No valuable Nazi treasure under a village in the Netherlands

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Disappointment in the Dutch village of Ommeren: It has been clear since Tuesday that no millions of treasures from the Nazi era are buried under the site. Instead of jewelry and gems, archaeologists found only a wheel rim, an ancient tree and a rifle cartridge during a recent excavation, authorities said. That also ended the onslaught of amateur treasure hunters who had seen the peaceful hamlet since a map was published.

The National Archives unveiled a document in early January in which a hand-painted red cross marks the spot where German soldiers during World War II are said to have buried a treasure worth €11 million. However, this was never found. After failed excavations in 1947 and numerous searches by amateurs, Dutch archaeologists made one last attempt on Monday – and again they found nothing. “We assume that the treasure is buried elsewhere in Ommeren and that it has already been excavated,” says Birgit van Aken-Quint, spokeswoman for the municipality of Buren, to which the village belongs.

Annoyed residents

The archaeologists were given permission to dig in two locations — on the grounds of a fruit shop and next to the parking lot of the local museum, van Aken-Quint said. But even this latest excavation did not reveal an ammunition box full of jewels, precious gems, gold pieces and music boxes that a German soldier had remembered in the records of the archive. If the treasure, which is said to have come from the looting of a bank in Arnhem in 1944, had actually been found, it should have been handed over to the state.

The community now hopes to close the chapter. In recent months, numerous treasure hunters with metal detectors had stormed the site. The residents were annoyed and the government sometimes had to intervene. 15 people had been given a warning because they had dug on the site without permission, said the municipality spokeswoman. The ban “remains in effect,” she added — in case other people want to search for the treasure. (AFP)

Source: Blick