Radar image reveals what may be fabled Nazi treasure train
WALBRZYCH, Poland -- Imagine it's 1945 ... a train pulls in and soldiers load it up with chests of Nazi gold. It's a myth so powerful here in southwest Poland that history buffs staged a re-enactment recently.
In reality, amateur treasure hunters Andrei Richter and Piotr Koper believe they have found a mysterious Nazi train.
It lies, they say, 25 feet underground by the main railway line on the outskirts of the town of Walbrzych.
Koper and Richter think that the Nazis actually built a spur of railway line into a trench in the bank and once they'd driven the train in there, they removed all traces of the track.
The Nazis did occupy this part of Poland during World War Two and had to retreat in a hurry -- as the Soviet Army advanced in 1945. It Is possible the Germans wanted to hide something from the Russians.
Richter and Koper's ground-penetrating radar machine produced an image that looks like a train cars with a cargo not of gold, but of tanks.
The Polish government has gone ahead and had the site cleared.
Now the army is checking for Nazi booby traps. What's next? No one knows, though Richter and Koper are hoping it's not a bust -- but a bonanza.
When asked how much they hoped to make, Koper answered, "Five to eight million dollars, our finders fee."
That's probably a long shot, and yet, some money is already flowing into the region from tourists who'd love to see a Nazi train, but for now will happily settle for a myth.
