American soldiers looted 25 million pounds in Nazi gold from a secret treasure trove hidden by S.S. overlord Heinrich Himmler in the closing days of WW2.

The gold, money and silver ingots weighing 150lb were hidden in a post office that doubled as a clandestine vault for the Reichsbank in the small German town of Plauen.

It is thought Himmler stashed the treasure in Plauen to be used as fallback funds for S.S. men seeking to escape Allied justice after the collapse of Nazism.

Historical researcher Peter Hentje discovered Himmler's orders about the treasure during a five week search of the U.S. National Archive in Washington. He is making a film about the town's liberation by American soldiers on April 16 1945.

'Originally I was looking for film shot by the RAF on 16mm film which was rare for the day,' said Hentje. 'Then I came across the sensational Himmler document.'

Hentje went on: 'I also found a document detailing the interrogation of a postal official on April 26. He confirmed the almost 900kg of gold, silver and coins which was hidden in the town.'

As well as the Himmler order for the hiding of the loot in Plauen the archive threw up details of Americans shipping the loot out of the town to Frankfurt.

Plauen lay in the east of Germany and had already been assigned by Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin to the Russians at the Yalta conference earlier in 1945. 'All trace of it was lost after that,' said Hentje. He believes that the Americans considered it a 'reparations payment' and shipped it back to Washington. It is also likely that individual soldiers helped themselves to chunks of the loot.

To read the complete article, see:
How American soldiers looted $50m of Nazi gold: Coins hidden in a post office by Himmler were taken by troops during last days of the War (www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3114663/Americans-looted-25m-Nazi-gold-Coins-hidden-post-office-Himmler-taken-troops-days-War.html)