Nazi Millionaires

by Kenneth A. Alford

  11. Exhibit B, “Spacil Diary,” p. 40.

  12. “Undated Memorandum Concerning Spacil,” page stamped 210296.

  13. Exhibit B, “Spacil Diary,” 39.

  14. “Spacil Diary,” p. 39.

  15. “Intermediate Interrogation Report,” August 8, 1945, pp. 26–27. Menzel, Wimmer, and Reisinger made forays into the countryside surrounding Taxenbach on three successive nights to conceal the valuables in their possession. Exactly when they did so is open to some speculation. Some documents suggest the nights of May 2–4, 1945. There is some evidence indicating that Apfelbeck, et. al., buried only one load of treasure on May 7, 1945. Both scenarios are possible, but not consistent with available evidence. Although Spacil wrote in his diary on May 2, 1945, that he drove back to Taxenbach “to expedite the burying of the treasure,” and that the “work was already in progress,” he was almost certainly referring to the preliminary work necessary to collect the gold and valuables and organize their concealment. See “Spacil Diary,” p. 39. This supports the Allied report of events found in the “Undated Memorandum Concerning Spacil,” page stamped 210296. Albert Apfelbeck’s account of the burial of loot on May 7, 1945, found in the undated “Interrogation of Albert Apfelbeck,” refers only to the third installment in the process. The documentation found in the “Intermediate Interrogation Report,” August 8, 1945, pp. 27–28, lends support for this conclusion. The nocturnal activities of May 7, 1945, are treated in detail elsewhere in this chapter.

  16. “Spacil Diary,” p. 40; Dear, Oxford Companion of World War II, p. 486.

  17. “Spacil Diary,” p. 40.

  18. “Spacil Diary,” p. 39; “Interrogations of Franz Konrad,” April 21 and 25, 1945; “Interrogation of Kurt Schiebel,” undated; Emanual E. Minskoff, U.S. Treasury Investigation, 1945.

  19. Konrad was mistaken. The suit of clothes he had was the one Hitler had been wearing during the July 20, 1944, assassination attempt at the Wolfschanze.

  20. “Memorandum of the Interrogation of Spacil,” CIC Headquarters Seventh Army, July 5, 1945.

  21. “Interrogation of Franz Konrad,” April 21, 1945.

  22. “Interrogation of Erwin Haufler,” September 14, 1945.

  23. “Intermediate CIC Interrogation Report,” August 8, 1945, p. 27. According to American agents, Schuster knew a lot more about the burial of the RSHA treasure than he told interrogators. Although he feigned apathy as to what was transpiring around him, claiming “he did not wish to become too involved in the matter,” none of the investigators believed him. “Schuster was at the place where all arrangements were made for the disposition of these caches; he should have more information than he has revealed.” Ibid., p. 28.

  24. “Intermediate Interrogation Report,” August 8, 1945, p. 27. Spacil used cars to transport his loot to secret locations for two reasons. First, moving large trucks about on open roads was a dangerous proposition that often attracted the deadly attention of Allied fighter planes. Schiebel mentioned in his interrogation that strafing interfered with their activities and prevented a number of trucks from arriving at their preassigned destinations. “Interrogation of Kurt Schiebel,” July 5, 1945. If these treasure-laden trucks were damaged or destroyed on open roads, their contents would be looted by anyone passing by. Second, even if the trucks managed to avoid enemy fire, they were too large for the small and rought rails leading into the meadows and woods where Spacil intended to bury the gold and currency. Even so, the cars suffered heavily as a result of the poor roads, which badly damaged all three vehicles.

  25. “Spacil Diary,” p. 39.

  26. “Intermediate Interrogation Report,” August 8, 1945, p. 27. Apparently Captain Albert Apfelbeck was not present on the evenings of May 5 and 6, when the first two carloads of treasure were buried. Why he was absent is unclear.

  27. “Spacil Diary,” pp. 39–40.

  28. “Ludwigsburg Interrogation of Kurt Schiebel”; “Spacil Diary,” p. 40.

  29. “Spacil Diary,” p. 40.

  30. “Intermediate Interrogation Report,” August 8, 1945, p. 27; “Interrogation of Albert Apfelbeck.” Although there is not a hint of it in any of the documents, it is more likely than not that Pulzel’s 18-year-old son was working for Spacil. Otherwise, he would not have been allowed anywhere near a car full of RSHA loot.

