Mad's Father

[faruque_ahmed]

Mad Albright's father 'took war loot to America'
A WEALTHY Austrian family is threatening legal action against Madeleine Albright, the American secretary of state, in an acrimonious row over a priceless collection of paintings and antiques that has its roots in the chaotic aftermath of the second world war. In a hitherto unpublicized dispute, descendants of Karl Nebrich, an Austrian industrialist, claim that Albright's father, Josef Korbel, a former Czech foreign ministry official who was Jewish, stole millions of dollars' worth of art and furniture from them, then fled with it and his family to America at the end of the war.

After escaping to London when the Germans marched into Prague in 1939, her family returned to the Czech capital in 1945, when Albright was eight. They found that several of the family's Jewish relatives who had stayed behind had died in concentration camps. A luxurious first-floor flat at 11 Hradsanke Street in Prague was assigned to Albright's father as a reward for his services to the Czech foreign ministry. It had been expropriated from the Nebriches, who, although not members of the Nazi party, had lived comfortably as citizens of the Reich during the war but then found themselves out of favour with the Czech authorities when the war ended.

The Nebriches allege that Korbel took possession of paintings, silver and antique furniture, though these were not included in the expropriation order. "He took the lot, even the nails from the wall," said Doris Renner, a daughter of Nebrich. When Korbel was appointed ambassador to Yugoslavia, he moved his family - and, allegedly, the treasure trove of art - to Belgrade. Albright handed the legal file to John Korbel, her younger brother. Michael Jaffe, his lawyer, wrote to Harmer in October, 1997, saying: "There is no basis whatever for thinking that any artworks of the late Ambassador Korbel came to him improperly."
Harmer said the family believed that Korbel Sr might have sold some of the paintings to finance his start in America.