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Expert John Benjamin thought the number 56 indicated a Russian made jewel.
A poignant survivor from a Polish family caught up in the deadly twists of twentieth century history has come to light.
Victoria Wilson took to the Antiques Roadshow the diamond encrusted brooch kept hidden by her great grandmother Katarzyna Krauze after she was arrested and thrown in the Gulag by invading Russian troops in 1939.
The prosperous Catholic family lived in Horochow in what was then Eastern Poland when the Russians invaded, and Katarzyna quickly sewed the gold brooch into the seam of her cardigan to hide it from her captors
After being thrown into a harsh labour camp, where her husband died of pnuemonia, Katarzyna had all her possession taken from her by guards - except for her cardigan.
After the Russians changed sides in 1941 Katarzyna and her 18-year-old daughter Irena were released and they eventually fled to England via Persia and Palastine.