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April 6, 2005 BERLIN-It has led to numerous expeditions, several mysterious deaths and plenty of books．But 60 years after Nazi officers hid metal boxes in the depths of Lake Toplitz, a new attempt is being made to recover the Third Reich's fabled(傳說(shuō)中的)lost gold．The Austrian government has given a U．S．team permission to make an underwater expedition to the bottom of the lake．
Groups of treasure hunters have been racing to Lake Toplitz ever since a group of diehard Nazis escaped to this picturesque part of the Austrian Alps in the final months of the Second World War．With U．S．troops closing in and Germany on the edge of collapse(垮臺(tái)), they shipped the boxes to the bank of the lake, and sunk them．
Nobody knows exactly what was inside．Some believe the boxes contained gold stolen by German troops throughout Europe and carried back to Germany．Others think that they contained documents showing where possessions confiscated(沒收)from Jewish victims were hidden．The state company that controls the lake, Bundesforste AG, has signed a contract with Norman Scott, an American treasure hunter, who hopes to solve the mystery．
Later this month, Scott will begin a detailed underwater expedition of the 350-foot-deep lake, though there is official doubt that there is anything left to find．“I really don't know if there is anything down there, but we want to resolve the mystery once and for all,”Irwin Klissenbauer, a director of Bundesforste AG, told the Guardian Tuesday．“The aim at first is to measure the lake．”He added：“This is a beautiful area．You have heard of Loch Ness．For Austrians this has been a bit like Loch Ness．Lots of people come here．And whether there is gold down there or not, the mystery has been very good for tourism．”
Klissenbauer said that under the terms of the deal--which allows the U．S．team to dive for the next three years-any treasure found will be divided between the Americans and the Austrian state．“Obviously if they recover anything which has a recognizable owner, under Austrian law we have to give it back．”
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