Evacuation of Polish National Treasures during World War II
Between 1939 and 1941 objects of fine and decorative art deemed to be of exceptional artistic or historical value, which became known collectively as Polish National Treasures (Polish: skarby narodowe, French: trésors polonais), were evacuated out of Poland at the onset of World War II in September 1939 and transported via Romania, France, and Britain to Canada.
Most of the rest of the salvaged objects were manuscripts from the National Library in Warsaw, including the earliest documents in the Polish language and Frédéric Chopin's autograph sheet music.
The treasures were complemented by works of art from the Royal Castle of Warsaw and a Gutenberg Bible from the library of the Catholic Higher Seminary of Pelplin.
After the end of the war, the treasures remained in Canada for nearly two decades due to competing claims made by the new communist government of Poland and the London-based Polish government-in-exile.
[2]: 23 Szczerbiec, commonly referred to as Poland's Coronation Sword, is a two-handed antique battle weapon that had been used to crown Polish kings for generations.
[2]: 21 Its popularity is derived, in part, from a myth attached to the blade in which legend dictated that any king that did not use this sword at coronation would endanger the borders of his country, putting his kingdom at risk of invasion.
[3] It is beloved, among many reasons, because it is considered to be a piece of exceptional quality largely due to Gutenberg's choice of ink, binding, and printing materials in its construction.
[2]: 21 They can be described as fairly large pieces of silk, often stretching across meters of space, with lengths of gold and silver thread woven into the fabric.
The Polish government was determined to protect their most ancient and valuable historical pieces from the Nazi party, so they made the decision to move them across Europe until they had found the treasures a safe place to hide.
[2]: 17 They began constructing large cases and cylinders for the relics, closing off the Castle from public access in order to prepare them for transport in secret.
Fortunately, Hans Frank (the Nazi Governor-General in charge of Poland's takeover) and his men did not storm the Castle and seize it for themselves until after the treasures had already departed.
To ensure their safe transport they were accompanied by Stanislaw Zaleski and Jozef Polkowski, two curators from Wawel Castle familiar with the treasures.
In order to further ensure the treasures' safety, the ship joined a larger fleet travelling under the name Operation Fish, in which an unprecedented amount of European valuables were secretly being transported by boat to Canada for safekeeping.
After being temporarily stored at the Polish consulate, the treasures were moved to a storage building at the Experimental Farm after Zaleski and Polkowski were informed of its fireproof and temperature-controlled environment.
Canadian officials feigned ignorance, asserting that the curators who accompanied the collection to Canada possessed full legal responsibility over it.
To make matters more difficult, each location admitted to their culpability in storing the treasures but vehemently insisted that they had already been removed from their care; they lied.
Once word got back to Fiderkiewicz that they treasures had to still be at the disclosed locations, Polkowski knew that Zaleski had switched allegiances and so he secretly arranged to have the entire collection moved again.
Unfortunately for him, Fiderkiewicz called a press conference to divulge to the world that he had discovered the two trunks stored in the vaults at the Bank of Montreal in Ottawa and was negotiating for their safe return.
William Lyon Mackenzie King, the Prime Minister at the time, asserted that since the treasures entered Canada as private property of the Polish government, they had no right to get involved in the management of their possessions.
[2]: 94 In what he described as a show of good faith, he offered the Polish government a deal – the RCMP would be enlisted to track down and retrieve the entire collection on the condition that they could be put in display in Canada for a period of five years before being sent back to Poland.
[2]: 97 Mackenzie King went on to suggest that, since Canada had no legal parameters to extradite the curators or export the treasures, the Polish government could seek legal action as a private individual in the Canadian court system against those they believed were responsible for wrongfully moving Polish property from their designated location (i.e. Zaleski and Polkowski).
