A retired Israeli rabbi claims to possess evidence of secret Nazi-era Swiss bank accounts that have remained untouched for nearly a century. His investigation is reviving questions about wartime secrecy, Holocaust-era restitution, and whether history’s financial shadows can ever be brought fully to light.
A Rabbi with a Briefcase and a Mission
At 72, Rabbi Ephraim Meir does not fit the image of a man seeking billions. Soft-spoken and modest, the German-Israeli rabbi divides his time between Torah study and family. Yet within his weathered leather briefcase, he says, lies evidence of one of Europe’s greatest unresolved financial mysteries.
According to Riva Pomerantz, an investigative journalist with Ami Magazine, Meir possesses copies of bank records and affidavits tracing back to six numbered Swiss accounts opened in the late 1930s by Nazi affiliates. The accounts, he claims, grew through wartime deposits and survived postwar consolidations.
Meir says that the heirs of one account holder have formally assigned their ownership rights to him. Any recovered funds, he insists, would go to religious and charitable causes — “to turn treif money into something kosher.”
It is an audacious mission that collides with decades of Swiss banking secrecy and the unresolved legacy of Holocaust-era restitution.
From East German Files to Swiss Walls
As reported by Ami Magazine, Meir’s involvement began in 2007, when East German lawyers approached him about clients who believed they were linked to Nazi-era deposits in Swiss banks. They wanted an Israeli intermediary to navigate Switzerland’s notorious culture of financial secrecy.
At first, Meir declined. But then came the faxes — coded account details, bank merger maps, and postwar documentation suggesting where dormant funds might have gone.
A proposed collaboration with the late Israeli finance minister Yaakov Neeman fell apart over legal conflicts, yet Meir continued. He claims that Israeli intelligence agencies declined formal engagement but encouraged his efforts privately.
Inside UBS: The 2009 Turning Point
In March 2009, Meir and German banking lawyer Harald Reichart, an expert in dormant accounts, met with executives at UBS in Zurich. They brought archival identifiers from East German banking files.
According to Ami Magazine, a senior UBS official stated that the accounts had been transferred to the Claims Resolution Tribunal (CRT) — the international body created after 1990s U.S. class-action lawsuits to resolve Holocaust-era banking claims.
For Meir, this was an extraordinary admission. The CRT was meant to manage accounts belonging to victims of the Nazi regime — not funds connected to Nazi operatives themselves.
UBS has previously stated that it has complied fully with all international and court-ordered restitution agreements. MirNews has not independently verified the 2009 meeting or the documentation referenced in Ami Magazine’s report.
Switzerland’s Financial Shadows
Switzerland’s role during the Second World War remains a matter of global scrutiny. Officially neutral, its banks handled gold, currency, and assets linked to Nazi Germany and its collaborators.
The issue reemerged in the 1990s after UBS employee Christoph Meili exposed the destruction of wartime banking records. The revelations led to a $1.25 billion settlement and the creation of the Claims Resolution Tribunal, which was tasked with identifying and compensating rightful heirs of Holocaust victims.
Meir now alleges that a second iteration of the tribunal — which he calls “CRT-II” — mishandled archives, rejected valid claims, and manipulated valuations.
Much of the CRT’s case material remains sealed until 2070 under a U.S. court order by Judge Edward R. Korman, who has said credible new evidence could reopen certain cases.
The Heir, the Transfer, and the Map Beneath Buchenwald
To pursue any dormant account, a claimant must prove a direct link to the original holder. After years of research, Meir and Reichart say they found that link: Detlev Köhler, son of a Nazi-era intelligence officer.
In 2023, according to Ami Magazine, Köhler and his sister met Meir in Zug, Switzerland, and signed a full legal transfer of ownership rights to him.
During that same meeting, the family allegedly produced a hand-drawn map hidden inside an old desk, marking a tunnel near the Buchenwald concentration camp — a site where they believed valuables had been buried.
German authorities, Meir says, have granted permission for limited surveys to assess the area’s safety before excavation. MirNews has not been able to independently confirm these claims.
Legal Steps and the Push for Transparency
Since UBS’s refusal to hold further meetings, Meir has outlined a three-track plan. First, he wants to establish what he calls a “third CRT” — a transparent, independently monitored process for resolving dormant Jewish accounts.
Second, he and his lawyer Dr. Gerhard Podovsovnik of AEA Justinian Lawyers plan to seek discovery through U.S. courts to compel UBS to release information on wartime assets.
Third, Meir hopes to work through diplomatic channels to encourage Swiss regulators and lawmakers to push for greater openness regarding dormant accounts.
Podovsovnik told Ami Magazine that UBS’s 2023 acquisition of Credit Suisse unites the legacies of multiple banks — and with them, the responsibility to clarify their histories.
“They will need to open the books,” he said.
What Happens if the Funds Are Found
Meir says that if he succeeds in recovering the funds, they will be devoted to religious and humanitarian purposes. Among his stated pledges: the donation of 18 Torah scrolls in memory of those murdered in the 2008 Merkaz HaRav attack — the same date as his first UBS meeting.
He insists that none of the money will be used for personal enrichment.
But the path ahead is steep. Courts would need to validate the transfer of ownership, trace the accounts through decades of bank mergers, and determine whether previous settlements bar new claims.
For Meir and others pursuing restitution, the stakes are both financial and moral — about truth, transparency, and what justice still demands nearly 80 years later.
The Long Memory of Justice
As Ami Magazine observed, Meir’s pursuit forces Switzerland — and much of the world — to confront unresolved moral questions about neutrality, secrecy, and historical accountability.
“Justice has a long memory,” Meir said. “If the doors won’t open, we’ll knock through the courts.”
Whether those doors lead to hidden accounts or yet another archive of sealed records 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 article summarizes and quotes from Ami Magazine’s investigative feature “Nazis, Swiss Banks & the Jewish Money That Vanished” (October 1, 2025) by journalist Riva Pomerantz.
All factual claims regarding Rabbi Ephraim Meir, UBS, Credit Suisse, and the Claims Resolution Tribunal are attributed to that publication.
MirNews has not independently verified sealed or disputed records.
Background information 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 presented for journalistic analysis and commentary under U.S. fair use and international press freedom standards. MirNews makes no independent allegations of wrongdoing.
