The story of the Nazi Gold Train—the riches-laden ghost car that’s still haunting Poland
The haunting tale of the Nazi Gold Train has been passed down in Poland since WWII ended in 1945. While its legitimacy has been disputed across the years, it has remained a central point of interest amongst the Polish people, all of whom know the story of the pricey Nazi train car tucked away in the Owl Mountain tunnels. What is the Nazi Gold Train? Who has hunted for the mysterious ghost car? And where is the hunt today?
Where Nazis hid their treasures
During the horrific events of WWII, some Nazis took it upon themselves to store away treasures in locations across Europe to keep the government, normal citizens, and even fellow Nazis from getting their hands on it. Many of these drop points were located in homes, castles, and Nazi-occupied locations throughout Eastern Europe. Still, it’s believed that even more loot—specifically that which was stolen from detained/executed Jewish citizens—was hidden away underground in Poland.
Where do these suspicions come from? Beneath Poland’s oldest mountain range, the Owl Mountains, exists a maze of underground paths. How did these catacombs come to be? From 1943 to 1945, Adolf Hitler, who recognized that the war was not going in favor of the Third Reich, ordered underground tunnels to be built by Allied P.O.W.s so they could be occupied and utilized by Nazi forces.