At the height of the summer of 1971, in the basement of an old apartment building in Ternopil, ubiquitous teenagers discovered three old chests, padded with wrought iron.
Gold "belongings"
After long attempts, the massive lock of the largest chest gave in - gold shone brightly from under the oak lid in the light of a pocket lamp … At first, shocked teenagers began to quickly pull out finds: gold frames, old paintings, icons.
Something large, heavy, wrapped in purple plush cloth, lay flat on the bottom of the chest. Stretching up, the guys pulled out a large book in an elegant gold frame, about 80x50x20cm in size. On the front side of the setting, four icons were depicted in the corners and one large one in the center. The bizarre combination of gold, silver, enamels amazed the eye … Unfastening two gilded clasps and opening the book, on the title page the children barely read the text in Old Slavonic: … Vishnevetsky … and below - the monogram signature …
No less amazing finds were recovered from two other chests: more than a dozen golden Fabergé eggs weighing up to three kilograms, exquisite workmanship, each with its own originality. Heavy silver candelabra, intricate candlesticks …
But the greatest admiration among the children was aroused by the collection of edged weapons: swords, sabers, daggers, daggers, knives, scimitars … All weapons, undoubtedly, were gift - the handles were instructed in precious metals and stones, many were engraved with inscriptions …
Four friends, stunned by unprecedented wealth, their voices trembling with excitement, swore to each other to remain silent. After stuffing the contents of the chests into bags and backpacks and hiding the treasure in a safe place, they decided to find a suitable buyer.
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For icons, paintings, candlesticks and works by Faberge, a "serious" person, as it seemed to them, was found in Lvov. A well-known antique dealer in a preliminary conversation promised 7,000 rubles for the goods. At that time - a lot of money …
On a sunny Sunday, throwing our backpacks over their shoulders and picking up the bags, the trade caravan with a part of the treasures set off to the station, where it was detained by nimble people with IDs in civilian clothes.
Jewels quietly pocketed
Then the story is banal, although …
The law enforcement service has worked out the techniques of "promotion" to the point of automaticity, especially when the "snotty boys" are detained.
The “kind” investigator, having clarified the essence of the case, “got into the situation” and confidedly advised the teenagers: “Return the book, and you can keep the rest!”
The frightened guys brought everything "voluntarily" and after a short preventive work were released.
Trying to explain the unexpected finding of the treasure, the "organs" put forward a version that the treasures were stolen from the hiding places of the Pochaev Monastery during the Civil War. It had traveled a long way in space and time and was obviously prepared for transit for sale …
Judging by the subsequent suppression of this event, the treasure most likely ended up somewhere among the worthy successors of the Red Army's cause - from the big Communist Party bosses as gifts …
This story was told by a direct participant in the events - one of the then teenagers. More than forty years have passed since that time. Of the four comrades, only two remained. They recall how they were invited to be present at the inventory of the unique treasure and the assessment of the find by a visiting female specialist. However, the price of the entire contents of the three chests was never established at that time - she believed that the Vishnevetsky family Bible was priceless … But this is already a sensation!
The mystery of the disappeared treasures of Jeremiah Vishnevetsky
Jeremiah Vishnevetsky - a descendant of the founder of the Zaporozhye Sich Dmitry Vishnevetsky, known in history as Baida, was the richest tycoon of the XV! centuries. His possessions only on the Left Bank of Ukraine were 56 cities, towns, villages and farms. The population in them was more than 228,000 "souls", which gave him an annual profit of about 1 million 200 thousand zlotys.
In the spring of 1648, during the national liberation war under the leadership of Hetman B. Khmelnitsky, the Cossack advance detachments of M. Kryvonos unexpectedly surrounded the princely palace of Vishnevetsky in Dubno and took it by storm, literally razing the fortress to the ground. Prince Jeremiah with a small detachment managed to escape to the family estate Vishnevets in Volyn - "light".
Surprised Cossacks, knowing about the untold riches of the prince (only for the transportation of gold and silver dishes it was necessary to use several carts), were left with nothing …
Relatively recently, in Poland, in the underground labyrinths of Tarnów Castle, the economic records of the Rosicrucian Order were found and deciphered. They contain a record about the fact that the wife of Jeremiah Vishnevetsky - Griselda used the services of the Order to ensure security during the transportation of her property from Dubno to Vishnevets …
It is quite logical to assume: since the valuable wagon train was taken to the family estate, and the rest of his life Vishnevetsky spent in continuous wars and was eventually poisoned, it is likely that his huge treasures, divided into several parts for faithfulness, will appear more than once in the light of God. … After all, only a small fraction was found, consisting of three chests, which by modern standards, the auctioneers estimate at several million dollars. How much then are all the treasures of Vishnevetsky, and have they been found today?
“Interesting newspaper. The world of the unknown”№7. V. Potapov