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00:00the autumn of 1939 on this very road a Nazi officer named Cayetan Moelman was
00:13traveling down here on a secret mission Hitler Goering Hans Frank he worked for
00:21them all stealing some of the world's greatest art treasures like some kind of
00:25Mafia bag man now more than seven decades later we're still on the hunt for a
00:32priceless painting the portrait of the young man by Raphael worth over a hundred
00:37million dollars at the end of World War two the Allies made a series of shocking
00:47discoveries hidden in trains bunkers and deep underground they found mountains of
00:54stolen treasure that must have been like going into Aladdin's cave Hitler and the
00:59Nazis had looted an entire continent and committed the greatest theft in history
01:05now a team of investigators is opening up cold case files of Nazi plunder still
01:11missing today we're talking about things that are worth tens of millions of
01:15dollars Robert Edsel is author of the best-selling book turned Hollywood movie
01:19the monuments man and an expert Nazi looted treasure hundreds of thousands of
01:26objects are still missing well we have a lot of digging to do joining him the
01:30second World War historian James Holland none of this was really his he'd just
01:35taken it and investigative journalist Connor Woodman and this is a genuine
01:40treasure hunt we dig a hole in the ground and we find those cases their mission
01:44uncover new clues oh gosh this is it explore Nazi hideouts whoever built this
01:50brick wall really didn't want anyone to get through to the other side find out
01:54how the treasure was stolen and where it might be now what a piece of history
02:01at the monuments men foundation headquarters Dorothy and Robert reopen a cold case from the outbreak of the Second World War
02:10of the Second World War so this is what we have on Poland Robert at the heart of the investigation is the Nazi
02:32systematic pillaging of Poland
02:33I think like 90% of their cultural treasures stolen I mean I don't think any
02:42country in Europe was looted more extensively than Poland
02:45on September 1st 1939 German troops invaded Poland
02:53Hitler's plans were brutal
03:01seize Poland's territory
03:06enslave its people
03:09destroy its culture
03:11and plunder its treasures
03:17within days of the country's surrender
03:20the Nazis stole one of Poland's most valuable works of art
03:24portrait of a young man by Italian Renaissance master Raphael
03:29it is still missing today
03:33and it's the focus of our investigation to find the most important painting missing since World War II
03:40to solve this 70 year old case
03:44historian James Holland heads to Krakow in southern Poland
03:50this city was the home of the Raphael
03:53when the Germans invaded Poland
03:55before the war broke out
03:58this place was a cultural center of Poland
04:01and as such was a prime target for the Nazis
04:05for the systematic pillage of art
04:07and right at the very top of the list was the Czartoryski collection
04:14at the start of World War II the Czartoryski museum boasted one of Poland's most important private collections of art
04:22so Akata this is an amazing place when was it created
04:27it was formed at the end of 18th century by Princess Isabella Czartoryski
04:33the crown jewels of the collection were known as the big three
04:37a Rembrandt a Leonardo da Vinci and a Raphael
04:42today these rare masterpieces are valued at approximately half a billion dollars
04:49now Akata I know that of the big three the one that's still here is the Rembrandt
04:55yes it is is it possible to see that
04:57yes please follow me
04:59thank you
05:00oh gosh it's just here
05:02yes
05:04landscape with a good Samaritan by the Dutch master Rembrandt
05:08was stolen by the Nazis during the war
05:11it's stunning isn't it it's beautiful lucky that he survived in this the state of preservation
05:19the Rembrandt and the Leonardo were recovered in 1945
05:24but not the Raphael
05:29and here you've got the print of the portrait of the young man
05:34yes probably the famous missing young man in the world
05:40so in 1939 the actual painting would have been in this frame
05:46yes the pictures were taken from from their frames
05:51yes
05:51packed carefully and taken to their property in the countryside
05:56with war on the horizon the Charteriski family evacuated the paintings to a secret location in rural Poland
06:06this would be the beginning of an extraordinary wartime journey for the Raphael
06:13you're Polish and this belongs in Poland what would it mean to you to have this back
06:20ah enormous joy pride I think in a symbolic way recompensation for the victims of the war in the area of culture
06:33to discover where the painting might be today
06:40the team must retrace the Raphael's wartime journey
06:45James sets off to the Polish countryside
06:50in Dallas Robert and Dorothy gather information on the Nazi chosen to spearhead the theft
06:56there they are the big three of the Charteriski collection
07:01Hitler wants them
07:02Herrmann Gehring wants them
07:04and they make the decision to send in this SS officer
07:07Kajetan Moolman
07:09art historian Kajetan Moolman was sent to Poland
07:13his mission plunder the nation and ship the finest works of art back to Hitler and his greedy deputy Hermann Goring
07:21yeah Kajetan Moolman I have a file on him Robert there's a great quote here it's from a Dutch report from after the war
07:29Kajetan Moolman is obstinate he has no conscience and does not care about art
07:35he's a liar and a vile person
07:38October 1939 days after Poland fell
07:44Kajetan Moolman learned the big three were hidden in the Charteriski family's country estate
07:50James has come to meet Vitold Charteriski to find out what happened to the paintings at Pelkini
07:58Vitold is a descendant of Princess Isabella and the current owner of the Pelkini Palace
08:05Vitold this is a wonderful place
08:10so what's the story of this house?
