Coat Hangers Smuggled Platinum Successfully

In 1938, after Nazi Germany annexed Austria, Austrian chemist Herman Francis Mark, whose father was Jewish, decided to flee the country. Before leaving, he secretly purchased valuable platinum wire, worth about $50,000, bent it into coat hangers, and had his wife knit covers over them so they could be carried out of Austria without attracting attention. The ingenious disguise allowed the family to smuggle the platinum to safety, helping Mark rebuild his scientific career after emigrating to the United States.

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