Just before the end of World War II, in March 1945, a group of SS men drowned boxes in the Austrian mountain lake Toplitz-See for two days. What was inside became known only decades later. This happened when researchers in a submarine were able to descend to the 80-meter depth of the lake, and at its bottom uncover dark evidence of the past. The truth turned out to be as dirty as the waters of Lake Toplitz. All attempts to reveal the secret of the lake in the past ended in the death of the search engines.
The first victims
In the summer of 1945, in the federal state of Styria, in the American zone of occupation of Austria, local fishermen increasingly began to bring British pounds sterling to the bank for exchange. It soon became clear that the bills were not real, but a very high-quality fake. The fishermen testified that the money was found in the water on the shore of Lake Toplitz.
The first attempt to lift the caches of the Third Reich from the bottom of the lake was made by American and British divers. According to one version, they dived for a long time, but found nothing. According to another, the search stopped immediately after the death of one of the divers, whose oxygen hose was cut by someone at a depth. The war had just ended, and after this incident, there were no more people willing to risk their lives among the military.
Lake with a "double bottom"
Already today, in an interview with the Zvezda TV channel, Yuri Smirnov, the chairman of the board of the Union of Search Units of Russia, spoke about Lake Toplitz. For many years he learned the most secret information about the research of the "underwater cache of the Third Reich" from his Austrian friends - members of the Black Cross search party.
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“This is a double bottom lake. At a depth of 4-5 meters, underwater islands float in it. They are clusters of unsinked logs. Directly below them - 5-6 meters of silt, and further - complete darkness. Our Austrian colleagues from the "Black Cross" many times sank into the depths of this lake, but they never managed to raise the discovered objects to the surface. But everyone survived,”says Yuri Smirnov. Austrian Lake Toplitz has two names - Toplitz See and Toplitz. It is located 60 kilometers southeast of Salzburg, in the Austrian Dead Mountains. It is about 2 kilometers long and up to 400 meters wide. In tourist brochures it is called the "Black Pearl". It is not easy to get to it - the road to the lake leads through three passes over two kilometers in height. Scientists, after the survey, foundthat at a depth of 16 meters in Lake Toplitz, oxygen is almost completely absent, which is destructive for all living organisms. In some places the depth of the lake exceeds one hundred meters.
Treasures of the Third Reich
Some researchers argue that the boxes flooded by the SS at the bottom of Lake Toplitz contained tons of gold, which the Germans took from the occupied European countries to Germany. Others - that it contains documents telling about the bank accounts in which the money confiscated by the Nazis from the Jews is kept. But both of them agree that dozens of the most valuable treasures are kept in Toplitz-See. We are talking, in particular, about 50 boxes taken out from the cellars of the Reichsbank in Berlin, and about 22 cans of gold from Hitler's favorite Otto Skorzeny, as well as about 5 kg of Kaltenbrunner diamonds, and about the most valuable collection of postage stamps belonging to Goering, and about the missing safes with jewelry, and a rare collection of ancient coins. Since 1945, the number of dead treasure hunters has been growing inexorably. To this day, there is an assumptionthat it was guarded by secret "commandos" from among the former SS men who tirelessly watched over the looted legacy of the Nazis.
Timeline of searches
In February 1946, two engineers from Linz arrived at the lake - the Austrians Helmut Meyer and Ludwig Pichler and their friend Hans Haslinger. Engineers and experienced climbers climbed the Rauchfang mountain overhanging Toplitz See. Haslinger went with them, but for some unknown reason soon returned to the base camp, set up on the shore of the lake, and a few days later - to Linz. A month later, the local authorities, realizing that there was no news from the climbers, and their tents on the shore were empty, began to search. High in the Dead Mountains, a snow hut was discovered where the bodies of Mayer and Pichler lay. Moreover, Pichler's stomach was ripped open, and his stomach was taken out and stuffed into his own backpack. The investigation of the incident led nowhere, but later it became known that during the war years Mayer and Pichler took part in tests of secret weapons on the banks of Toplitz See.
