Nazi gold train
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The Nazi gold train or Wałbrzych gold train is an
urban legend An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...
about a train laden with gold and treasure that was hidden by the Nazis in southwest
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
during the last days of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. The apocryphal tale claims the train full of valuables, including artwork, was concealed in a sealed-up rail tunnel or mine in the Central Sudetes by retreating Nazis. Despite numerous searches since 1945, including by the
Polish Army The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stre ...
during the Cold War, no evidence of the train, its tracks or treasure have ever been found. Historians believe the train never existed. Between 2015 and 2018, the train received renewed global media interest when two Polish men claimed to have discovered it using
ground-penetrating radar Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is a Geophysics, geophysical method that uses radar pulses to Geophysical imaging, image the subsurface. It is a non-intrusive method of surveying the sub-surface to investigate underground utilities such as concrete, ...
. The search culminated in a dig involving the Polish military, state officials, and privately-funded individuals. However, excavations were halted when the detected anomaly was found to be natural geology. Interest in the train led a group of enthusiasts to construct a full-size replica of a Nazi armored train with the hope of it becoming a tourist attraction.


Background

According to the apocryphal story, in the last months of World War II, a Nazi armoured train laden with gold and other treasures left Breslau (now
Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...
), arrived at the station Freiburg in Schlesien (
Świebodzice Świebodzice (; szl, Frybork; german: Freiburg) is a town in south-western Poland with 22,793 inhabitants (). It is situated in Świdnica County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship (from 1975–1998 it was in the former Wałbrzych Voivodeship). T ...
), but did not reach the next station in Waldenburg in Schlesien (
Wałbrzych Wałbrzych (; german: Waldenburg; szl, Wałbrzich; sli, label= Lower Silesian, Walmbrig or ''Walmbrich''; cs, Valbřich or ) is a city located in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in southwestern Poland. From 1975–1998 it was the capital of Wa ...
). The train is suspected to have entered an abandoned
coal mine Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...
or tunnel system under
Książ Castle Książ Castle ( pl, Zamek Książ, ; german: Schloss Fürstenstein) is a castle in northern Wałbrzych in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland. The largest castle in the region of Silesia, it is the third-largest in Poland behind Malbork Castle ...
, which is part of the unfinished, top secret Nazi construction project
Project Riese Riese (; German for "giant") was the code name for a construction project of Nazi Germany between 1943 and 1945. It consisted of seven underground structures in the Owl Mountains and Książ Castle in Lower Silesia, which was then Nazi Germany a ...
in the
Owl Mountains The Owl Mountains ( pl, Góry Sowie, cs, Soví hory, german: Eulengebirge) are a mountain range of the Central Sudetes in southwestern Poland. It includes a protected area called Owl Mountains Landscape Park. Geography The Owl Mountains cover ...
. Onboard the train was supposed to be more than of gold, jewels, weapons, and artistic masterpieces. According to historians, it has never been proven that the train ever existed. During the
Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million ne ...
(1947–1989), the
Polish Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Siły Zbrojne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, abbreviated ''SZ RP''; popularly called ''Wojsko Polskie'' in Poland, abbreviated ''WP''—roughly, the "Polish Military") are the national armed forces of ...
carried out numerous searches for the train but found nothing.


Search on the "65th kilometer"

