A retired Israeli mediator claims to hold access to Nazi-era Swiss bank accounts. His effort to uncover their secrets has reignited one of Europe’s most sensitive debates — the fate of Holocaust-era assets and the limits of Swiss secrecy.
The Rabbi with a Briefcase
At first glance, Rabbi Ephraim Meir looks less like a man pursuing billions and more like a grandfather heading to afternoon study. The 72-year-old German-Israeli, polite and soft-spoken, spends his days in religious study and his nights surrounded by family.
During an interview described by Riva Pomerantz, an investigative journalist with Ami Magazine, Meir unzips an old leather briefcase and produces photocopied banking documents — evidence, he claims, of six numbered Swiss accounts created in the late 1930s for Nazi affiliates and later expanded by wartime deposits.
According to Ami Magazine, Meir says he has been granted full legal rights to one such account through an heir’s assignment, and that any funds recovered will be used for religious and charitable projects — “to turn treif money into something kosher.”
It is an extraordinary claim that touches on the most secretive and morally charged corners of European banking: the unclaimed wealth of the Nazi era, and Switzerland’s decades-long struggle with its wartime past.
The Unlikely Go-Between
Meir’s journey into this historical and financial labyrinth began in 2007. As Ami Magazine reports, East German lawyers contacted him seeking help for clients who believed they had a link to Nazi-era assets hidden in Swiss banks.
At first, Meir hung up. But then came the faxes — account numbers, passwords, and internal banking references from East German archives. They suggested that several smaller wartime banks, later absorbed by UBS and Credit Suisse, had handled the accounts.
A planned collaboration with Israel’s late finance minister Yaakov Neeman fell apart, but Meir continued. Israeli intelligence agencies, he says, declined to get formally involved but did not discourage his mission.
Zurich, 2009: The Meeting at UBS
In March 2009, Meir and German banking attorney Harald Reichart — an expert on dormant accounts — met with executives at UBS. They brought archival documents and identifiers from German state files.
According to Meir’s account in Ami Magazine, a senior UBS lawyer told them that the accounts had been transferred to the Claims Resolution Tribunal (CRT), the international body created to handle Holocaust-era restitution following U.S. class-action lawsuits in the 1990s.
To Meir, that statement changed everything. He argues that the CRT was meant to process claims of Nazi victims — not to hold funds originally linked to Nazi officials themselves.
UBS, in prior public statements, has said it fully complied with the tribunal’s settlement obligations and international law. Plus1News has not independently verified the 2009 conversation or the specific accounts described by Ami Magazine.
Swiss Neutrality and Financial Shadows
Switzerland’s wartime record has long been haunted by its financial dealings. Neutral in name, the country’s banks handled gold, currency, and industrial assets linked to Nazi Germany.
The controversy reignited in the 1990s when whistleblower Christoph Meili revealed that UBS employees were destroying Holocaust-era records. The resulting scandal led to a $1.25 billion settlement and the creation of the Claims Resolution Tribunal, a process that sought to compensate victims’ heirs and uncover dormant accounts.
Meir draws a distinction between that original tribunal and what he calls “CRT-II” — an extension he claims was marred by lost files, rejected claims, and manipulated valuations.
Much of the CRT documentation remains sealed by U.S. District Judge Edward R. Korman until 2070, though he left open the possibility of reopening cases with new evidence.
The Heir and the Map
As Ami Magazine details, Meir and Reichart eventually identified Detlev Köhler, the son of a deceased Nazi intelligence officer, as a possible heir to one of the accounts.
In 2023, Köhler and his sister allegedly met Meir in Zug, Switzerland, and signed documents transferring full ownership rights to him. At that meeting, they also produced a hand-drawn map — said to show a hidden tunnel near Buchenwald where valuables had been buried.
German authorities, Meir says, have approved preliminary surveys to examine whether excavation is feasible.
Plus1News has not been able to verify these claims or the existence of the alleged map.
Legal Paths and Financial Accountability
UBS, according to Meir, has declined further communication since 2009. He now proposes creating a “third CRT” — an independent, transparent tribunal operated pro bono, with full discovery rights and oversight.
His attorney, Dr. Gerhard Podovsovnik of AEA Justinian Lawyers, argues that UBS’s 2023 acquisition of Credit Suisse makes the bank the unified custodian of these legacy accounts and therefore responsible for clarifying their origins.
“They will need to open the books,” Podovsovnik said in Ami Magazine.
Meir also outlines plans to seek discovery orders in U.S. courts and to urge diplomatic channels to push for transparency from Swiss regulators.
If Justice Is Found
Should his claims succeed, Meir says he plans to fund religious education and humanitarian initiatives, including the donation of 18 Torah scrolls in memory of victims of the 2008 Merkaz HaRav attack — a date that coincided with his first UBS meeting.
He insists his lifestyle will remain modest. But beyond any personal interest, Meir argues, the mission is moral: to uncover the truth about money that disappeared during one of history’s darkest chapters.
The Long Memory of Justice
As Ami Magazine noted, the story reopens unresolved questions about Swiss neutrality, accountability, and the ethical balance between secrecy and restitution.
“Justice has a long memory,” Meir told the magazine. “If the doors won’t open, we’ll knock through the courts.”
Whether those doors lead to long-hidden accounts or yet another cycle of litigation 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 reporting from Ami Magazine’s “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.
Plus1News has not independently reviewed sealed or disputed files.
Historical context on the Swiss Banks Holocaust Settlement is publicly available via 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. Plus1News makes no independent allegations of wrongdoing.
