A German-Israeli rabbi claims to hold evidence of Nazi-era Swiss bank accounts that have remained hidden for nearly a century. His quest to uncover them is reigniting moral and political debate over Swiss secrecy, Holocaust restitution, and the unhealed wounds of history.
A Rabbi’s Unlikely Calling
At 72, Rabbi Ephraim Meir seems an unlikely figure to challenge Europe’s oldest banks. With his calm demeanor and quiet scholarly presence, he appears more suited to teaching Torah than tracing wartime fortunes. Yet within his scuffed leather briefcase, he says, lie the keys to one of the last unresolved financial mysteries of the 20th century.
As first reported by Riva Pomerantz, an investigative journalist with Ami Magazine, the documents in his possession trace six numbered Swiss accounts opened by Nazi affiliates in the 1930s. The accounts allegedly grew during the war and vanished amid postwar bank mergers. Meir claims that the heirs of one account holder have legally assigned their rights to him.
His goal, he says, is to recover and repurpose the funds for good — “to turn treif money into something kosher.”
His mission, if authentic, could unravel decades of secrecy around Switzerland’s wartime wealth and expose questions the world thought were long settled.
From East German Archives to the Alps
Meir told Ami Magazine that in 2007, East German lawyers approached him with an unusual proposal: their clients believed they were connected to Nazi-era deposits held in Switzerland. They sought an Israeli mediator to pierce what they described as a “fortress of secrecy.”
At first, Meir hung up. But the evidence kept coming — faxes with account numbers, access codes, and traces of where those accounts may have gone as smaller institutions merged into giants like UBS and Credit Suisse.
A potential collaboration with Israel’s former finance minister Yaakov Neeman collapsed over legal conflicts, but Meir continued independently. He says Israeli intelligence declined official involvement but tacitly encouraged his research.
The 2009 UBS Meeting
In March 2009, Meir and German banking lawyer Harald Reichart, a specialist in dormant accounts, traveled to Zurich for a meeting with UBS officials. They brought archival evidence — not to claim money but to ask one question: “Where are these accounts now?”
According to Ami Magazine, a senior UBS lawyer said the accounts had been transferred to the Claims Resolution Tribunal (CRT), the international body created after the late-1990s U.S. class-action lawsuits against Swiss banks.
For Meir, that statement was revealing — even shocking. The CRT, he said, was intended to handle the assets of Holocaust victims, not to manage accounts belonging to Nazi officers.
UBS maintains that it has fulfilled all obligations under international and court-supervised restitution frameworks. The Commonwealth Times could not independently verify the 2009 meeting or the documentation described.
Switzerland’s Shadowed Neutrality
Officially neutral during World War II, Switzerland nonetheless profited from financial dealings with Nazi Germany — handling gold, foreign exchange, and industrial assets that flowed across occupied Europe.
In the 1990s, whistleblower Christoph Meili exposed UBS employees shredding wartime records, leading to an international outcry. The result was a $1.25 billion settlement and the establishment of the Claims Resolution Tribunal, which processed more than 30,000 dormant Holocaust-era accounts.
Meir now claims that a subsequent phase, which he calls “CRT-II,” failed in its transparency and accountability. He alleges that data was altered, claims rejected without reason, and valuations manipulated.
Much of the CRT record remains sealed until 2070 by order of U.S. District Judge Edward R. Korman, who has allowed for reopening if credible new evidence arises.
The Heir and the Hidden Map
After years of tracing family records, Meir and Reichart say they found Detlev Köhler, son of a Nazi-era intelligence officer. In 2023, Köhler and his sister allegedly met Meir in Zug, Switzerland, and transferred full ownership of their inheritance rights to him.
During that same meeting, Ami Magazine reports, the siblings revealed a hand-drawn map — discovered in a secret desk compartment — showing a tunnel near the Buchenwald concentration camp where valuables may have been buried.
German authorities, Meir says, have since approved initial geological surveys to assess whether excavation is feasible.
The Commonwealth Times has not independently verified these claims.
A Legal and Moral Reckoning
After UBS refused further dialogue, Meir proposed creating what he calls a “third CRT” — a fully transparent, pro bono tribunal with open discovery and independent oversight.
His attorney, Dr. Gerhard Podovsovnik of AEA Justinian Lawyers, told Ami Magazine that UBS’s 2023 acquisition of Credit Suisse brings together decades of bank mergers — and with them, the duty to clarify where dormant assets came from.
“They will need to open the books,” Podovsovnik said.
Meir also plans to pursue legal avenues in U.S. courts to compel disclosure and potentially freeze assets, while engaging diplomatically to push Swiss regulators toward cooperation.
If the Funds Resurface
If his claims are validated, Meir says the money will be used for religious and humanitarian purposes. Among his promises: the dedication of 18 Torah scrolls in memory of those killed in the 2008 Merkaz HaRav attack in Jerusalem — the same day he first met with UBS.
He says his personal life will remain unchanged, though the road ahead is daunting: proving ownership, tracing bank mergers, and reopening settlements closed more than 25 years ago.
For many survivors and their families, the issue has never been just financial — it is about moral clarity and historical truth.
“If the Doors Won’t Open, We’ll Knock”
As Ami Magazine wrote, Meir’s investigation has reopened old wounds about Swiss neutrality, banking secrecy, and Europe’s lingering moral debts.
“Justice has a long memory,” Meir told the magazine. “If the doors won’t open, we’ll knock through the courts.”
Whether those doors reveal long-hidden wealth or another archive of silence 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 draws from Ami Magazine’s feature “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) originate from that publication.
The Commonwealth Times has not independently reviewed sealed or disputed records. .
Background on the Swiss Banks Holocaust Settlement is available through the Claims Conference and U.S. District Court filings from the 1998 settlement.
This article is published for journalistic analysis and commentary under international fair use and press freedom standards. The Commonwealth Times makes no independent allegations of wrongdoing.
