Is no secred what happen with all those mythical tresures ... never existed ! , nazi knew that war was lost in 1943 they hidden as much gold they could , because gold is "for ever" and inflation prove , when money are year after year less valuable , we use same gold as people have use 5000 years ago , and is still worth something , so what happen with all those tresures , nazi have shiped some to south America , some placed in neutral Swizterland but majority they left in Germany , and (supprise) nazi did not dissapired ! , they stayed in Germany , they where largest criminal network in white gloves , had children , grand children , started companies and ww2 stolen gold is why Germany is richest country in Europe ... meanwhile my great grandfather a ethnic Pole in Poznan , Poland had 5 apartment buildings , a loot of lands , and 8 kg gold in bank , I have couted all that was worth 22M$ in today money , but because Germany attacked Poland , they stole gold , destroyed/burn those appartment buildings ... after war was ended , and communism was forced on Poland state just take those lands because that was owned by "Germans" in ww2 ... so yes F%¤# nazis F¤#% Germans , they need to pay reparations for Poland , is historical justice !
Mark, from what I understand of the SS, Himmler and the orders regarding "treasury" taken from the Jews was strict and unwavering. All items of value were to be logged, packaged and brought to Berlin to the Reichs Treasury. Himmler was very strict regarding this policy and punished many SS personnel who were caught pocketing valuables for themselves. Rauf was a fanatical SS Officer and, in my opinion, would have followed Himmlers policies to the letter. I feel a gold hoard of this size would not have been able to disappear without the knowledge of Rauf. I, therefore, believe that the gold was most likely brought to Germany and to the Reichs Treasury.
Things go missing in war, Rauf might have known. I think alot of these "secret gold hoards" were taken by U-boat to South America and then stories created to Essentially account for the missing gold/throw people off the tail of what actually happened to it. But your theory is very sound. Don't doubt that alot of the gold that was "hidden" was most likely found in that blown up mine.
@@stonedtowel Definitely! They made triplicate documents and were very thorough in their documentation which is what made it possible to prosecute many of them for war crimes.
My father was in Libya in the late 50s. A story he heard was about how the Italian government gathered up valuables from the Italian citizens and hid them from the allies, who the Italian authorities realized would win. According to what my father was told by the individual hunting for the treasure, the valuables were buried along the coastline. Unfortunately, the landmark(s) identifying the location vanished during the war. It would be interesting if this is the same treasure you mention. I've always thought it would make a great movie. Mix in Nazis, the Mafia, and others.
The sore on Rommel's lip seen at time stamp 1:00 was from a type of sand fly that was common in the North African desert. They are notorious for biting people on the lips.
My old headmaster (1970s) was a member of the LRDG during WW2. I remember him talking about crates of gold in the desert not far from the oasis at Siwa. Apparently they didn’t have room for it as they were behind enemy lines at the time. Planned to go back, but either shifting sands covered it or someone else had found the stuff. How true this was/is I’m not sure, but the guy did have small gold Egyptian artefacts in his desk..
About Rauff's last home in Chile. It was located in what was back then a middle class enclave in Vitacura, one of the most affluent quarters in Santiago. The house became notorious after his demise. Neighbors of course started to tell stories about the house, most of which were obviously made-up memories spurred by Rauff's post mortem notoriety. Interestingly enough, few of the stories were about the man himself. He was seldom seen, apparently. The person who told me this, a retired journalist that used to live nearby, said the only thing he remembered clearly was that the house seemed to have a second gate, or "a false entrance", in his words. I hope this helps anyone interested. I tried to keep it clean from rumor and speculation
@@gigachad7153 No at all. My comment contains no allusion, direct or indirect, to the gold. It is simply a footnote to the segment of the video relating Rauff's later years.
Seems to me that such a shipment, if it actually existed, would have been transported by Air due to the distance it had to travel and, of course, the dangers you've mentioned by taking the road. I'm sure the Shipment exists and is either lost or long been spent. Looting near the end of WWII was rampant. So much so said event made it into the Movie "Kelly's Heroes" and if they made a movie about it I'm sure it there was some truth behind it. Granted Kelly's Heroes takes place in a different part of the War but the concept is there, lots of Gold Bars for all that will assist in it's capture...
You should talk about Yamashita's treasure submarine. It is a rampant belief here in the Philippines who believe that Yamashita either buried some treasure somewhere or the submarine carrying it sunk in the bottom. Generations of Filipino treasure hunter are convinced that it's real with many stories of actual people funding treasure hunting expeditions only to find nothing.
Sorry to disappoint but the treasure located in the Phillipines was discovered in a cave by a local. He told someone in authority and they removed it, I believe it went to Marcos who then threatened to kill the finder.
My number one history channel of all time. Another godlike documentary by our beloved teacher. Everything is well explained, well researched based on 100% facts.