08:12well it was the house of my great-grandfather
08:16at the start of the war it was here that the Raphael the Leonardo and the Rembrandt were hidden
08:23my grandfather had them taken here for safe keeping
08:27Vitold brings James to the oldest part of the palace
08:33here beneath the 17th century guard tower is a secret room
08:39walled off from the outside
08:42the room could only be accessed through a hidden doorway
08:47originally there was no door here was a wall
08:53this room was like the treasury of the house
08:57with only one secret door in the corner
09:01which from the other side was hidden behind furniture
09:05really so if you're in the next door room you can't see the next door room
09:10unless you knew
09:12you wouldn't actually realize that there was a room here
09:16only the family knew where the priceless paintings were hidden
09:20or so they thought
09:22in the chaos of war
09:24refugees and enemy soldiers occupied the palace
09:28in one wing there was a detachment of German soldiers
09:35because this was a strategic place to oversee the area
09:40somehow the secret room was discovered
09:43and someone informed the Germans
09:46the Nazis stole the Raphael
09:57the Leonardo
09:58and the Rembrandt
10:00and this is the scene of the crime
10:08the Raphael
10:09do you think it's still out there?
10:11I'm sure it is
10:14Moelman took the paintings to Hermann Göring in Berlin
10:20but it wasn't just the number two Nazi who wanted the masterpieces
10:27Hans Frank
10:29the governor general in Krakow
10:30wants the paintings back there
10:32and orders that Moelman bring them back down to Krakow
10:35it doesn't end there because Hermann Gehring
10:37wants them back in Berlin
10:40Frank gets livid
10:42and orders them brought back to Krakow
10:44back and forth and back and forth
10:46like little boys fighting over marbles
10:49all spending time away from the war effort
10:52all focused on these three pictures
10:54and it really goes to show
10:56I mean the power
10:57and magnetic appeal
10:59of these paintings
11:03for more than two years
11:05top Nazis bickered over the masterpieces
11:07in 1943
11:09Hitler finally sent the paintings back to Poland
11:12James returns to Krakow
11:16to meet the son of a top Nazi
11:18who held on to the paintings for the rest of the war
11:21Hans Frank's youngest son
11:23Nicholas
11:24Nicholas
11:27my father
11:29could be very funny
11:30he was really
11:31entertaining
11:32but he was also
11:34a big coward
11:35he was a
11:37mass matter
11:38historian James Holland
11:49is in Krakow
11:50to look for clues in the case of the most valuable painting missing since World War II
11:56he's come to find out what happened to the masterpiece portrait of a young man by Rafael
12:01after it returned to Poland
12:04this is the mighty
12:06this is the mighty
12:07weevil castle
12:08which until the end of the 16th century
12:10was home to the kings of Poland
12:12then in October 1939
12:14a new king arrived
12:15not a Pole
12:16but a Nazi
12:17Hans Frank
12:20Hitler appointed his friend and lawyer
12:22Hans Frank
12:23governor-general of Poland
12:26Frank instituted a reign of terror across the occupied territory
12:32earning him the moniker
12:34the butcher of Poland
12:36during his rule
12:38four million Polish citizens were murdered in ghettos and concentration camps
12:43Hans Frank added insult to injury to the Polish people
12:48when he expropriated their president's official residence to make it his own
12:52he certainly treated it like his own personal fiefdom
12:56the whole place was bedecked with swastikas
13:00draped down
13:01the stormtroopers
