Cleveland Community Program: Rescuing the Hidden Michalovce Collection

In 1942, members of the Schwarz family packed their belongings, hid them in the attic for safekeeping, and left their home. Like many Jews who received deportation orders during the Holocaust, they most certainly hoped to return one day. But they never did. Those possessions—personal letters, photographs, Hebrew prayer books, clothing, and more—stayed hidden, frozen in time, for nearly 80 years. Then, during renovations in September 2019, a new homeowner stumbled upon the time capsule still hidden in the attic in Michalovce, Slovakia.