The Nazi gold train or Wałbrzych gold train is an urban legend about a train laden with gold

The Nazi gold train or Wałbrzych gold train is an urban legend about a train laden with gold and treasure that was hidden by the Nazis in southwest Poland during the last days of World War II. 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 during the Cold War, no evidence of the train, its tracks or treasure have ever been found. Historians believe the train never existed.Show more

Between 2015 and 2018, the train received renewed global media interest when two Polish men claimed to have discovered it using ground-penetrating radar. 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), arrived at the station Freiburg in Schlesien (Świebodzice), but did not reach the next station in Waldenburg in Schlesien (Wałbrzych). The train is suspected to have entered an abandoned coal mine or tunnel system under Książ Castle, which is part of the unfinished, top secret Nazi construction project Project Riese in the Owl Mountains. Onboard the train was supposed to be more than 300 t (330 tons) 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 (1947 to 1989), the Polish Armed Forces 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 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.

On 28 August, Polish Deputy Culture Minister Piotr Żuchowski announced that ground-penetrating radar 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 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 4-kilometre (2.5-mile) stretch of track on Polish State Railways' Wrocław–Wałbrzych line at kilometre 65.

Polish authorities sectioned off woodland in the...

LINK TO ARTICLE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_gold_train

TAGS: Nazi gold train, Wałbrzych, Urban legends, Treasure of Poland, Sudetes, Silesian culture, Polish legends, Polish folklore, Poland in World War II, Nazi subterranea, Nazi Germany, Missing trains, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Legendary objects, History of Silesia, History of rail transport in Germany, German legends, Cultural history of World War II, January 1945 events in Europe, 1945 in rail transport, 1945 in military history, 1945 in Germany

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