Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 112, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 May 1912 — Stole $4,000,000 in Jewels [ARTICLE]

Stole $4,000,000 in Jewels

Stanislaus Zalog Writes from Chicago Solution of the Pauline Monastery Puzzle. Warsaw, Russian Poland. —The mystery surrounding the theft from the Pauline Monastery at’ Czenstocjjowa of jewels and votive offerings valued at $4,000,000, which since 1909 has puzzled the brothers, seems at length to be solved by the receipt of a letter from Chicago. The ’ writer of this communication to the monastery confesses that he, Stanislaus Zalog, was the thief; that he was then a lay brother, and that Father Damatius, who Is now serving a sentence in the Siberian mines for the murder of his cousin, was not implicated, as has always been supposed. The letter seems genuine ‘and the Russian police are taking steps to have Zalog arrested, but tha former brother defies the police to trace him. It appears that Zalog remained at the monastery more than a year after the theft and not until Damatius was arrested did he escape to America. The robbery of the jewels which decker the ikon of the Virgin and Child in the Pauline Monastery created a great stir three years ago, and when, In October, 1910, Father Damatius was arrested in Austria for the murder of his cousin, Vaclav Macoch —which crime he confessed —it was believed that the motive for the deed was to be foudd in a desire to shut the mouth of a man who could testify against him in the matter of the robbery.

Dalnatius admitted the murder, but denied the theft of the jewels. He admitted also that he had taken money from the treasury and had squandered it upon Helena Ostrowska, wife of the man he murdered. He told how his servant, Stanislaus, evidently the man now confessing the thefts, had assisted him in disposing of the body in a large ottoman, which together they threw into the River Varta. Stanislaus Zalog disappeared and has never been heard of until now. The most valuable thing stolen was the jeweled crown fronr the head of the Virgin.