'Nazi gold train' hunters to begin excavating site in Poland

The area in which the trains may have disappeared include a Nazi network of secret tunnels

Jess Staufenberg
Sunday 08 November 2015 20:17 GMT
Comments
A tunnel system built by the Nazis in Poland. According to Polish lore, a Nazi train loaded with gold and weapons vanished into a mountain at the end of the Second World War
A tunnel system built by the Nazis in Poland. According to Polish lore, a Nazi train loaded with gold and weapons vanished into a mountain at the end of the Second World War

The hunt for a possible "Nazi gold train" will begin next week with experts inspecting the suspected site for the first time.

Rumours about two Nazi trains lost since the Second World War have long circulated but never been confirmed.

This summer a pair of local treasure hunters in south-western Poland claimed to have stumbled across a site they insist contains an armoured train coontaining the gold.

Poland's deputy culture minister, Piotr Zuchowski, said in August that he was "more than 99 per cent sure" one train was there after seeing ground-penetrating radar images.

Officials have since cast doubt on the evidence.

As of next week, however, experts will use measuring equipment and detectors to begin a "non-invasive" search of the ground.

"The experts will be able to use different measuring equipment and detectors but are not allowed to touch the ground," Arkadiusz Grudzien, municipal spokesman, told AFP.

"They won't be able to dig, or drill or introduce cameras into the ground. They're only allowed to perform a non-invasive search".

Up to three trains are believed by some historians to have arms, art, gold and archives onboard and to have disappeared near the Czech border as the Soviet army advanced in 1945.

The suspected 18 square mile radius of their disappearance includes a network of underground tunnels dug out by prisoners of war, with some historians believing the Third Reich stashed treasure within them.

Experts going out to explore the area will include the two men, Piotr Koper of Poland and Andreas Richter, a German, who originally said they had found the train.

They claimed in August to have discovered a 98 metre long train carriage buried eight to nine metres underground in a railway tunnel after using ground-penetrating technology to scan the area.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in