Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Auschwitz Victim’s Gold Jewelry Unearthed in False Bottom of Mug

WARSAW, Poland — Staffers at the Auschwitz museum found a gold ring hidden in a false bottom of one of the cups on display in the  main exhibition.

During conservation work on one of the enamel mugs, a double, or false, bottom was discovered, the museum said in a statement this week.

Inside the false bottom, the staffers discovered a women’s gold ring and a gold chain. Both items were tested and the lab determined, based on the properties of the gold, that they were likely made in Poland between 1921 and 1931.

Image by Auschwitz Museum

“The hiding of valuable items — repeatedly mentioned in the accounts of survivors, and which was the reason for ripping and careful search of clothes and suitcases in the warehouse for looted items — proves on the one hand the awareness of the victims as to the robbery nature of the deportation, but on the other hand it shows that the Jewish families constantly had a ray of hope that these items will be required for their future existence,” Piotr Cywinski, director of Auschwitz Museum, said in the statement.

The jewelry found in the mug will be displayed in a form reflecting the manner in which it had been hidden by the owner, the museum said.

The Collections of the Memorial features more than 12,000 enameled kitchenware items, including cups, pots, bowls, kettles and jugs.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.