Treasure hunters think they've found Nazi gold and treasure in SS brothel

The team believe they have found a huge metal canister hidden ten feet below the grounds of a ruined 18th century palace in southern Poland. Experts from the Silesian Bridge Foundation hope it contains ten tonnes of gold, coins, medals and gems, plus valuable paintings. They say the treasure’s owners handed it over to police in the Nazi-occupied state at the end of the war, to protect it from the advancing Russian army.

But it was stolen on the orders of Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS, who wanted it to fund the creation of a fourth reich after Hitler’s defeat.

One of the elite unit’s commanders left the stash beneath a conservatory at the palace and told only his lover – who worked in the brothel – about it.

Other hoards containing loot stolen in France and artworks by Rembrandt, Monet and Botticelli, are also thought to have been left at the palace.

Roman Furmaniak, one of the foundation’s team leaders, said the breakthrough came after a year of digging at the site near Minkowskie, Opolo.

They homed in on the treasure by working from letters sent by the SS chief to his girlfriend Inge.

He said their latest Geo-radar readings revealed “anomalies” which suggested they may have found the 4ft by 5ft by 20inch cannister.

“The first drill we made showed unnatural contortions on one side. We made a second probe and received the same result on the other side. A third probe struck an object.

“The shapes and colours show anomalies, in other words human interference in the ground.

“Metal has a different density to earth, and this is shown as a darker colour in the images.”

But it was stolen on the orders of Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS, who wanted it to fund the creation of a fourth reich after Hitler’s defeat.

The SS officer’s note to Inge referred to a total of 48 chests thought to have been hidden across the region which was part of Nazi Germany but is now in Poland.

He said: “My dear Inge, I will fulfil my assignment, with God’s will. Some transports were successful.

“Only you know where they are located. May God help you and help me, fulfil my assignment.”

After the war, the region became part of the Soviet Union, and Inge took on a new identity and got married, but kept the treasure secret until she died 60 years later.

The foundation was handed her letter and other documents by a secretive organisation, the Quedlinburg Lodge, which had war-time links with the Nazis.

Roman, who is awaiting official permission to bring out the canister, said the lodge now wants to help restore the treasure to its rightful owners.

source: express.co.uk