Last week, the Polish government said that a man who helped bury the train had revealed its location shortly before his death. The authorities took a ground-penetrating radar to this spot – and, sure enough, a train was detected deep beneath the soil.
On Saturday, The Telegraph was given a tour of a nearby tunnel, complete with railway tracks leading into the depths of the earth.
A damp concrete floor, dimly lit with a row of lights, stretched out before us. This led first to a small underground chamber with a swastika carved into the roof, alongside the national symbol of Ukraine – perhaps the work of Ukrainian prisoners.
Then the tunnel sloped downwards, burrowing deeper into the ground. After about 900 yards, and several twists and turns, the passage broadened into a long and spacious chamber, at least 30ft high and 20ft wide – easily big enough for a train. Other chambers led off the main passageway, all similarly large.
In the 70 years since the tunnel was built, this section has been partially flooded by murky green water. It was cold, with the temperature hovering around six degrees centigrade. Unlike this tunnel, however, the entrance of which was destroyed by the Polish army, causing flooding, the section believed to house the train is undamaged - and the hopes are that its secrets have been preserved.
These labyrinthine tunnels are where the Nazis could have concealed a train filled with treasure. As if to emphasise the importance of the hiding place, the walls of the chamber and the connecting tunnel were once rigged with high explosives so the whole complex could be destroyed at the touch of a button. Even today, some of the charges probably remain.
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