Evening star., 1945-04-08
S100,000,000
Bullion Stock
Hidden in Mine
Sd Army Coup May
! Rob German Army
! Of Payroll Funds
By The Associated Pres.

bS iiit Fo5OC .dLtu fIbSS-
WITH THE UNITED STATES
Sd ARMY, April THE golden
treasure of Adolf Hitler's COL
lapsing Reich-more than 100
tons of gold bullion (about $780,
,000), the currencies of many
nations, and stacks of priceless
art Works-WaS captured today
by the Sd Army in an unexpected
haul that may shorten the war
by robbing the German Army Of
its payroll.
The stupendous cache, its full
value as yet undetermined but pos
Sibly worth billions of dollars, was
found in hidden salt mine at
Merkers, 18 miles southeast of Hers
field, when two talkative German
women spilled the secret to military
police
Reichsbank officials on the spot
said the bullion represented all
the gold in Germany" and the Ger
man Army gave some confirmation
by trying desperately to get back
into Merkers today with a heavy
counterattack in the Muhlhausen
area 80 miles north, in which the
United States 9th Armored and 65th
Infantry Divisions knocked out 40
enemy tanks and smashed the at
tack
Under Seal in Vault.
Some 200 British prisoners of war
who had been employed in the mine.
which is called the Werks Kaiseroda,
said they had seen 20 lotion truck
loads of gold unloaded in the mine.
This would mean 200 tons of gold.
but the German bankers insisted
that something over 100 tons was
the correct amount.
The gold still is under seal in .
huge subterranean vault, and Sd
Army officers said its value would
not be known until American
finance officers break the seals and
audit the hoard. They expressed be-
lief, however, that the German
bankers were telling the truth.
Going down into the mine in a
big double decker elevator. officers
of the Goth Infantry Division.
which made the find, inspected the
vast quantities of German, United
States. British and other currencies
and the great crates of paintings
and other art works.
One of the captured officials said
the currency was particularly
needed by the German Army to
meet payrolls and buy goods from
Switzerland or Sweden. and that 1t
could not be replaced because Allied
bombings had smashed German en-
craving plants.
Women Give Away Secret.
The 9Oths unusual haul came
about in quaint fashion. The divi-
sion entered the little salt-mining
village Thursday, knowing nothing
of the cache Last night two Ger
man women were found on the
street after the curfeW They eX-
planned to military police that they
we're looking for midwife for,a
friend who was having a baby. Dur
ing the course of the conversation
the women mentioned that some
thing of great value had been stored
recently in the mine.
The division already had found
that DR.. Fritz Week. one of the
eight directors of the Reichsbank,
two other bank officials, and DR..
P. O. Rabe, curator of the German
state museum were in Merkers.
Division officers told the Germans
to show up today at the mine for a
treasure hunt. The Germans did
so. and-once the secret was out
talked freely.
The booty in the mine included
three billion German marks, two
million dollars in American cur
francs, 10000 British pounds. four
million Norwegian crowns and lesser
amounts in Turkish pounds, Spanish
pesetaS and Portuguese escudos
The art treasure, assembled from
Germany's national art galleries
last February. included originals by
Raphael. Van Dyke and Durer.
There also were 120 cases Of
Goethe'S original manuscripts.
The Germans started moving
their gold reserve and currency
(See GOLD. Page A-4D
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