Lost Nazi hoard located?
Treaure hunters search for a ghost train full of gold beneath a Polish castle
There has long been a legend of a Nazi ‘ghost’ train packed with treasure hidden from the advancing Red Army in a sealed tunnel. The train had allegedly been loaded up in the eastern German city of Breslau, now called Wrocław and part of Poland. The tunnel was said to be near Ksiaz Castle (previously Schloss Fürstenstein) in the mountains of Lower Silesia – the German headquarters during the war.
In early August, two men, a German and a Pole, filed a legal claim with local authorities in Poland’s southwestern district of Wałbrzych, asserting they had located the train, the details of which they would disclose after receiving acknowledgment, in writing, of their right to a finder’s fee of 10 per cent of the hoard’s value (in accordance with Polish law). They reportedly found the train 210ft (64m) below ground, using ground-penetrating radar. It was said to be armoured, 495ft (150m) long, with gun platforms – and to contain 300 tons of gold, other “precious metals”, and possibly masterpieces stolen from Polish noble families and museums. Some even suggested it contains the famous Amber Room looted from Catherine the Great’s palace in 1941. There again, it might be empty, or even dangerous; it might be mined, or contain poison gas.
One possible location is Walim, some 12 miles (19km) west of Wałbrzych, because the hills there are home to the tunnels of Project Reise (‘Giant’), begun in 1941. Project Reise involved digging miles of tunnels in a series of complexes across the Wałbrzych region. Thousands of slave labourers died hewing the rock for reasons that remain obscure. Some say the tunnels were for a secret command centre, others claim they were for weapon factories, or even hid research on a Nazi atom bomb. Three of the seven main Reise sites are now open to the public, but much of the complex remains unexplored.
Following the initial publicity of the legal claim, ‘the Silesian Research Group’ announced that its members had located the train over two years ago, using ground-penetrating radar, and that their maps and data had been pilfered, presumably by the men who had filed the claim. One unnamed group member said: “We know that in May 1945 gold and other valuables from the city of Wrocław were being transported to Wałbrzych when they disappeared between the towns of Lubiechow and Swiebodzice. During the war, there used to be an SS barracks here which was heavily guarded. And just behind the railway bridge was the entrance to the tunnel” – which was 2.37km (2,592 yards) from Ksiaz Castle, according to the group. Finding it, however, would take excavation, for which permission would be required.
Naturally, there are fears that this latest gold rush will turn out to be the triumph of hope over reality. Andrzej Gaik, who gives guided tours through the old Castle of the Princes of Wałbrzych, went on a fruitless treasure hunt for the ‘Golden train’ some years ago, and now thinks it doesn’t exist. However, on 26 August, Wałbrzych’s deputy mayor said that a “historically significant military train” had indeed been found. Two days later, Piotr Zuchowski, Poland’s deputy culture minister, said the authorities had seen radar images of the train, the location of which had been divulged to the “two treasure hunters” on his deathbed by one of the men who hid it, who provided a sketch map and said the train was booby-trapped. The minister said the images appeared to show the train was equipped with gun turrets. Another two days later, Magdalena Woch, director of culture at Ksiaz Castle, said: “There is a story that in 1945 there were three trains which came into the town and have never been found. The gold may not be in the train that has been found but in one of these bettersecured military trains.”
As we go to press, the Polish government has promised the deployment of specialist reconnaissance troops, but actual digging is unlikely to begin until next spring, following a detailed ground survey. Clearly, this ripping yarn will run and run. dailymail.co.uk, 19 Aug; Times, 21 Aug; dailymail. co.uk, 22 Aug, 2 Sept; Sunday Telegraph, the dailybeast.com, 23 Aug; warhistoryonline, 26 Aug; Jerusalem Post, 28 Aug; [AP] D.Telegraph, 29+31 Aug, 2 Sept 2015.
Some claim the tunnels hid research on a Nazi atom bomb