Nazis tried to turn sand into gold: Foolish SS chief Himmler set up secret alchemy unit in Dachau

Magic: Nazi Heinrich Himmler was convinced that Karl Malchus could turn dirt into gold

Scheme: Prisoners of Dachau concentration camp were used as labour

Nazi chiefs believed they could turn stones, sand and soil into gold, according to a new book.

Heinrich Himmler, head of Hitler's SS police force, was tricked into thinking that precious metals could be produced in this way - and then used to buy weapons to strengthen the Third Reich.






High-price: The Nazis needed gold to buy armament and technologies from abroad so Himmler jumped at his chance to contribute

The Nazis set up a secret unit in the Dachau concentration camp before the Second World War, and appointed Karl Malchus, an alchemist, who convinced Himmler that he could make gold from stones, soil and even paraffin.

But Malchus may have been working for British intelligence in 1938 when he tricked Himmler into believing his claims, according to Helmut Werner, author of Hltler's Alchemists: The Secret Attempts to Manufacture Gold in Dachau.

Werner said: 'He was living in England up until the first months of that year and on his return made contact with Himmler about his unique talents - but of course, it was all a huge swindle.

Malchus got whatever he wanted and Himmler installed him in Dachau, not as a prisoner but as a technician whose work could be carried out in secret.'

Malchus promised Himmler that a process involving paraffin, stones and the soil from the bed of the Isar River in Munich would 'produce gold in abundance for the future and security of the Third Reich'.

Everyone involved with the research in Dachau was searched to make sure that no gold was smuggled in that could later be claimed to have been manufactured from dirt.
But Malchus hid gold nuggets in his cigarettes, and after he had smoked them, presented them to Himmler as the result of his 'experiments'.

It took a few weeks for Himmler to realise that he had been conned.

Malchus was kept in Dachau for several months as a prisoner, and was warned on his release that he would face death if he ever spoke of his relationship with the SS chief.

He tried to make a post-war career in Germany out of alchemy, but died in the early 1950s without experiencing success.