Oswiecim, Poland – Mug Belonging To Auschwitz Victim Reveals Hidden Jewellery

Oswiecim, Poland – Jewellery hidden inside an enamel mug with a fake base has been discovered by staff at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum.

A gold ring and a necklace wrapped in canvas had been concealed at the bottom of the container, one of many pieces of kitchenware seized by German Nazis from people deported to the death and concentration camp.

“When I picked up this mug, it turned out that there were hidden objects inside. With time, the fake bottom became completely unattached to the cup, so it was clearly visible that inside there was a bundle and you could see a fragment of the chain and a ring,” Hanna Kibik from the Collections Department of the Auschwitz Museum said.

Researchers analyzed the findings with specialist tests and X-rays, which revealed that the ring and chain were made of the 583-quality gold produced in Poland in the years 1921-31.

Director of the museum, Piotr M.A. Cywinski, said that these finds were evidence that those deported knew their possessions were at risk — but that they still held out hope for a new life.

“These are the last remaining gold items that this person wanted to take, in hope that in their new place [of residence] they would allow them to start a new life. At the same time they were aware that these items would be searched and Germans would want to loot these items, so they hid them in an object that was meant not to raise any suspicions, in a pot,” Cywinski said.

Around 1.5 million people, mostly Jews, but also Poles, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war, homosexuals and people of other nationalities, were killed at the Nazi camp which has became a symbol of the horrors of the Holocaust.