Treasure hunters currently investigating in Štěchovice, Czech Republic (roughly 20 miles away from Prague) are hot on the trail of Nazi loot valued at over $62 billion.
Amateur sleuth Josef Mužík, who has been on the trail for the hidden goods for nearly three decades now, told the Daily Mail that he and his comrades have found “solid evidence” in archives left behind by the Nazi General Emil Klein.
Mužík has joined forces with Sudeten German Helmut Gänsel, an ex-employee of the Czech intelligence service and other intelligence agencies, who was personally involved in the interrogation of Klein after World War II.
He claims to be in possession of original documents pertaining to the contents of the loot, and an area map, obtained from Klein. The treasure is said to contain chests of diamonds, gold, and precious old masters, all of which were left behind by fleeing Nazis in 1945.
Previously, a former SS pioneer training school was located in the area, and allegedly, there are also hundreds of documents from the Berlin Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institute, a German medical and scientific foundation, hidden with the treasure.
Mužík and Gänsel aren’t the first to hunt for the buried loot. In the late 70s, and again in 1989, the treasure quest changed hands under the control of the communist defense and interior ministries, and last known efforts were carried out by Omnipol, a foreign trade company that mainly dealt in weapons. In 1992, Gänsel bought all related property and signed an agreement with Czech authorities to have exclusive rights to find the treasure.
The team have turned to social media to post updates of their search. On his personal Facebook page, Mužík posts and is tagged in images and text about the ongoing investigations, including political rants about the state of current Czech politics. Gänsel maintains a website documenting his search for the “Treasure of Štěchovice.”
Their ultimate hope is to crowd fund future digs in the area, which will indeed require substantial amounts of money.