13:02all standing to attention
13:04the parades in here
13:05he brought in lots of fine things
13:07he also brought in the big three
13:09the Rembrandt
13:10the Leonardo
13:11and the Raphael
13:12and the reason I come here
13:14is to speak to a rather special person
13:15someone who was here
13:16pretty much throughout the entire war
13:18Hans Frank's youngest son
13:20Nicholas
13:22James hopes Nicholas may have clues to what happened to the Raphael
13:29before it disappeared
13:31so this was your family home when you were a child
13:34yes
13:35this is a private part of the castle
13:37reserved for the family of Frank
13:40and what a place to live
13:42it's just incredible
13:44it's so huge
13:45and you have to imagine
13:47my mother was very poor
13:49when she was young
13:50yes
13:51and suddenly
13:52she was the Queen of Poland
13:54owning all this kind of stuff
13:56while the Polish people lived in fear
13:59and deprivation
14:00Hans Frank
14:01Hans Frank surrounded himself
14:02and his family
14:03with luxury
14:04and fine art
14:06he killed his conscience
14:08with luxury
14:10one of Hans Frank's
14:11favorite works of art
14:12was Lady with an Ermine
14:14by Leonardo da Vinci
14:17Frank hung the masterpiece
14:18in his private apartments
14:20above a hot radiator
14:22above a hot radiator
14:24a boorish gesture
14:25that elicited a reprimand
14:27from Kajetan Moolman
14:28gosh look at that
14:31I think that's absolutely magnificent
14:34I feel like I'm standing before greatness
14:37it's just perfect
14:40completed at the end of the 15th century
14:43Lady with an Ermine
14:44is one of the rare female portraits
14:46made by the brilliant artist Leonardo da Vinci
14:49it's really one of the greatest works of art
14:53I've ever seen
14:54not for me
14:57I nearly hated this painting
15:01why?
15:02because it's a mixture of
15:04dealing at the same time
15:06with the behavior of my father
15:08and knowing that he was a mass murderer
15:11he was a cultured killer
15:20here we come to the private rooms
15:22this is his bedroom?
15:23yes
15:24as far as I know
15:25I'm not sure
15:26but I'm sure of his bathroom
15:30so you remember this room?
15:31yes
15:32because it was the only close scene
15:35which happened between my father and me
15:37he was shaving
15:39and I was coming in
15:42pop pop pop pop pop
15:43and he took
15:45a little spot of his foam
15:49and put it in my nose
15:51and put it in my nose
15:52it was the happiest scene
15:53I ever had with my father
15:55right
15:56it happened here
15:57and I always think
15:58what did he think
16:00shaving himself in the morning
16:03knowing that the Jews have been driven to the concentration camps
16:07for me it's unbelievable
16:10why he didn't shoot himself after having shaved
16:18Hans Frank was remorseless
16:25but by 1945 the tide of the war had turned
16:30as Soviet forces charged westward
16:33Frank bolted
16:34taking as much of the country's loot as he could
16:37so your father managed to sort of squirrel out
16:40the big three
16:41the Raphael
16:42the Rembrandt
16:43and the Leonardo
16:44I think eight trucks
16:46full of paintings
16:47and other luxury goods
16:49and my mother by the way
16:51she took with her
16:52a bag full of jewelry
16:55stolen from the Polish Jews
16:58or the Polish people
16:59really?
17:00so they were big thieves
17:02your parents
17:04and so where did they go?
17:06back home to Bavaria
17:09what do you think happened to the Raphael?
17:12maybe my mother
17:15I could think that she had stolen the Raphael
17:20and then she sold it for butter, milk, bread
17:24to a guy in Bavaria
17:27so your gut instinct
17:28is it still out there?
