During World War II, the horrific nightmare that was the Holocaust stripped the lives away from millions of innocent people. Massive numbers of lives were lost to fatal gunshot wounds, inside sinister gas chambers, and to the dank breath of disease. But the Nazis didn’t stop at the murder of their victims. Colossal loads of gold in the form of wedding rings, pocket watches, and more were taken from concentration camp prisoners and stashed away in secret caches.

Gold represents many things in the eyes of man: wealth, prestige, investment, security in an unstable economy, and even a lifetime of commitment. Jonathan Spall, with The National, believes that “[t]he reason that gold has these attributes is that we believe that it does. It has been embedded in human psychology and reinforced over the millennia.” Needless to say, the last few millennia have been sprinkled with gold dust and endless dreams of wealth and glory.