Hitler’s Lost Gold and Amber Room: Poland’s Hunt for Nazi Treasure Begins
Polish authorities have authorized a treasure hunt in the Kashubia region for a suspected Nazi bunker that may hold gold, art, and the lost Amber Room, guided by clues from a war criminal’s prison confession. The excavation, led by historian Jan Delingowski, aims to uncover secrets hidden since 1945, with findings to be preserved for Poland’s cultural heritage.
Polish authorities have granted permission for a groundbreaking excavation in the Kashubia region, targeting a suspected Nazi bunker that may conceal looted gold, artwork, and fragments of the legendary Amber Room, lost since 1945. The Pomeranian Provincial Conservator of Monuments approved the dig near a former SS training ground, the first officially sanctioned treasure hunt in this part of northern Poland. Ground-penetrating radar has detected anomalies suggesting a hidden bunker beneath a hill near a lake, fuelling hopes of uncovering a long-rumoured Nazi hoard.
Jan Delingowski, a retired merchant navy radio officer turned historian, spearheaded the decade-long investigation after a former Barczewo prison inmate recounted a 1980s conversation with Nazi war criminal Erich Koch. “According to the prisoner’s account, Koch revealed that art, jewellery, and Nazi gold were loaded onto trucks destined for Berlin but diverted near Czersk and Człuchów,” Delingowski said. Wartime telegrams to SS officer Gustav Wyst referenced a cache coded “BSCH,” which Delingowski believes denotes Bruß Schutzraum, a slit bunker. Koch, East Prussia’s last Oberpräsident, was convicted in 1959 for atrocities causing 400,000 deaths but never executed, possibly due to hopes he’d reveal treasure locations. He died in 1986, leaving the mystery unsolved.
The Amber Room, a baroque masterpiece from the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoe Selo, featured 180 square feet of amber panels, gold leaf, and mirrors, valued today at $142 million. Looted by German forces in 1941, it was displayed at Königsberg Castle until vanishing amid 1945 Allied advances. Excavations, set for mid-August under archaeological supervision, could yield this “Eighth Wonder of the World” or other Nazi-looted treasures. Poland’s laws mandate that finds be preserved in state museums. Social media on X buzzed with excitement, one user noting, “Could Poland finally uncover Hitler’s lost treasure?”