Poland’s Deputy Culture Minister has said that a Nazi train allegedly laden with precious metals is “99 percent” likely to exist.

Conservator General and Deputy Minister of Culture and National Heritage Piotr Żuchowski at a press conference devoted to the "Gold train" issue on 28 August in Warsaw. Photo: PAP/Radek Pietruszka

“The existence of an armored train from WWII is very probable. This is something without precedent,” Piotr Żuchowski told a press conference in Warsaw on Friday.

The train is about 100 metres long and it is not yet known what it contains, Żuchowski said, adding that its location had been passed on by somone who had participated in its final removal during the war while on his deathbed.

Poland recently appealed to second world war buffs and rail enthusiasts to stop searching for the train. The culture ministry said “foragers” had become active in the area. “I’m certain the train exists, but it might contain dangerous material,” Żuchowski said.

Reports have suggested the train could contain up to 300 tonnes of gold, as well as a batch of diamonds, other gems and industrial equipment.

A Pole and a German citizen in mid-August filed documents claiming they had found a Nazi German train laden with precious metals near the city of Wałbrzych, south west Poland. They want 10 percent of the value of the find in return for revealing the location of the supposedly armoured train.

Several underground constructions were created by the Nazi German regime in Lower Silesia from 1943 onwards as part of the Nazis' Project Riese.

Wałbrzych, which was part of Germany prior to and during World War II and named Waldenburg, was taken by the Red Army on 8 May 1945.

As finalised at the Potsdam Conference of 17 July to 2 August 1945, Poland's borders shifted west following the war, and the city became part of Poland. Most local ethnic Germans were resettled west by the Allies to within Germany's new borders. (jh)

Source: TVP