Merkers Mine Part 3

In Part 3 of our Merkers Mine series, the clock is ticking. Under the Yalta agreements, the region containing the mine is slated to be handed over to Soviet control. Every gold bar, suitcase of SS loot, and priceless work of art must be moved to the American zone immediately. Enter Lieutenant George Stout, America’s premier art conservation expert, and the legendary "Monuments Men." Descending into the pitch-black tunnels, they face an impossible logistical nightmare: safely extracting hundreds of delicate, priceless masterpieces—including works by Rembrandt and Manet. In a detail that reads like pure fiction, the American soldiers frantically wrap these uncrates paintings in thousands of abandoned German army sheepskin coats, garments originally tailored for the Nazis' disastrous 1941 winter invasion of Russia.

Meanwhile, the operation to extract 250 tons of gold bullion goes into overdrive. It is a backbreaking, round-the-clock effort to haul thousands of unwieldy bags up a single, shuddering elevator shaft. What follows is a massive, heavily guarded overland transport featuring 10-ton trucks, military police battalions, and continuous P-51 Mustang air cover. But the most valuable discovery of the day might not be the gold itself. Financial expert Colonel Bernard Bernstein uncovers the meticulous internal ledgers of the Reichsbank's precious metals department—the smoking gun that documents exactly whose wealth was stolen, providing crucial evidence that will later be used to prosecute Nazi leaders at the Nuremberg trials.

But this story is not just about staggering wealth; it is inextricably linked to unimaginable horror. This episode returns to the devastating aftermath of the Ohrdruf concentration camp liberation, detailing General Eisenhower's uncompromising order to force local German civilians to march through the camp and witness the atrocities committed in their name—an event that ended in the shocking suicide of the town’s mayor. Today, the Merkers Mine is an adventure tourist attraction with laser light shows, but as we conclude this chapter, we are reminded that much of the Nazi wealth disappeared into the shadows, and the final accounting has never truly been settled. Listen in as we trace the treasure out of the darkness and prepare for the finale of this World War II prelude.