Alex Carson
Rudi Rschlttner
Rudi Schlattner is an 83-year-old German man. When he was 13-years-old, he and his family were forced to leave their homes in Czechoslovakia. This was at the end of World War II. They were forced to go by the Czech government due to their policy to remove Germans from the country in the wake of the conflict. Germans were being expelled from Czechoslovakia because of the backlash from the country’s occupation by the Nazis. This lasted until 1945. Rudi and his family were lucky because thousands were killed during this time. The family was sent to an American-occupied zone, where they were safe.
Leaving Everything Behind
When the family was forced to leave their home, they could only take the clothes on their backs. Everything in the house now belonged to the Czech government, but Rudi’s father didn’t accept this. Rather than leaving everything in plain sight, Rudi’s father hid many of their precious items inside the home. He hoped that one day, they would be able to return to the house to gather their things. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen. The family never returned to the home, and it was later remodeled and became a kindergarten. Rudi remembered what his father told him about hiding their belongings, and Rudi wanted to return to the home to see if everything was still there.
Reaching Out
Rudi wanted to visit his childhood home, so he reached out to the officials in his former town of Libouch. The town officials allowed him to return to the house to see if his family’s things were still there. Rudi knew that if he found his belongings that they would not be his. When the Czech government expelled the Germans, they also confiscated their belongs. This meant anything that Rudi found was the property of the Czech government.
Going to the Attic
When Rudi went to his boyhood home, he was accompanied by representatives from the museum in Libouch. The local mayor, the kindergarten manager, and an archaeologist were also present. When Rudi got to the attic, he began tapping on the ceiling boards with a hammer. He was listening for a sound. Next, he searched for a length of rope that his father told her about. When he found it, he pulled. Almost like magic, the boards became loose. It allowed Rudi to remove the boards easily, to find the treasure inside. Everyone in attendance couldn’t believe that everything had been perfectly preserved despite being hidden there for 70 years. This German man found a secret compartment in his attic. What was inside: incredible.
The First Find
The first things that Rudi pulled out included a set of skis, hats, and clothes hangers. This was just the first of the items that he pulled out, but they brought back memories. He says that seeing these items for the first time in so many years was like going back in time. The group packed everything up and brought them to a museum in the nearby city of Usti nad Labem.
Opening the Packages
When the group got everything to the museum, they started opening the boxes. They found cigarettes in their original packaging, sewing kits, and paintings. One of the paintings was by the acclaimed landscape painter, Josef Stegl. During World War II, the artist lived in the house.
Rare Finds
According to the museum manager, Vaclav Houfek, finding objects hidden by German citizens after the war was very rare in the region. For Rudi, seeing these things after all this time was a very emotional experience. He didn’t like the fact that he wouldn’t be able to stake a claim on his family’s things, but he was willing to help the museum identify all of the hidden objects they found. The haul was huge, and it took hours for Rudi and the others to go through and catalog every item.
Talent Factory Comedy Club
Rudi isn’t the only person who found hidden items from his past in a building. In 2016, the Talent Factory comedy club in Nevada, Iowa, was owned by Larry Sloan, and he was renovating it. For decades, it had been a popular place for comedians, illusionists, and singers. Before that, it was a movie theater, It was built in the ’20s, and many people sat in the balcony to see their favorite films.
During the renovation, the workers found a wallet that had slipped between the floorboards. The workers opened the wallet and realized that it belonged to a child when they found a Boy Scouts Of America card and ration stamps. This told them that the wallet dated back to World War II. After checking the wallet and doing some digging, they managed to find the owner. The wallet belonged to Clare McIntosh, who lived in Des Moines, Iowa. He was 85-years-old by this time and agreed to meet Larry Sloan at the theater to recover his wallet. When he saw the wallet, he says he was taken back in time. Clare says that it is incredible that Larry went to such great lengths to return the wallet.
