the church vault in Oplenac. On 18 October 1934, German Nazi official Hermann Göring visited Oplenac, within the scopes of attending the funeral of King Alexander I. He spent a lot of time in front of the icon. As the myths of John the Apostle on Ultima cena actually being Mary Magdalene already existed, and John on the icon indeed looks like a woman, Heinrich Himmler's quasi-scientific organization Ahnenerbe also expressed interest in the icon as part of their search for the Holy Grail. After the German Invasion of Yugoslavia during World War II, Yugoslavia was occupied in April 1941, Göring decided to obtain the icon first. In order to forestall the plundering of Ahnenerbe and Alfred Rosenberg, who also founded an organization for stealing arts in the occupied countries, Göring sent Franz Neuhausen to Serbia. In order to mask the looting and give it some legal credence, Göring appointed Neuhausen as the special plenipotentiary for economic affairs in the Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia after the partition of Yugoslavia. The first thing taken from Opleanac was the icon, sent right away to Göring who exhibited it in his Carinhall. In 1943, Göring transferred a part of the plundered collection, including the icon, to the Altaussee salt mines in Styria, Austria. The Allies found the treasure after the liberation and it was all stored in Führerbau, a former representative building built for Hitler, then turned by the Allies into the Central Collecting Place for the art looted by Nazis. The icon was also stored there. There are two version of how the icon was returned to Oplenac. According to the first, member of the security agency OZNA Slobodan Kostić Uča paid for it "1,200 dinars, 350 dollars and some small types of other favors". The other, more accepted is that controversial art collector Ante Topić Mimara returned the icon, as his wife Wiltrud Mersman Topić was a junior curator at the Central Collecting Place. See also Tourism in Serbia References <small> External links Royal Family of Serbia Official website Karađorđević dynasty Cultural Monuments of Exceptional Importance (Serbia) Serbian Orthodox church buildings in Serbia Church buildings with domes Buildings and structures completed in the 1930s Šumadija District Byzantine Revival architecture in Serbia Mausoleums in Serbia Burial sites of the Karađorđević dynasty