As a Time Capsule From The Holocaust Was Found In Zlocieniec, Poland

My question is why Northeastern Poland hardly gets highlighted. As far as I know, many time capsules and other findings could be in Lipsk, Augustów, Krasnopol, Suwałlki, Boćki, Kaletnik, and even places in which one would not expect findings-such as Wigry and Bossę, where Anusim were and as I should know.

It's possible, but the time capsule recently found had been known about, archaeologists just couldn't access it before.
I doubt anyone is going to invest time and money randomly digging up areas of Poland in the hope of finding something with no concrete information.

Here is an article about the time capsule:-

time.com/4501035/nazi-time-capsule-poland-germany

If they inquire, they will find. BTW, they could start working on restoring the Cmentarz Żydowski w Lipsku .

Who is they? Thought about doing it yourself?

oh no, not the dreaded 'they'!

Get me a plane ticket to Poland, a passport, a basic Polish phrasebook, etc., and I will.

I think you would have to get those things for yourself

You'd also need a spade to dig with, permission from tens of thousands of landowners and a hell of a lot of time to dig up an entire section of the country.

Seriously Nicki, during WW2, Poles, especially those of the Jewish faith had many other things to think about than making time capsules.

If however you are interested in this, read about the Warsaw Ghetto archives. Just before the liquidation of the ghetto, the great Polish historian, Emmanuel Ringblum, sealed some of their records, archives, wills, photos, people's diaries etc in twelve metal containers, some of them milk canisters. They buried these in three deep holes, anticipating the destruction of that part of town. Nobody who knew the precise locations survived, however one of the sites was found fairly quickly afterwards, one a little while after that and the third remains to find. It is probably buried under the grounds of the Chinese Embassy on ul. Miodowa however the Chinese have not permitted further excavations.

The part of the archive that was found, called the Oneg Shabbat archive is fascinating and gives a valuable picture of pre-war Warsaw life.

I see that my point is entirely being missed. Many Jewish and other organizations have no problem focusing on Jewish and other history in cities such Warszawa, Krakow, Łódź, Radom, Wrocław, Poznań, and other cities and their vicinities; yet, Suwałki, Krasnopol, Białystok, Lipsk, and similar cities and their vicinities seem to be frequent skipovers.

Your point, Nicki, isn't being missed. What you yourself have missed is that there's a certain difference between Warsaw, Łódż, Krakow on the one hand and Krasnopol, Lipsk, Boćki on the other. Think of the difference between Jersey City and a field in north west Idaho.

Apropos, jon, when I mentioned once to an acquaintance from Gdańsk that I knew a Polish woman from Przemyśl, the former quipped, "Oh, I thought you said she was from Poland!":-)

Guess provincial snobbery and the like cuts many ways.

Indeed. Przemysl is a long way from Gdansk. Re. Nicki's comments, it's a pretty massive difference between a sparsely populated corner of north east Europe and a big industrial region.

Compare New York with Portland, Oregon, Istanbul to the wilds of Anatolia, Moscow or Ektkaterinenburg and Irkutsk etc...

Back on topic

Quite. Seriously, those are smaller towns which suffered badly in the war. There are no 'time capsules' (people were dragged from their homes with no time to pack a toothbrush, never mind make a time capsule) and there are sadly few traces of the region's Jewish past.

The oldest time capsule in Europe has been found in Ziębice, Poland. It was found when the spire of the Evangelical church was dismantled and the globe that sits on top of the spire's dome was opened. The capsule dates from when the church was built in 1797.

Inside were documents relating to the construction of the church, plus coins, documents and photographs from when the church was renovated in 1902-1903.

thefirstnews.com/article/oldest-time-capsule-in-europe-found-hidden-in-church-spire-12659

@Chemikiem
It's where Karl Denke came from.

As interesting as it is, it brings back the past in two dimensions in a way -not only does it reminds us of the past, but also of the town's German population.

A tremendous discovery! It should be underlined that documents found in the original canister of 1797 were in excellent shape.

The capsule was placed by the then German townspeople of Münsterberg. In 1797 the province and the town had belonged to the Kingdom of Prussia since 1741, so for 56 years already. Its inhabitants would have been very surprised if you told them in 1797 that 223 years later their documents would be discovered by Polish inhabitants of their place bearing a strange name of Ziębice.

Interesting polish german history of Münsterberg/Ziebice!

After the death of Henry IV in 1290, during the period of fragmentation of Poland, Bolko I the Strict inherited the towns of Münsterberg (Ziębice) and Frankenstein (Ząbkowice Śląskie). Around 1300, he finished a castle in Münsterberg. When he died in 1301, his possessions were divided among his three sons.....

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchy_of_M%C3%BCnsterberg

"Bolko I the Strict" ??? Why oh why can't modern politicians not have similiar meaningful names! :):):)

Yes, a very interesting discovery and quite miraculous that the documents are still in such good shape all these years later!


I had to Google him. Then wished i hadn't when there was a list of the body parts found. Plus other gory details!

He was the last one of the Silesian dukes who stood a big chance of re-uniting Poland from Silesia which he had tried, but was hindered by his sudden death, probably from poisoning.


I'd say the habit was popular in the Middle Ages. Think of Harald the Bluetooth, for example. In England they would also have a lot rulers with nicknames. Likewise in Germany where Friedrich Barbarossa (Rotbart) comes to mind. In Poland there was Boleslaus the Wrymouth or Ladislaus the Spindleshanks (Dünnbein).

Interesting that such a habit from the Middle Ages survived as a sort of "capsule of time" in Polish villages, for example, where as far as I can remember from my childhood, nearly everyone had a nickname, sometimes very funny indeed.

...yeah....and I miss that!

@Chemikiem
I came across his name when reading about serial killers and somehow remember the name of the town.
His house is still inhabited ...
Imagine.