  31. “Interrogation of Albert Apfelbeck.” The next day Kurt Schiebel (Spacil’s adjutant) and Albert Apfelbeck gave the owner of the sawmill 100,000 Reichsmarks. Mr. Pulzel was instructed to surrender 4,000 Reichsmarks “to any man who appeared with a written request from either Schiebel or Apfelbeck containing the code word ‘sonne’ (sun).” Pulzel, Apfelbeck recalled, retained 16,000 Reichsmarks “for his pains in the matter.” When Pulzel was questioned a few weeks later by Allied investigators, he admitted having only 46,000 Reichsmarks left, “but he made up the shortage from his bank account and handed over the 100,000 Reichsmarks to the CIC at Zell am See. According to Pulzel, “Apfelbeck had originally left with him a large manila envelope containing jewelry and perhaps foreign securities, but that on the night of 9 or 10 May 1945 Apfelbeck came back and got the envelope.” It seems certain that Captain Apfelbeck knew a lot more than he ever revealed to his captors. “Undated Memorandum Concerning Spacil,” pages stamped 210294–95.

  32. “Spacil Diary,” p. 40; “Intermediate Interrogation Report,” August 8, 1945, p. 28.

  33. “Spacil Diary,” p. 39; “Interrogation of Kurt Schiebel”; “Intermediate Interrogation Report,” August 8, 1945, pp. 27–28, 30. Spacil later claimed Menzel was hauling “38 million Reichsmarks.. also Italian lira, Lithuanian currency, Russian Rubles, Ukrainian currency, and francs” (ibid.), and “300 million marks of English foreign exchanges.” “Spacil Memorandum,” July 27, 1945. Spacil is the only one who claimed that Menzel’s truck had a trailer. None of the other key participants mention it. He may have been referring to the second small truck. More likely, however, he was trying to deceive and confuse his Allied interviewers.

  34. 307th Counter Intelligence Corps, “Report of Robert A. Gutierrez on Josef Spacil,” July 23, 1945.

  Chapter 8 Notes

  1. The History of the Counter Intelligence Corps, The U.S. IntelligenceCenter (Baltimore, 1950), unpublished manuscript, Pages XXV—1 thru XXV—6.

  2. Unfortunately, there is not a substantial body of readily available information on Robert Ritter von Greim. A good, though brief, account is foundin Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr., Hitler ’s Field Marshals and Their Battles (London,1988), pp. 355, 359–61.

  3. James P. O’Donnell, The Bunker: The History of the Reich ChancelleryGroup (New York, 1978), pp. 152–153.

  4. Mitcham, Hitler’s Field Marshals, p. 360.

  5. O’Donnell, The Bunker, p. 153. The Goebbels children were latermurdered, one by one, in the bunker by their parents, who were themselves slainby a staff member on Dr. Goebbels’s orders.

  6. O’Donnell, The Bunker, pp. 153–154; Mitcham, Hitler’s Field Marshals, pp. 360–361.

  7. Mitcham, Hitler’s Field Marshals, p. 361. The sources on the final fewdays of von Greim’s wartime career conflict. This seems to be the most plausibleaccount of his activities.

  8. “The Condemnation of Göring by Hanna Reitsch,” Captain E. Work, November 16, 1945, Air Division, Headquarters U.S. Forces in Austria. TheGermans manufactured more than 5,000 cases of these thin glass cyanideampules hidden inside rifle cartridges modified with a screw top.

  9. CIC, “Interrogation: Introduction Summary of Hanna Reitsch,”November 1, 1945. Reitsch’s explanation as to why she destroyed Bormann’sletter is not persuasive. At that late date it is unlikely she would have gone to thetrouble of destroying a letter of such little consequence.

  10. Some of the CIC documents concerning Spacil refer to him as “WilhelmSpacil.” His given name is actually “Josef.” In addition, some of the documentssay he was disguised as a corporal, when in fact he was dressed as a sergeant.

  11. 307th Counter Intelligence Corps Detachmen
t, “InterrogationMemorandum, Josef Spacil,” July 27, 1945, hereinafter cited as “SpacilMemorandum”; Document 3839-PS, “Statement of SS-Oberführer JosefSpacil,” The Nizcorp Project, http://www.nizkor.org.

  12. CIC, “Headquarters Seventh Army Memorandum,” June 16, 1945.Although this document does not offer the actual conversation betweenSchlemmer and Alter, it is detailed enough to reconstruct the exchange.

  13. CIC, “Headquarters Seventh Army Memorandum,” June 16, 1945;“Spacil Memorandum,” July 27, 1945.

  14. CIC, “Wilhelm Spacil Information Regarding the Discovery ofShipment 31,” page stamped 210298; CIC, “Headquarters Seventh ArmyMemorandum,” June 16, 1945; “Spacil Memorandum,” July 27, 1945.

  15. “Spacil Memorandum,” July 27, 1945. The Allies were aware of a groupof agents led by an American who worked under the code name “Wendig.” Theassociation, which specialized in securities (mostly counterfeit), worked out ofnorthern Italy. SS General Friedrich Schwend, alias “Wendig,” the distributor of the counterfeit English pound notes, operated briefly at this time near his homein northern Italy. He was introduced in detail in an earlier chapter.

