A retired Israeli rabbi claims to possess evidence of long-lost Nazi-era Swiss bank accounts. His investigation has reopened questions about financial secrecy, historical accountability, and whether justice can still be achieved nearly a century after the war.
The Rabbi with the Documents
Rabbi Ephraim Meir, 72, doesn’t look like a man chasing hidden wealth. A soft-spoken German-Israeli scholar, he carries a worn leather briefcase filled with what he says are copies of bank records and affidavits linking six numbered Swiss accounts to Nazi-era holders.
As first reported by Riva Pomerantz, an investigative journalist with Ami Magazine, Meir claims that the heirs of one of the original account owners transferred full legal rights to him. He insists that any recovered funds will be redirected to religious and humanitarian causes — “to turn treif money into something kosher.”
The claim touches one of Europe’s most sensitive postwar issues: the dormant Nazi-linked accounts that still lie behind Switzerland’s walls of secrecy.
From East German Archives to Swiss Vaults
According to Ami Magazine, Meir’s involvement began in 2007 when East German lawyers contacted him about clients who believed they had connections to dormant Nazi-era deposits. They sought an Israeli mediator to pierce what they described as “the iron curtain of Swiss banking secrecy.”
At first, Meir declined. But soon, documents began to arrive — faxes with account numbers, passcodes, and records showing how smaller institutions were absorbed by major banks such as UBS and Credit Suisse in the postwar period.
A potential collaboration with Israel’s late finance minister Yaakov Neeman collapsed due to conflicts of interest. Meir says Israeli intelligence declined official participation but did not discourage his work.
The 2009 UBS Meeting
In March 2009, Meir and German banking attorney Harald Reichart — who specialized in dormant accounts — met with executives at UBS headquarters in Zurich.
Armed with archival identifiers, they asked: “Where are these accounts now?”
According to Ami Magazine, a senior UBS official said the accounts had been transferred to the Claims Resolution Tribunal (CRT) — the entity established in the 1990s following U.S. class-action lawsuits to process Holocaust-related assets.
Meir was stunned. The CRT, he argued, was meant to compensate Holocaust victims — not to manage assets linked to Nazi operatives.
UBS maintains that it has fully complied with all restitution requirements and legal obligations. Financial Mirror has not independently verified the 2009 meeting or the documents referenced.
Switzerland’s Wartime Balance
Switzerland’s neutrality during World War II is both its shield and its stain. While the country stayed out of combat, its banks handled Reich-linked gold, foreign exchange, and assets from across occupied Europe.
The issue exploded in the 1990s when UBS employee Christoph Meili revealed the destruction of wartime banking records. The scandal led to a $1.25 billion settlement and the creation of the Claims Resolution Tribunal, which processed more than 30,000 dormant accounts.
Meir now alleges that later phases of the CRT process — which he calls “CRT-II” — mishandled archives, rejected valid claims, and obscured data that could expose unreturned assets.
Much of the CRT’s case material remains sealed under U.S. District Judge Edward R. Korman’s order until 2070, though he has said credible new evidence could justify reopening files.
The Heir and the Hidden Map
After years of research, Meir and Reichart say they located Detlev Köhler, son of a Nazi-era intelligence officer. In 2023, Köhler and his sister allegedly met with Meir in Zug, Switzerland, and signed over full ownership rights.
At that same meeting, they reportedly revealed a hand-drawn map — found inside a hidden desk compartment — marking a tunnel near Buchenwald where valuables were believed to have been buried.
German authorities have authorized preliminary geological surveys to assess the area, Meir says.
Financial Mirror has not independently confirmed these claims.
Calls for a New Tribunal
Since UBS declined further engagement, Meir has called for the creation of a “third CRT” — a new, transparent tribunal to resolve outstanding dormant accounts with independent oversight and full disclosure.
His lawyer, Dr. Gerhard Podovsovnik of AEA Justinian Lawyers, told Ami Magazine that UBS’s 2023 acquisition of Credit Suisse consolidates decades of institutional history — and with it, the responsibility for transparency.
“They will need to open the books,” Podovsovnik said.
Meir also plans to pursue legal discovery in U.S. courts and engage diplomatically to pressure Swiss authorities to cooperate.
A Mission Beyond Money
If his efforts succeed, Meir says all funds will be directed toward education and remembrance. He has pledged to dedicate 18 Torah scrolls to honor the victims of the 2008 Merkaz HaRav attack — the same day he first met with UBS.
He emphasizes that his personal life will remain modest. But even with heirs’ consent, proving ownership, tracing decades of mergers, and reopening settled claims may take years.
For Meir, it is about moral accountability, not wealth.
“Justice has a long memory,” he said. “If the doors won’t open, we’ll knock through the courts.”
Whether those doors lead to dormant fortunes or more sealed archives remains uncertain.
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 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) are attributed to that publication.
Financial Mirror has not independently reviewed sealed or disputed records.
Historical background on the Swiss Banks Holocaust Settlement is available through the Claims Conference and U.S. District Court filings from the 1998 case.
This article is presented for journalistic analysis and commentary under U.S. fair use and international press freedom standards. Financial Mirror makes no independent allegations of wrongdoing.
