Ian Fleming and "The Mystery of Rommel's Gold"

Rob007Rob007 Posts: 77MI6 Agent
I have been watching the documentary series Nazi Treasure Hunters on Channel 4 (UK) which follows The Monuments Men Foundation and their quest to find looted Nazi treasures from WW2.

Episode 4 follows their search for 50 kilos of gold which was stolen from Tunisian Jews by the Nazis in 1943 and dubbed Rommel's Gold.

I was surprised that one of the pieces of evidence they used in their search was a quote from OHMSS:

"Then there was this mysterious business of Rommel's treasure, supposed to be hidden beneath the sea somewhere off Bastia. In 1948 a Czech diver called Fleigh, who had been in the Abwehr, and had got on the track of it, was warned off by the Union and then vanished off the face of the earth." - The quote can be found approximately half a page into Chapter 5 - The Capu.

The documentary spends about 10 minutes investigating this lead. They briefly mention Ian Fleming's time in Naval Intelligence and goes on to explain that Peter Fleigh aka Walter Kirner was a Corporal in the SS who applied for a visa to visit Corsica in 1948 but was arrested and interrogated by the French. The French then launched a dive investigation costing one million Francs to try and find it.

It's all very interesting and may be of interest to some of you.

If you're in the UK, the documentary will be available for the next few weeks on All4 here:
https://www.channel4.com/programmes/nazi-treasure-hunters/on-demand/64494-002

The section relating to OHMSS starts at approximately 19m50s.
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Comments

  • ThomoThomo ReadingPosts: 949MI6 Agent
    Yes I just watched the same programme. Very interesting and thanks for the reference point saves me looking it up
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