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For the past few days, rumors of a Nazi gilded train have been circulating beyond the Internet. A pair of hunters (i Polish, i German) contacted the Polish government officially and informed them that they possessed information on the final location of a Nazi train, secreted during the waning days of World War Ii. The train is believed to exist located near the town of Walbrzych (then Waldenburg) after parting from Wroclaw (so Breslau). Today, Poland's head of national heritage, Piotr Zuchowski, held a printing briefing in which he confirmed that he'due south seen a purported image of the train and is 99% certain it actually exists.

An armored Nazi aureate train, hidden for decades, and possibly booby-trapped with explosives may sound like the stuff of Hollywood, only there's plenty of historical precedent. Let'south accept a await at the evidence.

Of armored trains and Nazi golden

The phrase "armored train" probably doesn't but mean that the engine had a few gun placements or protected alcoves. Armored trains were first deployed during the American Civil State of war, but saw increasing use throughout the rest of the 19th century and throughout World War I. While they were evidently limited to operating in areas where railroad tracks had been laid and maintained, trains could project a significant amount of force in a brusque menstruum of time. Early on tanks, for example, were oft barely maneuverable and limited to near-walking speeds by primitive gearing, weak engines, and their own enormous bulk. A train, in contrast, could tow fixed artillery for mobile shelling, launch raiding parties, transport troops quickly, or even include a field hospital.

Zaamurets

The WW1-era armored train Zammurets, detailed in a stellar Medium written report

World War I saw the greatest deployment of armored trains, but many were still in apply in Poland during Globe War Ii. Poland made extensive use of armored trains during its initial resistance to High german occupation, and the Germans themselves developed and deployed some trains for use along the Eastern Front. Given that Poland had its ain armored trains to start with, it's easy to imagine the Nazis yet having access to ane in the waning days of the war.

What well-nigh the rumors of Nazi gold? Again, it may sound like Hollywood, but it'south rooted in fact. As the Nazis rose to power in the 1930s, they systemically plundered their own Jewish population of valuables and resources. Collections of art and cultural artifacts held in museums or at universities were seized on behalf of the country, and books were burned en masse. By the late 1930s, Deutschland's gilt reserves had fallen to dangerous levels; the land is believed to have looted the gold reserves of Austria, occupied Czechoslovakia, and the city of Danzig to replenish its own coffers.

Schachtanlage_Merkers

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Once WW2 began, of grade, these policies kicked into overdrive. Equally Hitler'southward Final Solution took shape and Germany seized much of Europe, the gilded and valuables of both targeted minorities and entire nations was seized and liquidated. The jewelry, rings, and valuables of millions of Jews was melted downwardly into bullion, while an estimated $550 one thousand thousand in gold (in 1940s prices) was stolen from strange governments. This gilt was stored in mines and stockpiles across the country, including the Merkers Mine, as shown above. Nearly 250 tons of gilt were found at the Merkers Mine, not including the many valises filled with gold fillings, eyeglass frames, small precious stones, and other personal items taken from victims of the Holocaust.

Rings

Hymeneals rings, seized from Buchenwald. Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Nazi Federal republic of germany is believed to take looted 20% of all of the fine art in Europe. To this day, no consummate tape exists of how much gold, jewelry, art, cultural artifacts, and items of value were stolen or destroyed. The idea that a railroad train of gilt could've remained subconscious all this fourth dimension? Not so difficult.

HungarianGold

The real Hungarian gold train. Paradigm courtesy of Wikipedia

The thought of a Nazi "aureate train" has a real historical analog as well. On December 15, 1944, a train left Hungary carrying an estimated $570 meg to $ane.seven billion (in 2007 values) worth of treasure. The aureate and treasure, which left Hungary to escape the advancing Soviet regular army, made a number of stops to transfer its valuables to various trucks as it meandered through Hungary and into Austria. It was eventually seized past the advancing Allies in May of that year.

What practice we know nigh this particular 'golden train?'

According to local legend, the Nazis loaded the train with stolen valuables and hid it near Ksiaz Castle. The two treasure hunters claim to have establish information technology in a buried tunnel in the Sowa Mountains. This would track with the fable — Ksiaz Castle is three miles away from the full general surface area, and served as the Nazi's base of operations in the area. The train was reportedly measured using footing penetrating radar (which can be used to provide the necessary resolution and imaging capability) and is reportedly 100 meters long. In that location's no word on what its cargo might contain, and the actual image has not been released. According to Zuchowski, the two men were put on the trail by a deathbed confession of one of the men who worked on it, who also warned them that the train is protected by explosives.

Information technology's possible that the entire study is fake, or that the train is real merely has no significant cargo. In this case, however, fifty-fifty papers and documents related to the war could have enormous value to historians and researchers. The individuals in question are asking for x% of the value of the cargo in substitution for its location; it is non clear if Poland will agree to this request.

We should know before long, i way or the other, whether the train actually exists or not. Hopefully we've put a fleck of context around a far-fetched rumor, and illustrated how even the craziest of ideas isn't e'er that nuts when viewed in the proper perspective.