A treasure of gold, currency, stocks and bonds and other valuables worth approximately 1,000,000,000 lira, most of it stolen from Jews during the Fascist era, has recently been discovered in the Vicenza branch of the Bank of Italy.
The treasure consists of goods taken from Jews and other Italians ordered deported from Italy by the Nazis between 1943 and 1945. The valuables were taken by the Italian police, but no receipts were ever issued to the victims so there was no way for them or their heirs to uncover the stolen valuables. When the treasure was discovered it was found that a list of the former owners and what had been taken from them was with the loot.
The discovery, nine years after the final theft, resulted from the activities of a diligent Italian magistrate who was investigating the origin of some stolen property which featured in a case before him. He traced the property back to the hidden treasure trove and brought it to public attention.
It is not known why the Bank of Italy had not informed the persons on the list nor their heirs of the existence of the store of wealth. More information is expected to be made public as an investigation into the matter progresses.
The Council of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, meanwhile, has launched an inquiry into the affair and hopes to accumulate information useful in recovering the stolen articles for the owners or their heirs.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
