Old Nazi map sparks treasure hunt in the Netherlands
An old map believed
to mark the spot where German soldiers hid treasure worth millions of euros
during World War Two sparked the imagination of amateur treasure hunters in the
Netherlands this week.
Armed with metal
detectors and shovels, groups wandered through the fields surrounding rural
Ommeren in the east of the country after the map was made public by the Dutch
National Archive on Tuesday.
The archive said the
map was believed to indicate where Nazi soldiers had hidden four large boxes
filled with diamonds, rubies, gold, silver and all sorts of jewellery which
they had looted after an explosion at a bank in August 1944.
The map was obtained
from a German soldier shortly after the war by the Dutch institute that was
tasked with tracing the German capital in the Netherlands after the country was
freed from Nazi occupation in 1945.
The research file
which held the map was released this week as the maximum period of 75 years
during which it could be held confidential had lapsed.
Although the
existence of the treasure could never fully be confirmed, the institute
undertook various failed attempts to find it in 1947, National Archive
spokeswoman Anne-Marieke Samson told Reuters.
"We don't know
for sure if the treasure existed. But the institute did a lot of checks and
found the story reliable," Samson said.
"But they never
found it and if it existed, the treasure might very well have been dug up
already."
But the small chance
of finding any valuables did not deter the amateur gold diggers.
"I see groups
of people with metal detectors everywhere," 57-year-old Jan Henzen told
Reuters as he took a break from his own search.
"Like a lot of
people, the news about the treasure made me go look for myself. The chance of
the treasure still being here after 70 years is very small I think, but I want
to give it a try."
Former Ommeren mayor
Klaas Tammes, who now runs the foundation that owns the lands that might hide
the treasure, said he had seen people from all over the country.
"A map with a
row of three trees and a red cross marking a spot where a treasure should be
hidden sparks the imagination," he said.
"Anyone who finds anything will have to report it to us, so we'll see. But I wouldn't expect it to be easy."
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