  16. “Spacil Memorandum,” July 27, 1945.Spacil is likely lying about draining funds from the Reichsbank “at the point of a gun on my order.”

  17. “Spacil Memorandum,” July 27, 1945; “Memorandum for the Officer inCharge of the Interrogation of Josef Spacil,” July 5, 1945. Though he did notreveal the name of the “capable Untersturmführer,” Spacil was referring toMenzel, who left Taxenbach for Graz, Austria on May 7, 1945. Like so manycaptured SS officers, Spacil was prone to exaggeration and outright lying. Heclaimed to have firsthand information about the concealment of the ThirdReich’s historic insignia, which consisted of Charlemagne’s golden apple, crown, ball, and scepter (also known as the imperial crown jewels). Spacil claimed the priceless artifacts had been seized by the Gestapo and dumped “in a lake near Zell am See” inside zinc caskets. In reality, they had been hidden insidethe Paniers Platz bunker in downtown Nuremberg in four copper containers. For more information on this fascinating story, see Kenneth D. Alford,GreatTreasure Stories of World War II (Savas Publishing, 1999), pp. 129–133.

  18. Seventh Army Interrogation Center, “CIC Interrogation of GottlobBerger,” June 5 1945; “Interrogation of Otto Ohlendorf,” by Henry Schneider, December 14, 1945, p. 30; Hugh R. Trevor-Roper, The Last Days of Hitler (NewYork, 1947).

  19. “Interrogation of Gottlob Berger,” June 5 1945.

  20. “Interrogation of Gottlob Berger,” June 5, 1945; Elroy P. Perez,“Chronological Report on Mittenwald Mission,” June 9, 1945.

  21. 10th Armored Division, “William R. Geilu Memorandum,” June 6,1945; Telephone Memo File, June 11, 1945, “Call from Frankfurt” (U.S. ForeignExchange Depository) confirming the expected convoy of gold and foreigncurrency, and that it arrived yesterday evening as expected. “All the material wassafely delivered and checked into the currency section of the Reichsbank.” Also entered on the U.S. Foreign Exchange Depository books on June 10, 1945.

  22. 307th CIC, Headquarters Seventh Army, “Memorandum for Officer inCharge,” July 27, 1945; “Spacil Interrogation,” July 27, 1945. Although Spacil did not reveal the name of the agent supposedly holding onto Hitler’s andBraun’s personal papers, he was almost certainly referring to SSHauptsturmführer (Captain) Franz Konrad.

  23. “Wilhelm [sic] Spacil Information Regarding the Discovery ofShipment 31,” page stamped 210298; 307th Counter Intelligence Corps, “Reportby Richard C. Cahoon,” June 16, 1945.

  24. “Report by Richard C. Cahoon,” June 16, 1945.

  Chapter 9 Notes

  1. “Interrogation of Franz Konrad,” August 21, 1945. Konrad specifically mentioned his thoughts when the American officer predicted his fate for him.

  2. CIC Report, “Apprehension of Hauptsturmführer Franz Konrad,” undated. Schutzinger was questioned by American investigators and held for two days. He confirmed only that Konrad had lived in his hotel, left his rucksack there, and returned to retrieve it. He denied receiving anything from Konrad. After Konrad was apprehended and questioned investigators returned to talk with Schutzinger. The 50,000 Reichsmarks Konrad had left behind were discovered and confiscated. “Interrogation of Franz Schutzinger,” November 3, 1945.

  3. “Interrogations of Rudolf Meier,” October 23 and 25, 1945.

  4. “Interrogations of Rudolf Meier,” August 22 and October 25, 1945.

  5. [CIC Memorandum, “Apprehension of Franz Konrad,” undated.]

  6. “Apprehension of Franz Konrad,” undated.

  7. “Interrogation of Franz Konrad,” August 21, 1945.

  8. “Statements Made by Ursula von Bieler to Walter Hirschfeld,” August18, 1945.

  9. CIC Memorandum, “Ownership and Disposal of Effects Recovered as a Result of Interrogation of Oberführer [Josef] Spacil, head of Amt. II, RSHA,” February 4, 1946.

  10. “Ownership and Disposal of Effects Recovered as a Result of Interrogation of Oberführer [Josef] Spacil, head of Amt. II, RSHA,” February 4, 1946.

  11. “Ownership and Disposal of Effects Recovered as a Result of Interrogation of Oberführer [Josef] Spacil, head of Amt. II, RSHA,” February 4, 1946. The color film footage shown routinely on The History Channel of Hitler and Eva Braun enjoying a few private moments together is from the film Konrad stashed away with his relatives.

