Hunters Look for Nazi Treasure in the Netherlands
2023-01-10
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1Treasure hunters walked with digging tools and metal detectors through the fields of Ommeren in eastern Netherlands last week.
2They were looking for gold and jewels that Nazi soldiers reportedly buried during World War II.
3The Dutch National Archive released a 77-year-old Nazi map last week.
4Officials said the map was believed to show where soldiers had hidden four boxes of valuable jewels and metals.
5The men had stolen them after a bank explosion in 1944, the Archive said.
6Some people believe the objects may be worth millions of dollars.
7Dutch officials took the map from a German soldier after the Netherlands was freed from Nazi occupation in 1945.
8The map was protected for 75 years before it was required to be shown to the public.
9The Archive said it looked for the treasure several times in 1947 but did not find anything.
10Anne-Marieke Samson is an Archive spokesperson.
11She said the organization researched the story and found it to be "reliable."
12However, she said it is also possible there was never a treasure, or that it had been removed before the Archive searched.
13The possibility of treasure proved impossible to resist for 57-year-old Jan Henzen.
14He was one of many, armed with tools, searching the area.
15"Like a lot of people, the news about the treasure made me go look for myself.
16The chance of the treasure still being here after 70 years is very small I think, but I want to give it a try," he said.
17The former mayor of Ommeren is Klaas Tammes.
18He runs an organization that owns the land where people are looking.
19He said he has seen hunters come from all parts of the country.
20"A map with a row of three trees and a red cross marking a spot where a treasure should be hidden sparks the imagination," he said.
21"Anyone who finds anything will have to report it to us, so we'll see," Tammes said, adding, "But I wouldn't expect it to be easy."
22I'm Dan Friedell.
1Treasure hunters walked with digging tools and metal detectors through the fields of Ommeren in eastern Netherlands last week. 2They were looking for gold and jewels that Nazi soldiers reportedly buried during World War II. 3The Dutch National Archive released a 77-year-old Nazi map last week. Officials said the map was believed to show where soldiers had hidden four boxes of valuable jewels and metals. The men had stolen them after a bank explosion in 1944, the Archive said. 4Some people believe the objects may be worth millions of dollars. 5Dutch officials took the map from a German soldier after the Netherlands was freed from Nazi occupation in 1945. 6The map was protected for 75 years before it was required to be shown to the public. 7The Archive said it looked for the treasure several times in 1947 but did not find anything. 8Anne-Marieke Samson is an Archive spokesperson. She said the organization researched the story and found it to be "reliable." However, she said it is also possible there was never a treasure, or that it had been removed before the Archive searched. 9The possibility of treasure proved impossible to resist for 57-year-old Jan Henzen. He was one of many, armed with tools, searching the area. 10"Like a lot of people, the news about the treasure made me go look for myself. The chance of the treasure still being here after 70 years is very small I think, but I want to give it a try," he said. 11The former mayor of Ommeren is Klaas Tammes. He runs an organization that owns the land where people are looking. 12He said he has seen hunters come from all parts of the country. 13"A map with a row of three trees and a red cross marking a spot where a treasure should be hidden sparks the imagination," he said. 14"Anyone who finds anything will have to report it to us, so we'll see," Tammes said, adding, "But I wouldn't expect it to be easy." 15I'm Dan Friedell. 16Dan Friedell adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on a report by Reuters. 17____________________________________________________________________ 18Words in This Story 19map -n. a picture or chart that shows the location of cities and land features such as rivers or lakes 20box -n. a container where items can be held 21metal detector -n. a tool that an operator carries over the ground to see if a metal item is below the surface 22reliable -adj. able to be counted on, something that is thought to be correct 23spark -v. to cause something to happen, to inspire someone or something 24____________________________________________________________________ 25We want to hear from you. Do you want to go look for treasure after reading this story? 26We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 27Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.