Selected records from the Bernard Bernstein Nazi gold file
Extent and Medium
boxes
6
82 microfiche,
Creator(s)
- Bernard Bernstein
Biographical History
Bernard Bernstein served as a Lt. Colonel and Colonel in the United States Army during the war. Col. Bernstein was Financial Advisor in the Office of the Military Governor, United States (OMGUS). An attorney by training, Bernstein was involved in investigating the economic assets of the Third Reich, particularly its looted gold, in the later years of the war.
Archival History
Truman Presidential Museum and Library
Acquisition
Cite the Truman Presidential Museum and Library as holder of originals
The collection was received by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum on 3 November 1999 from the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum (National Archives and Records Administration).
Scope and Content
Contains correspondence, reports, newspaper clippings, and other materials concerning Nazi Germany's gold and other financial assets. Much of this material relates to the discovery by U.S. forces of a large cache of Nazi treasure in the Kaiseroda salt mine at Merkers, Germany, in April 1945. Colonel Bernstein was responsible for safeguarding and preparing an inventory of these valuables, which included gold, currency, works of art, and loot taken from victims in Nazi concentration or extermination camps. Also includes documentation of the financial aspects of the war, efforts to compensate the victims of Nazi aggression, and the continuing interest among journalists and historians in the wealth and plunder of the Third Reich.
System of Arrangement
Arrangement is alphabetical by subject
People
- Bernstein, Bernard, 1908-1990.
Corporate Bodies
- Allied Military Government
Subjects
- Restitution and indemnification claims (1933-)
- Jewish property.
- Confiscations.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Economic aspects.
- World War, 1939-1945--Confiscations and contributions.
- Gold--Europe--History--20th century.
Genre
- Document
Copies
-
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum holds copies of Holocaust-relevant archives from Truman Presidential Museum and Library