[MSN] A Polish count laid claim Wednesday to a medieval cross fished out of a trash container in Austria, saying it had been stolen from his family by the Nazis.

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Polish Count Claims Medieval Cross 

Thursday August 23, 2007 1:01 AM


By RAPHAEL G. SATTER 

Associated Press Writer 

LONDON (AP) - A Polish count laid claim Wednesday to a medieval cross fished
out of a trash container in Austria, saying it had been stolen from his
family by the Nazis. 

Count Adam Zamoyski, the chairman of a Warsaw museum, said photographic and
archival evidence left no doubt that the cross was the one held by his
ancestors at the Goluchow Castle in Poland before World War II. 

The item was found by a woman rooting through the discarded belongings of a
deceased hotel owner in western Austria in 2004, but it was not until last
month that it was taken to an Austrian museum for valuation and safekeeping.


Experts estimated that the medieval French cross could be worth S$500,000.
But Zamoyski told The Associated Press neither he nor the other heirs to the
treasure would sell it, saying his ancestors wanted the cross on public
display. 

``Ultimately we intend to take it back to Poland and place it on show,
because that was the aim of the collection,'' he said. 

He said the cross was acquired by his relatives, the Czartoryski family, in
the 19th century, but was among the thousands of pieces of art plundered by
the Nazis during World War II. Zamoyski, who now serves as chairman of the
Czartoryski Museum in Krakow, where the family's collection is kept, has
spent years tracking the missing artwork across Europe and the United
States. 

Zamoyski said he didn't know how long it would take to retrieve the cross.
The Commission for Looted Art in Europe, which the count said was handling
the effort to have the cross returned, did not immediately return calls
seeking comment. 

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Associated Press Writers Ryan Lucas and Monika Scislowska in Warsaw, Poland
contributed to this report. 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/