The Mazovia Legacy
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“The letter said Mr. Janovski had died last year in Canada and it was his wish that the gold in these crates be returned to Wawel Castle,” Cygnarowski told reporters at an impromptu news conference at Gdansk docks.
“Mr. Janovski apparently wished for the proceeds of the disposal of this gold to be used to locate and retrieve any pieces from the State Art Collection that were lost or stolen during the war, so they can be returned to the collection,” Cygnarowski said. “He also wished that the money be used for the permanent upkeep of the national art treasures, to improve security and exhibition arrangements at Wawel Castle if required, and possibly to expand the collection in future.”
“The letter indicated that Janovski did not want the money to be used for so-called ‘political purposes,’” Cygnarowski said.
Adding to the mystery, Cygnarowski told reporters that the unsigned letter also indicated that he, as Curator, should “as a matter of urgency” attempt to locate a precious gold chalice, inlaid with pearls and possibly dating from the 16th Century, which was part of the original shipment to Canada and subsequently lost.
“The letter indicated that the missing chalice might now be sitting unclaimed in an unexhibited collection at the Vatican Museum in Rome,” Cygnarowski said.
“We have no record of such a chalice being part of the original shipment of goods to Canada,” Cygnarowski said, “but they were very chaotic times and I cannot rule out the possibility that my predecessors at Wawel Castle might have failed to include such an item on bills of lading in 1939.”
He said he would make inquiries immediately among Vatican curatorial officials about the missing item.
Asked if the 48 bars of gold formed part of the original shipment to Canada, Cygnarowski said: “There is no doubt in my mind that this gold is the rightful property of the State Art Collection at Wawel. It is my firm intention to use it as the last custodian intended it to be used.”
For the moment, the gold is to remain impounded at the Gdansk docks, customs officials said.
Cygnarowski said he had “no idea whatsoever” who might have sent the gold to Poland on behalf of Stanislaw Janovski some 35 years after the last shipment of treasures back from Canada.
A spokesman for the Canadian Embassy in Warsaw, who did not wish to be identified, said the Canadian government would make inquiries in Canada about Stanislaw Janovski if officially requested to do so by Polish authorities.
“No request has been made at this time,” the embassy spokesman said.
Shipments by sea of small lots of personal effects are not normally subject to customs inspection before leaving Canada, the embassy spokesman said. It is the responsibility of customs officials in the country to which the goods are being shipped to inspect the contents when they arrive and that is what happened in this case, he said.
Political observers and Western diplomats here, who did not wish to be identified, said that they expected the gold would likely be allowed to remain in the possession of Wawel Castle museum. The political situation in Poland is still in flux after the narrow defeat in the November 1995 presidential elections of Lech Walesa by the candidate of the former Communists, Aleksander Kwasniewski.
There was no immediate comment from President Kwasniewski’s office, or former president Walesa, on the mysterious gold shipment. The Vatican press office in Warsaw did not return reporters’ telephone calls on Wednesday afternoon.
Execution-style Murder in Downtown Rome
ROME, Italy, March 14, 1996 (Newswire) – Police in Rome said on Thursday they had no clues as to who was behind an execution-style shooting of a man in broad daylight in a street not far from St. Peter’s Square.
The dead man has been identified by police as Vincente Pino Tremonti, aged 36. He was shot three times in the upper body at close range by an unidentified assailant in Via Candia, police said.
Tremonti was found lying beside his car at 2:40 p.m. (1240 GMT) by a local resident. He was pronounced dead at the scene by ambulance workers.
The street was deserted in the quiet time after the lunch hour and police say no eyewitnesses have come forward with a description of the gunman.
One restaurateur in the Via Candia said he heard what he thought was an automobile backfiring as he was cleaning up after lunch, but he saw nothing.
One senior police investigator said privately that Tremonti may have been a former member of the powerful Vatican security service. That report could not be independently confirmed.
Vatican officials refused comment on the killing, referring all inquiries to the Rome police.
LEADING REPORTER CALLS IT QUITS
by Fraser J. Harrelson, Tribune Media Writer April 23, 1996
MONTREAL – One of Canada’s leading investigative journalists, Montreal’s own Francis Delaney, is leaving his post as a senior feature writer at Forum magazine to take an extended sabbatical and consider other career options, the Tribune has learned.
A senior editor at Forum yesterday confirmed the rumour that had been circulating among media watchers since last week. When contacted subsequently, Delaney, who is 44, said he wanted to take “at least a couple of years” away from journalism after a career which sent him on difficult assignments to many of the world’s trouble spots.
He has spent much of the last year on various assignments in Europe, including coverage of the November 1995 presidential elections in Poland. He has only recently returned from another European trip.
In addition to his reporting work over the years, Delaney has written two well-received books on political topics.
Delaney refused to say whether he intended to return to the media after his sabbatical. He said his immediate goal was to take a sailboat journey through the Caribbean islands and “forget about everything for a while.”
He has purchased a 30-foot sailboat, which he will take delivery of next month in Key West, Florida. Delaney said he had named the boat Natalia.