Hidden treasury

Archaeology shock: ‘Treasure trove of gold’ from Spanish Armada found intact revealed

The Spanish Armada was a fleet of 130 ships that sailed from Corunna in late May 1588, under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia, with the purpose of escorting an army from Flanders to invade England. The aim was to overthrow Queen Elizabeth I and her establishment of Protestantism in England, to stop English interference in the Spanish Netherlands and to stop the harm caused by English and Dutch privateering ships that interfered with Spanish interests in the Americas. English ships sailed from Plymouth to attack the Armada and were faster and more manoeuvrable than the larger Spanish galleons, enabling them to fire on the Armada without loss as it sailed east off the south coast of England.

Following a bloody battle, the Armada, driven by southwest winds, withdrew north, in a bid to return to Spain around the north of Scotland and south around Ireland, but was disrupted further by storms.

Dr Sam Willis revealed during the BBC’s “Britain's Sunken History” how many ships were wrecked on the coasts of Scotland and Ireland, including the Girona.

He said in 2013: “The Spanish commander took a fateful decision, to retreat from the English Navy, and head up the North Sea towards Scotland.

“As the Spanish fleet edged northwards, the weather began to close in, a natural defence of gale-force winds, huge breaking waves and a deluge of freezing rains dashed any last hope they had to land their forces.

Hidden treasury

WW2: ‘Greatest ever hoard’ of Nazi treasure found in tunnels below Germany revealed

On March 22, 1945, the US Army crossed the Rhine River, and drove into the heart of Germany, advancing northeast from Frankfurt and pushing on to Gotha. Just before noon on April 4, the village of Merkers fell to the Third Army and soldiers began interrogating locals over rumours of a movement of German Reichsbank gold from Berlin to a potassium mine in Merker. In all of these instances, they quoted rumours, but none stated their own knowledge that gold was present in the mine until two French women admitted they had seen German gold reserves and valuable artworks being deposited into the mine several weeks before.

The Americans entered the mines on April 7, 1945, discovering a hoard of treasure worth more than $250million (£202million) in what was a significant blow to Adolf Hitler’s fascist campaign against Europe.

Professor Timothy Naftali, a leading expert on Nazi plunder returned to the same scene 74 years on during History’s ‘In Search Of’ series.

The narrator said in 2019: “Today, Timothy Naftali’s got a rare opportunity to visit what might be the Nazi’s favourite hiding spot for their secret stolen goods.

“The town of Merkers is still home to a working salt and potassium mine.

Hidden treasury

Police investigate company's 'treasure ship' claims

Police are investigating a South Korean company that claimed to have discovered a sunken Russian warship with $8.9 billion worth of gold on board.

South Korean police are investigating the firm, called Shinil Group, for possible fraudulent claims and have banned senior company staff members from leaving the country, a police spokesman told CNN on Tuesday.

The company announced earlier this month that it had found the Dmitri Donskoii, a 5,800-ton Russian warship that had sunk during the 1905 Battle of Tsushima, in the waters between present-day South Korea and Japan.

Hidden treasury

Fascinating new clues emerge on lost tsarist gold and diamonds worth an untold fortune

A wide array of treasures including the personal riches of the tragic Russian royal family went missing in Siberia in the aftermath of the Bolshevik revolution exactly a century ago.

The lost riches in the ensuing chaos includes vast bullion reserves worth tens of billions of dollars, along with precious gold and silver awards dating to the brief period of Siberian 'independence' after Lenin's seizure of power - all of which had been in the hands of White forces seeking to roll back the Red advances after the defeat of Russia's post-tsarist provisional government. 

The troves include the personal jewellery and valuables of the tsar, his empress Alexandra, their four princess daughters, and son and heir Alexei, all of whom were shot to death in Yekaterinburg in July 1918.

It is probable Nicholas intended some of these personal riches as dowries for his unmarried daughters, aged between 17 and 22 at the time they were slain.

Hidden treasury

Treasures found hidden in Auschwitz mug for more than 70 years

A mug confiscated by Nazis at Auschwitz has been hiding a secret for more than 70 years.
Workers at the Auschwitz Museum this week found a gold ring and necklace that had been carefully wrapped in canvas before being concealed in a false base.
They are some of the last possessions held by someone deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, one of the largest concentration camps established by the Germans during WWII, the museum said.
Tests found the gold ring was made in Poland between 1921 and 1931.
"The hiding of valuable items... proves on the one hand to the awareness of the victims as to the robbery nature of the deportation, but on the other hand it shows that the Jewish families constantly had a ray of hope that these items will be required for their existence," said Piotr Cywinski, the Director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.
Nazis often told those that they deported to concentration camps that they were simply going to be resettled, promising a new life in a new place. The deportees were allowed to bring a little luggage, Cywinski said.

Hidden treasury

Lost Treasure – Nazi gold train found!

The Silesian Nazi gold train legend has intrigued Poles for decades and caused many treasure hunts.
The legend goes that in late 1944 or early 1945, as the Red Army advanced further westwards during the final days of World War II, the authorities in the Lower Silesian capital of Breslau (now Wroclaw) collected several tons of gold bullion from the city’s residents and deposited it in police headquarters.

The gold was then loaded on to a train that was to take it deeper into the territory of the Third Reich.
But the train disappeared and when the war ended the Allies gave Lower Silesia to Poland in compensation for the larger chunk of territory it lost in the east to the Soviet Union.
One story has a train located in an underground siding near the 13th Century Ksiaz Castle, another locates it in the hills near Piechowice.

Hidden treasury


'Nazi gold train': explosive experts search site of secret tunnel

The Polish military have deployed chemical, radiation and explosives experts to a site in south-western Poland where a Nazi train, allegedly missing since the second world war, might be located.

Tomasz Smolarz, the governor of Lower Silesia, said the aim of the work in the town of Walbrzych was to eliminate any dangers for residents.

The military’s efforts on Monday came after two explorers, Andreas Richter and Piotr Koper, claimed they had found a Nazi train, which could contain armaments and precious minerals, trapped in a tunnel. The explorers’ claims await confirmation, but they sparked hopes that it could be a Nazi train laden with treasure that local legend says went missing at the end of the war. The train was reportedly booby-trapped with weapons.

Hidden treasury

Lost Nazi train is merely a sliver of theft ‘beyond imagination,’ says historian

The train is believed to be one that reportedly disappeared in 1945 loaded with gold, gems, art and guns bound for Berlin, one of several trains the Nazis used in an attempt to save their war plunder from the advancing Allies. According to local lore, the train vanished after entering a network of tunnels under the Owl Mountains.
Almost immediately the World Jewish Congress issued a statement calling on Poland to restitute any stolen property discovered aboard the train.

Hidden treasury

Nazi gold train: Russia may lay claim to any treasure

Polish authorities have hit back at an apparent Russian attempt to claim to preemptively the contents of a buried Nazi train, reasserting the nation's ownership of any World War Two treasures.

"The analysis we have conducted with our lawyers quite clearly states that if the train is found it will be owned by the State Treasury," said Piotr Zuchowski, a vice minister for conservation, in an interview with Poland's Radio Jedynka.