When the staff at the Auschwitz Museum in Poland were handling an old cup taken by the Nazis during World War II, they discovered something heartbreaking inside. Although they believed that they’d found all the hidden gems among the 12,000 items collected from the camp, they recently made a powerful discovery.
Seventy years later, they found something that must’ve meant more to one couple than anything in the world.
Inside of this mug, researchers found a ring and a necklace. They were once covered by a false bottom, but years of decay revealed the truth.
Getty Images
“It was very well hidden,” said Hanna Kubik of the Memorial Collections. “However, due to the passage of time, the materials underwent gradual degradation, and the second bottom separated from the mug.”
Because so many lives were ruined and lost at Auschwitz, there are more than a few items like these in their collection.
Getty Images
Although we’ll never know who the items belonged to, we can honor their memory by taking time to think of how much these tiny treasures meant to two people who lost everything.
Getty Images
(via Huffington Post)
The story is heartbreaking, but it’s amazing to think about the fact that even in the face of torment and tragedy, people found ways to cling to what mattered most to them in life. Discoveries like this are revelatory. They bring the facts and figures we read about in history books to life in the most powerful way.
Comments