Meanwhile, “tourists” continued to come to the lake. In 1947, Bormann's former adjutant was identified in one of them. He was sent to the camp, but he did not say anything about the reasons for his visit to the shores of the lake. In August 1950, the Hamburg engineer Keller came to Lake Toplitz, accompanied by the professional climber Gert Gehrens. While trying to climb the steep southern slope of Mount Reichenstein, the cord that connected the climbers broke off, and Gerens fell into the abyss. Keller, having testified about the accident, left quietly. Relatives of the climber conducted their own investigation and found out that during the war Keller was the head of a secret submarine base and supervised the "experimental station" on Toplitz-See. At about the same time, three French geologists arrived at the lake shore and stayed at a small local hotel with a letter of introduction from the army command in Innsbruck. Local police did not interfere with the scientists, and after eight days they departed, loading four heavy boxes with samples of what they said were minerals into the car. When the owner of the hotel came to the bank to change the money received from the "scientists", it turned out that the bills were counterfeit. In 1952, two unidentified men with bullet holes were found on the shore of the lake. The police did not have time to really investigate this case, as on the other side, the teacher of geography from France Jean de Sauz was found dead. Not far from the corpse, a fresh deep hole was found. When they began to fill it up, it turned out that there was not enough earth, even loose, to bury the hole. Very likely,that the Frenchman found something and paid for it with his life.
Expedition of the "Stern" magazine
In 1959, the West German magazine "Stern" decided to deal once and for all with Toplitz's riddles and took up its own investigation. A team of scuba divers examined the bottom of the lake for five weeks. Fifteen wooden and iron boxes were lifted, in which were found counterfeit English banknotes of 1935-1937 worth 55 thousand pounds. And in the last box were documents of the former General Directorate of Imperial Security (RSHA) and lists of prisoners of concentration camps. Several dozen of the discovered boxes did not begin to lift. The operation was suddenly stopped. A telegram came from the editorial office of the magazine with the order: “A further stay is inexpedient. Stop searching immediately. " Quite naturally, rumors spread that some people had paid a very large sum to the owners of the Stern to stop their search. Representatives of the Austrian Ministry of Internal Affairs officially claimed that the boxes found by the Stern expedition contained "exclusively counterfeit British pounds sterling notes." But at one of the press conferences someone let slip that "Himmler's diaries were not among the papers." And here the Himler diaries are incomprehensible. As well as what was still in the raised boxes …
The lake devouring search engines
In the summer of 1963, there was another tragic death. Three West German tourists settled in Altaus See. A few days later, one of them died in Toplitz-See. He turned out to be an athlete from Munich, and his companions, as it turned out later, turned out to be former Nazis and employees of the fascist Abwehr. In 1963, Austrian divers discovered a German plane at a depth of seventy-nine meters. It was not possible to find out what was in it, since this expedition was suddenly terminated ahead of schedule. And on October 6, 1963, 19-year-old German scuba diving specialist Alfred Egner, who came to Toplitz to "dive", was found dead. The circumstances of his death were highly suspicious, but the investigation, as usual, again failed. In November 1963, another treasure hunter, seventeen-year-old Walter Niggle,he drowned in the neighboring lake Alat, and also under very strange circumstances … The fact is that from neighboring lakes, which were much less famous Toplitsa, counterfeit banknotes were also taken out, and a number of strange deaths were also recorded there. Whatever it was, but after these cases, diving to the bottom of the lake was officially prohibited by the Austrian authorities. After that, for 20 years, there were no reports of the death of the search from the Austrian Alps. After that, for 20 years, there were no reports of the death of the search from the Austrian Alps. After that, for 20 years, there were no reports of the death of the search from the Austrian Alps.
