'Buried Worlds with Don Wildman' Episode 4 delves into the Nazis' obsession with the occult and ancient lore
Don Wildman plans to delve into the age-old secrets of the atrocious Nazi empire, in the latest episode of 'Buried Worlds with Don Wildman'. The Travel Channel host journeys to Poland, the center of Nazi activity during World War II, where he gains access to a mysterious diary written by a former SS officer. The clues hidden within the entries lead him to a dangerous cave that is at the brink of collapse. The cave, a channel or various underground tunnels running throughout the city, was supposedly where the Nazis hid spiritual relics. He also visits a German crypt where the Nazis supposedly held occult ceremonies of dark magic that helped them with their sinister plans for world domination.
Nazi diary - Opole, Poland
In 2019, a secret society called Silesian Bridge dedicated to returning the artifacts stolen by the Nazis during WWII revealed that they had in their possession a diary that contained a map detailing the locations of where the Nazis hid more than 30 tons of gold. The journal was written 75 years ago by a former Waffen Schutzstaffel (SS) officer under the pseudonym 'Michaelis' and outlined Nazi commander Heinrich Himmler's plans to hidden illegally coveted European riches, artifacts, priceless works of art and relics. The SS officer was a close associate of Hitler's right-hand man, Heinrich, and was also responsible for organizing and handling the transport, related to hiding the stolen treasures and valuables.
The diary contains entries dating from October 1944 to May 1945, essentially towards the end of World War II. It lists a total of 11 locations where Nazi troops concealed hoards of stolen loot. One location that it illustrates is an abandoned well that extends nearly 200 feet below the ground, situated beneath the 16th century Roztoka castle, in south-western Poland. The Roztoka castle was owned by a noble family but was taken over by the Nazis after the war began. The castle was a storehouse for the Nazis to safe keep stolen works of art and now stands abandoned. Somewhere in the area, those responsible for hiding the treasure planted a tree to mark the entrance to the well. The stolen treasures are estimated to be worth at least €50 billion ($56,48,70,00,000), per a Silesian Bridge representative. Additional documents also suggest that in order for the locations to remain a secret, the Nazis murdered witnesses, dumped their bodies in the well, and detonated explosives to seal the entrances.
The Silesian Bridge representative told Wildman that the society received the book from a German noble family that wanted to return stolen valuables from World War II, under the condition that they don't release it to the public until all the SS officers mentioned in the book are dead. Following the death of the last SS officer in early 2019, the existence of the diary was made public. The book's writer went by a pseudonym because he wished to keep his identity anonymous. The Silesian Bridge is protecting one of the darkest secrets of modern time, and thus the book is heavily guarded. The representative also told Wildman that for several years Intelligence services of many countries, including Russia had been trying to get a hold of the journal.
Although it doesn't mention in detail about the stolen artifacts, the locations in the diary are presented in a secret code. SS officers made substantial efforts to make sure that the areas where they hid these treasures were not easily accessible. The Nazis were desperate to keep the treasure hidden. There's a widespread belief that among the hidden treasures is the most sought after religious relic, the Holy Grail. The Nazis believed that Grail held the power of immortality, the ability to predict the future, and resurrect the dead.
Project Reise - Owl Mountains Poland
The Reise project is a massive incomplete tunnel system spanning over 5.5 miles beneath Hitler's Ksiaz castle in the Owl Mountains, Poland. It was one of the largest underground bunkers ever built and became the perfect location for Hitler's hideout, the Silesian Bridge representative opined. It is possibly also the site where the stolen treasures may have been hidden. Hitler and his engineers reportedly began building this elaborate underground tunnel system with the intention that they could conduct their war plans without any interruptions from Allied bombers or encroaching Red Army troops. Some 18 months later, the project was abandoned seeing that they had been overwhelmed by advancing Soviets.
The Owl Mountains were composed of super-solid rock that could withstand the most aggressive and brutal bomb blasts. And while it served as a perfect safe house for the Nazi troops and officials, it made the task of hollowing out the mountains and constructing the bunkers that much harder. The project was halted in May 1945, a month after Hitler's imminent suicide. The Nazis destroyed whatever records they had on the project and the Reise complex remains a total mystery. Wildman gets exclusive access to the back entrance of the tunnels and explores the unexplored, lesser-known part of the tunnel system. The Nazis scoured the whole of Poland to find apt locations to hide the stolen treasures. So far, only 200 meters of the one million square meters worth of the vast tunnel areas have been penetrated. Parts of the underground system are in danger of collapse, mostly because the Nazis intentionally exploded these tunnels with dynamite to protect their secrets.
Black Madonna - Czestochowa, Poland
There was one prized artifact, said to possess magical power, which the Nazis were reportedly after, but never laid their hand upon it. It was a religious painting called the 'Black Madonna'. It is currently being held in tight security inside a monastery in Czestochowa, Poland. The Black Madonna dates back to the beginning of Christianity, said Wildman, and is attributed to St Luke, one of the apostles of Jesus Christ, who painted it on a board taken from a table that Jesus made. It arrived at the monastery in the 1600s and became the focus of a legend. At some point, a Swedish army launched a siege on the monastery where 70 monks and a force of locals battled against 4,000 soldiers and won. The legend says that they attributed their victory to a miracle and saw the Virgin Mary floating above them in the sky.
As per Wildman, when Himmler heard about the miracle of the Black Madonna he was determined to get his hands on it. The monastery learned that the Germans were coming for the holy icon, and hid the painting in a secret compartment within a table for several months. The monks claimed that the painting had been stolen when the Nazis demanded that they hand it over. They searched the monastery for weeks but came up empty-handed. Himmler personally came to retrieve the painting, as illustrated in the monastery's guest book where he signed his name in 1939.
Quedlinburg, Berlin
Himmler was known to be a firm believer in the occult and had a mysterious church in the town of Quedlinburg dedicated as his place of worship. However, it wasn't the church's immediate premises that he allocated as his prayer space. Instead, he would carry out his worship in the crypt beneath the church. The church was built to honor Heinrich I, the founder of the Saxon dynasty. He united all the Germanic people and created the kingdom of Germany in the 11th century. According to a local historian, over 1000 years later, the Nazis rose as an empire for world domination and King Heinrich became much like a God to them. The church became their site of pilgrimage, as Heinrich's body was once buried in the crypt.
According to rumors, the Nazis held ceremonies and seances in the crypt, led by the commander of the SS, Himmler. The church was a shrine to Heinrich I, and Himmler was fixated on it for he believed he was Heinrich I reincarnated. Himmler once supposedly organized a seance because he wanted to find the King's bones. While the crypt is dedicated to the former King of Germany, his bones reportedly went missing hundreds of years ago. Himmler supposedly wanted to find the King's bones and place them back in the tomb, because he believed that the King's bones held magical powers. Wildman held a seance in the center of the town with a group of mediums to try and commune with the spirit of King Heinrich.
'Buried Worlds with Don Wildman' premieres on Mondays at 9 pm ET/PT on Travel Channel.