Nazi Stolen Treasures at the Merkers Salt Mine

 Merrill Rudes was a prominent Ottawa County, Ohio, probate and juvenile courts judge. Born in Genoa, Ohio in 1920, he served as a captain in General George Patton’s Third Army during World War II. Captain Rudes was with the Third Army as it crossed the Rhine, plunging deep into German territory. While on patrol near Thuringa, Captain Rudes met two women who had worked as forced labor at the nearby Merkers mine. They told him of “treasure in the Salt Mines.”  According to a March 2019 wtol.com (Toledo, Ohio) article, Rudes included their information in his notes and sent it up to headquarters.

On April 8^th, 1945, U.S. Army officials followed up on Rudes’ notes. There, in the mine, they discovered more than 500 masterpieces by artists such as Rubens, Vermeer, Rembrandt, Manet, Titian, and others. The vault inside Merkers contained the Nazis’ stolen gold, silver, platinum, sculptures, drawings, and also valuables confiscated from Holocaust victims.

  

Generals Eisenhower, Bradley, and Patton examining valuables stolen by the SS from Jews in concentration camps 

Courtesy of National Archives

Immediately, Patton informed Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower and Omar Bradley. On the 12^th, the three generals descended more than 2,100 feet into the mine to personally inspect its treasures. General Eisenhower was visibly moved when he saw those items taken by the SS from Jews at the concentration camps.

That night while discussing the protection and movement of the treasures, the three generals learned of President Franklin Roosevelt’s death. According to the earlier Yalta Conference agreement, this area would become part of the Russian sector once the war ended. The generals planned to remove the treasures as quickly as possible via a heavily-guarded convoy that included air cover. The artwork, many pieces wrapped in sheepskin overcoats, abandoned by the Nazis, was transferred within days to Wiesbaden and then Frankfurt. 

Young Woman with the Pearl Necklace by Vermeer, 1664
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

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In late 1946, amid strong opposition, 202 of the most important works were brought to the U.S. President Truman, personally, gave his assurance the paintings were not confiscated, but only temporarily moved for better protection at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. 

Two years later, when conditions improved, General Lucius Clay ordered the artwork returned. But many Americans wanted to see the paintings before they left for Europe. The Army agreed to a traveling exhibit that would take the paintings on a 12,000-mile journey to 14 of the nation’s leading museums. An estimated 7 million Americans saw the European masterpieces. An requested admission fee of 30 cents raised more than $190,000 which the U.S. Army used for the support of orphans in the American sector of Germany.

Generals Eisenhower, Bradley, and Patton Looking at Stolen Artwork

"Paintings from the Berlin Museums" Exhibition, 1948

                         Courtesy of  National Gallery of Art

The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C. was the first to display the paintings beginning March 17th to April 25th, 1948. In 40 days 964,970 visitors attended the exhibit. The original frames had  been removed for storage. Because they were lost in a fire, the gallery used simple wood moldings to display the paintings.  Fifty of the most fragile paintings (mostly on panels) were returned immediately. After the Boston exhibit another fifty paintings  were returned.

In March 1949, over a 10-day period, more than 100,000 visitors saw the exhibit at the Toledo Museum of Art. The exhibit was in part made possible by the museum’s director Otto Wittman, one of the Monuments Men (now made famous by George Clooney’s movie). Area businesses raised funds so that 42,000 schoolchildren could attend. As Toledo was the tour’s final stop they would be among the last Americans to see the masterpieces all in one place in the U.S.

Note: For a detailed account of events at Merkers mine, see  Greg Bradsher's article in the National Archives publication "Prologue," Volume 31, No.1, Spring 1999.