  12. “Interrogation of Rudolf Meier,” October 25, 1945; CIC Memorandum, “Recovery of Funds Pursuant to Investigation of Hauptsturmführer Franz Konrad,” October 24, 1945. The questions posed by Agent Robert Gutierrez in this book are reconstructed from the responses recorded by those interrogated.

  13. “Recovery of Funds Pursuant to Investigation of Hauptsturmführer Franz Konrad,” October 24, 1945. Gutierrez recovered 365,898 Reichsmarks, leaving a difference of 34,102 marks. Konrad retrieved some of the currency during at least one of his frequent visits, which likely accounts for the discrepancy.

  14. “Interrogation of Rudolf Meier,” October 23, 1945.

  15. CIC, “Interrogation of Barbara Kalewska,” October 23, 1945. This interview is long and much of it does not apply directly to the subject at hand. Consequently, some of the quoted material is pieced together to provide readers with a clearer picture of Kalewska’s relationship with Franz Konrad and her conversation with Agent Gutierrez.

  16. CIC Report, “Frau Johannes Göhler, Bruck Bei, Zell Am See,” August14, 1945, unsigned; “Interrogation, Ursula Göhler,” August 14, 1945.

  17. “Interrogation of Fritz Konrad,” October 31, 1945; “Interrogation of Minna Konrad,” October 31, 1945.

  18. “Interrogation of Frau Konrad,” November 1, 1945; “Interrogation of Willy Pichler,” November 1, 1945.]

  19. The four Polish Jews working at Fischhorn and interrogated by the CIC included Abraham Szulman, Josef Kolnierzyk, Gerdalje Piernik, and Abraham Granas. See CIC “Memorandum for the Officer in Charge: Subject Konrad Franz,” prepared by Meir Ben-Horin, Special Agent, March 26, 1946.

  20. “CIC Memorandum Concerning Franz Konrad,” by Special Agent BenJ. M. Gorby, September 27, 1946; “CIC Memorandum Concerning FranzKonrad,” by Special Agent Ben J. M. Gorby, November 5, 1946.

  21. “Memorandum Concerning Franz Konrad,” September 27, 1946;“Memorandum Concerning Franz Konrad,” November 5, 1946.

  22. “Memorandum Concerning Franz Konrad,” September 27, 1946; “Memorandum Concerning Franz Konrad,” November 5, 1946.

  23. “Memorandum Concerning Franz Konrad,” September 27, 1946; “Memorandum Concerning Franz Konrad,” November 5, 1946; “Counter Intelligence Arrest Report for Franz Konrad,” September 26, 1946. There is some question as to whether Albers was a reliable undercover agent or truly sympathetic to Konrad’s predicament. The reports are ambiguous on this point. Special Agent Ben J. M. Gorby may not have fully trusted him. Language such as “Our agent claims…” and “our agent admitted…” does not manifest firm reliance on his testimony. According to
one report, agents refused Albers’ later help in re-arresting Konrad. The probability that Konrad could escape was next to impossible. Just because he was “committed” to trying does not justify Albers’ excuse—“in order to gain his trust”—for blowing his undercover status. Was Albers lured by riches Konrad had hidden away and offered to him in exchange for his help? Perhaps he was sympathetic to the German cause and the SS officer’s personal plight. When he received the September 21st letter, Albers—wise in the ways of counter intelligence—may have suspected he was being set up. If the Americans were on to him and had read the letter, he would be arrested unless he acted. Guided by this fear, therefore, Albers reported that Konrad was hiding in Amberg. However, it is also plausible Albers acted exactly as ordered. Konrad’s escape was almost too easy. Did the CIC arrange it so they could track him to his hidden valuables and others in his network? Did the CIC arrange for him to be placed in an unguarded boxcar with a loose floor board and a ready-made stranger (agent) to guide him to it? We may never know. It should also be noted that Albers went out of his way to convince the CIC that the Wilhelm family “had no knowledge of Konrad’s background,” and that the ex-SS man had merely “introduced himself to them as [his] personal friend.” Ibid., November 5, 1946. It is impossible to determine whether the Wilhelms were complicit in the affair.

  24. “Memorandum Concerning Franz Konrad,” September 27, 1946; “Memorandum Concerning Franz Konrad,” November 5, 1946;]

  25. CIC, “Report,” by Robert A. Gutierrez, October, 14, 1945; “Report of Conversation with Mr. and Mrs. Fegelein,” compiled by Walter Hirschfeld, September 22, 1945; Eva’s Jewelry Ordered Sent to Washington,” Stars and Stripes, December 5, 1945.

  Chapter 10 Notes

  1. “Top Secret, Report by Walter Hirschfeld,” September 19, 1945.