On the streets of post-war Berlin, a Holocaust survivor traded a gold plate for a pack of cigarettes. It later turned out to be a rare artefact from a museum worth £6.6 million. But the woman's family can keep the item.
Thirty years ago I was digging up a war plane near Mariánské Lázně. The aim was to find out what kind of machine it was and who was its pilot. We succeeded.
The downed war plane and the remains of the pilot were pulled out of the ground by the workers of the Suchdol museum twelve years ago. The wreckage was located in a field between Bělotín and Lučice in Hranice. The aircraft belonged to the 224th Battle Division of the 8th Air Army and was tasked with supporting the fighting Red Army.
At least thirteen people were buried in a mass grave in Dobronín in the Jihlava region. This news was reported by the media eleven years ago. According to testimonies, the German inhabitants destined for removal were supposed to be buried in the grave.
The preserved city walls were discovered eight years ago by conservationists in Opava. This happened a month after an aerial bomb from the Second World War was found in the same place. The walls were approximately 800 years old.
It has been a month of research, disappointment with institutions, hopes and most of all emotions. The almost impossible has been achieved. To find a soldier by his signature and the name of his beloved girl on a silver bracelet. The reward was the most important thing. The war veteran is still alive!
Almost 70 years after the war, Germany returned to Poland a rare painting that the Nazis stole for Hitler's museum. Specifically, it was a work by the Venetian painter Francesco Guardi, entitled "The Palace Staircase". But the search is still on for thousands of works of art that have disappeared to parts unknown.
