At the start of World War II , Germany was in a deep fiscal depression . Its currentness was worth nothing . In orderliness to fund its war exploit , the Nazi regime routinely looted gold from occupied countries . During the course of the war , the regime stole at least $ 400 million in atomic number 79 from occupy nations and at least $ 140 million in atomic number 79 from someone , particularly those jail in absorption camp [ source : U.S. Department of State ] . They were meticulous , raiding Jewish dwelling house , safety sediment boxes and even removing gold dental filling from people ’s tooth .
Most of the steal gold was hive away in Germany’sReichsbank , the bank of the Third Reich . But after a 1945 bombardment raid , the Nazis moved the gold to a secure location . Much of it was remove to a potassium mine about 200 miles from Berlin . When Germany was overtaken and the Allied force out take over , jack from this mine told American soldier that they had watched as Nazi troops moved gold and art into hidden cave within the mine . At the last of the warfare , hundreds of millions in atomic number 79 and silver bars , newspaper up-to-dateness and art was recovered at the mine [ source : Channel 4 ] . However , not all of the loot was found , and there could be millions more in steal gold that ’s left in and around Germany .
A recent discovery has renew populace interest in the quest . Have treasure hunting watch really light upon the notable Nazi gold cache ? Some say they have . Some even say they ’ve plant the Amber Room .
The Hunt for Nazi Treasure
The fabled Reichsbank treasure is said to be worth millions of dollar bill [ source : Channel 4 ] . In 2000 , German treasure hunters conceive they ’d base the concealment place ( deep in the German Alps ) where the rest of the atomic number 79 was stashed . But the harshness of the terrain made it impossible for them to find the buried loot , and they finally break up [ source : Channel 4 ] .
But in February 2008 , the search charter on new life-time when treasure hunting watch converged on the German crossroads Deutschkatharinenberg . The mayor of a nearby Ithiel Town called Deutschneudorf , Heinz - Peter Haustein , has been looking for the gold there for a decennary . When a human beings key out Christian Hanisch turned up , the hunt became something of a craze . He seemed to have evidence that affirm what Haustein believed : the gold was in Deutschkatharinenberg .
Hanisch ’s father was in the German atmosphere force during WWII , and Hanisch had apparently see an previous journal of his sire ’s that indicated the location of the missing gold . He joined forces with Haustein , and they gathered a full treasure - hunting team to go see for the man - made passel cavern that supposedly hold the loot . They claim they ’ve not only incur the gold , but also the fabled Amber Room .
The Amber Room was a chamber in the U.S.S.R. ’s Catherine Palace , near St. Petersburg . The room ’s walls were covered in paneling made of amber backed in gold . The panels were stolen by the Nazis during the war , and were last seen in an art expo in Germany in 1945 . After that , they disappear . A few of the instrument panel have since been recover , but most have never been find .
Haustein ’s squad claims to have found pieces of the Amber Room . They say they ’ve corroborate with anelectromagneticmetal detectorthat the amber lies somewhere beneath the surface of the East German mountainside , probably about 60 feet ( 20 meters ) down . They estimate a discovery of about 2 lots of gold , and they believe this find includes the Amber Room . They seem to be base this notion on the idea that if there ’s that much amber down there , it must include the atomic number 79 from the Amber Room , which is a significant piece of the Nazi gem .
But the dig has so far been unsuccessful and the hunters ca n’t seem to feel the cavern . As of tardy February 2008 , they have continue the services of a geophysicist to help them figure out exactly where to dig .
Even with the service of a geophysicist , Haustein ’s team does n’t expect to get into the sleeping room any metre soon . They trust the cache might be booby - entrap , and they require explosive engineers to check over out the situation before they dig any further .
In the midst of all this treasure hunting , the question arises : If they find Nazi gold , do they get to keep it ? When wartime loot is regain , to whom do the spoils go ?
The Legal Side of Recovered Treasure
Many expert do n’t believe the Amber Room is buried in Deutschkatharinenberg . Some think the panel were lost at sea , or destroyed by Allied bombs in the final days of the war . Nonetheless , if the cultural hoarded wealth does change state up , it ’s unclear who will have ownership rights . Haustein allege the Amber Room panel would belong to to Russia , but that any other amber – the non cultural - artefact type – would legally go to Germany [ beginning : Spiegle Online ] .
Others might disagree . Counties have been making an effort to bring back steal gold ( or its pecuniary eq ) to the soul and Carry Nation from whom it was take . This sweat was meager at first , but it pick up toward the end of the twentieth century when the world took a renew interest in indemnity [ seed : U.S. Department of State ] . Forty - two state shew up at the London Conference on Nazi Gold in 1997 to form a joint effort to expose stolen gold and return it to its rightful owners . Ten countries still lay claim to more than $ 60 million in lose gold ( about 5.5 metric tons ) [ beginning : Channel 4 ] . At the league , many of those countries agreed to relinquish their claim on some of this gold and contribute it instead to various humanitarian grouping , peculiarly those benefiting Holocaust survivor , from whom the Nazi government seize bank account , gold and everything else of value [ source : U.S. Department of State ] .
It ’s reasonably clear , at least , where the Amber Room Au will end up if it ’s ever found . The Geneva Conventions outlaws the wartime looting or destruction of cultural artifacts and require that anything of cultural import be recall after the war if it ’s taken [ informant : IFAR ] . So it ’s likely the Amber Room would be returned to Russia .
However , the treasure Hunter in Deutschkatharinenberg have more push issuance to deal with . As of Feb. 28 , 2008 , Haustein has reportedly kicked Hanisch out of Deutschneudorf [ source : CNN ] . The two treasure hunters reason about where to turn over and whether to suspend the lookup until scientists and engineers arrived to assess the situation . Hanisch now says he does not believe the hoarded wealth hunters have found the Amber Room at all . He says it ’s just manifestly - sure-enough Au .
