Personal Photos And Belongings Of Holocaust Victims Found In Attic 70 Years Later

[Behind the Aegis]

Family photos, newspaper clippings, and even a Jewish songbook - all thought to belong to the Gottschall family - have recently been discovered in a Slovakian attic. The items, which were discovered roughly 70 years after they were hidden, were found by Mr. Imrich Girasek who was repairing his neighbor’s leaky roof.


Girasek, who’s a 46-year-old former soldier, explained in an interview with the Daily Mail that, “The old roof needed to be checked, so I went there because the owners are my friends. They have owned the house since the 1960’s. The owners of the house weren’t interested in the things, but I couldn’t bring myself to simply throw them away.”

The photos were found next to empty suitcases from the same period. It is believe that Gottschall family, like so many others, had hidden their most valuable and precious items believing that one day they would be able to come back for them. However, like so many other Jewish families persecuted during the Holocaust, this simply wasn’t the case.

“I believe the things were initially stored in the suitcases,” Girasek explained in the interview, “and then hidden in the attic, but that somebody searching for valuables must have taken them out and left them on the ground. The jewellery boxes were all empty. Somebody must have stolen the jewellery long ago.”

The items found all date back to before 1942, the year that the first transportation of Jews from Presov took place. “Most likely they were all deported to a transportation camp,” Girasek said.

more: http://www.shalomlife.com/news/27718/personal-photos-and-belongings-of-holocaust-victims-found-in-attic-70-years-later/

[SoapBox]

1. And all the jewelry was stolen...

It's all so sad.

[Cha]

2. So unbearable.. :(

"It’s believed Vojtech, who was a rabbi, and his wife were deported to Auschwitz in Poland during the Holocaust. It’s believed that his wife passed away in Bergen-Belsen, however they believe Vojtech was liberated in 1945, and that he went to work as a communal rabbi in Prague. There he remarried, had a child, and he and his family moved to Australia. Vojtech passed away from cancer in '78, but his child is believed to be still alive, but his whereabouts unknown."

[WhiteAndNerdy]

3. So sad, but such an amazing find.

Finds like this help keep the victims from disappearing altogether . . . I'm glad their things were found.

[JustAnotherGen]

4. Kick

Heart breaking isn't it?

[Nuclear Unicorn]

5. I'm glad Mr. Girasek has a sense of posterity.

[RockaFowler]

6. So glad this was found

But how sad that the family will never see it again.

[sheshe2]

7. Heartbreaking, BtA

I hope they find a descendant to return a family their history. I am glad they are being held in a safe place until that time.

Until the artifacts are claimed by one of Gottschall’s descendants or relatives show up, the items will be remaining with the city’s Museum of Jewish Culture.