17:29I would say it's still out there
17:31I would say so
17:36to figure out what happened to the Raphael
17:38as Hans Frank fled Poland
17:40the team sends investigative journalist
17:42Connor Woodman
17:43to retrace his escape route
17:46on January 17, 1945
17:49Frank left Krakow
17:50and headed west
17:52through the Nazi stronghold of Lower Silesia
17:55could the Raphael be here?
17:58until 1945
18:00it was a German region
18:02Germans
18:03they stored
18:04a lot of beautiful things here
18:07I know a guy
18:08who found a small gold bar
18:10in a oven
18:12in his palace
18:13it was a year ago
18:15so things are turning up?
18:17yeah
18:18in the search for the missing Raphael
18:33the team now focuses on Lower Silesia
18:35a mountainous region of Poland
18:37where the Nazis hid plunder during the war
18:39so Lower Silesia is right about here
18:43north of Krakow
18:44I mean today it's Poland
18:46but at that point in time it was Germany
18:48according to this post-war report
18:50on Dr. Gunther Grundmann
18:52he was the provincial curator for Lower Silesia
18:57and responsible for finding storage for all the looted art that the Nazis took
19:02during the war
19:04during the war
19:05Grundmann requisitioned more than 80 castles
19:07monasteries and residences
19:09across Lower Silesia
19:11for the Nazis to store a huge amount of looted art
19:14the team learns of an archeological dig at one of those sites
19:19Grodno Castle
19:22let's send Connor and let him nose around
19:26300 kilometers east of Krakow
19:30investigative journalist Connor Woodman
19:32heads to Grodno Castle
19:34with author Joanna Lamparska
19:36she's written extensively on treasure hunters looking for Nazi loot
19:40why do you think this part of Poland Lower Silesia is so popular for treasure hunters?
19:44until 1945 it was a German region
19:48German region
19:49Germans they store a lot of beautiful things
19:53from museums, from churches, private collections here
19:57because they believe it's gonna be safe
20:00and it stays in German hands forever
20:03in 2015
20:06two men claimed to have located a Nazi train filled with gold
20:10inside a collapsed tunnel in Lower Silesia
20:13this would-be discovery set off an international media frenzy
20:17in the end
20:20no evidence of a train was found
20:23but tourists and fortune seekers continue to flock to Lower Silesia
20:27it is said that we have almost over 100,000 of treasure hunters in Poland today
20:34and so do you think there is still treasure buried underneath Grodno Castle?
20:40of course I believe it
20:41ok
20:42and a lot of treasure hunters want to find this treasure
20:47Grodno Castle is a 700 year old fortress steeped in legend, history and ghost stories
20:56it's also the site of a new excavation led by historian, treasure hunter and journalist
21:06Peter Mazkowski
21:07Colin, nice to meet you
21:08very nice to meet you, welcome to Castle Grodno
21:11during the war Grodno Castle was a major repository for art stolen by the Third Reich
21:20Peter and his crew of archaeologists, historians and treasure hunters
21:24have started to excavate the cellar looking for Nazi loot
21:28what are you hoping that we'll find in this spot?
21:31the tunnel
21:32a tunnel
21:33the tunnel
21:34yes
21:35since the Second World War, stories have circulated about a secret tunnel beneath Grodno Castle
21:42filled with Nazi treasure, gold, art and perhaps even the Raphael
21:49there is of course some witnesses
21:51witnesses that say they actually saw a tunnel?
21:54some even seen this tunnel or even enter into this tunnel
21:58wow
21:59were you thinking this is a tunnel that maybe the Nazis could have used?
