Polish Officials: Nazi-Train Hunters Found 'Something'

Walbrzych officials say a military train has been found
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 27, 2015 7:50 AM CDT
Polish Officials: Nazi-Train Hunters Found 'Something'
This file photo from March 2012 shows a part of a subterranean system built by Nazi Germany in what is today Gluszyca-Osowka, Poland.   (AP Photo)

Polish officials say a military train has been discovered in Walbrzych, but it's not yet clear if it's the famed Nazi gold train rumored to have vanished in southwest Poland in 1945. Walbrzych "is full of mysterious stories because of its history," says Zygmunt Nowaczyk, the town's deputy mayor, per NBC News. "Now it is formal information—[we] have found something." But the Telegraph has Nowaczyk as also saying that city council officials have been given no proof of the discovery from lawyers for the two treasure hunters, a German and a Pole. As such, it's unclear why the city is offering confirmation—which NBC says it also got from local press officer Arkadiusz Golebiewski. The train-hunting duo came forward last week asking for 10% of the value of the trove—which would normally be state property—before revealing its location. Local officials say they'll pass the men's request on to Warsaw.

The men's paperwork mentions a train of "a military nature. There is no mention of valuables: just military equipment," says a rep for the Walbrzych council's legal office. Still, "this is a find of world significance, on a par with [discovering] the Titanic," the men's lawyer tells Radio Wroclaw, per the Los Angeles Times. The Times reports that the train was rumored to have entered the "Project Riese" area, the code name given to a Nazi WWII project that had prisoners and forced laborers (some who lived to tell the tale) constructing a network of tunnels under the region's Owl Mountains. The tunnel complex was never finished, but parts are publicly accessible. Walbrzych-area safety officials are working to keep newly inspired treasure-seekers from pouring in. (Read more on the legendary train here.)

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