Lifestyle

This House Renovation Revealed a Heartbreaking Message From the Holocaust

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Tony Maples Photography

 

When a contractor was unscrewing wood panels in a home renovation project in the Netherlands when a secret, historic message was revealed.

Now this story didn’t take place in Texas, but it is a lovely and tragic anecdote of a time that has passed. Jelle Kapitein told ABC News that after finding a message carved into an old door panel, he believes the note was written by a Jewish couple in hiding during the Holocaust.

He told the news outlet that the note was dated April 23, 1942 and that “the tone of the text – so sad, so hopeless. It made a great impression on us.

The message, written in Dutch, is translated as follows: “Look on the roof and find my last personal things and try after the war to find family of ours. Give them my things and you will become something. Oh God of Israel, have mercy on your humiliated brothers. Signed Levie Sajet born at 1-8-1881 born in Nijmegen and his housewife Ester Zilberstain born at Stettin on the 28-7-1899.”

After 73 years, this message still points to a time of total destruction and hopelessness. However, the contractor and his crew is still working to find anyone who may be family of this married couple.