THE HESSE CROWN JEWEL HEIST IN WWII GERMANY- A US ARMY SCANDAL

1001 Heroes, Legends, Histories & Mysteries Podcast

Jon Hagadorn

Society & Culture, History

4.4 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 23 July 2023

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the aftermath of WWII, the theft of gold, silver, and jewels belonging to the German aristocratic House of Hesse triggered an intensive criminal investigation which resulted in three high-profile courts-martial. . When it was all over, Col. Jack Durant, Major David Watson, and Captain Kathleen Burke Nash were all doing time in jail. It was a huge embarrassment to the US Army at the time, but a symptom of the lawless that raged throughout war-torn Europe in the years following World War II. ANDROID USERS- 1001 Tales of Escape & Suspense at Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/2HQYk53AJHTOgBTLBzyP3w 1001 Stories From The Old West at Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0c2fc0cGwJBcPfyC8NWNTw 1001 Radio Crime Solvers at Spotify- https://open.spotify.com/show/0UAUS12lnS2063PWK9CZ37 1001's Best of Jack London at Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2HzkpdKeWJgUU9rbx3NqgF 1001 Radio Days at Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/5jyc4nVoe00xoOxrhyAa8H 1001 Classic Short Stories & Tales at Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/6rzDb5uFdOhfw5X6P5lkWn 1001 Heroes, Legends, Histories & Mysteries at Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/6rO7HELtRcGfV48UeP8aFQ 1001 Sherlock Holmes Stories & The Best of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle at Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/4dIgYvBwZVTN5ewF0JPaTK 1001 Ghost Stories & Tales of the Macabre on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5P4hV28LgpG89dRNMfSDKJ 1001 Stories for the Road on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/6FhlsxYFTGNPiSMYxM9O9K 1001 Greatest Love Stories on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/5sUUFDVTatnGt7FiNQvSHe 1001 History's Best Storytellers: (INTERVIEWS) on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/3QyZ1u4f9OLb9O32KX6Ghr APPLE USERS New! 1001 Tales of Escape and Suspense at Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-tales-of-escape-and-suspense/id1689248043 Catch 1001 Stories From The Old West- https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-stories-from-the-old-west/id1613213865 Catch 1001's Best of Jack London- https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-best-of-jack-london/id1656939169 Catch 1001 Radio Crime Solvers- https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-radio-crime-solvers/id1657397371 Catch 1001 Heroes on Apple https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-heroes-legends-histories-mysteries-podcast/id956154836?mt=2 Catch 1001 Classic Short Stories at Apple Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-classic-short-stories-tales/id1078098622 Catch 1001 Stories for the Road at Apple Podcast now: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-stories-for-the-road/id1227478901 NEW Enjoy 1001 Greatest Love Stories on Apple Devices here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-greatest-love-stories/id1485751552 Catch 1001 RADIO DAYS now at Apple iTunes! https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-radio-days/id1405045413?mt=2 NEW 1001 Ghost Stories & Tales of the Macabre is now playing at Apple Podcasts! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-ghost-stories-tales-of-the-macabre/id1516332327 NEW Enjoy 1001 History's Best Storytellers (Interviews) on Apple Devices here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-historys-best-storytellers/id1483649026 NEW Enjoy 1001 Sherlock Holmes Stories and The Best of Arthur Conan Doyle https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-sherlock-holmes-stories-best-sir-arthur-conan/id1534427618 Get all of our shows at one website: https://.1001storiespodcast.com My email works as well for comments: [email protected] SUPPORT OUR SHOW BY BECOMING A PATRON! https://.patreon.com/1001storiesnetwork. Its time I started asking for support! Thank you. Its a few dollars a month OR a one time. (Any amount is appreciated). YOUR REVIEWS ARE NEEDED AND APPRECIATED! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.9	This episode is brought to you by TNT Sports. Nothing brings people together like sport.
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0:56.0	Action, live and exclusive on Prime Video.
1:26.1	Hi everyone, this is your host, John Haginorn. A note before we begin this story.
1:37.2	The credit to much of this story goes to the efforts of Cali Martin who wrote an in-depth
1:41.9	article for the National World War II Museum on behalf of the Department of Defense,
1:46.7	which places the text in the public domain. I'm giving your credit here and encourage you to
1:51.3	read the full article at national www.museum.org. In addition, other facts were used
1:58.6	from a US Army historian article titled The German Job by Fred Elberg III at uscore.gov.
2:06.8	This is also in the public domain. Other online sources were used, including my own text and comments.
2:15.2	And now our story. Welcome back everyone to 1,000 One Heroes, legends, histories and mysteries
2:22.5	podcast. This is your host, John Haginorn. Today, the Hess Crown Jewel Heist in World War II
2:28.9	Germany, a US Army scandal. In November of 1945, three American Army officers, two men and a
2:37.6	woman stationed in Germany, pulled off a dramatic jewel heist when they stole the Hess family
2:43.4	crown jewels, which they found concealed in a German castle occupied by US troops.
2:49.1	To the credit of the US Army, they were caught, tried by a military tribunal and sent to prison
2:55.0	for their crimes. Of course, they played innocent, tried to make the case that the family they
	...

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