No evidence supports the existence of a Nazi “gold train” loaded with treasures and buried in Poland at the end of World War II, researchers said on Tuesday.
The experts from Krakow’s Academy of Mining said a tunnel could exist, but that there was no sign of a train at a site near the southwestern town of Walbrzych.
The story sparked a flurry of global media interest in September when two men claimed to have discovered an armored Nazi train using ground-penetrating radar.
Pole Piotr Kope and German national Andreas Richter said a train carriage 98m long lay buried 8m to 9m underground.
They said they believed the contents were mostly weapon prototypes, though local legend spoke of artwork, jewels and gold stolen by the Nazis.
The Nazis made prisoners of war dig a network of tunnels in the area and some locals have claimed the Germans tried to spirit gold away as Russia’s Red Army closed in.
However, Academy geology professor Janusz Madej said his team’s research had indicated “there is no train on this site, [but] maybe a tunnel.”
While admitting that a geological survey of the area had thrown up some anomalies, Madej said he was “100 percent sure there is no train” there based on magnetic, gravimetric and geo-radar studies.
Koper and Richter said that further searches would locate a train buried deep inside the tunnel.
“We discovered a tunnel. You can see clearly the entrance to a tunnel,” Koper said.
He told reporters his team would prove that a train exists.
“I am convinced we are going to prove its existence. We need a bit more time ... we need to excavate,” he said, adding that he and Richter were prepared to pay for the excavation themselves.
It will ultimately fall to the Walbrzych town hall to decide whether excavation should proceed.
Treasures that the Nazis allegedly stashed away as Soviet forces closed in reputedly included artwork stolen from dispossessed Jewish families and the Amber Room, which the Germans pillaged from Saint Petersburg’s Catherine Palace.
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