All language subtitles for Stuff.The.British.Stole.S01E04.480p.x264-mSD.Eng-Hi

[bugle plays]

[classical music playing]

[marc] something
inside this building

Drove a wedge between
the british empire

And its distant island
dominion, australia.

It is one of the most
controversial artworks

On this land.

Because it's not
from this land.

[dramatic music playing]

In fact, this is arguably

From the most contested
region on earth.

And yet, for some reason,

It's tucked in
this obscure corner

Of the australian war memorial.

It's almost like this mosaic

Has something to hide.

[echoing] hide...

[theme music playing]

[marc] in the days of
the british empire,

Things were taken.

They usually ended up
in museums

And galleries
with polite plaques.

My name is marc fennell,

And this is
the not-so-polite story

Of how they really
got there.

[middle-eastern-style
music playing]

[marc] welcome to jericho,
a palestinian city

Deep in the jordan valley.

Many say this is the oldest
city in the world.

And this is me, failing at
a very ancient art.

[marc] oh!

Be careful of your fingers.

-Yeah.
-[laughs]

-I'm-- yes.
-Yes.

-Like that?
-[man] yes.

[hammering]

Oh, nope?

-[all laughing]
-no wonder.

So, am I hired?

[laughs]

You-- good start.

-Good start. Good start.
-Good start. [laughing]

[marc] this is jericho's
mosaic centre,

And these are
called "tessera."

[osama] thousand of tessera
you have to have.

Thousand. And this
is, of course,

It's important for...

For making mosaics.

[marc] I'm here to meet
this man, osama hamdan.

He's an archaeologist

Who can turn
these pieces of rock

Into this.

[inspiring music playing]

Elaborate, breathtaking mosaics

Have been made here
for thousands of years,

Painstakingly constructed

From millions
of minuscule tesserae

That I just failed
to make myself.

[up-tempo music playing]

[marc] osama's life,
like everyone's here,

Has been shaped by
one of the most enduring

Border disputes of our time.

For decades,
both jewish zionists

And palestinian nationalists

Have claimed and fought over

The same territory,

Often with devastating results.

[osama] yes,
I live in jerusalem,

But I am originally
from palestine.

Now, it's israel.

Whether you want to
call it israel,

Call it palestine,

It's one land.

For that, sometimes,
I call it holy land.

[church bells ringing]

[marc] but the reason I'm in
this holy land is this wall.

And here it is.

-Yes.
-Oh wow, it's amazing.

[osama] yes, this is
shellal mosaics.

I never saw the original one.

You've never...
Of course not.

You've never seen the original.

[marc] into the side
of jericho's mosaic centre,

Osama has built a replica

Of something called
the shellal mosaic.

It's a replica
because the real one

Is in the walls of
the australian war memorial.

And that real shellal mosaic

Was actually the floor
of a christian church

Made with over half a million
tiny tessera.

It dates back to
the byzantine empire

Which was a sort of evolution

Of the roman empire
to the east.

Whereas, osama's replica here

Was made for
a very different purpose.

It was a protest.

I wanted to send a message.

Where is our cultural heritage?

People doesn't live
just from water and bread,

They need something else.

And I wanted to tell the story

Of the shellal mosaic

And the history of this place.

And that is a history of war,

Of redrawn borders,

And a fledgling nation
inside the british empire.

But for osama over in jericho,

It's a story of a theft.

They-- they didn't own it.
It's not theirs.

[marc] so, who is
the "they" here?

Who would dig up
an ancient mosaic,

And why is it in australia?

And what does any of this have
to do with the british empire?

The fact that there's
a 6th-century byzantine mosaic

In australia alone
is weird enough,

But it actually gets stranger.

[marc] so,
underneath the mosaic

Were buried bones.

And those bones?

You will never guess
where they ended up.

Meet reverend roger kay

From st anne's
anglican church

In sydney, australia.

When he first took
the job here,

He realised that this building

Was holding something
of a mystery.

So, you're interested in
the bones we've got

Which came from shellal, yes?

[marc] yes, I am.

Is that actually the shellal
mosaic? Is that part of it?

[roger] no, it is not. No.

That was commissioned
by a local artist,

And she was asked
to make a mosaic

Under which they could
inter the bones

Of whoever they found
in the sarcophagus

Underneath the floor
of the mosaic in shellal.

Who do they think those bones
actually belonged to?

