Mysterious 'treasure trove' of WWII documents left on woman's doorstep
A Bondi woman has turned to Facebook to solve the mystery of a box of photos and documents she claims were left on her doorstep 15 years ago detailing a German family’s escape from the Nazis.
In a Facebook post, Heidi Blackwell writes she was renting on Flood Street, Bondi 15 years ago when she woke up one morning, opened the door “and sitting there in the sunshine” on her front steps “was a cardboard orange fruit box with a whole bunch of faded, ancient-looking files sitting in there”.
Ms Blackwell said at first she thought it was a prank but still took the box inside for a look.
“I spent a couple of hours going through the files and, despite the fact most of it was in German was able to work out this was an unknown family’s precious paperwork detailing their escape from Nazi Germany via Shanghai to Sydney, Australia,” she writes.
Ms Blackwell says the couple’s name were Necha and Werner Fink. She says she forgot she had the photos and notes over the years, but “inadvertently” came across them again recently.
Photos uploaded to Facebook show a ‘Geburtszeugnis’ - a birth certificate - along with a letter addressed from Berlin, photographs, some type of manifest and a number of folders. Several pieces of paper appear to be marked with the Reichsadler or ‘Imperial Eagle’, a symbol used by Nazi Germany between 1935-1945.
Ms Blackwell now wants to know if the box was mistakenly left for another family – and if so, how to return it to the items to their rightful owners.
“These files are a veritable treasure trove and contain photographs, birth certificates, school reports, bank statements and more going back to the late 1800’s,” Ms Blackwell writes.
She told Yahoo7 her post as gone "ballistic" with many people claiming they know "the Finks".
"It's fascinating," she said.
"The collection is very comprehensive, but I'm not sure I have any real leads just yet."
Ms Blackwell said she plans on contacting the Sydney Jewish Museum about the documents.
If you think you may know something about the files, contact us via the 7 News Australia Facebook page.