Fricke Expedition
Hans Fricke went to Lake Toplitz as a biologist in 1983. The purpose of his expedition was not the mysterious treasures of the lake, but the study of its flora and fauna. And this despite the fact that, as noted above, there is no oxygen at a depth of 16 meters. Of course, Frike had heard about the death of the search engines. But his expedition was better prepared than any previous one - he had a submarine at his disposal. “On the first dive, we didn't expect to find anything significant. We thought that we would pick up some pieces of iron and a couple of English banknotes. But to our surprise, there were much more fakes at the bottom,”Fricke said later. Unbeknownst to himself, biologist Fricke turned into a search engine, and then into a historian. Soon after the first dives, Fricke discovered the remnants of military equipment at the bottom of Lake Toplitz,flooded during the Second World War. At the bottom, the remains of a seaplane were also found, possibly the one mentioned by Austrian divers in 1963. With the help of Austrian sappers, Fricke lifted the debris of a rocket, bombs, mines and a pontoon. It turned out that the ammunition was intended for ship weapons systems. It turned out that during the war years, an institute was located near the lake, which was engaged in arming the German Navy. In addition, several mines with intact fuses were taken to the shore of Bali.that during the war years, an institute was located near the lake, which was engaged in arming the German Navy. In addition, several mines with intact fuses were taken to the shore of Bali.that during the war years, an institute was located near the lake, which was engaged in arming the German Navy. In addition, several mines with intact fuses were taken to the shore of Bali.
Hans Fricke began to find out what connection could be between the institution and counterfeit banknotes. “At first glance, there is nothing in common between a research institute and counterfeit banknotes, however, it is well known that during the war, the laboratory and forgeries were Hitler's weapons. The institute was developing new types of weapons for submarines. And banknotes were printed to undermine the British economy. The institute and the counterfeit money had the same fate - at the end of the war they were drowned in the lake,”says the researcher. The work was seriously hampered by a large layer of silt that covered the bottom of the lake. Nevertheless, Fricke's assumptions about the development of new weapons for the German fleet were confirmed. Among his finds was an underwater mine with a fuse that goes off at a certain depth, as well as a rocket flying out of the water,and striking ground targets. The development of new weapons has always been a costly affair. Therefore, in the secret laboratories of Nazi Germany, the labor of prisoners of concentration camps was often used.
An underground printing house for forgeries was located in the Sachsenhausen death camp. The Nazis killed more than one hundred thousand people in it. The counterfeit banknote lab was isolated from the rest of the camp. Sachsenhausen was equipped with ultra-modern machines at that time. The secret production received the coded name "Operation Bernhard". According to some reports, 12 specialists, counterfeiters, were awarded fascist medals.
Frike managed to find a living witness to work in an underground printing house. A living witness to Operation Bernhard. Jack Plupler entered the Sachsenhausen concentration camp at the age of 18. By profession, he was a painter, and he was immediately sent to barrack 19 to print British pounds sterling. The painter Plapler was the youngest in the team of counterfeiters. Here is what he said about this page of his biography: “The laboratory employed artists, printers and former bank employees. At the beginning of 1942, 26 people worked in a separate barrack. In 2 years there were already 140 people. Their task was to make 5, 10, 20 and 50 pound notes. The Reich intelligence services needed foreign exchange. And with this case in Germany at that time there was a strain, therefore high requirements were imposed on the quality of fakes. In addition, Plupler told Fricke that people were regularly executed in the Sachsenhausen camp. The daily executions were the responsibility of the SS men. Hans Fricke tracked down one of them - a Nazi named Kruger. He played an important role in the production of counterfeit banknotes. “We tracked down SS Standartenfuehrer Bernhard Kruger. A friend of mine met his daughter in South Africa, so we went to the father himself. Krueger told how the money was printed and what secret marks were put on banknotes,”Fricke recalled. “The only more or less reliable way to protect a bill is a watermark. To fake it, you need professionals, people who know their business,”Kruger shared his memories. This Nazi held an important position as the head of the department, which was engaged in the manufacture of false passports and banknotes. Its chief was the head of the SS, Heinrich Himmler. Both of them reported directly to Adolf Hitler.
