It reads like a story taken from a best-selling crime novel, yet it is a true criminal case of a jewel heist staged in a castle in the 1940s, starring U.S. military officers, German royalty, and $2.5 million in treasure. The tale is rife with deception, conspiracy, and international intrigue. The records are on Fold3.
Major David F. Watson, Colonel Jack W. Durant, and Captain Kathleen Nash were the perpetrators. The court cases for the three defendants, brimming with documents, photos, testimony, and correspondence, can be viewed in the Court-Martial Case Files Relating to the "Hesse Crown Jewels Case", 1944-1952.
As the Allies moved into Germany toward the end of World War II, Prince Wolfgang of Hesse abandoned his family's castle in Kronberg, north of Frankfurt, Germany. Before leaving, he placed family heirlooms and jewels in a zinc-lined box, buried it in a hole in the castle basement, and covered it with concrete, hoping it would be safely hidden until the end of the war. It wasn't.
In April 1944, American Forces occupied the castle to use as an officers' club. Shortly thereafter, Capt. Nash discovered the cache. She, along with Watson and Durant conspired to steal the valuables.
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