22:02I think this is a medieval tunnel used by Nazis by the end of the war
22:08Peter and his team know they're onto something
22:11they've just discovered what looks like the remains of an old wooden chest
22:16ok
22:17these are the pieces of metal
22:20metal
22:21which looks absolutely like the
22:23that's the handle
22:24kind of a handle
22:25yeah
22:26this is another one
22:27ok so the handle is the chest
22:28yeah
22:29so you could have to be a specialist to see it
22:33no you can see it quite clearly
22:34and you said you found a key as well
22:36yeah
22:37alright
22:38but that is a key
22:39yeah absolutely
22:40absolutely
22:41without doubt
22:43the chests were buried long before the second world war
22:47and their contents have since disintegrated
22:50but this discovery confirms objects were hidden beneath Grodno Castle
22:55now Peter brings Connor and Joanna to the courtyard
22:59here is the second place where we are going to do excavation
23:04right
23:05Peter's team recently located a suspicious cavity beneath the castle courtyard
23:09using ground penetrating radar
23:13this imaging method is used to detect anomalies below the surface
23:19the GPR showed us that there is something different than usual ground down there
23:26so this is what you think the von Schreck letter leads us to
23:29yeah
23:30he described that here in this place there is some kind of staircase and empty space
23:36what's more the existence of a tunnel is corroborated by a former German officer named Leonard von Schreck
23:43he wrote to Joanna about hidden Nazi treasure beneath Grodno Castle
23:48and in his letter he described a mysterious underground space here
23:51and they put two chests somewhere in this place
23:58and he secured with explosives
24:01and after that they disguised the place and left it
24:07so you worried when you excavate that this might be wired with dynamite
24:11I'm always worried about this because it's a very vivid legend
24:17Peter's team is undeterred
24:20tomorrow they'll begin digging below the courtyard
24:23they could be on the verge of finding a tunnel filled with Nazi plunder
24:28here we go, we have a space
24:30you see the hole?
24:31yeah, you see the hole
24:32something is behind these pillars
24:34in the hunt for the missing Raphael
24:50investigative journalist Connor Woodman
24:53joins Peter Miskowski's treasure hunting team
24:56to look for a tunnel below Grodno Castle
24:58used by the Nazis to stash stolen treasure
25:01here is the path of GPR
25:06there are a few anomalies
25:08Peter's team is encouraged by the data from the ground penetrating radar
25:13it shows a suspicious cavity in this very spot
25:17so we are digging pretty close to where that anomaly there is
25:20this spot
25:22exactly
25:23come on
25:30it's like pulling out of tooth
25:32yeah, yeah, yeah
25:34come on
25:35oh
25:36woo
25:37yeah
25:38yeah
25:39okay
25:40yeah
25:41oh
25:42it's a tunnel
25:44we've found a tunnel
25:45we've found a tunnel
25:46Connor's efforts to remove the rock have revealed an access point to a cavity below
25:53it looks to me like behind that is a secret tunnel
25:59shall we have a look?
26:01yeah
26:03the opening is too small to enter safely
26:06so the team will send a camera underground
26:09good luck
26:11okay, we're going in
26:13they must lower the camera through a narrow cramped space
26:17past hard rock
26:19eight feet down along the side of the castle wall
26:22just to reach the cavity
26:24then
26:25the camera has to be angled to get inside the tunnel
26:28and reveal its contents
26:30wow, it goes all the way down
26:34the camera has reached the top of the tunnel
26:38so much concrete
26:39what about that crack there?
26:41can you get through there?
26:45Connor and Peter adjust the angle of descent
26:48there's a... there's a knack to this isn't there?