Mark, perhaps you would consider doing a video on Mathias Rust, the West German teenager who flew his Cessna into Red Square in 1987 that led to the sacking of many hard line military leaders in the Kremlin and the ascent of reformers under Mikhail Gorbachev. The details would make for a fascinating story!
You gotta realize: His audience is perversely obsessed with a short-lived regime of the UK/USA's longtime boogeyman Germany; and storytelling 70+ years of a murderous/rapist/stealing/occupying USSR, that "we" enabled, doesn't matter to them, doesn't fit the narrative, nor is it lucrative. Plenty material there, but it's easier (& pays) to beat up on Germany ad nauseum
How about a story on "Rommel's Liquor?" Sold at PXs in Germany in the 60s and 70s were small wooden crates of a selection of liquors supposedly looted by Rommel himself from North Africa. The liquor followed a circuitous and mostly unbelievable route to Europe, finally ending up at said PXs. When I was a volunteer curator at a WWII museum we received one of these crates as a donation. My curator-senses started twitching and I did some research. While some wanted to display it, I concluded the tale was too suspect and recommended we drink it all. As far as I know it's still there in the storeroom...
"Never refuse to do a kindness unless the act would work great injury to yourself, and never refuse to take a drink-- under any circumstances." - Mark Twain
Oh my god I love enlisted and mark Felton’s channel independently and there’s nothing better than your favorite channel advertising your favorite game!
With regard to finding the gold, it would not be necessary to Hoover up tons of sand. There is a device known as a magnetometer that detects metal items, and if the ammunition boxes were made of steel, it would leave some imprint in the floor of the Mediterranean Sea. There are also very sophisticated metal detectors and side scanning sonar that could be useful. Of course, that's assuming there's any truth to the idea of there being boxes of gold there.
Pretty sure they would've dug it up deep enough for most conventional metal detectors to not be able to pick it up easily, also, I'm not sure that running a metal detector throughout a whole desert is feasible either
@@atlanntis8064 Magnetometers have a very wide range, and can be utilized much as side scanning sonar is for looking for ships. They are often used to look for shipwrecks in huge expanses of ocean. I know a metal detector works in a similar way, but I'm not sure how sensitive the frequencies can be made in those. I do know that there are some metal detectors that are capable of very deep penetration in the ground.
Better yet use a su bottom profiler this machine tells you in a soft bottom what is beneath the surface up to 25' down and gives you a siloet of the solid object. greetings from Panamá.
I’d love to hear more of these missing and found treasures of ww2. I’d also like to hear you talk about the holy Roman imperial regalia since it was taken and used symbolically in the third reich
When the German invaders occupied Denmark on the 9th of April 1940, they rushed to the Nationalbank of Denmark to seize the gold depot. They opened the safe and it was all gone. The director of the Nationalbank had secretly moved the gold to London and during the Blitz it was transferred to the USA. I'm not sure, but the Norwegians did something similar as far as I can remember. Maybe you can make a video on the Danish action. Someone wrote a book about the incident.
Mark, have you considered a story on Georges Mandel, former French minister of the interior? It's a fascinating tale that many people don't know. Thanks.
Gold is not the most fascinating thing here its the fact that he manage to escape and get to Syria and then later in his life the West German government was paying him a wage. That’s the story in depth that I would be interested in
The intro music always makes it seem like I could be walking into a scene from Dr. Strangelove to be briefed on the situation in the classic WAR room setting lol history channel wishes they could still produce quality of this level. I feel like the buddy from National Treasure that just follows Nicholas Cage while he talks about history.
Jackie Chan had made movie namely armour of God II released in 1991. It was about Afrika korp treasure and how it was buried by Afrika korp unit in North Africa and quest for finding the same.
Hi there, dear Dr.Felton, (Phd History), I have a simple wish and a simple question, and I hope here is the place to mention, that I am sometimes interested in STAZI history. So, I will be very grateful if we have an episode about it and who of the Nazis transitioned to it, and possibly how. Thank you very much in advance. Greetings, Stefan Tsarev, Sofia-Blagoevgrad Bulgaria
Rommel's Treasure was comprehensively dealt with by Spike Milligan and the Goons in 1955. It was buried in a box in the desert 10 feet above the ground...
@@david_fisher I think this is my only observed instance of this phrase that isn't uncalled for, inaccurate or hostile *and* I agree. The Goon Show as a radio performance has to be experienced rather than being told about. I loved Spike's written sense of humour from being a lad. Unfortunately a lot of the performances haven't aged well, in my humble opinion.
Thanks again. I’ll try Enlisted. I’ve bought your advertised products before, and I appreciate the recommendations. Also, I’ve greatly enjoyed 2 of your books now. This channel is one of RU-vid’s best.
If that German diver knew where the gold was and was a salvage diver after the war then why didn't he retrieve the gold? On the other hand maybe he did and just never said anything.
