“Quest for Nazi Treasure in Omeren: Did Historians Unearth Millions of Euros in Jewels and Gold?”

The land in the area is perforated like Swiss cheese. The major dig near the Dutch village of Omeren, about 80km southeast of Amsterdam, began after it emerged earlier this year that the Nazis had buried four chests of gold and jewels in the area. Documents of the National Archives of the Netherlands speak of this.

But the frantic search for the suspected Nazi treasure was called off on Monday after a team of historians was allowed to dig for the last time in the area – where scientists had hoped to find the four chests. However, this effort was not crowned with success.

Spoils of war from Arnhem?

Historical background: In August 1944, a bank in Arnhem was hit by a bomb, resulting in many safes being smashed and their contents flying. It is said that at that time, German soldiers collected jewelry, expensive watches and other valuables, which they then buried in Omeren.

The German Helmut Sonder from Baden-Baden testified in 1946 that he found the jewels together with his comrades. Sonder, who was stationed in Arnhem at the time, said he and his comrades hid the treasures in ammunition crates and buried them in the spring of 1945.

The search began after the National Archives of the Netherlands published in January an old map with sketches and directions on it for the treasure in question, said to be worth millions of euros.

The municipality of Omeren then banned private individuals from searching in the area and started stopping people walking around with metal detectors. Only the Society of Historians was granted permission to excavate at a site identified by an expert. But they also failed to find the chests.

Is the treasure a myth or has it been unearthed long ago?

Documents on the case, kept in the National Archives, clearly state that as early as 1946, the Dutch authorities took action to discover the alleged treasure. Former Wehrmacht soldier Helmut Sonder was even sought out to point out the location where the chests were buried. On June 22, 1947, he himself grabbed the shovel and began to dig at the site, but found nothing but soil. Sonder assumes that his superior has secretly returned to dig up the treasure. An international manhunt was launched for the Oberfeldfebbel in question, but it came to nothing.

Historians and authorities in the Netherlands doubt that the jewels are found in Omeren. Moreover, in the almost 80 years since then, no one has reported any missing jewels. It is possible that soldiers or treasure hunters reached it first. Or that the American troops who liberated the Netherlands from German occupation learned about the chests. “It’s possible that the Americans got to them before the people tasked with finding the treasure,” said National Archives spokesman Erwin Twill.