Courtesy of a UK tabloid - make of it what you will! 
GERMANY is in the grip of a GOLD RUSH sparked by a priest who says nearly 20 boxes of Nazi loot lie hidden in a lake.
An army of treasure hunters have flocked to the site after a local 77-year-old priest claimed the precious metal was hidden somewhere under the surface.
A total of 18 boxes of pure gold were allegedly buried in lake Stolpsee, an hour from Berlin, by Polish workers at the request of notorious Nazi Luftwaffe commander Hermann Goering whose country retreat Carinhall was located nearby.
He emptied his home of prized valuables before ordering the home be razed with dynamite in the closing weeks of the Second World War as the Russian army marched on the capital.
It is said the men took the gold to the middle of the lake in inflatable boats to throw overboard.
But the boats were then allegedly shot and sank and the workers slaughtered with machine guns.
A mission to trawl the lake with SUBMARINES is being financed by a group of unidentified businessmen. Previous attempts to find the gold have failed.
In 1986, East Germany's Stasi secret police boss Erich Mielke had the lake searched after a 'treasure map' was discovered that appeared to reveal the gold was hidden there.
Priest Erich Koehler, who made the claims, said finding it would not be easy because of the lake's size.
He said: "I am not surprised they have not found anything as the lake is 1,040 acres in size. Goering knew this region very well and had a hunting lodge on the lake where he used to stay.
"They didn't have the technology in the GDR (German Democratic Republic) to properly examine the lake. But there are enough local people still around to know that the gold is there - and the bodies of the poor souls forced to dump it into the water."
The ruins of Carinhall are already a target for treasure hunters who gather there to search the grounds each weekend, believing some of Goering's stunning wealth is still buried there.
