A map designed to reveal the location of treasures hidden by the Nazis during World War II has been made public for the first time.
The treasure map is said to show the place where German soldiers buried a stockpile of stolen valuables acquired during the Battle of Arnhem in the Netherlands in 1944. The spoils include jewelry, watches and diamonds which, according to the map, are buried near the village of Arnhem in the Gelderland district which is in the eastern Netherlands.
The Battle of Arnhem
"During the defense of Arnhem, there was an explosion at a branch of the Rotterdamsche Bank on the Velperweg. German soldiers put loot in their coats at the scene," said Annet Waalkens of the National Archives in an interview with Dutch media outlet Omroep Gelderland.
The map was kept in the National Archives of the Netherlands for decades; only now can the public go and see it as well as hundreds of other World War II- era documents since the Archives declassified them as part of their annual Open Access Day on Tuesday.
#Netherlands - A Nazi treasure map which could reveal the secret location of a World War Two jewel haul has been released after 78 years.The map is rumoured to lead to buried Nazi loot worth millions of pounds stolen from a bank by Hitler's soldiers.#WWII #Holland pic.twitter.com/qWldLW4ztB
— Mete Sohtaoğlu (@metesohtaoglu) January 4, 2023
Several attempts have been made over the years to find the treasure, reported Dutch media outlet NL Times, to no avail. The NL Times article also explained that the items may have been recovered by Nazi soldiers in the days following the battle, or dug up by locals in the years following.