Well, at the time,
I think some people thought

They belonged to st. George.

[organ music playing]

[marc] st. George,

Who is a fairly big deal
in christianity.

Amongst other things,
the patron saint

Dedicated to protecting
England.

Famously fought
the odd dragon.

Now, it would be amazing

If the st. George was buried
in this humble church

In suburban australia.

But the historic st. George
most likely died

Two centuries before
the shellal church was built.

So why are these remains here?

This is weird.

But, thanks to these bones
here in st. Anne's,

We do know who decided
to dig up

The shellal mosaic.

And we do know when.

[instrumental music playing]

The great war. World war I.

And a reverend named
william maitland woods.

He was the army chaplain

Who was with
the australian forces

When they discovered
a mosaic

Which they then decided
they would remove

And bring back to australia.

-All a little bizarre, but...
-[both laugh]

[marc] bizarre is something
of an understatement here.

So, people have raised
questions over the...

People have raised questions
about this for a long time.

And there's obviously
quite a body of thought

Who thinks...

We should never have had
these items in australia.

[marc] so, we have both bones

And an ancient church floor
from the middle east,

Somehow in australia.

Honestly, for me, though,
the main question is this.

Who in the middle of a war zone

Decides to dig up
a 6th century mosaic?

And it all comes down
to one guy,

This william maitland woods.

[pensive music playing]

Hello. How are you?

Very good. Come with me.

[marc] well this
is a bit fancy. Geez.

[marc] this is historian
dr emily robertson,

Who still vividly recalls

The first time she saw
the shellal mosaic.

And I was really struck with
how out of place it was

Amongst all of the other
collection items.

[marc] and so dr emily
started digging into

This reverend
william maitland woods.

Maitland woods is a really
interesting character.

He was born in the uk.

He was educated in oxford.

And then he came to australia

And he served as a chaplain

With the queensland
mounted forces.

So, was he
an archaeologist or...?

No. He was
an amateur archaeologist.

[marc] so, how does he end up
in the middle east?

-How does that happen?
-Okay.

So, he's serving
as a chaplain

With the anzac
mounted division,

And he's travelling
through the holy land.

[marc] in world war I,

Australian
and new zealand soldiers

Were in the middle east

Fighting off
the turkish ottoman empire

Who were on the german side.

[marc] how is it that australia
ends up in world war I?

[emily] that's
a great question.

Essentially, australia, as a
dominion of the british empire,

Was obliged to go to war.

[marc] which explains
how in 1917,

Australian
and new zealand soldiers

Found themselves on a hill

Near a palestinian town
called shellal.

[emily] they were
digging trenches.

So, this mosaic pops up.

[marc] it had been damaged
in the war.

So, maitland woods
convinced his higher-ups

The mosaic needed
to be saved.

[emily] he was given immediate
approval, essentially,

To get a whole group of people
to dig up a mosaic.

Is it weird to have

An archaeological dig
in the middle of a war?

Yeah, I think so.

[marc] and this is
where it happens.

Back in 1917,

Under the watchful eye
of william maitland woods,

Some 32 australian
and new zealand soldiers,

They worked in searing heat,
a dust storm coming in...

There was occasional enemy
fighters flying overhead.

And they lifted up
this incredible mosaic.

[marc] they used glue,
canvas, and plaster

To keep the patterns in place
as they packed it into crates.

63 crates to be sent to cairo.

And it was there that the
british war trophies committee

Would decide their fate.

And that is when
the real drama begins.

So, what happens to it is
a very big fight

Between the british
and the australians

About where it should end up.

The british wanted
all war trophies

To go to the imperial
war museum in the uk,

And the australians
were really worried

That the british would take
their collection from them.

-[trumpet music playing]
-huh...

[marc] you see,
around the time

Of the lifting of the mosaic,

Australian soldiers were
already talking about

One day building their own
future war museum.

[trumpet music continues]

[man] I have now the honour

To declare the australian
national war memorial open.

["glory, glory hallelujah"
playing]

And they had been told
to collect things

That were relevant to the war

To perhaps go into
this future war museum.

Wait, wait, wait, wait.
They were being told to,

When they're at war,
collect things.

-Absolutely.
-"'cause we..."

"so we can put them
in a war museum."

[emily] absolutely. So,
the australians were known

As perhaps the most avid

And sometimes ghoulish
collectors out of...

That's a weird thing
for us to be famous for.

