The Hunt for Nazi-Buried Treasure in a Dutch Village

Within the spring of 1945, a few weeks earlier than the liberation of the Netherlands from its Nazi occupiers, 5 German troopers buried 4 ammunition containers stuffed with gold, jewels and watches in a woodsy a part of a sleepy Dutch village.

Nazi troopers had snatched the property, which might be value thousands and thousands, off the road after they had been blown out of a financial institution vault throughout an explosion within the metropolis of Arnhem within the late summer time of 1944, paperwork present.

What the boys who buried the loot in all probability didn’t know was that certainly one of their fellow troopers, a person named Helmut Sonder, was mendacity within the bushes with a struggle damage, observing the scene and committing it to reminiscence. Afterward, Mr. Sonder drew a meticulous map that confirmed precisely the place (by three poplar timber) and the way deep (about 1.7 to 2.3 toes) the treasure had been buried.

Not a lot is thought concerning the destiny of the person who drew the map, however the doc ended up within the Dutch Nationwide Archives in The Hague. This month, it was launched as a part of the archives’ annual “publicity day,” together with hundreds of paperwork which are now not categorized.

The map’s launch has spurred a renewed hunt for the containers of gold and jewels and has elevated the profile of the tiny village of Ommeren — inhabitants 751 — as one of many few locations on the planet the place a identified Nazi treasure might be hiding.

“We’re on the map,” mentioned Klaas Tammes, a former mayor of the municipality that features Ommeren. “That has been good.”

Others share his pleasure, however categorical a way of frustration concerning the folks coming from everywhere in the nation to dig up the village, which is about an hour’s drive southeast of Amsterdam.

Dozens of individuals have descended with shovels and metallic detectors, and one man even introduced a divining rod, based on Mr. Tammes, who lives on the property the place the treasure is perhaps buried. One {photograph} circulating amongst residents reveals one other man standing waste-deep within the floor along with a regional street.

The thriller has captivated native residents and acquired widespread consideration within the Dutch and worldwide information media, however its primary query stays unanswered: Is the loot nonetheless there?

“I’ve my doubts,” mentioned Joke Honders, an area historian who works for the regional museum in Ommeren and lives within the subsequent city over. However, she added, after consulting a historic atlas in addition to the hand-drawn map, she believes she is aware of the place the treasure might be — a spot the place no person has searched but, so far as she is conscious.

Requested for extra exact particulars, she mentioned, “I’m not going to let you know!”

It isn’t solely clear what would occur to the treasure if somebody had been to search out it.

Ms. Honders mentioned she had little interest in retaining the contents of the containers if she had been to search out them. “It’s not concerning the treasure itself,” she mentioned. “It’s all stolen; there’s an excessive amount of negativity connected to that.”

Looking for the treasure within the space might be a harmful pursuit, mentioned Sebastiaan Hoogenberg, an beginner metallic detectorist who runs a YouTube channel the place he talks concerning the gadgets he finds across the Netherlands. There are unexploded World Conflict II-era bombs within the floor.

On its web site, Ommeren’s municipality urged fortune seekers to remain away as a result of digging for the treasure will not be actually allowed. After the discharge of the map, the municipality acquired a whole lot of messages from folks claiming to know the precise location and providing to reveal it for cash, mentioned Birgit van Aken-Quint, a spokeswoman for the municipality. Since then, the scenario has calmed down, she mentioned, and about 5 folks have utilized for formal permission to search for the treasure.

Rumors concerning the treasure first began amongst Dutch troopers stationed in Germany in 1946, based on paperwork on the Nationwide Archives. A postwar authorities establishment in control of discovering and managing stolen property discovered about it in December 1946, and ordered official searches of the realm.

The primary search, in January 1947, was a failure as a result of the bottom was frozen. The second try a couple of weeks later amounted to nothing due to a defective metallic detector, paperwork present. For its third search, in the summertime of 1947, the company introduced Mr. Sonder, the previous soldier who drew the map, again to the Netherlands from Germany to level out the precise location, paperwork present.

They discovered nothing.

After a fourth and remaining attempt, in August 1947, officers concluded that the treasure in all probability was not there anymore, paperwork present.

Ommeren residents mentioned that they’d by no means heard concerning the treasure. “This was a complete shock,” Mr. Tammes mentioned. “This story was unknown right here.”

“We got here throughout this map coincidentally,” mentioned Annet Waalkens, a researcher on the Nationwide Archives, which has a whole lot of hundreds maps in its assortment. “After we noticed this, we had discovered our personal treasure already.”

She added, “It’s lovely {that a} yellowing piece of paper can evoke such feelings.”

It’s potential that Mr. Sonder made the entire thing up, however Dutch officers in control of the search thought this was unlikely, paperwork point out. One other idea is that one or a number of of the federal government searchers had secretly already discovered it. And one more — and what some folks take into account to be the most probably — situation is that one of many Nazi troopers who hid the treasure went again and quietly unearthed it himself.

No situation has been proved, and it’s unclear whether or not Mr. Sonder remains to be alive.

It isn’t the primary time that the village, which is particularly quiet within the winter with out the cyclists and campers who flock to the realm in the summertime, has been the location of archaeological buzz. In 2016, three searchers discovered a trove of 31 golden Roman cash.

Not everybody has joined the thrill concerning the potential Nazi treasure.

“I believe it’ll blow over,” mentioned Dicky Briene, 76, who has lived in the identical home in Ommeren for 54 years and mentioned she had not seen any guests with shovels or metallic detectors. “And there’ll in all probability be nothing.”