Evening star., 1946-11-24

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two Durers, eight Breug-
hels. nine Titians and seven velas-
queues. 20 bags Of tapestries, two
boxes Of sculptures and minor works
OF art.
The contents Of these two .lorries
was discovered In q damp cellar Of
q house near the Goldene Lowe Inn
at Sankt Johann in the Tyrol.
Holy Roman Empire Loot
Found After Long Search
The circumstances surrounding
the discoveries Of each repository
always had an individual aspect.
The discovery Of the regalia Of the
Holy Roman Empire was among the
most Satisfying. The regalia and
crown treasure from Vienna was
transferred to Nuremberg, "the
party city, by the Nazis In 1898.
When Nuremberg was captured the
regalia was missing. Misinforma-
tion. false testimony and rumors
that the regalia had been sunk at
the bottom Of Lake zell In Austria
led the search ell over Southern
Germany and Austria.
Finally 1t was ascertained that
orders for removal Of the treasure
from Vienna were originally In
itiated by Himmler. The man to
whom these orders wete given was
eventually captured and made to
talk. He led Allied officers to the
Panier Platz Bunker In Nuremberg
He directed the searching party to
the hiding place, which was tiny
room in q subterranean corridor.
A hole was chiseled through the
brick Of one small wall in the room
and four copper containers were
discovered. In the presence Of wit
nesses the Allied officers removed
the containers, examined them and
transported them to their place
of safekeeping in the cache under.
meath the Nuremberg castle, where
they were kept behind steel doors
until their return to Austria in the
spring Of 1916.
Himmler apparently attached q
great deal Of significance to this
treasure, for he advised only the
chief OF the German security anc
the head Of the Gestapo when he
ordered the removal from Vienna
Even the head Of the Gestapo die
not know the disposition Of the
royal treasurer in Nuremberg, becahse
he officially reported to the Ger
man security police chief that he
was advised the jewels had beer
sunk in Lake zell for safekeeping
: Generally, the Allied officers con-
cluded from this evidence that the
idea of covering up the trail OF the
removal by a fictitious story origi-
mated in the very highest Berlin
circles; and the fact that one oi
the few most important men con-
nected with the actual facts Of the
story should be so misinformed, led
to the specific deduction that there
was q very important political sig
nificance attached to the regalia
In fact. it Is known definitely
that the German security police
chief was charged with the re-
sponsibility of hiding the Austrian
imperial insignia for a future use
Stained Glass Restored
To Strasbourg Cathedral
The restitution Of works Of art
to their country Of origin began In
Germany about September. 1945
The return Of the magnificent
stained glass Of the Cathedral OF
Strasbourg to France about tina.
time was the first high priority
token gesture. This action was soon
followed by the return to Holland
of paintings taken from Dutch
collectors. the Hohenfurth Altar
piece Of Czechoslovakia, and the
reliquary containing the hand Of
st. Stephen to Budapest-The
Hungarian crown and royal regalia
the Polish ecclesiastical treasures
the famous polychromed wood altar
piece by Veit Stress from the Church
Of st. Mary at Krakow. and sculp-
lures, paintings and antique gold
objects from Naples and Monte
casino, along with hundreds OF
readily indentifiable objects, were
cleared through the complicated
procedures of international restitu-
ton for return to their originating
country.
On the other hand. these objects
whose ownership Is not clearly
established or their place Of origin
Is not readily distinguishable
there are many hundreds Of thou.
sands Of them-win be returned
sometime during the course of the
next 10 years. For, 1t Is q recog.
nized fact that 1t will far outlasi
the military occupation Of Germany
and. when the peace treaties are
signed In the realm Of reparations
and restitution 1t Is not unlikely
that some form Of internationalizet
governing body win perpetuats the
work until its successful completion