-But yes, carry on.
-Yeah, well.

It became an obsession.

[marc] cue some very
furious letters

Between australia
and great britain.

[emily] this is from
the british side.

So they wrote,

"I am to remind you

That it is open
to considerable doubt

Whether this mosaic
can be regarded

As a trophy of war

As it was not captured
from the enemy."

No, it wasn't.

"and it is possible that

It may ultimately be decided

That the mosaic is to be
restored to palestine."

So what are they saying here?

So basically saying,

"it's not a trophy.
You can't have it."

They're essentially
saying that.

[marc] so this is from

The australian
department of defence.

"britain already has a history

In traditions and relics
and trophies

Extending back for centuries.

Whereas australia,"
it continues,

"has none here other than

What she draws from
the mother country."

-Mm-hm.
-"a nation is built

Upon pride of race,

And now that australia is
making history of her own,

She requires every possible
relic associated with this

To help her children
in that national spirit."

It's interesting, like,
the letters,

Reading the letters,

You get a sense of a nation
that's trying to assert itself.

And australians felt that

They had sacrificed
their lives too.

So underlying this
is also, we died.

60,000 of us have died.

You need to respect us
for the sacrifice that we made.

[pensive music playing]

[marc] while the shellal mosaic
was being held

In this strange colonial
custody battle,

The reverend
william maitland woods

Seems to have taken things
into his own hands.

So, when we started looking
into maitland woods,

We found something,

And I would like you

To have a look at this.

[marc] I've brought emily
to a totally different church.

Yes, there's going to be
a few of them.

This is st. James in the heart
of sydney, australia.

Maitland woods, palestine.

Is this a missing piece
of the shellal mosaic?

No. It isn't.

I'm sorry to tell you.

It's not, it's a completely
different mosaic.

So it's definitely
maitland woods.

[emily] yes. So he dug it up
a year and nearly three months

After he dug up
the shellal mosaic.

How many of these pieces did
this guy send to australia?

That's a great question.

I'd love to know
the answer to that too.

[marc] this piece...
The bones in st anne's...

Maitland woods
was so determined

To smuggle holy relics

Before the british
could get them

That he shipped what he could

Through a network of friends,

Soldiers, and clergy.

That's why there are pieces
of this story everywhere.

There may be
other pieces of mosaic

That we don't know about

That are still floating
around in australia.

[marc] but given
the british were fighting

To keep control of the mosaic,

Just how did it end up in
the australian war memorial?

-Hey, ryan, how are you?
-Hey. Good. Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you too.
-Should we go?

Yes.

[marc] ryan johnston is

The former head of art

For the
australian war memorial.

[marc] from what I can gather,

There was a bit of
a political stoush

Over who gets to keep these
mosaics, is that right?

Yes, so it went back and
forward with britain

For quite a long time.

So, the reverend immediately
had part of it

Smuggled out of palestine
with a colleague of his

Who was returning to australia.

[marc] so there are real pieces
of the shellal mosaic

That were smuggled
all around australia.

But in the end,

Britain actually relented,

And they gave up
the shellal mosaic.

[ryan] it was then
transferred to canberra

When the war memorial
was being built

To be included

In one of
the foundational walls

In the lower level
of the memorial.

Was that legal? For them
to take the mosaic?

That's a really great question.

Um, what I would say
is that I think

It's a good rule of thumb

Not to take things
that don't belong to you.

Um, and if you are a museum

That discovers you have things
in your collection

That shouldn't really be there,

Um, you should at least
offer to give them back.

[marc] ryan isn't alone
in that view.

I'm in jerusalem
meeting with dr jon seligman,

From the israel
antiquities authority.

-Well, this is amazing.
-Yes.

[wonderous music playing]

-Can I show you this?
-[jon] yeah, sure.

Okay, so this is
what is hanging

In australia at the moment.

Okay.

[marc] all of this,

Part of their justification
for taking it

Is that they said that
they were saving it.

-Okay.
-That if it had stayed here,

It would've been damaged,
and indeed,

It had already sustained
some damage.

-Okay.
-My question is,

Is that a reasonable argument

For pulling something up
out of the ground?

No, it's not. The way you save

Something like this is
to cover it with earth.

Obviously, they wanted it.
That's the bottom line.

But there was no reason
to-- to remove it.

[marc] if this had
happened today,

Would it be considered a crime?

