A mug in the Auschwitz museum held a surprise inside for the last 70 years. The mug was found to have a false bottom inside which concealed a gold necklace and ring. This mug was one of over 12,000 porcelain dishes that the Nazis stole from victims before sending them to Auschwitz.
Dr. Piotr M.A. Cywiński, the Director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum said:
“The Germans incessantly lied to the Jews deported for extermination. They were told about resettlement, work and life in a different location.”
The Nazis would allow them to take a small amount of luggage, so they had a method for determining what was valuable to the Jewish people they captured. People took family heirlooms and photo albums instead of clothes.
The victims had to get creative and hide their valuables in plain sight.
“[It] shows that the Jewish families constantly had a ray of hope that these items will be required for their existence.”
Even after all of these years:
“Despite the passage of more than 70 years since the liberation of the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp, there are still cases of accidental discovery of objects hidden by the victims.”
In this particular mug, they found a gold necklace and a ring with some of the stones still intact. They were wrapped in a piece of canvas.
One museum worker, Hanna Kubik, said:
“It was very well hidden, however, due to the passage of time, the materials underwent gradual degradation, and the second bottom separated from the mug.”
These are some of the last possessions of someone that was deported to the camp. Unfortunately, it’s nearly impossible to figure out who it was since the mug didn’t have any specific markings. The necklace and ring are going to be stored in the museum in the way that the person hid them all of those years ago.
For news video of the discovery, see the video below:
https://youtu.be/D4FI3kjKtLA
Featured image from Auschwitz museum website.
