Rare wz.38M Maroszek rifle for sale...interesting story!

[StefanM]

Of all the weapons in his personal collection, Kristopher Gasior always cherished the wz.38M Maroszek rifle the most. The gun — one of only a handful in the world — came from Poland, his home country, and it was produced in the war that claimed his grandfather’s life.


But Gasior was not the only one with an interest in the military artifact. The Polish government views the Maroszek as a “great piece of cultural and scientific significance.” When Gasior, who had decided to sell most of his large collection, listed the weapon for sale on his Web site, Poland had U.S. federal agents seize it, arguing it had been stolen from the government during World War II....

Full story below:

Va. gun collector squares off with Poland over rare, World War II rifle - The Washington Post

[Krakow1]

Whats next ?

[TrondK]

So when "old junk" suddently are worth MONEY and DO NOT have a swastika, then they must be returned to their countries? Why didnt the Polish government say they wanted this 20 years ago when it was "worthless" for them? Maybe someone in poland need a new rifle to brag around to his buddies.

If so, where does this decicion place all the tons of stuff that has been looted out of Egypt and are placed around the world?! These items were taken from "friendly" hands as well.

[harryamb2]

as Obama doe's not want it,can we have churchills bust back.

[milmuseum]

Only if you take him too

[Spitace41]

But as it says in the article, the Polish government already has one!?! It terrible to think that you could have the government on your doorstep just because they fancy something you own

[justin1939]

Hello,

This is an extremely shocking story, as if he bought it legally there is no acceptable reason why he can not sell the rifle.

I hope personally it is bought by someone of Polish ancestry wherever they are currently living in the world, for who will it will have a deeply personal connection.

As they already have one in the Polish army museum in Warsaw, it is not as though they need another, even if they didn't own one, they would have to acquire one in an ethical and honourable way.

This method brings great shame on our collective ancestry, but it is what I would expect of a few disreputable people, who dishonour the majority, as this seems exactly like the underhand communist schemes that would take place between the fall of the Second Republic and the beginning of the Third Republic.

I deeply hoped that the honour, duty and ethics common in the Second Republic should have returned completely by now.

I think that they have only done this because of the significance of the rarity of this particular rifle, but it sets an extremely frightening presidence for the present and future.

Justin

[StefanM]

I am surprised that the Polish government is not also now demanding the return of the entire treasure-house at the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum in London ....but wait a former Polish communist government did! However the London Poles refused to hand any of our Polish-British heritage back

Maybe the Polish government has forgotten this case...one of many similar

On August 6, 1997, a score of members of the Prince Czetwertyński family demonstrated before the United States Embassy in Warsaw. The demands of these Polish aristocrats were simple: restitution of their property or a monetary compensation for its loss. They claim—and property registers support their claim—that the land on which the U. S. Embassy sits belongs to them. Moreover, they also had a charming neo-classical chateau that survived the Nazis’
destruction of Warsaw, was occupied by the U.S. Embassy, and was subsequently razed to make way for the current embassy building.

The Czetwertyński family acquired the chateau in 1900. After Poland’s defeat in 1939, the Nazis expropriated the property, which became one of the main Gestapo residences in Warsaw. In 1945, after the arrival of the Soviets, the Communist state radio took over the chateau but continued to pay nominal rent to the owner, the dowager Princess Róża Czetwertyńska. She was also permitted to take out a bank loan for necessary repairs. Next, the Americans occupied it with the permission of the Communist regime in 1949, the year the Princess died. Her son, Prince Stanisław Czetwertyński, inherited the property.

In 1954, however, the Communists arrested him and sentenced him to eight years on trumped up charges of being an “Anglo-Saxon” imperialist spy. His property was expropriated. Meanwhile, the U.S. government had vainly attempted to buy the property from the Czetwertyński family. Finally, in December 1956, ignoring the expropriated owners, the governments of Poland and the U.S. concluded an agreement which granted the latter an eighty-year lease on the land. The agreement stipulated that the Communist regime would be responsible for settling all claims concerning the property taken over by the U.S. government.

As for the chateau, the Communists voided its status as an historical landmark, thus paving the way for its destruction. The chateau no longer graces the posh Aleje Ujazdowskie neighborhood because in 1960 the U.S. government leveled it and in 1963 replaced it with the current hideous structure. Thus, the U.S. Embassy continues to occupy property stolen by the Communists from its rightful owners.

...and the Polish government is claiming the moral high ground over a rifle!