Gold hunters close in on tunnels

Part of a subterranean system built by Nazi Germany in what is today Gluszyca-Osowka, Poland. Photo / AP

There has always been a bit of gold in the steep, tree-decked hills around Walbrzych. Enough to prompt the opening of a few mines long ago, and tourists still chance their luck with a gold pan. But never enough to generate excitement. Until now, that is.

Two men have claimed to have found what could be a Nazi ghost train that disappeared into the hills and mountains around Walbrzych in April 1945 with a cargo of gold.

"People are talking about it," said Marek Marciniak, the jovial owner of a cafe adjacent to Walbrzych town hall. "And when I go home and flick on the television I see a lot of news about the 'gold train'."

Marciniak, like many others, is quick to stress that everybody has heard stories about the train and its gold before. He says what sets this time apart from the others is that two people have filed a legal claim with the local authorities in the hope of attaining a finder's fee of 10 per cent of the value of the find.

The two who have claimed to have found it have kept the location under wraps, saying, through their lawyer, that they may reveal their secret to the president of Walbrzych next week. But until then the location stays secret.

The local press claimed one place it could lie is Walim, 20km west of Walbrzych. The village's hills are home to the Project Riese tunnels.

Project Riese involved digging kilometres of tunnels in a series of complexes across the Walbrzych region, which was until 1945 part of Germany. Thousands of slave labourers died hewing the rock for reasons that still remain unclear. Some say the tunnels were for a secret command centre, others claim they were for underground factories for Hitler's secret weapons, or even hid research on an atomic bomb.

Pawel Brzozowski, Walim's director of culture and tourism, pulled up an old map on his computer showing a now non-existent railway line running into Walim. He explained the theory was that there may have been a special track laid that led into a Reise tunnel.

At the entrance to the Reise tunnels, now a tourist attraction, tunnel guide Marcin Pasek shakes his head at talk of finding the gold train. "There has been talk but no evidence."

While his scepticism strikes a chord with many there is also hope the train and its precious cargo will soon be uncovered. That would bring a surge of publicity and provide a boost to town that has suffered of late from mine closures, job losses and a falling population.

"We hope it's true," said Marciniak, the cafe owner. "But even it isn't, the legend will live on," he added. "Nobody ever sees the Loch Ness monster but people still go to Loch Ness."