Nazi Gold Train Search: Poland Army To Help Find Hitler's Underground Treasure
The Polish army has joined in the search for a train said to be filled with Nazi gold, allegedly found earlier this summer by two treasure hunters in hidden tunnels. Troops will be deployed to help in the search, a military spokesman said Tuesday as treasure hunters continued to flock to Walbrzych in western Poland, trying to pinpoint the location of the treasure.
“The defense minister decided to send technical equipment to search the area in order to determine whether a train actually exists,” said Jacek Sonta of the Polish Defense Ministry. Local authorities requested the military's involvement, according to Sonta, saying that securing the scene near the tunnels continued to waste public funds as treasure hunters flocked to the area.
Rumors of two trains filled with jewels and gold have persisted since the end of World War II in 1945 and the fall of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. Nazis allegedly hid the looted goods, including valuables stolen from their Jewish victims, in a vast network of tunnels underneath the Ksiaz castle in Poland during their retreat from the eastern front.
A Polish and German treasure-hunting pair claimed they found the location of an armored train filled with valuables in the tunnel in mid-August, giving credence to those rumors of the loot under the castle. And the duo, who said they are working off a credible tip but have not been able to enter the tunnels, have demanded 10 percent of the worth of whatever is found.
"A man on his deathbed gave the people looking for the train the information they needed to find it," said Piotr Zuchowski, head of conservation at Poland's Culture Ministry. Local officials said Friday that they were "99 percent sure" the treasure was real after looking at satellite photographs near the scene that appeared to show the outline of a train.
Polish soldiers said they are aware that there could be explosives hidden in the train, as it was also rumored to be booby-trapped by the Germans as a means to protect the treasure.
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