Search for legendary “Nazi gold train” set to resume in Poland

A group of researchers who are the latest to claim to have discovered the location of a train full of gold allegedly hidden by Nazi Germany at the end of World War Two have been granted permission to carry out a search at the site.

According to legend, in late 1944 or early 1945, an armored train set off from the city of Breslau (present-day Wrocław in Poland) loaded with gold, jewels and works of art, among other treasures. But it never reached its planned final destination of Waldenburg (present-day Wałbrzych).

Accounts differ as to what may have happened to the “Nazi gold train”. But various theories posit that it was hidden away somewhere in Silesia , a region that was then part of the German Reich but now mostly lies in Poland.

Some say it was buried in a coal mine, while others claim it was moved into an underground network of tunnels that was being built by the Germans at that time beneath and around Książ Castle near Wałbrzych.

However, there is no clear evidence that the train even existed, let alone that it was hidden somewhere. Nevertheless, the story has captured the public imagination – both in Poland and around the world – and has helped lure tourists to the region.

Various unsuccessful efforts have been made to locate the train over the decades, including by Poland's communist authorities in the 1980s.

Around a decade ago, two treasure hunters claimed to have located the train using ground-penetrating radar, drawing renewed global attention. However, subsequent searches, including a large-scale excavation, uncovered nothing.

Now, a new group claims to have found another potential location. Calling itself “Gold Train 2025”, the group has not revealed the names of its members. But it emphasizes that they have “no connection whatsoever” with the two treasure hunters from a decade ago and have made “fundamentally different” findings.

The group claims to have located what it believes are three freight wagons that were put into a railway tunnel that is now closed off and buried. They say that they have precisely pinpointed the location of the site.

In April, they submitted a notification of their find to the authorities in Wałbrzych. The following month, they issued a request to the Świdnica Forest District, where the site is located, for permission to carry out a search there.

This week, the group announced that they have received permission from the state forestry service to carry out the first part of their planned research, which would involve using metal detectors on the surface.

They are also permitted to use shovels and spades to dig down to a maximum depth of 50 centimeters, a forestry spokesman, Jerzy Zemlik, told the Gazeta Wyborcza daily.

However, the group has so far been denied permission for subsequent proposed stages of its work, which would involve felling 60 trees, drilling holes in the ground, and using a camera to confirm the presence of the alleged tunnel.

Obtaining such permission, if it were even possible at all, would take years, says Zemlik, because the area in question is part of legally protected woodland.

Historian Łukasz Orlicki told Gazeta Wyborcza that, if there is an abandoned, buried tunnel at the site, there is a “very small chance” that digging up to 50 centimeters from the surface could confirm its existence.

However, he also expressed skepticism regarding the entire legend of the Nazi gold train, noting that “we still do not have any credible document” indicating its existence and “there is simply no new evidence for the existence of such findings as wagons in an underground tunnel”.

The “Gold Train 2025” team have so far not publicly released the evidence they claim to have regarding the tunnel. However, they say that “these documents will be presented to the public at the appropriate time”.

Main image credit: NAC (under public domain)