London - Treasure hunters searching Polish woodland close to the supposed location of a lost Nazi gold train say they have found an eagle of the Third Reich, valuable coins and a German helmet.
The two men said they found the Second World War relics in Walbrzych, near where the train is rumoured to have been discovered in an underground tunnel.
There has been fevered speculation in the town since it was claimed last month that a deathbed confession by one of the men involved had led to the train that, according to local legend, went missing in 1945 as Nazis fled the advancing Red Army. A Polish culture minister said last week he was “99 percent sure” the train exists.
One of the men who found the relics produced photos of his finds, including coins and medals.
The man, who refused to be named, said: “There is still a lot of treasure like this lying around. If that train is in the tunnel, it could well contain more of this, a lot more. We found all this very close to where the train disappeared.
“We don’t know how valuable it is, but some [of the coins] are definitely gold. It stands to reason that there could well be a lot more of this still undiscovered.”
Sceptics say artefacts from the Nazi occupation of Poland are common and there is a lack of evidence of the train.
They may also come from nearby Ksiaz Castle, which was a Nazi headquarters and known for a network of tunnels. Imaging experts have dismissed reports that ground-penetrating radar (GPR) was capable of detecting a buried train.
Jacek Adamiec, of the Association for the Exploration and Rescuing of Monuments, told local television: “In my opinion, to get an accurate reading of objects so far down is very unlikely.” James W Rector, of the University of California at Berkeley, said he believed the image was “bogus”.
The men who claimed to have found the train said it is 210ft below ground. Government warnings that it may be booby-trapped have not discouraged amateur archaeologists, who have flocked to the area. An official search has been delayed but security guards have been patrolling the district and were seen attempting to scan the ground.
Daily Mail