Hungarian Gold Train
Encyclopedia
The Hungarian Gold Train was the case of a Nazi-operated train during World War II
that carried stolen valuables, mostly Hungarian Jewish persons' property, from Hungary
towards Berlin
in 1945. After seizure of the train by American
forces, almost none of the valuables were returned to Hungary or their rightful owners or their surviving family members.
—the invasion of Hungary. The Arrow Cross Party
- the fascist government of Hungary, led by Ferenc Szálasi
- collaborated with their Nazi occupiers in forcing the estimated 800,000 Jewish citizens of Hungary to hand over all of their valuables to government officials. This included gems, golden jewelry, wedding rings and anything else considered to be of high monetary value. After they handed over their property, everything was put into individual bags and boxes which identified the owners and receipts were issued. After a majority of the Hungarian Jews were shipped to concentration camps, mostly to Auschwitz-Birkenau
where most were murdered, Hungarian authorities re-sorted all the confiscated valuables into content categories. By that time it was all but impossible to identify proper ownership of any of the valuables.
In late 1944, the Soviet Army
was advancing on the Hungarian capital of Budapest
. A government official appointed by the Schutzstaffel (SS)
named Árpád Toldi concocted a plan to evacuate much of the Jewish loot out of Hungary. Toldi ordered large amounts of the loot onto a 42 car freight train
that was to head for Germany.
According to various reports about the train, the contents included gold, gold jewelry, gems, diamonds, pearls, watches, about 200 paintings, Persian and Oriental rugs, silverware, chinaware, furniture, fine clothing, linens, porcelains, cameras, stamp-collections and currency (mostly US dollars and Swiss francs). Jewish organizations and the Hungarian government estimated the total value of the train's contents at $350 million in 1945 or almost $4 billion in 2007 adjusted for inflation. Other estimates of the contents' 1945 worth are from $50 million to $120 million or $570 million to $1.7 billion in 2007 adjusted for inflation.
As the train meandered throughout Hungary and Austria
, it stopped occasionally to transfer a great amount of the gold to trucks. The fate of the gold on those trucks remains unknown.
In Austria, the train was eventually seized by Allied
troops, first by the French Army
and then finally by the United States Army
near the town of Werfen
in May, 1945.
policy agreed upon at the 1946 Final Act of Paris Reparation Conference and by the Five-Power Agreement for Non-Repatriable Victims of Germany was to sell ownerless property for the benefit of non-repatriable refugees. These agreements were the basis for the creation of the Preparatory Committee for the International Refugee Organization
(IRO).
The US had a different policy towards works of art. In accordance with long-standing international agreements, the US has a policy of restitution that "looted works of art and cultural material will be restituted to the governments of the countries from which they were taken."
Shortly after the US army seizure of the train, the majority of the assets were transferred to a Military Government Warehouse in Salzburg
. The paintings, however, were stored in a Salzburg Residenz
. As ownership of the valuables was impossible to ascertain, the official US position, as stipulated by United States Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall, was that the belongings were to be given to refugee aid organizations in accordance with international restitution agreements.
However, the Central Board of Jews in Hungary, an organization representing Jewish interests in Hungary, and the new government of Hungary, were aware of the American seizure of the train and lobbied extensively, and sometimes passionately, for the return of all the contents of the train to Hungary where they could be sorted in an effort to return them to their rightful owners or their family members. The US Government continually ignored the Hungarian pleas.
The majority of the remaining assets from the train were either sold through Army exchange stores
in Europe in 1946 or auctioned off in New York City
in 1948 with the proceeds going to the IRO. According to The New York Times
the auction receipts totaled $152,850.61, or approximately $1.3 million in 2007 adjusted for inflation. Items of clothing allocated for Army exchange store sales that were considered of lesser value were turned over to a Division chaplain
for distribution "to needy DPs" (displaced person
s).
Some of the property from the train ended up in the possession of high ranking US Army officers who were stationed in Central Europe to oversee post-war and Marshall Plan
reconstruction efforts. By requisition order of Major General Harry J. Collins
, Commander of the 42nd Infantry Division (the famed "Rainbow" Division), many of the items were used to furnish his home. Other items furnished the homes and offices of other US military officers including Brigadier General
Henning Linden and General Edgar E. Hume. The property included chinaware, silverware, glassware, rugs and table and bed linen.