26:51yeah
26:52that's what we're doing
26:53no, blocked
26:56but they hit a wall
26:58ah, it's frustrating
27:01they just can't twist the camera far enough
27:04to peer inside the cavity
27:06we can see it goes all the way down
27:08but then
27:09it's hard to see where it goes
27:10it's really hard to operate this camera
27:12yeah
27:13there is something behind there
27:14yeah
27:15we will have to think how to break through
27:20Peter's team isn't giving up
27:23with the right equipment
27:25they'll be able to clear all the rock
27:27and see what's inside the tunnel
27:2940 kilometres north of Grodno Castle
27:35James is following an exciting new lead
27:37at Barawa Palace
27:38another residence
27:41where Dr. Gunter Grunman
27:43stored looted art for the Nazis
27:45including the Raphael
27:50this place is absolutely crucial to our investigation
27:53in January 1945
27:55Hans Frank finally left Krakow
27:57with the Russians closing in on the city
27:59and evacuated his entire art collection
28:03he sent it here for safe keeping
28:06James has come to Marawa
28:08to meet author Robert Kudelski
28:10I spent a lot of years
28:12to prepare this story
28:14to find some more important information
28:17Kudelski is combed through Polish, German, Russian
28:22and American archives
28:24to shed new light
28:25on the case of a missing masterpiece
28:27as a Pole
28:28it must mean a huge amount to you
28:30to try and get the Raphael back
28:31exactly
28:32yeah
28:33after exhaustive research
28:35Robert Kudelski thinks he's figured out
28:37when the Raphael went missing
28:39we know because we have the inventory
28:42of the local conservator
28:45of Ginter Grunman
28:47on January 26th
28:49Grunman is sent to Marawa Palace
28:51to fetch the most valuable works
28:53in Frank's collection
28:54he arrives on the 29th
28:56and makes an inventory
29:00the Raphael should be listed here
29:03but it's missing
29:06what you can say for certain
29:08is that the Raphael goes missing
29:11sometime between
29:13the 26th and the 29th of January 1945
29:17exactly
29:19if Robert Kudelski is right
29:21the Raphael vanished from Marawa Palace
29:23over a three-day period
29:25in January 1945
29:27the question is
29:29who stole it?
29:31I believe
29:32I believe that
29:33Edward Kneisel
29:35took the Raphael paintings
29:37from the castle
29:41Austrian art conservator
29:43Edward Kneisel
29:44spent the war in Poland
29:45working for Nazi governor-general
29:47Hans Frank
29:48and he was responsible for the protection
29:52and restoration of paintings
29:54of old masters
29:56like a restore
29:57yes exactly
29:58I mean he knows
29:59everything there is to know
30:00about those paintings
30:01absolutely
30:02every piece
30:04Edward Kneisel would have known
30:06the extraordinary value of the Raphael
30:08but is there any hard evidence
30:10or is it just a hunch
30:11yes
30:12yes of course
30:13we have some evidence
30:14from the servant
30:16in the castle
30:18on January 25th
30:20Edward Kneisel was ordered
30:21to leave Marawa
30:22but Kudelski has uncovered
30:26eyewitness testimony
30:27that Kneisel returned
30:28to Marawa Palace
30:29between January 26th
30:31and January 28th
30:33exactly when the painting goes missing
30:38Kneisel had the key
30:41what here in Marawa?
30:42yes exactly
30:43in this place
30:44okay that is all starting to stack up
30:45yes
30:46according to the servant
30:48Edward Kneisel claimed
30:50he'd returned to pick up
30:52some of his restoration tools
30:54Kneisel came back here
30:57and that his excuse was
30:59I've come back to get some
31:00my tools and my trade
31:02the Russians are knocking at the door
31:06to get me to come back
31:07and risk my life and limb
31:09yes
31:10I think I need a little bit more
31:11of a lure
31:12maybe a priceless Raphael
31:14would for starters
31:15absolutely yes
31:17you know in any criminal investigation
31:19you're looking for
31:21opportunity
31:23motive
31:24expertise
31:25through knowledge
31:26and when you put all that together
31:29Edward Kneisel
31:30yeah
31:36Robert Kudelski has given the team
31:38a new suspect
31:39in the theft of the hundred million dollar masterpiece
31:42do you think
31:44do you think
31:45Kneisel did it?
31:46people know Nazi Germany's gonna lose this war
31:48everyone's looking for a way out
31:50I mean a picture like this
31:51or an asset like this
31:52is the difference for someone to life and death
31:55yeah and if you just wrap
31:57a big blanket around it
31:58and you just put it under your arm
32:00and walk away with it
32:01nobody would really know what it is
32:03that's probably exactly what happened
32:05five days after Edward Kneisel left Marawa
32:10he reported for work at Hans Frank's office in Bavaria
32:15did Kneisel stash the painting somewhere in the area?
32:20or was it Nicholas Frank's mother who hid it here?
32:24Dorothy uncovers a new clue suggesting that one of them or someone else did exactly that
32:31there was this article in 2013 saying
32:35Mr. Loeb saw this painting in 1971
32:38in the basement of somebody
32:40just down the road from the house that Frank's used to live in
32:43incredible
32:44is Loeb still alive?
