excavation
Million dollar Nazi treasure not yet found
It is said that German soldiers buried a treasure here. An excavator dug for it. photo
© Aleksandar Furtula/AP/dpa
Boxes full of jewels are said to be hidden in the Netherlands, according to a map. Historians have searched for it, but have been unsuccessful. But does the treasure really exist?
The feverish search for an alleged treasure worth millions, which German soldiers are said to have buried in boxes in the Netherlands during the Second World War, has ended without result. Today a historians’ association in Ommeren in the province of Gelderland carried out excavations at a final location where the four boxes were suspected, public broadcaster NOS reported.
In August 1944 a bank in Arnhem was hit by a bomb, ejecting the contents of many lockers. At that time, German soldiers are said to have gathered jewels, expensive watches and other valuables and allegedly buried them in boxes in Ommeren.
The German Helmut Sonder from Baden-Baden testified in 1946 that he and his comrades had found the jewels. According to his own statements, Sonder, who was stationed in Arnhem at the time, and his comrades hid the treasure in ammunition boxes and buried them in the spring of 1945.
Dubious Treasure Map
All of this became known in January when the National Archives of the Netherlands released an old sketched map with references to the treasure. This announcement triggered a veritable hunt for the suspected treasure, which is said to be worth millions of euros.
The Municipality of Ommeren then banned private treasure hunts and stopped people searching with metal detectors. The Association of Historians has now received a special permit to dig at a site designated by an expert. But there was no trace of the boxes.
According to the dossier, Dutch authorities ordered a search for the supposed treasure as early as 1946. Vain. Then Sonder was brought in to name the spot. On June 22, 1947 he stuck the spade into the ground himself – but all he found was soil. He himself suspected that his former sergeant had returned secretly and raised the treasure. An international manhunt was unsuccessful.
Historians and the authorities doubt that the jewels are in Ommeren. Especially since no one had reported the loss of jewels in almost 80 years.