Posted on 12/12/2016 6:43:34 AM PST by Red Badger
HITLER'S GHOST ISLAND Secret Nazi ‘Treasure Hunter’ base in Arctic found by Russian scientists after being abandoned over 70 years ago when crew was poisoned by polar bear meat
Ruined bunkers, rusted bullets and even documents among 500 objects found on remote island that may have been used as an outpost to search for mythical treasure trove
The mysterious site is located on a remote island in Russian territory – more than 600 miles from the North Pole.
Set up in 1942, a year after Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, the military outpost on Alexandra land was christened “Schatzgraber” or “Treasure Hunter”.
The island was strategically vital to both sides during the Second World War because of its value in producing weather reports, according to the Daily Mail.
The information that it produced was crucial for the movement of troops and equipment in the frozen north of the USSR.
This was especially true as the brutal Russian winter set in that year, causing the relentless German advance to grind to a halt in the snow.
And the island was all the more important because most of the other potential sites capable of producing polar weather reports in the region were held by the Allies.
But the name given to the base suggests the Nazis may have had another, more secret, mission – possibly searching for a mythical treasure trove or ancient artefacts.
A detachment of soldiers was dropped off on the island that year, establishing a base on the barren, rocky isle.
The men were re-supplied by air drops until the base was suddenly evacuated in 1944.
All of the outpost’s inhabitants were poisoned that year after eating polar bear meat contaminated with roundworms.
The survivors were rescued by a German U-boat and the base abandoned.
Since then, there was no fixed presence on the island until 1990, after the fall of the Soviet Union.
And now, more than 70 years later, the location of the Nazi base has finally been discovered by Russian scientists.
Images showed rusted bullets, shells, and patrol cans scattered across the rocky, frozen ground.
The team also found the remnants of bunkers and even 70-year-old papers, all remarkably well preserved by the intense cold.
In total, more than 500 objects were recovered from the site.
Russia is now establishing its own military base on Alexandra Land.
Ice picks?.............
Eating polar bear liver is a right of passage for Eskimos. One bite contains toxic levels of mercury, however they have also developed an antidote from whale plaque that allows that one bite. It is said it is the best tasting meat in the world, and that a second bite is invariably fatal.
Note to self:
Do not eat Polar Bear liver. even if you are starving.................
patrol cans = Petro cams ?
They collected gold, fine art and did medical experiments no one wants to admit DID add to the collective knowledge of medicine.
For a time they roamed the earth with power and impunity, even though short lived.
I'm no sympathizer, it is history
Gas cans, or as the Germans would have said, benzin............. ...............
Did the US military ever use steel in WWII? Just wondering. We have a couple of beautiful brass, ornate shell lamps my great uncle made while serving. Had to to be post WW 1.
Good call... more than likely steel ammo.
Wouldn’t cooking the meat kill the roundworms?
The Canadian War Museum in Ottawa has an automatic weather station Kurt found on the coast of Labrador in the 1980’s
Germany went to steel cased small arms ammo fairly early in the war...brass was scarce for them.
Rusted bullets are not that uncommon. In war time, steel cases and steel full metal jackets were used when copper became scarce.
Russian cases will stick to a magnet, and American .50 Cal military cases also are of steel. At least the ones I have is attracted to a magnet.
Germans used a lot of steel cased ammo because of a lack of brass.
But more likely a weather station (for aircraft - most important- but also ships and subs fighting the Murmansk-bound convoys) and radio-relay base for command and recon. No search plane is going to go out on a 6-10 hour mission over the Arctic without knowing (or even trying to guess) what the weather is over the flight path.
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The convoys travelling the route you mention suffered amazing hardships in WWII. This book is an amazing read -
Reading the book it appears most of the convoy attacks came from U-boats and aircraft, so a German weather station would have been vital to report weather in that inhospitable area.
And, as seemed to happen often, some of the disasters were from bad leadership decisions -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convoy_PQ_17
As the book title suggest the sailors actions were largely forgotten and the Royal Navy didn't even have a medal for their convoy duty. This was rectified only a few years ago.
My uncle applied and is proud of the medal he received. He was on a Royal Navy US-built Destroyer Escort.
bookmark
where did those come from?
Seal livers, too. Vitamin A poisoning is a nasty way to go.
If you look at the photos, you'll see that the 7.92mm round is very rusty - the Germans used steel-jacketed bullets and lacquered steel cartridge cases on all of their ammunition from about 1942 on.
Rusts all to beat heck.
I am just sorry it didn't do well at the box office. The director's vision for the movie and ground breaking use of blue/green screen are fantastic. Directors like Peter Jackson and film companies owe the brothers who brought this film and the sheer scope of the technology into fruition a tremendous debt of gratitude.
I am also sorry that the film industry has not given these brilliant brothers other opportunities to work, they both deserve it.
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