32:45well the article is so recent I would say yes
32:48while Robert digs around for more evidence
32:51leaking Edward Kneisel to the theft of the masterpiece
32:56Dorothy travels to Bavaria
32:58she's here to join James
33:00and to meet a man who claims he saw the Raphael
33:03the search for the missing Raphael brings James deep into the mountains of Germany
33:28after tracking the painting from Krakow to Marawa
33:31the team hones in on the small Bavarian town of Schliersee
33:35this is where Hans Frank was arrested in May 1945
33:41taken to prison
33:43and that's where he would remain until October 1946
33:46when he was hanged for war crimes
33:49when the Americans got here they also found
33:53a number of those amazing paintings of Rembrandt
33:56the Leonardo
33:58but not the Raphael
34:02at the end of the war the US Army discovered vast amounts of Nazi looted art around the Bavarian Alps
34:10and all the evidence the team has gathered leads here to the very same region
34:15Bavaria is where Nicholas Frank suspects his mother could have sold the painting after the war
34:22and then she sold it for butter, milk, bread to a guy in Bavaria
34:28it's also where Edward Kneisel might have secreted the Raphael away
34:33perhaps to sell to survive after the war
34:36Edward Kneisel after the war he spent a few years in Bavaria
34:42the team is exploring the theory that one of these suspects snuck the painting back to Bavaria
34:51and now they have a solid leak that the painting is still here somewhere in the Bavarian landscape
34:59I'm on my way to meet Dorothy
35:01she's found a gentleman called Mr. Loves
35:04who reckons he saw the Raphael in a basement somewhere very near here
35:09in 1971
35:1126 year old gun enthusiast Reinhard Loves
35:14came here to sell some antique rifles to a firearms collector
35:18so Herr Loves you've got the most amazing story
35:23Dorothy's told me a little bit but just start from the start
35:28so he had these carabines and then Mr. Loves said can I see your collection of arms and armor and guns
35:44the guy said sure so the two of them went downstairs
35:47then they have moved together to look at the counterINS
35:51and at the bottom part of the store was inside another corner
35:55the front door was in half open
35:57and behind these were vertically
36:00and down eram HOBET
36:01EK1 eK2
36:03and on the bottom there was this picture paper
36:06on the bottom of the clock
36:08GUARDую
36:09the Ãœbers
36:10And this is absolutely what you saw?
36:12Absolutely, yeah.
36:14I mean, that's absolutely amazing.
36:23I mean, it's clearly over 40 years now.
36:26But if we were to get in the car and have a look,
36:28do you think we'd be able to find it?
36:32It's a little bit like a needle in a haystack,
36:34but let's try it.
36:36Is it possible that Raphael is here
36:41in this small Bavarian town?
36:44Do you remember the houses, what they looked like?
36:52It's so simple like this or this?
37:01We should probably ring some doorbells, shouldn't we?
37:06I can see how I've got signs in still.
37:08Dorothy wonders if residents might remember
37:11a collector of historical firearms.
37:13She said maybe in the next street down.
37:16It's frustrating, isn't it?
37:17It's such a tantalizing lead,
37:20and yet we can't pinpoint the house.
37:26While Dorothy and James continue to look for clues
37:28to the Raphael's whereabouts,
37:31Robert arrives in Vienna,
37:34hot on the trail of one of the suspects in the case.
37:38Oh, hello.
37:39Just come in.
37:40He's tracked down Edward Knizel's only son, Wolfgang.
37:44So he saw the Raphael,
37:46and he perhaps even packed it?
37:48Yes, he packed it.
37:49In the search for the missing Raphael,
38:05Robert is following up on one final big lead.
38:08He's come to Vienna to meet Wolfgang Knizel.
38:12Nice to meet you.
38:13You too, Min?
38:14The son of a suspect in the theft of the masterpiece.
38:18Robert is here to find out if Wolfgang Knizel
38:21knows if his father, Edward, stole the Raphael.
38:26Wolfgang, tell me how your father came to be in Poland.
38:29When Hitler came to Austria,
38:31all government employees were automatically
38:34a member of the Nazi party.
38:37But my father refused to go to certain demonstrations.
38:44And he was transferred as a punishment to Krakow.
