Hidden treasury

Treasures found hidden in Auschwitz mug for more than 70 years

A mug confiscated by Nazis at Auschwitz has been hiding a secret for more than 70 years.
Workers at the Auschwitz Museum this week found a gold ring and necklace that had been carefully wrapped in canvas before being concealed in a false base.
They are some of the last possessions held by someone deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, one of the largest concentration camps established by the Germans during WWII, the museum said.
Tests found the gold ring was made in Poland between 1921 and 1931.
"The hiding of valuable items... proves on the one hand to 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 existence," said Piotr Cywinski, the Director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.
Nazis often told those that they deported to concentration camps that they were simply going to be resettled, promising a new life in a new place. The deportees were allowed to bring a little luggage, Cywinski said.