The ultimate fate of approximately 200 paintings seized from the train is unknown. As they were deemed "cultural assets" under official US restitution policy, they should have been returned to their country of origin. That country should have been Hungary but the paintings somehow came into the possession of the Austrian government and their current whereabouts is unknown.
created the Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States. In a report prepared by the committee that was published in October 1999 which detailed the handling of the train's assets by the United States, the committee cited a multitude of "shortcomings" of the US restitution efforts in Austria that eventually led to the property from the Hungarian Gold Train being so readily dispersed by United States officials. It concluded that the application of several policies regarding many assets on the train ensured they were never returned to their rightful owners.
In 2001 a lawsuit against the United States government 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.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
that carried stolen valuables, mostly Hungarian Jewish persons' property, from Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
towards Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
in 1945. After seizure of the train by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
forces, almost none of the valuables were returned to Hungary or their rightful owners or their surviving family members.
Background
With the Soviet Army about 100 miles away from Hungary, on March 7, 1944 Hitler launched Operation MargaretheOperation Margarethe
During World War II, the Germans planned two discrete operations using the codename Margarethe.Operation Margarethe I was the occupation of Hungary by German forces on 19 March 1944. The Hungarian government was an ally of Nazi Germany, but had been discussing an armistice with the Allies...
—the invasion of Hungary. The Arrow Cross Party
Arrow Cross Party
The Arrow Cross Party was a national socialist party led by Ferenc Szálasi, which led in Hungary a government known as the Government of National Unity from October 15, 1944 to 28 March 1945...
- the fascist government of Hungary, led by Ferenc Szálasi
Ferenc Szálasi
Ferenc Szálasi was the leader of the National Socialist Arrow Cross Party – Hungarist Movement, the "Leader of the Nation" , being both Head of State and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Hungary's "Government of National Unity" for the final three months of Hungary's participation in World War II...
- collaborated with their Nazi occupiers in forcing the estimated 800,000 Jewish citizens of Hungary to hand over all of their valuables to government officials. This included gems, golden jewelry, wedding rings and anything else considered to be of high monetary value. After they handed over their property, everything was put into individual bags and boxes which identified the owners and receipts were issued. After a majority of the Hungarian Jews were shipped to concentration camps, mostly to Auschwitz-Birkenau
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
where most were murdered, Hungarian authorities re-sorted all the confiscated valuables into content categories. By that time it was all but impossible to identify proper ownership of any of the valuables.
The "Gold Train"
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
was advancing on the Hungarian capital of Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
. A government official appointed by the Schutzstaffel (SS)
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
named Árpád Toldi concocted a plan to evacuate much of the Jewish loot out of Hungary. Toldi ordered large amounts of the loot onto a 42 car freight train
Freight train
A freight train or goods train is a group of freight cars or goods wagons hauled by one or more locomotives on a railway, ultimately transporting cargo between two points as part of the logistics chain...
that was to head for Germany.
According to various reports about the train, the contents included gold, gold jewelry, gems, diamonds, pearls, watches, about 200 paintings, Persian and Oriental rugs, silverware, chinaware, furniture, fine clothing, linens, porcelains, cameras, stamp-collections and currency (mostly US dollars and Swiss francs). Jewish organizations and the Hungarian government estimated the total value of the train's contents at $350 million in 1945 or almost $4 billion in 2007 adjusted for inflation. Other estimates of the contents' 1945 worth are from $50 million to $120 million or $570 million to $1.7 billion in 2007 adjusted for inflation.
As the train meandered throughout Hungary and Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, it stopped occasionally to transfer a great amount of the gold to trucks. The fate of the gold on those trucks remains unknown.
In Austria, the train was eventually seized by Allied
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
troops, first by the French Army
French Army
The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...
and then finally by the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
near the town of Werfen
Werfen
Werfen is a market town in the St. Johann im Pongau district, in the Austrian state of Salzburg. It is located in the Pongau region, on the southern rim of the Berchtesgaden Alps in the valley of the Salzach river, about south of the city of Salzburg...
in May, 1945.
