His father was a Communist, and as a child, before the fall of the Iron Curtain, he listened to Radio Moscow.

CNN: French star Depardieu ditches France for Putin's Russia

Following the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, the Lobkowicz family, who had long since fled to the United States, set about reclaiming the collection.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Before him, Pope John Paul II grew up under communist rule in Poland, a fact that played a key role in his papacy when he helped inspire the fall of the Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe.

CNN: Argentina a complex crucible for Pope