Filmmakers chasing Holocaust-era story could face charges in Poland

Documentary centres around a collection of valuable stamps seized from Jewish people and reportedly hidden in a basement by a Nazi officer

'The Liegnitz Plot', a documentary film project, centres around a collection of valuable postage stamps seized from Jews and reportedly hidden in a basement by a German Nazi officer. (YouTube / hype)

A team of US documentary filmmakers pursuing a Holocaust-era story in Poland could face charges of unauthorized excavation work, a Polish prosecutor said on Friday.

Seven filmmakers, mostly from Los Angeles, are researching a World War II story about a collection of valuable postage stamps seized from Jewish people and reportedly hidden in a basement in 1945 by a German Nazi officer, Rudolf Wahlmann.

The filmmakers talked to Wahlmann’s children and obtained confirmation of the address where the collection was supposedly hidden as the Nazis fled the advancing Soviet army.

The team behind the project, titled The Liegnitz Plot, includes Academy-Award-winning director and producer Dan Sturman.

Regional prosecutor Radoslaw Wrebiak said the film crew allegedly failed to obtain the required permit for their excavation work and that police in the western city of Legnica were investigating their activities in the basement of an apartment building dating back to the late 19th century and considered to have historical value.

The charges would be punishable by up to two years in prison.

The filmmakers said on Facebook that the aim of their project, titled The Liegnitz Plot, is to “confirm the story, recover the stamps, and return them to their rightful owners”, in remembrance of the 6m Holocaust victims.

The Independent has contacted the ​Liegnitz Plot team for comment.

Additional reporting by agencies