The WWII Soldier Who Stole Royal Jewels | Daring Capers S2 EP6 | Wonder

[Music] world war ii germany us army officers break through a castle wall and plunder a royal treasure off one of the greatest jewel heists of all time [Music] in the waning days of world war ii general george s patton's third u.s army rolled through central germany and into frankfurt the city was in ruins [Music] by contrast cronberg castle remained untouched although it was just a few miles north of the city it escaped the devastation of allied bombers [Music] us army officials were amazed by the opulence of the 19th century structure they decided the 100 room castle would make an ideal officers club weeks later germany surrendered the war was over frankfurt became an occupied city there was no power no running water no food and barely any standing buildings us forces had to live in tents eat k rations and brave the elements for the war weary gis stepping into cronberg castle was like walking into an oasis of unimaginable luxury the army assigned captain kathleen nash to manage the new officers club [Music] a 42 year old divorcee nash was looking for adventure [Music] she had lied about her age to enlist and became a mess officer [Music] after years of training and service in the u.s she was shipped overseas her new job was a good match in civilian life kathleen nash had been the assistant manager of the phoenix country club now thanks to the army she was running her own country club with the help of 30 german servants the army captain was now the queen of the castle days after the club opened nash became indignant when the officers started looting her castle it was a practice all too common in wartime looting a private property or of public property or any kind of looting was absolutely forbidden to the united states army and to all armies it is one of the basic rules of warfare that the property of private citizens is to be respected but um it was very hard to prevent people from you know picking up what they call souvenirs or trophies of war to combat the problem nash stationed german servants at the front door as security guards [Music] a lieutenant who tried to liberate three antique rugs abandoned them before being caught [Music] the rugs were returned to their rightful place when nash wasn't keeping tabs on the castle's precious antiques she entertained the troops she opened the vast wine cellar and threw elaborate parties for the officers her patrons were more than happy to trade an evening in a tent for a night in a castle major david watson and colonel jack durant were frequent visitors [Music] durant was a lawyer before the war now the vivacious captain nash helped him forget about his broken marriage back in the states [Music] as their relationship grew nash remained devoted to her job but running the officers club was full of problems after only a few months thirsty gis had drained all 1800 bottles of wine captain nash's club had run dry there's no vine here okay while the captain was incensed at officers stealing her rugs she thought nothing of emptying the wine stores she sent servants and enlisted men to scour every inch of the castle for more wine in the sub-cellar corporal carlton noticed two strange wires leading into the bottom of a wall in the process of putting things away to protect it from battles and armies that might come through people walled up things in all kinds of ways and they did it in france they did it in italy they did it everywhere just to protect it and so um the you know armed forces of every country got quite good at finding hiding places behind the wall lay 1600 bottles including cases of fine french bordeaux [Music] the lowly corporal had no idea the wine was of an ancient vintage worth an incomprehensible amount of money [Music] all 1600 bottles were appropriated the club was back in business [Music] the next morning carlton returned to the hidden room to investigate a patch of concrete that was lighter in color than the rest of the floor he told captain nash it looked as if the concrete had been recently patched she had one of the german servants chisel away the new concrete [Music] behind locked doors nash and carlton were amazed at what they had found [Music] they were astounded by the beauty of the jewels as well as their value i wish we didn't have to give them back well to the victors go to spoils why should we the possibilities were intoxicating captain kathleen nash colonel jack durant and major david watson marveled at the beauty of the cache of jewels they had unearthed for a moment they contemplated taking just a few of the valuables then they decided to take them all [Music] as an attorney durant dismissed the risk only the army could prosecute them for a crime committed on foreign soil [Music] as for the german authorities it would be years before their court system was operational nash was elated they would all return to the states in a few months with honorable discharges and a hoard of priceless jewels to finance their happiness [Music] she should at that time have reported the fine to hire headquarters because inventories had been made of the things in the castle and so any new find was supposed to be reported to the monuments officers or the town uh town major as he was called but she never did that so that the army authorities didn't know about this new find the conspirators had to figure out how to get the jewels back to the us without getting caught [Applause] since the pieces were so distinctive they would be easier to move and to pawn if they were dismantled at first nation durant used the army's postal system to get much of their loot out of germany durant sent packages to his brother in virginia nash sent parcels to her sister in wisconsin but with each package they risked customs inspections that could alert the army to their crime the group split up to minimize the risk [Music] major watson gave his girlfriend in ireland 2 500 worth of jewelry to safeguard until he was out of the service he also fenced items including a priceless faberge egg for about 430 dollars durant and nash did a little fencing of their own in switzerland they pawned enough jewels in europe to indulge themselves in the most elegant swiss hotels nash was finally living the adventure she dreamed of she had every reason to believe the fairy tale would last forever the most priceless of the stolen items still remained to be smuggled home to the u.s durant took many of the valuable jewels and flew to england where he met with his former secretary martha orwig during the war where did you get these jack since she worked for the u.n she had diplomatic immunity her bags could not be searched durant asked her to ferry the jewels to the states for him something there for you as well okay she agreed [Music] on march 2 1946 captain nash's tour of duty came to an end after eight months of service she left the castle for good [Applause] upon her arrival in the states she would immediately apply for a discharge from the army [Music] days later colonel durant was sent to washington dc he had himself designated as an official courier so his luggage would be exempt from inspection the plan went off without a