Fate of valuables from the "Gold Train"
The official United States asset restitutionRestitution
The law of restitution is the law of gains-based recovery. It is to be contrasted with the law of compensation, which is the law of loss-based recovery. Obligations to make restitution and obligations to pay compensation are each a type of legal response to events in the real world. When a court...
policy agreed upon at the 1946 Final Act of Paris Reparation Conference and by the Five-Power Agreement for Non-Repatriable Victims of Germany was to sell ownerless property for the benefit of non-repatriable refugees. These agreements were the basis for the creation of the Preparatory Committee for the International Refugee Organization
International Refugee Organization
The International Refugee Organization was founded on April 20, 1946 to deal with the massive refugee problem created by World War II. A Preparatory Commission began operations fourteen months previously. It was a United Nations specialized agency and took over many of the functions of the earlier...
(IRO).
The US had a different policy towards works of art. In accordance with long-standing international agreements, the US has a policy of restitution that "looted works of art and cultural material will be restituted to the governments of the countries from which they were taken."
Shortly after the US army seizure of the train, the majority of the assets were transferred to a Military Government Warehouse in Salzburg
Salzburg
-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...
. The paintings, however, were stored in a Salzburg Residenz
Residenz
Residenz is a very formal, otherwise obsolete, German word for "place of living". It is in particular used to denote the building or town where a sovereign ruler resided, therefore also carrying a similar meaning as the modern expressions seat of government or capital...
. As ownership of the valuables was impossible to ascertain, the official US position, as stipulated by United States Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall, was that the belongings were to be given to refugee aid organizations in accordance with international restitution agreements.
However, the Central Board of Jews in Hungary, an organization representing Jewish interests in Hungary, and the new government of Hungary, were aware of the American seizure of the train and lobbied extensively, and sometimes passionately, for the return of all the contents of the train to Hungary where they could be sorted in an effort to return them to their rightful owners or their family members. The US Government continually ignored the Hungarian pleas.
The majority of the remaining assets from the train were either sold through Army exchange stores
Army and Air Force Exchange Service
The Exchange is an agency of the United States Department of Defense. Its dual missions are to provide quality merchandise and services of necessity and convenience to authorized customers at uniform low prices, and to generate reasonable earnings to supplement appropriated funds for the support...
in Europe in 1946 or auctioned off in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1948 with the proceeds going to the IRO. According to The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
the auction receipts totaled $152,850.61, or approximately $1.3 million in 2007 adjusted for inflation. Items of clothing allocated for Army exchange store sales that were considered of lesser value were turned over to a Division chaplain
Chaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
for distribution "to needy DPs" (displaced person
Displaced person
A displaced person is a person who has been forced to leave his or her native place, a phenomenon known as forced migration.- Origin of term :...
s).
Some of the property from the train ended up in the possession of high ranking US Army officers who were stationed in Central Europe to oversee post-war and Marshall Plan
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was the large-scale American program to aid Europe where the United States gave monetary support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II in order to combat the spread of Soviet communism. The plan was in operation for four years beginning in April 1948...
reconstruction efforts. By requisition order of Major General Harry J. Collins
Harry J. Collins
Harry J. Collins , was an Army Major General.-Biography:He was born on December 7, 1895 in Chicago, Illinois....
, Commander of the 42nd Infantry Division (the famed "Rainbow" Division), many of the items were used to furnish his home. Other items furnished the homes and offices of other US military officers including Brigadier General
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
Henning Linden and General Edgar E. Hume. The property included chinaware, silverware, glassware, rugs and table and bed linen.
The ultimate fate of approximately 200 paintings seized from the train is unknown. As they were deemed "cultural assets" under official US restitution policy, they should have been returned to their country of origin. That country should have been Hungary but the paintings somehow came into the possession of the Austrian government and their current whereabouts is unknown.
Developments since 1998
Most of the details of the Hungarian Gold Train were kept secret from the public by the United States government until 1998. In that year, United States President Bill ClintonBill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
created the Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States. In a report prepared by the committee that was published in October 1999 which detailed the handling of the train's assets by the United States, the committee cited a multitude of "shortcomings" of the US restitution efforts in Austria that eventually led to the property from the Hungarian Gold Train being so readily dispersed by United States officials. It concluded that the application of several policies regarding many assets on the train ensured they were never returned to their rightful owners.
In 2001 a lawsuit against the United States government was filed by Hungarian Holocaust survivors in a Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
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.
External links
- The Hungarian Gold Train Settlement
- Push continues to rectify Nazi-era looting of a 'Gold Train'. Jeff Shields, Dec. 12, 2003. Jewish World Review.