38:50For much of the war,
38:51Edward Knizel's job was to restore the art
38:54the Nazis had looted in Poland.
38:57This included all the paintings in Hans Frank's collection.
39:01Did your father ever do any work on the Leonardo
39:03or on the Raphael?
39:05Probably, probably.
39:06I didn't ask him, but he was very aware of those paintings.
39:11Edward Knizel knew the paintings well.
39:16And he knew the Raphael was left behind at Marawa
39:19in January 1945.
39:23Robert is here to corroborate the evidence.
39:26But it's not easy asking a son if his father was involved
39:30in the theft of a priceless masterpiece.
39:32So there are a number of different people, of course,
39:37that have been spending decades, their entire lives,
39:40trying to track this painting by Raphael.
39:43But one of the theories, of course,
39:44is that your father took the picture.
39:46Do you think he did that?
39:49No, definitely not.
39:51He wouldn't have the guts to do it, you know?
39:55Probably, if you have the intention to steal something like that,
40:00you wouldn't dare it with a Raphael or a Leonardo.
40:04My father always said,
40:06whenever you fake a painting,
40:07don't fake a Leonardo or a Raphael.
40:10Just fake some cheap Austrian painters, you know,
40:15because nobody will make a research in that case.
40:18So I don't think so.
40:20No, this is, uh...
40:24No, it's impossible.
40:28Wolfgang Kniesel is adamant
40:30his father didn't steal the Raphael.
40:33But if Edward Kniesel didn't take the masterpiece,
40:36then who did?
40:38Was it Hans Frank's wife, Brigitte?
40:42Either way, the team has a strong hunch
40:45someone snuck it into Bavaria at the end of the war.
40:50In Schliersee,
40:54James and Dorothy have searched most of the town,
40:57but haven't yet found the house
40:59where Reinhardt Loves believes
41:01he saw the Raphael in the 1970s.
41:04Well, we should ask this chap.
41:06Guten Tag, darf ich Sie was fragen?
41:08Haben Sie hier schon in den 70er Jahren gelebt?
41:11Kennen Sie jemanden, der hier früher mit...
41:14der eine Sammlung hatte mit Waffen?
41:16Danke.
41:19Bitte.
41:20Alles Gute.
41:23No?
41:23Yeah, so he said he has never heard of anybody
41:26who collected guns in this area,
41:29and he has been living here since the 70s.
41:31It's very frustrating, isn't it?
41:34Because we feel we're kind of in the right neck of the woods.
41:42Bavaria was the Nazis' spiritual homeland
41:44and may still hold dark secrets from the Second World War.
41:48The team's best guess
41:51is that the masterpiece is still here in Bavaria
41:54some 70 years after it was brazenly stolen from Poland.
41:57My gut instinct is that it's out here somewhere
42:03still lying in some attic or some basement
42:07just waiting to be recovered.
42:09In retracing Raphael's incredible wartime journey,
42:14the team has gone from Palkini
42:15to Wawel Castle
42:17to a small lakeside town in Bavaria.
42:22There's so much pointing to this part of the world, isn't there?
42:25It must still be somewhere here.
42:28Along the way, the team identified two potential suspects
42:31in the theft of the masterpiece.
42:34Edward Knyssen.
42:36Yeah.
42:37Maybe my mother.
42:39I could think that she had stolen the Raphael.
42:45And determined that all roads lead to Bavaria.
42:49Of all the paintings stolen by the Nazis
42:52and still missing today,
42:53portrait of a young man by Raphael
42:56remains the most valuable.
42:58But the theft of this masterpiece
43:00goes far beyond its staggering price tag.
43:03It's emblematic of the pillaging
43:05of an entire nation's cultural treasures.
43:08For people in Poland,
43:12this painting by Raphael is,
43:15it's in a way, kind of their Mona Lisa.
43:17If someone finds the Raphael,
43:20that's going to be on the front page
43:21of every newspaper
43:22and every website in the world
43:25for a 24-hour period.
43:27So I'm hopeful that we've stirred up
43:29a lot of interest in this painting now.
43:31And I hope lead us to the door of the Raphael.
44:05Transcription by CastingWords