{South Jersey Coast – July/August 1985}
After dinner that evening, the adults met on the back deck and tried to process all the facts. Having a better understanding of how the recent events had historical significance, Mark summarized, “So it’s agreed. We’ll continue to cooperate with the state and federal officials. While it might disappoint Johnny and Wayne, we’ll also disclaim any and all rights to the vessel and whatever contents it holds.”
Dylan added, “I agree. This makes the most sense. The U-boat and the gold bars represent a horrible time in the world’s history … when that evil dictator’s war machine brought fear, pain, death, and destruction to so many people through its invasive and torturous acts. I really want nothing more to do with it!”
Before they retired for the night, the adults explained their decision to the kids. Dylan further agreed to call Congressman Crockett the next day to advise him of the family’s preference to relinquish all rights to the find.
* * *
The next few weeks passed by like a blur. After the state and federal officials worked out a compromise for handling the discovery, the excavation efforts quickly moved forward.
Representative Crockett periodically phoned Dylan and Mark to provide updates. During one call, he advised that the East and West German governments were separately contacted and notified of the discovery. Within a short time, the US government received formal responses from each country. Surprisingly, they both forfeited any claims to the discovery and reiterated their full support of continued world peace and unity among nations.
Crockett commented, “As far as I know, the Germans simply want this entire affair to disappear. They don’t need any more bad publicity about the war, and they are officially looking at this entire affair as one that simply involved a couple of amateur treasure hunters who stumbled upon an old, rusted war relic. Honestly, it’s my opinion that they just don’t want anyone believing that Adolf Hitler didn’t die in his Berlin bunker in 1945. Furthermore, I find it quite intriguing that the German officials would not comment regarding the possibility that Hitler survived the war and took residence in South America.”
As the days passed, various government experts carefully excavated the property. Then, late one evening, a specially modified US Coast Guard vessel secretly arrived at the Masters’ property, where it anchored just outside of the cofferdam. The vessel’s massive deck crane extended over the dry lagoon, directly above the uncovered U-boat and its contents. In no time at all, these items were quietly transferred onto the deck of the vessel, which then cruised away from Seven Mile Island without any detection from the public.
The unique craft traveled in stealth mode about thirty miles south, where it dropped anchor at the US Coast Guard Training Center in Cape May, New Jersey. Once there, extensive efforts began to preserve and restore the historical cargo.
A week after the U-boat was taken away and the bulkhead repairs were completed, Representative Crockett called Dylan and proudly advised, “We have plans to temporarily display the U-boat at the base where it can be viewed by the public. It will remain there until the construction of a planned maritime museum in Cape May is completed. We want future generations to understand how Nazi Germany not only attacked its enemies in Europe and Africa but also threatened the shores of our nation. The exhibit will document how German U-boats sank dozens of merchant ships just off the coast of New Jersey during the war.”
Further, he shared astonishing news. “I also wanted to let you know that there was more than just one gold bar discovered inside of the wrecked U-boat. In fact, the experts located and recovered more than six hundred fifty bars of gold!
“The US Department of Treasury has transferred the vast treasure to the US Bullion Depository in Fort Knox, Kentucky. I’ve been informed that the high-quality gold bars each weigh about thirty pounds and are valued at 130,000 dollars per bar. That’s over 84 million dollars!”
Dylan
simply responded, “Wow, we had no idea.”
Crockett continued, “Our government has pledged to deposit a generous percentage of the gold into an international fund designated to benefit the surviving victims of the Holocaust and Nazi oppression.”
Before saying goodbye to the congressman, Dylan said, “Thanks so much for your phone call. We really do appreciate that you’ve kept us informed on how the government is handling the discovery. On behalf of my family, I sincerely hope that the government’s pledge has a positive impact and that it truly helps the survivors.”