90 Infantry Division (USA) find nazigold at Merkers

On March 30th the Division gained 30 miles, the following day 25 miles. Huge quantities of valuable military equipment were overrun in the lightning drive. White flags replaced the Swastika as the German national emblem. Village after village, town after town, displayed the banners of surrender, delighted that their community had been spared the ravages of war.

As in France, the civilians pressed wine and champagne on their American conquerors, while chickens laid eggs exclusively for the delectation of the invading army. It was soon discovered that all Germans despised the Nazis and loved the Americans passionately, a phenomenon which the troops accepted with a skeptical grain of salt. Morale, always good, now rose to the boiling point.

Complete and final victory was just around the corner, and nothing in the world was going to halt those troops short of that goal. So rapid had been the advance of the 90th that many wooded areas now began to disgorge roving bands of "guerillas" whose self-assigned mission it was to harass the perilously-stretched lines of communication.

Quartermaster convoys were ambushed at night, their drivers killed or captured, their freight and vehicles confiscated. In spite of this new hazard, the 90th Quartermaster Company nevertheless moved supplies through the pockets of "no-man's-land" behind the lines. Losses were grimly accepted, but the steady flow of supplies never failed to reach the troops in the forward areas.

One battalion was dispatched to guard the supply routes, and the problem was effectively solved. The Division was now more than half way across Germany, following the 4th Armored Division. But now the orders were changed. While the 4th Armored was to continue its drive northeastward, the 90th was to move eastward on its own. Accordingly, the 90th Division pressed on.

It reached the Werra River on April 2nd, crossed immediately, and discovered that here, in a last desperate effort, the enemy had erected a line beyond which the Americans were not to advance. Ignorant of the German determination to hold at all costs, however, the 90th advanced, smashed the line and moved forward. Vacha was taken against stiff opposition, Dippach and Oberzella and Merkers. It was at Merkers that the 90th discovered the end of the rainbow.

Two German midwives, hurrying to deliver a neighbor's child, informed a guard that in the subterranean tunnels below the local salt mine was hidden a vast supply of gold. The report was immediately investigated, and the subsequent discovery amazed the world. For here was Germany's entire gold supply and a great portion of its wealth and stolen treasures.

An inventory of the mine revealed that it contained : 100 tons of gold bullion, 5,000,000,000 German marks, 2,000,000 American dollars, 4,000,000 Norwegian pounds, 100,000,000 French francs, 110,000 English pounds, plus Spanish, Italian, Turkish and Portuguese currency.

In addition there were 1,000 cases of paintings and statutes, priceless art works of inestimable value. Included were the works of Raphael, Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Dürer and Renoir. Invaluable tapestries and engravings looted from the art centers of Europe were found hidden in the underground chambers of the unassuming salt mine at Merkers. One regiment was detailed to guard the treasure, and the remainder of the Division pushed ahead.

All roads were lined with liberated slave laborers, some walking aimlessly, becoming slowly accustomed to their freedom, some walking determinedly, burdened by huge packs, with their eyes firmly fixed on the road that led to home. Allied prisoners of war were liberated in increasingly large numbers, Americans, British, French, and Russians.

The Germany army was dissolving into a hodge-podge of Volkssturm, Hitler Jugen, highly disorganized veterans, and a few SS. As usual resistance was encountered only at infrequent intervals, and, as usual, it was quickly overwhelmed.