In late August 2015, news stories began circulating about two unidentified men who had obtained a death-bed
confession A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of persons – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information th ...
about a buried gold train. The two were later identified as Piotr Koper of Poland and Andreas Richter of Germany, co-owners of the mine exploration company XYZ S.C. Using lawyers as an intermediary, the two men opened secret negotiations with the Polish government for a "finders' fee" of 10% of the value of the train in return for information leading to its location. They would reveal the exact location once the documents were signed. Koper and Richter would later claim information about their discovery was leaked by the government, resulting in a worldwide
media circus Media circus is a colloquial metaphor, or idiom, describing a news event for which the level of media coverage—measured by such factors as the number of reporters at the scene and the amount of material broadcast or published—is perceived to ...
. On 28 August, Polish Deputy Culture Minister Piotr Żuchowski announced that
ground-penetrating radar Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is a Geophysics, geophysical method that uses radar pulses to Geophysical imaging, image the subsurface. It is a non-intrusive method of surveying the sub-surface to investigate underground utilities such as concrete, ...
images taken by Koper and Richter confirmed with 99% probability that a train of 100 metres in length had been found. However, on August 31, Tomasz Smolarz,
Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, told reporters that "There is no more proof for this alleged discovery than for other claims made over the years," saying, "It's impossible to claim that such a find actually exists at the location indicated based on the documents that have been submitted." On 4 September, Koper and Richter went public for the first time, breaking their previous anonymity. They announced that the precise location of the train had been given to Polish authorities. They also released images they had taken with a KS-700 Ground Penetrating Radar system that appeared to show a 50-metre-deep man-made shaft with something in it. Koper and Richter believed the train was buried next to a stretch of track on
Polish State Railways (''PKP S.A.''; en, Polish State Railways, Inc.) is the dominant Rail transport operations, railway operator in Poland. The company was founded when the former state-owned enterprise was divided into several units based on the need for separati ...
' Wrocław–Wałbrzych line at kilometre 65. Polish authorities sectioned off woodland in the area of kilometer 65, as well as deploying police and other guards in order to prevent access to the numerous treasure hunters who had arrived armed with detection equipment. In late September, the Polish military, acting at the request of the regional governor, began to clear the surface of trees and search for booby traps and mines. The military confirmed on October 4 that no explosives or other dangers existed, down to a metre's depth. In mid-November, two different teams were cleared by city authorities in
Wałbrzych Wałbrzych (; german: Waldenburg; szl, Wałbrzich; sli, label= Lower Silesian, Walmbrig or ''Walmbrich''; cs, Valbřich or ) is a city located in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in southwestern Poland. From 1975–1998 it was the capital of Wa ...
to make a non-invasive assessment of the site. The first team was Koper and Richter. The second team consisted of mining specialists from the Kraków Mining Academy, headed by Janusz Madej. On 15 December, the second team announced that a survey had found no evidence of a train, though possible evidence of a collapsed tunnel. Koper and Richter stood by their claim of a train to which Madej responded: "It's human to make a mistake, but it's foolish to stand by it." In May 2016, despite outside expert opinion that no train existed, Koper and Richter secured permission to begin digging at the site from the owners of the property, Polish State Railways. The excavation commenced on 15 August 2016 with a team of 64 people, including engineers, geologists, chemists, archaeologists and a specialist in military demolitions. The excavation reportedly cost 116,000 euros or $131,000 and was financed by private sponsors, and with the help of volunteers. The dig was halted after seven days when no tracks, tunnel or train were found. The radar images thought to have been the train were revealed to be natural ice formations. An official from the town admitted tourism was up 44% for the year and said "the publicity the town has gotten in the global media is worth roughly around $200 million. Our annual budget for promotion is $380,000, so think about that. Whether the explorers find anything or not, that the gold train has already arrived." The town mayor was considering naming a roundabout after Koper and Richter. At the beginning of December 2016, Koper and Richter declared their intention to create a foundation for the purpose of raising money to drill down to 20 meters in 2017. During the third search in June 2017, with the assistance of a geophysical company from Warsaw, the excavation team encountered seven cavities, which were suspected to be a railway tunnel. The find made deep drilling necessary, which, according to the contractors, would cost at least 100,000 zlotys (about 23,000 euros) for the permits and the actual excavation. The dig was scheduled for the spring or summer of 2018, when sponsors would be found. In August 2018, Richter left the excavation team. Koper announced he would continue the search. While he never found Nazi gold, in January 2019, Koper discovered a series of large and "priceless" 16th-century wall paintings hidden behind a plaster wall while doing renovation work in an old palace in the village of Struga near
Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...
.


See also

*
Hungarian Gold Train The Hungarian Gold Train was the German-operated train during World War II that carried stolen valuables, mostly Hungarian Jews' property, from Hungary towards Berlin in 1945. After American forces seized and looted the train in Austria, almost n ...
*
Confederate gold Confederate gold refers to hidden caches of gold lost after the American Civil War. Millions of dollars' worth of gold was lost or unaccounted for after the war, and its possible location has been the source of speculation of many historians and ...
*
Amber Room The Amber Room ( rus, Янтарная комната, r=Yantarnaya Komnata, german: Bernsteinzimmer, pl, Bursztynowa komnata) was a chamber decorated in amber panels backed with gold leaf and mirrors, located in the Catherine Palace of Tsa ...
*
Die Glocke (conspiracy theory) (, "The Bell") was a purported top-secret Nazi scientific technological device, secret weapon, or . First described by Polish journalist and author Igor Witkowski in (2000), it was later popularized by military journalist and author Nick Cook, w ...
* Gross-Rosen concentration camp *
Project Riese Riese (; German for "giant") was the code name for a construction project of Nazi Germany between 1943 and 1945. It consisted of seven underground structures in the Owl Mountains and Książ Castle in Lower Silesia, which was then Nazi Germany a ...
*
Książ Castle Książ Castle ( pl, Zamek Książ, ; german: Schloss Fürstenstein) is a castle in northern Wałbrzych in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland. The largest castle in the region of Silesia, it is the third-largest in Poland behind Malbork Castle ...
*
Wałbrzych Wałbrzych (; german: Waldenburg; szl, Wałbrzich; sli, label= Lower Silesian, Walmbrig or ''Walmbrich''; cs, Valbřich or ) is a city located in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in southwestern Poland. From 1975–1998 it was the capital of Wa ...
* Mausoleum in Wałbrzych


References


External links


Facebook page of the dig
* — includes chronological history of story with hyperlinks to original sources of information. * — includes maps of possible locations {{Authority control 1945 in Germany 1945 in military history 1945 in rail transport January 1945 events in Europe Cultural history of World War II German legends History of rail transport in Germany History of Silesia Legendary objects Lower Silesian Voivodeship Missing trains Nazi Germany Nazi subterranea Poland in World War II Polish folklore Polish legends Silesian culture Sudetes Treasure of Poland Urban legends Wałbrzych Legendary treasures