after 70 years and discovers the possessions his father hid in the roof are still there ....

An elderly German man, who fled with his family from Czechoslovakia after

World War II, has discovered the possessions secretly left hidden by his father 
in the roof of their old family home.

Rudi Schlattner was forced to flee the family home as part of a mass expulsion 
of Germans from Czechoslovakia after President Edvard Benes ordered 
the 'final solution of the German question' by evicting all ethnic Germans 
from the country.

After knocking on the wooden panels in the loft, Mr Schlattner found a small 
piece of string hanging from one of the panels. When he pulled it, a set of 
shelves were revealed, filled with the long lost secret possessions.

Mr Schlattner's lost treasures will now be held in a museum in the town 
of Usti nad Labem as the Czech government's rules dictate that all German 
property left behind is now owned by the state.

Thrilled: Rudi Schlattner was forced to flee the family 

home as part of a mass expulsion of Germans 
from Czechoslovakia

Treasures: Several of the precious treasures found by Mr Schlattner 

from inside the roof

Now in his 80s, Rudi contacted municipal officials in the village 
of Libouch in north-western Czech Republic who now use the family 
home as a kindergarten.

The house had undergone roof refurbishments, leading to concerns 
that the secret treasure might not still be hidden in the roof.

But Rudi's father had done such a good job of hiding it, that nobody 
had discovered them. 

He said: 'My father built the villa in 1928 and 1929. He always thought 
that one day we would return and get it back.'

He was accompanied on the visit to the building by employees of a museum 
in the nearby town of Usti nad Labem together with the mayor of Libouch, 
manager of the kindergarten, archaeologist and employees of the museum 

The house had undergone roof refurbishments,
leading to concerns that the secret treasures might
not still be hidden in the roof

After knocking on the wooden panels in the loft, Mr Schlattner found 

a small piece of string hanging from one of the panels. 
When he pulled it, a set of shelves were revealed, containing 
the long lost secret possessions

Now in his 80s, Rudi contacted municipal officials in the village
of Libouch in north-western Czech Republic who now use
the family home as a kindergarten

Lost wonders: Mr Schlattner is reportedly not bitter
over the fact that his family's treasures cannot be returned
to him and promised to help with identification of the objects,
although his health is not good

New home: Mr Schlattner's lost treasures will now
be held in a museum in the town of Usti nad Labem
as the Czech government's rules dictate that all German
property left behind is now owned by the state

Some of unwrapped objects included skis, hats,
clothes-hangers, newspapers and paintings
by Josef Stegl who also lived in the house during WWII.

After 70 years it was hard for him to find the exact hiding place, 
but the 70 packages were eventually found under the roof.

Museum assigner Tomas Okurka told Czech daily newspaper Blesk: 
'Mr Schlattner was tapping the roof boards with a small hammer. 
All of them had the same sound. 
Then he tried to find a string which was supposed to detach the boards 
which was a system set up by his father.

'He told his son that he would only have to pull the string in order 
to detach the boards and suddenly he found the string, and when 
he pulled it two boards detached and the shelter full of objects 
untouched for 70 years appeared.

'It took too long and we thought that the shelter had perhaps been 
discovered and the items removed during the roof reconstruction and 
we would not find anything. But suddenly he found the string.'

He added: 'The packages were very skilfully hidden in the vault of a skylight. 
It was incredible how many things fitted in such a small space. 
It took more than one hour until we put everything out.'

There were some packages wrapped in brown paper and some unwrapped 
objects such as skis, hats, clothes-hangers, newspapers and paintings 
by Josef Stegl who also lived in the house during World War II.

Packed: The inside the of the roof was filled
with many packages from the family's lost home

Many of the objects were related to Mr Schlattner's
childhood, after he left the country aged 13

Historic: Although the objects may not hold
considerable value, they represent an invaluable
insight into family life in the 1940s

Speacial: A selection of objects found secretly
concealed behind the roofing planks in the house

Mr Okurka said: 'We were surprised that so many ordinary things 
were hidden there. Thanks to the circumstances these objects have 
a very high historical value.'

Because when the Germans were expelled all of their property was 
also confiscated, the items in the attic remain under the ownership 
of the Czech government.

All the packages were taken to a museum in the town of Usti nad Labem 
where they have been unpacked, analyzed and filed.

So far several packages have been unpacked. Some umbrellas, hats, 
badges, paper weights, paintings, pens, school tables, unpacked cigarettes, 
socks, books, sewing kits and much more. 
Everything was in very good condition according to the historians.

Manager of the museum Vaclav Houfek said: 'Such a complete finding 
of objects hidden by German citizens after the war is very rare in this region.'

Because they are the property of the Czech Republic their previous owner 
cannot claim them back. 
It is not yet been decided which institution will take the objects.

Mr Schlattner is reportedly not bitter over the fact that his family's treasures 
cannot be returned to him and promised to help with identification of the 
objects, although his health is not good. 

The destruction of World War II had caused enormous hatred 
in Czechoslovakia of its ethnic German population, and the government.

Thousands died during the forced expulsions of 1.6 million ethnic Germans 
their homes and into the American zone West Germany. 
These were the fortunate ones, and a further 800,000 were sent 
to the Soviet zone.

Rudi and his family were among those that ended up in the American zone, 
and before they left they had time to hide their property in the attic 
of the family home.

He said 'We thought we would one day return, and that would find 
a property there.' 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news