1812: mystery over looted treasures - version 4

Kharlamova Maria -

The treasures left Moscow but mysteriously vanished en route to Paris. Numerous treasure hunters combed through every inch of suspected treasure caches near the town of Maloyaroslavets some 100 miles southwest of Moscow, near Smolensk 250 miles west of Moscow and on the River Berezina, which is now Belarusian territory, but so far their efforts have not been rewarded.

There remains the fourth and last version. Its proponents hold that parts of Napoleon’s army, those that were lucky to break away from the chasing Russian troops, made it as far as Vilnius, now the capital of Lithuania. They brought with them if not all of the plundered treasures, then a significant part of them. In Vilnius, the French paused to take a breath. 

But with Russians closing in, they knew the respite wouldn’t last long, so they reasoned that it would be more prudent to hide the treasures somewhere in the city or on the outskirts. A resident of Vilnius wrote in his memoirs that the chief treasurer of Napoleon’s army had been quartered in his house and that as far as one could guess the officer had orders to deliver a large amount of gold to Paris.

Several cartloads were standing in the yard with sentinels keeping guard over them day and night. French troops were quartered in the local university and also in several cathedrals that had a ramified network of underground tunnels.

By the time the Russians approached Vilnius, Napoleon had already fled to Paris in utmost secrecy, leaving his generals in charge. With only one thought on their minds – to make a safe and speedy comeback – the generals ordered the troops to leave behind all things heavy and large.

The same house-owner recalled that when the mysterious carts were riding out of his yard, a wooden barrel slipped off onto the ground and broke into pieces, gold coins pouring out of it. None of the guards bothered to pause to pick them up. The French were leaving Vilnius in such a rush that there is every reason to think that the looted treasures remained in the city, properly hidden.

But where could they have possibly hidden about 80 tons of gold, silver, precious stones and jewelry, let alone icons, paintings and vintage weapons?

Some historians doubt that the treasures existed at all, arguing that there simply couldn’t have been as many riches in Moscow back then.

Several generations of treasure hunters, including professionals equipped with cutting edge devices and ready to shovel tons of earth and dive to river bottoms, have been vainly trying to locate Napoleon’s gold. As years pass by, their chances dwindle.

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