He was once regarded as the best safecracker in the world and held the record for escaping from one of Scotland's toughest jails.
Johnny Ramensky spent more than half of his life locked behind bars with him being the last man to be shackled inside a Scottish prison cell - but to many he was always be remembered as a gentleman.
However, Ramensky was no ordinary prisoner, nor was he an ordinary criminal. He was a safecracker with a speciality for explosives. His small frame and superb agility allowed him to break into the most complex of business premises and banks, but never homes. The public were never a target of his daring raids.
“He insisted the money was winnings from a bookmaker’s but I told him I didn’t accept his explanation. During this spell in jail, in 1934, tragedy struck when his young wife died. After being refused permission to attend the funeral by prison bosses, an enraged Ramensky made the first of five attempts to escape. Wearing only his underpants, Ramensky fled Peterhead and even swam across a freezing river before being discovered in Aberdeen more than a day later.
He agreed and enlisted with the Royal Highland Fusiliers, where he was given commando training to complement his already well-honed expertise at infiltration. However, Ramenksy’s criminal past may have been hard to shake off as he infiltrated German strongholds. While successfully obtaining key documents, there are claims he also helped himself to some Nazi treasures. Rumours persist to this day that some loot plundered by Ramensky from the Nazis was stored in a Royal Navy supply depot in Carfin.
Robert Jeffery, author of Gentle Johnny Ramensky, said: “It is rumoured that statues and other valuable objects had been taken from Rome near the end of the war in order to stop them being looted and taken back to Germany by the Nazis.
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