hitch durant returned to the us with a bag full of jewels and his eye on a new car what do you think yeah i think it's me i'll take it good deal you're right that's a good deal the former colonel paid the 1400 list price in cash and headed for chicago to meet nash there the couple cashed in more of their take [Music] it's beautiful a jeweler agreed to buy 100 of the diamonds the deal fell through when durant couldn't produce a customs receipt [Music] durant feared the jeweler might report him to customs who might tip off the army the couple had no idea that much worse trouble was brewing across the atlantic a colonel at the army's criminal investigation department in frankfort had a royal visitor princess sophia of hesse [Music] she was about to get married and she wanted to know where her jewels were she explained that the hesse family lived in cronenberg castle until the u.s army ordered them to leave the hessa family was part of the royal dynasty that had ruled the german empire from the 12th century until the end of world war one when adolf hitler came to power they were ordered to keep a low profile or else you can say that nearly all the noble families especially in prussia were more or less enemies to the nazi uh dictatorship everything i want i'm getting that since the nazis were known to appropriate valuables the family inventoried their jewels and buried them in the castle when did you notice things start to be missing immediately but now those jewels were gone [Music] the colonel questioned the german servants who had worked at the castle they revealed that the jewels were last seen in the possession of captain nash and colonel duran divine he was stunned two american army officers had stolen the hesse cry jewels once it became a matter of a person in the army stealing private property uh no whether it was from germans or anybody else then that was a criminal act because the everyone in the army knew under the rules of warfare that that they were not allowed to steal things from the the citizens of the country the colonel was concerned both nash and durant had already been discharged from the army and the vine to the start as such they no longer fell under military jurisdiction [Music] but the investigator had a plan [Music] all soldiers are bound by hip-pocket orders this means they could be recalled to active duty for a period of several months after discharge if the colonel could recall them he could prosecute he'd have to work fast though that period was about to expire if the couple could stay ahead of the army until that deadline passed they would get away with one of the greatest jewel heists of all time colonel durant was unaware of the overseas investigation into the missing hesser jewels he had more immediate problems to worry about in the states the u.s customs service had seized the diamonds he tried to fence through a chicago jeweler durant rushed to bury the remaining jewels along a virginia road near his brother's home colonel durant told his brother to watch over the buried gems they were so valuable he'd never have to work again [Music] if confident their future was secure durant and nash were married they celebrated the small civil ceremony with a lavish honeymoon [Music] nash delighted in wearing many of the hessa crown jewels for everyone to see the army moved their investigation to the us to better track national durant investigators were concerned they had gotten married so they couldn't testify against each other [Music] after weeks of searching the army finally found the couple [Music] they were called nash to duty with just one day to spare [Music] colonel durant was also recalled the couple hid out in chicago but investigators found them at a downtown hotel [Music] both were taken into custody [Music] captain nash was given a polygraph which she failed she then confessed implicating both her husband and major watson she would later recant that confession we were tired everyone's doing it durant resisted for days finally he agreed to cooperate by contacting his fences they agreed to return the jewels but only if they could do so anonymously [Music] durant later led investigators to a bus station locker [Music] inside they found a small portion of the hesse crown jewels [Music] [Applause] the items durant buried along the virginia roadside were recovered the army also seized valuables hidden at a wisconsin house belonging to captain nash's sister the theft of the hesse crown jewels made news around the world well this of course was an extraordinary case for the press and everyone because it involved you know people who were relations of the british royal family queen victoria a castle you know a love affair beautiful jewels it was just made to order for a lot of publicity in washington mps keep a careful eye on a fortune a million and a half dollars worth of hessian crown jewels and heirlooms stolen from germany this fabulous horde comprises the greatest private military theft in us history the army flew the suspects back to germany to stand trial they charged captain nash colonel durant and major watson with theft they would be tried separately the royal family attended captain nash's trial in germany [Music] there they saw their family heirlooms displayed as evidence nash's defense did not bother to deny that she had stolen them they contended that she was a civilian at the time of her arrest and that the army therefore had no jurisdiction the defense also pointed out that looting was common among troops nash said that if she were convicted thousands of american servicemen would also have unclean hands were taken to switzerland the court disagreed nash was convicted and sentenced to five years in a federal penitentiary she was paroled in 1952 major watson was also found guilty he was sentenced to three years in prison the last court martial was colonel durant's in its opening argument the prosecution cast doubt on durant's motives for marrying kathleen nash they argued that durant married nash to durant was convicted and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor his sentence was harshest because he was the highest ranking officer involved in the theft on august 1 1951 the army finally returned the hessa crown jewels for the royal family it was a bittersweet moment princess sophia guessed that slightly more than half of the jewels were recovered their damage condition made them worth just one tenth of their original value jack durant was released from prison in 1952. if there was any doubt about his motives for marriage they were now erased jack and kathleen durant lived as husband and wife until kathleen died in 1972. it was love after all you

Channel: Wonder

Views: 56,792

Keywords: Wonder, art theft, bold criminals, castle robbery, con artists, crime investigation, crime stories, dramatic theft stories, history channel, military history, mystery of stolen jewels, recovered treasures, royal theft, stolen crown jewels, stolen heritage, stolen history artifacts, stolen jewels, theft documentary, treasure seeking adventurers, true crime, war time looting

Id: 5tlutTCmkPY

Length: 24min 33sec (1473 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 28 2020