
Now that’s what I call a real
European vacation, and I want
to thank these warriors for their service…
The missing gold would explain the big bump in the ground behind my shed.
It’s surely possible that post-war networks of Wehrmacht and SS veterans recovered some of this gold. Maybe some of it found it’s way to Argentina; a clandestine organisation capable of smuggling war criminals to South America probably had the means to move bullion too.
@The Jayser, Martin Bormann new and so did the top leader ship of the Nazi regime; the war was lost in 1943! Borman During the war transferred through Swiss banks billions to Juan Peron’s Country of Argentina! The big pay off for post-World War II !
Yes indeed
So post war Germany was just a massive PVP enabled zone. Also superb work as always Dr.Felton
Kelly's heroes is my favorite movie of all time and you can't hear me because you are firing them from your end and they are landing on my end lol
Nothing like some Mark Felton history to make your day.
German tank commander: You the American Army.
Oddball: No baby, we ain't. You know what's inside that bank, man? There's sixteen million dollars worth of gold in that bank sweetheart.
"Woof, Woof, Woof!"
Positive waves!
@@johnc2438 "Anything you say Baby, hehehehe."-Moriarty
You can put yourself in that position can't you? "Boss we found a thousand gold bars......" then " boss we found 500 gold bar's. ..." then boss we found 200 gold bars...... and on and on? It's just human nature! !!
I hate this human nature nonsense. It's in many humans' nature, but it's not universal. People at different, and many aren't as compelled to steal as others, even if given the opportunity.
@@lookingforsomething Pretty easy to say that when your not in that situation.
@@cowboydan507 The vast majority of people are honest. I guess there will always be a minority of dishonest scumbags.
After trying not to die multiple times and watching friends die also I wouldn't be mad at these GIs. They earned it.
As always, a very interesting piece of work, well put together and presented.
The introductory music guarantees 20 minutes of knowledge.
I had always heard that the real Kelly's Heroes story originated from the World War II exploits of the late Castle Donington resident & tank driver, Frederick Bernard "Tom" Wheatcroft who had a building construction business, an extraordinary race car collection & may have owned the Donnington Park race car course. However, it's just a rumor.
one of those rumours .....right !!
Often wondered about all the loot that the Nazis absconded with. Very educational
The Allies absconded with the loot that the Nazis seized after having been looted after WWI.
@@antonmoric1469 you’re a particularly vicious and nauseating little Neo-Nazi, aren’t you?
The allies were looking for gold but in retrospect they should have also collected a few King Tiger and Panther tanks, had they forseen how valuable they were to become these days!
Odd Ball was the smart one in Kelly Heroes, He trade his share of the Gold for a Nazi Tiger I Tank .
@@bjornsmith9431 He got ripped off, It was a piece of junk, the fuel system leaked all over the place.
@@andywilliams1160 Don't forget the not-up-to-moving-X tons transmission.
@@andywilliams1160 true, the Tiger Tank could go no further than 50 miles before it break down, unless Odd Ball live to his 100 with the Tiger Tank, will maintenance, he could get a good market price, he double that Krauts SS soldier share of the loot, the Nazi is laughing all the way to the Banks in Switzerland.
@Sixgun Symphony I thought there was only one surviving King Tiger there but not sure?...what is left there now?
One dreads to imagine how much of that gold came from death camp victim's teeth.
A chapter of history best left in the past not to be repeated.
Absolutely right, along with rings, necklaces, and bracelets. Other gold and jewels came from the looted villages by the death squads.
everyone loves a treasure story.
and this was a good one.
"The British fight for the Queen, the Soviets fight for their motherland, the Japanese fight for the Emperor and the Americans fight for souvenirs"
The souvenirs are the perks. Yay Capitalism.
Correct !
LOL
Germany fights for fatherland
No Americans fight because the Brits need help.
There should be a "paper trail" on the Fischer or Fisher family and their purchases and properties and investments. I assume the research has been done or is ongoing.
So all the gold was taken to a Federal Reserve collection point in Frankfurt. In other words handed over to a privately owned banking cartel. Which leaves me with one conclusion, the Govt don't like the competition from unofficial looting.
Imagine having a country loot Europe then you in turn loot that country and take all the gold they stole including their own gold as well, all the while using a created war as a cover ? They always say follow the money and all roads lead to a privately owned bank, The Federal Reserve ???
Excellent.
Thank you!
Man those were some lucky guys....the ones that kept their mouths shut and managed to organize it. The fact that to this day no one spoke is what is amazing
I was traveling (driving) through Germany many years ago...suddenly I saw a white mountain. White !
- Asked what it was...it turned out to be spoil from the mine at Merkers. Immediately decided to stop in a nearby village and check it out the next day.
-Went down there ... (on the bed of an Unimog truck) !!
So I've been down there !
In the gold chamber ! Amazing !
Deepest mine in Europe.
Cheers, K 🇮🇸 😀
Uploaded 5 min ago, 16 min long, people already commenting on what a good video it was.... 🤔 I knew the man has skills, but damn, time is not linear for Dr Felton
Operation: "Secure The Bag."💰🤣
The Monuments Men were too honest to be left holding the empty bag.
Lol 🤣🤣🤣
You deserve way more liked man
Indeed 😂👍
Sounds like a Saturday night to me 😂
I Was watching Kelly's hero's yesterday thank you for this upload mark
Fantastic story....another great one Mark !!! .......
Yeah, when it comes to tons of gold stashed all over Germany things would probably get a little "sketchy".
Great story Mark! You had 100% of my attention from beginning to end.