The publication of a seven-decade-old map believed to indicate where Nazi soldiers hid millions of Euros in treasure during World War II has sparked a frantic treasure hunt in the Netherlands, as history fans and amateur detectives hurry to obtain the riches.
Armed with metal detectors and shovels, sleuths went in droves on the small village of Ommeren, where a yellowed map indicates the Nazis buried four boxes of diamonds and precious metals in August 1944, following the explosion of a bank.
The map, which has been in the custody of the Dutch National Archive since 1945, when the county was liberated from German occupation, was revealed last week after a secrecy period of 75 years expired.
Jan Henzen, 57, told Reuters during a break from his own hunt, “I see groups of people with metal detectors everywhere.”
“Like many others, I went in search of the wealth after hearing about it in the news. The odds of the treasure still being here after seventy years are slim, but I’m willing to give it a shot.”
National Archive spokeswoman Anne-Marieke Samson told the publication that authorities are still uncertain as to whether or not the treasure exists, however its origin tale is deemed “credible.”
Samson claimed that despite multiple attempts to excavate the treasure in 1947, “it was never discovered.”
However, she conceded that the treasure “could very well have been dug up already.”
Klass Tammes, the former mayor of Ommeren who now manages the foundation that owns the ground where the treasure is supposed to be buried, stated that gold prospectors had traveled from all over the nation.
“A map with a row of three trees and a red cross indicating the location where a treasure is supposed to be hidden sparks the imagination,” he said.
“Anyone who discovers something must tell it to us, so we’ll see. But I would not anticipate it to be simple.”
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