Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Polish Soldiers Mount Hunt for Lost Nazi Treasure Train

Polish military personnel on Friday began inspecting and photographing the site where authorities suspect a Nazi-era train, possibly carrying guns and looted jewels, may be buried.

Soldiers in uniforms identifying them as members of a de-mining unit walked around the area, talked to local officials and took pictures, a Reuters photographer said. There was no sign they had started digging.

Authorities of Poland’s Lower Silesia region said at a conference on Friday that the effects of Friday’s reconnaissance will be presented to the general command of the armed forces, which will within two weeks take a decision regarding further potential action.

According to local folklore, the train entered a tunnel in 1945 and never emerged.

Last week, a deputy culture minister said he was almost certain the so-called “gold train” had been located, but his ministry backtracked, saying it had no knowledge on the issue.

Two amateur treasure hunters, a German and a Pole, said in August they had found the train, and said it should be exhumed and displayed as a tourist attraction.

The World Jewish Congress said that any valuables that had been stolen from Jews murdered by the Nazis must be returned to their rightful owners.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.