Where did the counterfeit money go?
The famous Nazi intelligence officer Otto Skorzeny was very interested in the production of fakes. He needed dollars for agents sent to the United States. Skorzeny guaranteed the isolation of the "factory" from the outside world. From the town of Friedenthal, ready-made clichés were sent to Sachsenhausen, where "almost real" money was printed. Nazi German intelligence chief Schellenberg used the money to fund businesses abroad where he knew he was dealing with calculating and self-serving businessmen. Counterfeit money was also spent on the smuggling of weapons by German secret agents. In countries where there was a resistance movement, in Italy, Greece and France, with counterfeit pounds from some partisans, British and American weapons were purchased, and then they were used in operations against them.
Military secrets of Lake Toplitz
In addition, Germany needed to re-equip its fleet. At the beginning of the war, German submarines carried out a naval blockade of Britain, but the Allies found the submarines with the help of locators and aircraft, and with depth charges destroyed many German submarines. Contrary to fascist propaganda, the British navy won in all directions. Based on these realities, laboratory workers at Lake Toplitz worked on the creation of an underwater rocket - a new superweapon. Twenty years after his expedition to Lake Toplitz See, Fricke, while working in the library of the British Navy, found the documents on the creation of a new weapon. It turned out that German designers were trying to create an underwater rocket launcher, and were studying the features of the movement of a rocket under water on Lake Toplitz. The tests took place not only on the water, but also in the neighboring Dead Mountains. Retreating, the Germans blew up workshops, flooded some of the equipment and samples of secret weapons.
2001 Expedition Story
The mystery of the mountain lake Toplitz See, which is 80 kilometers from the Austrian Salzburg, attracted attention again in 2001. To its bottom was undertaken the next, thirteenth expedition over the past 50 years, in the hope of finally finding something that haunts historians and science fiction writers, politicians and the military, bankers and museum experts.
This time the most modern equipment was used - the American deep-sea bathyscaphe "Phantom". He proved himself well during the search and delivery to land of the debris of the space shuttle "Challenger", which exploded in the sky over the Atlantic in January 1986, as well as on a voyage to the infamous "Titanic", which lies at great depths. The Phantom team has signed a contract with the CBS television company and the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, which is engaged, in particular, in the search for pre-war contributions of Jewish victims of the Holocaust. The amount of the contract was not disclosed. According to some reports, it amounted to several million dollars. The divers had to survey an area measuring 2 kilometers by 400 meters at a depth of more than one hundred meters and bring to the surface anything of interest to customers.
The very first dives gave unexpected results. Cameras installed on the bathyscaphe filmed several oblong objects in one of the deepest places. With the help of robots, nine galvanized boxes weighing about 100 kg each were hooked and lifted to the surface. The rise was watched by hundreds of tourists, for whom a huge raft was built nearby. However, the journalists expecting a sensation here were disappointed. First, the coast, where the mysterious cargo was delivered, was cordoned off by the police. And then the boxes were loaded into armored trucks and sent under escort to Salzburg. They promised to tell about their contents "after opening". However, the sponsors of the event still have not said what was in these boxes. And something tells that it will stay this way. There is a version that there were still the account numbers of the Hitlerite elite,which were used by the Wiesenthal Center in recent lawsuits with German and Swiss banks.
Due to the fact that the results of the expeditions are not made public, there are many versions about the person buried at the bottom. One of the most famous authors - the Austrian writer Markus Keberl, for example, proves that under the water column of Toplitz See the Nazis hid nothing more than containers with the famous Amber Room. There is eyewitness testimony that two days before the end of the war, SS men dropped the contents of several trucks into a depression called "Devil's Lair". It is believed that these were the very containers, the trail of which is lost in Konigsberg. But for now, these are all assumptions.