Until his death, Adolf Hitler possessed billions of dollars in looted artwork and gold, when he has a net worth of $1 Trillion in today’s money.
Following his death, Hitler’s fortune was divided among top Nazi officials, who fled to Argentina.
Gold and Diamonds
During the invasion of the Czech Republic and Poland, the German army began seizing gold.
Seeing the massive amounts of gold being seized, the High Command decided to relocate the entire wealth to an abandoned Salt Mine near Gotha, Germany.
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France had fallen by the end of 1941, and Europe had fallen under Hitler’s control. The Germans had moved hundreds of tons of gold and diamonds by this point.
According to Forbes, The Nazis have seized more than $140 billion in gold from the Rothschild family.
By the time Patton’s 3rd Army took control of this mine in 1945, top Nazi officials had already taken most of the gold and were on their way to Argentina. The Americans were only able to seize $10 billion in gold.
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Art and Antiques
Hitler, who was an avid painter himself, had a special fondness for looted art.
He gave the SS special instructions that any painting seized be handled with care and transported to Bavaria with proper wooden packing.
Over $100 billion in paintings were shipped to Landsberg, Bavaria, from France, Belgium, and other countries, adjusted for 2024 inflation.
Hitler frequently visited this underground Museum, which had been built specifically for him and contained all of the looted art.
Swiss Accounts
Despite its official neutrality, Switzerland supported Germany during World War II. Hitler was able to store over $20 billion in Swiss banks through a network of shell corporations.
At the end of the war, some of this money was sent to Portugal and Spain in exchange for food and other supplies for the German people.
Following Hitler’s death, the remaining wealth in Swiss accounts vanished without a trace.
Who Inherited Hitler’s Wealth?
Following Hitler’s death, top Nazis such as Aribert Heim and Aarne Kauhanen took control of the art and gold.
Given the logistical difficulties of escaping with all of the art, they left most of it behind and stole some of the most valuable paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Vermeer.
Other Plunders
Since the beginning of the Second World War, Jews have been subjected to systematic dispossession and the transfer of their homes, businesses, artworks, and financial assets.
According to estimates, Hitler and the Nazis stole over $400 billion in such assets from Jews (adjusted for inflation).
Art dealers such as Hildebrand Gurlitt, Ferdinand Moeller, and Bernhard Boehmer set up shop outside Berlin to sell a cache of nearly 18,000 paintings and sculptures removed from the walls of German museums by Hitler and Gรถring.
The Germans seized art collections from prominent Jewish families such as the Rothschilds, Rosenbergs, and Wildensteins.