Did the U.S. Army Rob Holocaust Victims?
U.S. soldiers did some of their own looting in a Europe devastated by World War II, according to President Bill Clinton’s Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States. In May 1945, as the war drew to a close, a train loaded with valuables including gold, jewelry, paintings and rugs taken from Hungarian Jews by the Nazis was abandoned in a tunnel in Austria. American soldiers took control of the so-called Gold Train, but made no attempt to return the loot — which was accompanied by a list of owners’ names — to Hungary, the commission says. Part of the treasure disappeared immediately. The rest was sent to military warehouses in Austria; some of it was requisitioned by high-ranking U.S. Army officers for their personal use. At the time, U.S. policy stated that identifiable art and cultural material should be returned to the country it was taken from. However, according to the report, the property was not returned, even though members of the Jewish community gave assuran
U.S. soldiers did some of their own looting in a Europe devastated by World War II, according to President Bill Clinton’s Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States. In May 1945, as the war drew to a close, a train loaded with valuables including gold, jewelry, paintings and rugs taken from Hungarian Jews by the Nazis was abandoned in a tunnel in Austria. American soldiers took control of the so-called Gold Train, but made no attempt to return the loot — which was accompanied by a list of owners’ names — to Hungary, the commission says. Part of the treasure disappeared immediately. The rest was sent to military warehouses in Austria; some of it was requisitioned by high-ranking U.S. Army officers for their personal use. At the time, U.S. policy stated that identifiable art and cultural material should be returned to the country it was taken from. However, according to the report, the property was not returned, even though members of the Jewish community gave assuran
