Nazi-era time capsule found in Poland

Inside the copper cylinder were newspapers from April of 1934, coins, parchment, photographs of Adolf Hitler and two copies of his infamous treatise, “Mein Kampf.” 

Nazi-era newspapers, coins, documents and copies of Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” have been uncovered in a “time capsule” that was buried in 1934 in the foundations of a Nazi training center in Poland.

Explorers in Zlocieniec, in northwestern Poland, dug for the copper cylinder hidden at the remains of the former Ordensburg center’s foundations after learning it could hold a documentary movie showing celebrations of the town’s 600 years, in 1933. At the time, the city was in Germany and was called Falkenburg.

Sebastian Kuropatnicki, spokesman for Zlocieniec authorities, said Tuesday they were curious to see the movie and the town of the time.

When the container was opened on September 13, it held no film but did have the center’s 1934 founding act on parchment, a letter from a local banker indicating the location for the center, as well as coins, photos and two copies of Hitler’s infamous manifesto.

Kuropatnicki told The Associated Press that although the items document a “time of evil,” they have value for the town’s historians.

Authorities are planning to organize a small museum using the items with a critical commentary on the Nazi ideology that led to World War II and the death of tens of millions of people.

By: AP