Wow, What a treasure hunt story Mark , very interesting, now In fact , enjoy metal detecting, so this story of Gold was super. Thanks for posting and definitely enjoyed the history lesson for today 🎉✅✅
@Mark Felton Productions RU-vid havent sent me notifications about your new videos for months, until this one, and Ive been subscribed and liking your videos for years. Just a heads up if you notice a drop in viewership (hopefully not the case)
Perhaps I watched too many episodes of “Hogan’s Heroes,” but I always had the impression that no matter what a command organization flowchart might look like, Himmler and the SS was the real military power.
I have come to a similar conclusion. I found Dr Felton's series on Himmler's demise fascinating. There are huge questions raised which will probably never be answered.
Himmler is just a powerful man but not the real power behind the Reich. Herman Goering and his Luftwaffe are just as ambitious as he is, and the Wehrmacht - Heer under the old Prussian aristocrats isn't gonna let either of the two get into power...
I don't think one really operated under the other. The Wermacht Heer was Germany's Army carrying out the orders of and fulfilling their duties to the German state. The SS was the Nazi Party's Army carrying out the orders of and fulfilling the duties to the Nazi Party. As far as I am aware, they operated fairly independently of each other. The Wermacht reigned supreme of course, but where the SS got themselves involved, they had to be listened to. There are similarities to the Communist Party Commissars in the Soviet Red Army, but the Commissars were far more integrated into the Red Army and had greater authority. But there wouldn't be whole separate units of Soviet Commissars doing their own separate missions like the SS. They were 100% integrated into the Soviet Red Army structure, even if they had a separate hierarchy to follow.
@@Banana_Split_Cream_Buns The Waffen-SS was under Wehrmacht operational control, not the other way around as the original comment is suggesting. Militarily the SS was small fry compared to the regular armed forces.
William Stanley Moss, "Gold is where you hide it: What happened to the Reichsbank Treasure" published by Andre Deutsch, London, 1956. ✌ If anyone out there has converted this book into an e-book (pdf), please post it to me. 🙏
I hope your weekend is very relaxing and enjoyable! I just went thru a rough patch, but its over now, I'm thankful my troubles are not life threatening! Hope yours are not aswell!
Maybe “Beyond Oak Island” will take up this after the treasure is eventually found there. Sounds like the making of a new series….. “The Hunt for Rommels Gold”
@@cripplers8 i for one appreciate a good laugh thanks mate! I also appreciate a good joke that may appear like it isn't one to someone, shall we say "more optimistic" (or possibly "more disillusioned"?) hahaha 😆 Plot twist, they find the oak island treasure in 2023, only to discover that IT IS Rommel's gold 😂
In this episode, they dig, find vague pieces of wood, and suffer a machine failure.... With 40/60 minutes being commercials. On the next episode... reference the above
Doesn´t just sound like a movie, it is a movie. Operation Condor (Armour of God II) , an awesome (though not perfectly aged) Jackie Chan film from 1991.
If I understand Gaddafi correctly, that gold might have met the same fate as his weapons stockpiles: deliberately spread across whoever is allied to him...
Dr Felton, I have a question that is not about this video. I have watched the first 1.5 seasons of THE CROWN. In season two there is an episode that partly revolves around the Duke of Windsor trying to get permission to not just move back to the UK, but to also have a job helping the government. But the Powers That Be at that time convinced the Queen to turn him down by giving her all sorts of "secret info" regarding his and Wallis' activities before and during the War. One that is mentioned is Wallis Simpson allegedly having an affair with Joachim von Ribbentrop while he was ambassador in London in the late '30s. Thoughts as to Veracity of these stories?
Not related to this video but I feel like this is the best place to come. Just watched 'a quiet night on the western front' and am wondering if the scenes at the end on armistice Day are actually historically accurate. Were there really parts of the front where the Germans did what they did in the film?
Seems out of character that they would have told the diver what was in the boxes. It also seems unlikely that a sole diver could lift a box full of gold into a cavern by himself. And it seems odd that they would have left him alive to tell the tale.
Excellent video. One thing I'll say is that if an Afrika Korps unit intercepted the shipment and buried it for later retrieval, it is possible that after the war it was quietly retrieved. Six ammo boxes buried in the desert wouldn't have been that hard to transport. Get it to the coast and onto a boat without being seen and well, it's possible. The only way you get to keep things like war booty today are by keeping your mouth completely shut about it.
I'm pretty sure that gold was retrieved just after the war by people involved in it being hidden, after all, would you let it be known that you had the gold, I know I sure wouldnt.
They say they had no luck...... It would be problematic to try and sell nazi gold bars so if they were found they'd be smelted and recast before being sold
You come up with some of the best fantasy theories and polish them for your audience into something that sounds real. Congrats. Just shows how easy it is to keep people stringing along.
