A NAZI train carrying loot and guns is long rumoured to have ‘vanished’ in the last days of World War II. Now two men are claiming they know where it is, and are demanding a 10 per cent cut — of 300 tons of gold.

The mystery of the heavily armoured train and rail carriages have been a source of much speculation for decades. It is a story that has achieved near legendary status in Poland and German.

Where did it go?

Where could it hide?

Did it even exist?

media_camera Recovered ... US officers inspect loot recovered from Nazi sympathisers in the last days of World War II. Source: US National Archive

“It would be an incredible discovery,” historian Joanna Lamparska told Polish news channel TVN24 — with a proviso: “No one could ever prove the existence of this train”.

Whether or not the two men have found the train — or are just wishful thinkers — has not yet been established.

But what is known is that they have approached the Walbrzych district council demanding a 10 per cent cut of any find.

“The area has never been excavated before and we don’t know what we might find,” a district council official told Reuters.

media_camera Mobile bastion ... German soldiers leap to action for the cameras in front of an armoured train during World War II. Source: US National Archive

Mystery treasure train

The story goes something like this:

It was the last days of the war. The Russian Red Army was closing in on the city of Wroclaw. German forces were in full retreat.

During the Nazi occupation, a massive treasure of gold, gems, art and historical artefacts had been stripped from Polish museums, galleries and private collections. Then there were the gold reserves of the Wroclaw bank.

Now this untold wealth was at risk of falling into Russian hands.

So, a train — one of many clad with heavy armour and bristling with guns to withstand Allied air attacks — was sent to Wroclaw in May 1945 to remove the loot.

Among the treasures was said to be 23 boxes of gold bullion.

The 150m long assembly of armoured locomotive and carriages was spotted leaving along a south-western rail line.

It was never seen again.

media_camera Reich machine ... Adolf Hitler inspects an armoured rail carriage during World War II. Source: IWM

“We actually have two gold train stories,” Ms Lamparska told local radio.

“One is supposed to be under a mountain and the other somewhere around Walbrzych. But no one has ever seen documentary evidence confirming the existence of such trains.”

The figure of 300 tons of gold is one such mystery: Its origins are unknown.

“We inform about finding by the shareholders (of an) armoured train from WWII. The train is likely to contain additional equipment in the form of self-propelled guns positioned on platforms with a total length of about 150 metres. The train also contains valuable, rare industrial materials and precious ores “ a legal letter sent to the Walbrzych district council reads.

Lawyer Jaroslaw Chmielewski also spoke to Radio Wroclaw on behalf of the two treasure hunters: “This is a treasure of global significance, comparable with the Titanic.”

Polish law permits treasure hunters to claim 10 per cent of their find. The remainder goes to the government.

media_camera Gold Bars taken from Jews by the Nazis and stashed in the Heilbron Salt Mines Source: National Archives

Why Walbrzych?

Germany had been reeling under the relentless bombing campaigns of the Allies in the final years of World War II. Not even the capital, Berlin, was safe from the 1000-bomber raids.

To keep the wheels of its war turning, Germany embarked on a massive campaign to hide — and protect — its industry.

Walbrzych — an ethnic German enclave in the mountainous border of Poland and Czechoslavakia — was a regional industrial centre at the time of the war. The area includes several coal mines and an extensive network of underground tunnels.

media_camera Secret facility ... The purpose of Nazi tunnels in the cliffs around Walbrzych remain a mystery. Source: MapBox

Nearby is one of Poland’s largest castles: Ksiaz. Used as a Nazi headquarters during World War II, it was then taken over by the Russian military during its occupation of Poland.

Chief among the Nazi sites is Owl Mountain: Between 1943 and 1945 this site was turned into a highly secret labyrinth of passages and chambers. Its true purpose remains a mystery: Was it connected to Hitler’s secret “V” weapons program? Or even research into nuclear weapons?

Like the gold, these also had to be prevented from falling into the hands of the enemy.

Legend has it the train was shunted into one of these tunnels, which was then sealed up.

Originally published as Secret Nazi treasure train found?