Image by Getty Images

Polish and German treasure hunters have started digging at a site in southwest Poland where they believe a Nazi-era train rumored to have gone missing is hidden – despite the skepticism of experts.

Andreas Koper and Piotr Richter said last year they had located the train buried underground. According to local legend, it was carrying looted jewels and guns and disappeared into a tunnel ahead of advancing Soviet Red Army forces in 1945, towards the end of World War Two.

They secured the permissions needed to begin digging despite a study by AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow concluding that a train is unlikely to be buried in the location the two amateur explorers have specified.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis of the crisis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

On Tuesday, the pair led a team of explorers in excavations at three separate sites inside a fenced-off area in the district of Walbrzych.

“We have to find a railway track, probably the entrance to a railway tunnel and, if the tunnel exists, there should be a train there,” Andrzej Galik, a spokesman for the treasure hunters, told Polish media.

“What do we expect? To unveil a sort of time capsule, something from that era, from the period of World War Two … We are hoping to be successful.”

Galik said ground-penetrating radar examinations were “very promising.” The team is expected to announce findings in coming days.

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.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount