- _( `* L1 ~# D2 E j% c 特里肯定,宝藏沉没的地点距离海滨小城巴斯蒂亚只有几海里远。“我们非常确定宝藏的地点,但是要想重新打捞起来必须得借助现今科技手段。那些箱子当年只是简单地焊接而成,如今都散落在了海底的沙子里。”特里说,打捞的唯一手段就是在地点附近海底细细地搜索,这是一项即费时又费钱的工程,需要得到大量资金的支持。0 U6 C y+ D/ @$ D) k( F( n2 ~0 {+ q
3 X. ]- }" M0 A 财产并非掠夺而来 I8 Z; `; t$ H4 o5 d
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除了确定财产地点外,特里一行还有了新收获。在奔赴法国之前,特里与专家们在突尼斯考察了数月,他们发现,“隆美尔的财产是从犹太人手中掠夺过来”的说法有误。 * ~! p; U' C2 M6 F! ]/ r4 R: ?" p# N( X4 _6 o/ |) ~
根据调查,当年真正掠夺犹太人的是纳粹上校沃尔特·劳夫,并非隆美尔。沃尔特曾创造了纳粹臭名昭著的毒气实验室,后在撤离北非战场时,从当地人手中掠夺了大量财产。(鄂儿) R, F# n/ r/ Z* k& H( c % a, U; P3 ?( j( V7 n0 N6 `0 E( v5 ?, e, V/ o
, |6 ~/ U" C3 J5 A' w; |8 o7 a( c3 nTerry Hodgkinson is on the trail of the loot stolen by the Nazis) A( ] |4 E' ]; V C% N- a) W
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Rommel's sunken gold 'found' by British expert. B2 ]: N0 L# [! k8 p8 y/ R X
2 z! G" {0 z, b- \9 R; AA British researcher claims to have located Rommel's elusive sunken treasure just weeks after a team of German divers scouring the Mediterranean failed to find the hoard. 7 b4 E2 i7 y; |- _/ E0 q9 I: t0 y1 p! R) D$ u
The famed treasure has long been reputed to have been dumped somewhere off the coast of Corsica by fleeing SS men, who planned to recover it after the war. # u" }5 v2 Z# B8 l1 M6 R* z3 L' E2 B: c! T; c0 f0 O
However, Terry Hodgkinson, who has been researching the missing gold for 15 years, told The Daily Telegraph that he was now "confident" he knew its exact location in waters less than a nautical mile from the town of Bastia.1 {* F9 u. |, g: Z' n
" c3 F5 G* V# PMr Hodgkinson, who is also a television scriptwriter, has teamed up with Corsican experts and won permission from the French authorities to enter the race to find six steel cases said to contain 440lb of gold bullion plus other precious objects pillaged from the Jewish community in Tunisia during the war.+ M2 h3 H" {/ K/ Q4 p& n' V$ @9 x
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"We are confident of the location, but it will require the latest techniques to retrieve it, as the cases, which were once soldered, have no doubt separated and sunk deep into the sand," he said. $ W2 `: U' i& x3 m8 \* d. E t( H' S+ K$ G) f4 ~# Z! {% t6 d' v
The only way to reach the loot would be to "hoover" up the seabed - a costly and time-consuming method. Now the main obstacle is funding. 5 ~+ N0 g6 e u8 u$ ^1 t) |; |! \: x3 W* R
After months of research in Tunisia, he believes he has uncovered the truth not just about the treasure spot, but also previously unknown aspects of the story behind its arrival in Corsican waters. 6 g1 z' z* |; V6 _% T - t! L+ Y/ w, A8 l# ]Accounts suggest that it was not Field Marshal Erwin Rommel but the ruthless SS colonel Walter Rauff who stripped Tunisian Jews of their wealth. $ f1 {0 D: Q w. b" f4 J& G1 d: j: Q0 Q6 X9 v& g- U8 T- k6 s y; r `
Rauff, who created the Nazis' notorious "gas vans" - mobile gas chambers - commanded a special Middle East extermination unit called in a month after Rommel's victory against the British at Tobruk in June 1942. 6 X7 J' c3 k" H " L6 Q( I5 j |- OThe Nazis left North Africa and are believed to have deliberately sunk the treasure as they later fled Corsica under heavy British and American bombardment. " J( u3 z3 G" i( ?* j3 u# |5 u ; j- D# u: l A0 jThere have since been several attempts to find it, inspiring films and even a Goon Show episode. # m) {+ G4 r; A; n% g! z $ _, ~ R6 ? s2 l E v8 [3 QIn February, French maritime police came across a German television crew hunting the treasure without authorisation.0 n7 C0 [& [( R
, b4 Y4 o9 N$ R6 Q5 q" TThey were fined but later resumed their search after receiving the go-ahead to shoot a "cultural film". 2 c0 i0 c ~4 a/ V- @8 ^" J) s; c1 b5 M$ K$ C% `- c, r) ?) h
Under French law, the proceeds from the treasure would be split between the state and those who found it. However, in this case, the state would seemingly also try to find any surviving relatives of those stripped of their gold.