Nazi treasure hunters find no train, no tunnel at mysterious Polish site

IT was supposed to be filled with unimaginable treasure. But it turns out the suspected burial site of a legendary Nazi gold train in Poland is just a pile of rubble.

Workers set a fence around the area on the 65th kilometre of the railway track Wroclaw-Walbrzych, during preparations to explore the existence of the so-called 'Nazi Gold train', in Walbrzych, Poland. Picture: AFP

EXPLORERS’ great hopes for finding a legendary Nazi “gold train” in Poland appeared dashed when, after digging extensively, they admitted they have found “no train, no tunnel” at the site.

The legend has sparked a gold rush, drawing in explorers and treasure hunters from across Europe to Poland’s southwestern town of Walbrzych, and prompting local authorities to dream about a great inflow of tourists and money.

The local legend says in 1945, the Nazi Germans hid a train laden with gold and valuables in a secret tunnel nearby as they were fleeing the advancing Soviet army at the end of World War II.

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Last week two explorers — Andreas Richter, a German, and Piotr Koper, a Pole — moved in with heavy equipment and dug deep at a site near rail tracks in Walbrzych, following comments by residents who said they had knowledge of the train’s existence.

Richter and Koper said last year that their own tests using earth-penetrating radar confirmed a train was at the site.

Geavy machinery during the search to find a legendary Nazi train laden with treasure and armaments in Walbrzych, Poland. Picture: AP

But the explorers’ spokesman, Andrzej Gaik, told The Associated Press yesterday that they found “no train, no tunnel” there and that the machines were covering over the three pits that cost 140,000 zlotys ($37,000) to dig.

Saying “hope dies last,” Gaik said a smaller-scale search using probes will resume at a nearby site in September.

The dig confirmed findings by experts from a university in Cracow last year who used magnetic equipment but found no trace of train or tunnel, Gaik said.

Legend holds that an armed train loaded with treasure disappeared after entering a complex of tunnels under the Owl Mountains, a secret project known as “Riese” — or Giant — which the Nazis never finished.

The area belonged to Germany at the time, but has been part of Poland since the borders were moved in the post-war settlement.

Workers dig the ground as excavations are under way aiming to verify the existence of the so-called 'Nazi Gold train' in Walbrzych, Poland. Picture: AFP