It would be considered today
a war crime.

This is stolen property.

[pensive music playing]

[marc] stolen, saved,
fought over.

When you put
the various fragments

Of this mosaic story together,
what is it saying?

It's like the mosaic
holds two stories.

On this land, australia,
it's about a british dominion

Trying to find its identity
within the empire.

But over where
the mosaic is from,

It's the story of empires
dividing a land.

[marc] how important
is the british empire

In, in what's become of
israel and palestine?

Absolutely crucial.
Absolutely central.

It goes right back.

So, the first world war

Is a time when
the ottoman empire collapses,

And the british
move into the middle east.

And they start to make moves

To set parts
of the middle east aside

For the purposes of
establishing israel.

[marc] which, of course,
has had complicated

And violent
repercussions since.

And probably will
for decades to come.

And caught in this history is
the shellal mosaic.

[piano music playing]

[marc] it was looted from land
that was very clearly

Known then as palestine.

But that same spot
is now very much governed

By the modern-day
state of israel.

What do you think should happen
with this mosaic?

Well, I think, ultimately,

It should be returned to
where it came from.

That's the state of israel.

The fact that
when this was taken,

There was no state of israel,

Does that change that
for you at all?

For me, it doesn't change it.

For international law,
that could be an issue.

[marc] right now,
the shellal mosaic

Is literally in the wall.

It is part of the wall.

[ryan] correct.

Could you even take it out

If you wanted to?

I don't know.

-Um...
-[laughs]

I do know
it would be very difficult.

Whether it's impossible

Or just very expensive,
I couldn't say.

[marc] in case you're wondering,

For the last four months,
we've been asking

The australian war memorial
for an interview.

They did give us a statement
that didn't answer

Any of our questions,

And they wouldn't let us
film the mosaic

Because it's undergoing
conservation.

So this one, it's a fake.

A good one though.

[marc] meaning,
technically,

I still haven't shown you

A real piece
of the shellal mosaic.

That is, until now.

Remember when ryan said

Maitland woods smuggled
other pieces

Of the shellal mosaic?

In st john's cathedral,

One of the grandest
old churches

In brisbane, australia,

Lies one of the final pieces

Of maitland woods' legacy.

So that is another piece
of the shellal mosaic, right?

[peter] yes, it is a piece
of the shellal mosaic, yes.

[emily] look, for me,
as a first world war historian,

It shows us how people needed
to bring the war back home

Because it was so distant

And people didn't understand

Either the violence
or the wonder

Of what they were seeing.

Yes, this end of the cathedral,

The east end of the cathedral,

Has a lot of relics

That attach to world war I,

And when I think about

What it was like
for those people coming back,

The whole country was
dealing with trauma.

People were really trying

To make sense of
what had happened,

And trying to get to
the point where

The sacrifice wasn't in vain.

[marc] what does
it mean to you,

To have something that stretches
right back to the holy land

Here in this church?

Well, for me, it's a bit
of a conflicted article,

Because I understand why

People would want to have
an object to do that.

I'm a great believer in, um,

How stuff like this really
belongs where it came from

Rather than, um,
being appropriated by us.

I mean that really is
the story

Of the shellal mosaic,
isn't it?

It-- it is messy

And it is complicated,

And there's so many dots
on the map, right?

It's about us as a nation,
australia.

It's about our role
with the british empire.

It's about the middle east
and israel and palestine.

It's amazing how much it kind of
connects to everything, emily.

[emily] an object has
lots of meanings,

And sometimes that meaning
can be given to it

Well after it was made.

Yes, it, and it
absolutely represents

This very strange story

About a devout christian man

Who could see
a byzantine mosaic

Representing the story
of australians

Who were in his mind on crusade.

[pensive music playing]

[marc] one mosaic

Wanted by israel,
palestine, britain,

Now somehow spread
across australia,

And each imbuing it with
their own meaning.

But what does that mean

For the people
it was taken from?

[osama] each mosaics,
it's telling a story,

And we would like
to show the people,

Where is our
cultural heritage now?

If they know their history,

Maybe it will help them
to support their identity.

I am muslim.

But before the...

To be muslim,

I was christian.

Then before christian,
I was jewish.

I am not coming from nothing.

I have a base.

I have foundation.

We have a lot of things
in common.

This is the message that
mosaics can tell you.

Cultural heritage can tell you.

[solemn music playing]

[whispering]