17. Two milk cans found in Poland contained World War II artifacts
In May 2017 a teenaged boy vacationing with his family discovered two milk cans which upon closer examination contained artifacts dating to the Second World War, including a German officer’s uniform. The cache was found buried near Lake Jeziorak in Poland, and the cans and their contents were turned over to Polish authorities, who identified them as having belonged to Count Hans Joachim von Finckenstein, a Prussian aristocrat who lived nearby in what was then East Prussia. The following May scientists in Poland announced their findings regarding the cache, including what was learned from descendants of the Count, including his daughter.
The milk cans contained the Count’s last will and testament, a copy of his coat of arms, documents and diaries, money, jewelry, eyeglasses, military medals, and numerous other personal items, evidently buried in order to prevent them from being taken by the rapidly advancing Soviet army. The Count had sent his family to Pomerania, remaining behind on the estate with his wife, Hildegarda, and was imprisoned by the Soviets, dying in their custody sometime later. His wife remained on the estate in the employ of the Soviets, and among the items buried in the milk cans was a note from a Russian officer requesting that the remaining people on the estate be left unmolested. It was most likely Hildegarda who buried the milk cans, which remained undiscovered for more than seven decades.
