A retired Israeli rabbi claims to hold evidence of long-hidden Nazi-era bank accounts in Switzerland. His pursuit to uncover them has reignited old questions about Swiss neutrality, wartime finances, and what justice still demands nearly a century later.
The Rabbi with the Briefcase
At 72, Rabbi Ephraim Meir seems an unlikely figure in a financial thriller. A German-Israeli scholar and former military chaplain, he spends his days studying Torah and teaching. But in his worn leather briefcase, he says, lies a trove of documents — photocopied banking records and affidavits — that trace six numbered Swiss bank accounts opened before World War II.
According to Ami Magazine, those accounts were created by Nazi affiliates in the 1930s and grew as war loomed. Meir claims that the heirs of one of the account holders have legally transferred ownership rights to him.
He insists that if the funds are recovered, they will go entirely to religious and humanitarian causes — “to turn treif money into something kosher.”
The case touches one of Europe’s most controversial financial legacies: the hidden wealth of the Nazi era and Switzerland’s long history of guarded neutrality.
From East German Archives to Swiss Secrecy
As first detailed by Ami Magazine, Meir’s story began in 2007 when a group of East German lawyers contacted him with an unusual request. Their clients, they said, believed they had claims to Nazi-era assets hidden in Swiss banks. They wanted an Israeli mediator to break through what they called “a wall of silence.”
Meir initially dismissed them. But when account numbers, access codes, and merger records began arriving by fax, curiosity turned to conviction.
A potential collaboration with Israel’s former finance minister Yaakov Neeman fell apart over legal conflicts. Israeli intelligence agencies, Meir says, declined to participate but quietly encouraged his investigation.
A Meeting in Zurich
In March 2009, Meir and German attorney Harald Reichart, who specialized in dormant accounts, met with executives at UBS headquarters in Zurich.
Armed with archival identifiers from East German files, they asked a simple question: “Where are these accounts now?”
According to Ami Magazine, a senior UBS lawyer replied that the accounts had been transferred to the Claims Resolution Tribunal (CRT) — the international body created in the 1990s after class-action lawsuits in the United States forced Swiss banks to address Holocaust-era assets.
For Meir, that revelation was astonishing. The CRT was meant to compensate Holocaust victims, not hold accounts linked to Nazi officials.
UBS maintains it has complied fully with all international restitution requirements. The West Coast Times has not independently verified the alleged meeting or the accounts described.
Switzerland’s Financial Shadows
Switzerland’s wartime neutrality remains a complex legacy. While officially unaffiliated, its banks handled Reich-linked gold, foreign currencies, and other assets during World War II.
In the 1990s, whistleblower Christoph Meili exposed UBS’s destruction of wartime records, sparking a global scandal that led to a $1.25 billion settlement and the creation of the Claims Resolution Tribunal, which examined tens of thousands of dormant Holocaust-era accounts.
Meir distinguishes between that original process and what he calls “CRT-II” — a later phase that he claims was plagued by secrecy, flawed audits, and questionable denials of valid claims.
Much of the CRT’s record remains sealed until 2070 under an order by U.S. District Judge Edward R. Korman, though he noted that credible new evidence could prompt reopening.
The Heir, the Signature, and the Map
Meir and Reichart eventually traced one of the accounts to Detlev Köhler, son of a Nazi intelligence officer. In 2023, Köhler and his sister allegedly met Meir in Zug, Switzerland, and signed a document transferring full legal ownership rights to him.
At that same meeting, they revealed a surprising discovery — a hand-drawn map, hidden inside an old desk, marking a tunnel near Buchenwald where valuables were believed to be buried.
German officials, Meir says, have since authorized preliminary surveys of the area to assess the feasibility of excavation.
The West Coast Times could not independently verify these claims or the authenticity of the map.
Demanding Transparency
After UBS declined further engagement, Meir called for the establishment of a “third CRT” — a fully transparent, independent tribunal to resolve remaining dormant account cases.
His attorney, Dr. Gerhard Podovsovnik of AEA Justinian Lawyers, told Ami Magazine that UBS’s 2023 acquisition of Credit Suisse consolidates decades of financial mergers — and with them, the responsibility for transparency.
“They will need to open the books,” Podovsovnik said.
Meir also intends to pursue legal discovery in U.S. courts and engage diplomatically with Swiss authorities to promote openness around dormant accounts.
A Moral, Not Financial, Pursuit
If he succeeds, Meir says, every recovered dollar will go to charitable causes. He has pledged to donate 18 Torah scrolls in memory of the victims of the 2008 Merkaz HaRav attack — the same day he first met with UBS.
He insists that his personal life will remain modest. But even with an heir’s assignment, the path ahead is steep: proving ownership, navigating complex bank mergers, and reopening cases long thought closed.
For Meir, the issue is not about wealth but about truth — about giving history its full accounting.
“Justice Has a Long Memory”
As Ami Magazine noted, Meir’s pursuit reopens old moral divides — between secrecy and accountability, neutrality and complicity.
“Justice has a long memory,” Meir told the publication. “If the doors won’t open, we’ll knock through the courts.”
Whether those doors lead to forgotten riches or simply more closed files remains to be seen.
Contact for Holocaust-Era Account Claims
Dr. Gerhard Podovsovnik, LL.M., M.A.S.
Vice President, AEA Justinian Lawyers
📧 office@drlaw.eu | 📞 +43 664 110 3403
Editor’s Note
This report summarizes Ami Magazine’s investigation “Nazis, Swiss Banks & the Jewish Money That Vanished” (October 1, 2025) by Riva Pomerantz.
All factual claims regarding Rabbi Ephraim Meir, UBS, Credit Suisse, and the Claims Resolution Tribunal (CRT) are attributed to that publication.
The West Coast Times has not independently verified sealed or disputed records. UBS and other named parties were contacted for comment and offered the opportunity to respond.
Background on the Swiss Banks Holocaust Settlement is available through the Claims Conference and U.S. District Court filings related to the 1998 settlement.
This article is presented for journalistic analysis and commentary under U.S. fair use and international press freedom standards. The West Coast Times makes no independent allegations of wrongdoing.
