A team of around 35 diggers will start excavating the embankment between Wroclaw and Walbrzych in Poland’s southwest. “There will be a live stream,” a spokeswoman for the team said to the German news agency DPA.
The treasure hunter team, Piotr Koper, from Walbrzych, Poland, and Andreas Richter, from Germany, have been looking for the train for over four years. Now they claim they have found the location of the tunnel that will lead them to the treasure train, which was supposed to be hidden at the end of WWII by the Nazis.
The hunt was stopped in December after a press conference in which it was announced by experts that there was no evidence of a train. But now, an agreement was made, and the digging will start on August 16th. Results are expected within two days of the start and the dig will be broadcast using a livestream.
A preliminary scan of a collapsed rail siding in September of 2015 produced radar images described by Deputy Minister of Culture Piotr Zuchowski as providing “99 percent” certainty of the presence of a buried train. However, the Polish government has since distanced itself from the remark.
Koper said that he and Richter had also worked out how to extract it from the ground. He added: ‘We have spent much time examining the logistical problems and worked out a solution for getting the train out.
In October 2015, the Polish military moved in to check the site for explosives. The search that was undertaken was non-invasive only, meaning that no digging or drilling could take place. With the use of Ground-Penetrating Radar, there was an attempt to establish the precise location of the gold train.
In mid-December during a press conference, researchers presented their findings regarding the alleged gold train near the town of Walbrzych in Poland. Professor Janusz Madej from Krakow’s Academy of Mining said, “There may be a tunnel. There is no train especially an armored one carrying precious metals.”
After the press conference, the municipal office of Walbrzych announced that further research should be conducted to conclude the investigation, Koper and Richter said the only way to be sure is to start the excavation, and now the dig is on again!
Why Are These Tunnels Here?
Koper and Richter announced that they had discovered a 320-foot-long train buried eight to nine meters underground in a railway tunnel which was once part of Nazi Germany’s Riese project.
Riese (Riese meaning “giant” in German) was the code name for a construction project of Nazi Germany in 1943–45, consisting of seven underground structures located in the Owl Mountains and Książ Castle in Lower Silesia, which was then part of Germany, but after the war became part of Poland. Inmates from Gross Rosen concentration camp were used during the construction of the tunnels.
At the peak of its activity in 1944, the Gross-Rosen complex had up to 100 subcamps located in Eastern Germany, Czechoslovakia, and on the territory of occupied Poland. The population of all Gross-Rosen camps at that time accounted for 11% of the total number of inmates trapped in the Nazi concentration camp system.
A total of 125,000 inmates of various nationalities passed through the complex during its existence, of whom an estimated 40,000 died on site, on death marches, and in evacuation transports. The camp was captured on February 14th, 1945, by the Red Army.
The purpose of the project remains uncertain because of lack of documentation. Some sources suggest that all the structures were part of the Führer’s Headquarters. According to others, it was a combination of HQ and arms industry, but a comparison to similar facilities can indicate that only the castle was adapted as an HQ and the other official residence and the tunnels in the Owl Mountains were planned as a network of underground factories.
It is estimated that only 10% of the tunnels have been explored since the end of the war.
Where Is The Train?
The tunnel where the Train is supposed to be was discovered by Koper and Richter using a 1926 railway map; they found that the tunnel lies near to the former railway station in Walim.
Images of the location where the Gold Train is supposed to be have been posted on Twitter by @Exen:
Drone footage of the location where the dig for the gold train will take place:
We will have to wait and see if the dig really starts and what it will bring us.
Updates to follow!