Rudi Schlattner and his family fled Czechoslovakia after WWII leaving everything behind. Rudy recently returned to his home country, now well in his 80s, for the very first time. The first thing he wanted to do was to visit his childhood home. The home had changed hands multiple times since he had left, but now, it was being used as a kindergarten.
Rudi didn’t want to go back for a dose of nostalgia, however, his visit, rather, had other implications. He was determined to find something he thought his father had left behind, hidden somewhere inside the house…
Heading Back Home
The photo above shows the childhood home of Rudi Schlattner in Czechoslovakia, the very home they fled from during WWII. While it was now functioning as a kindergarten, Rudi was determined to go back inside and look for something he believed his father hid there decades ago…
Going Inside
Rudi was an elderly man now, well into his 80s, but he was sure that his father had left something valuable behind in the home. If he didn’t search for it now, he would run out of time…
Up in the Attic
Rudi headed up to the attic—convinced that would be the only place that hadn’t been touched over the years. He looked everywhere and had no luck. But then, in a last-ditch effort, someone on his team found a loose board in the ceiling with a string attached…
Getting His Hands Dirty
Rudi was a determined guy, and when the string and loose board were found, he jumped right in to remove it himself. He wanted to be the first person to lay eyes on the hidden treasures…
Sending in Backup
Rudi wasn’t alone during his search, though. Friends and family from the States and Czechoslovakia alike were there to assist his efforts. They climbed in the secret door after Rudi to assist him…
Trusting His Instincts
Behind the secret door was a compartment inside the roof that was full of family heirlooms that Rudi’s father had stashed away just in case they were able to return to their home one day…
The Hidden Stash
Everything in the photo above was pulled out of the compartment behind the secret door in the attic. It took two hours for Rudi and his family and friends to clear the secret room. Now it was time to see what it all was…
Appraising the Goods
Rudi turned over the lot to an appraiser to see what the lost items were worth. Museum representatives were also on the scene…
The Findings
The museum representatives from the nearby town of Ústà nad Labem arrived at the home to date and catalog all of the items from Rudi’s attic, and they were astounded at all they encountered…
Rudi’s Discoveries
Rudi was astonished at all of the discoveries. The attic was full of WWII-era memorabilia and was a historical treasure trove…
Taking a Look
Rudi made it clear that he wanted to come back to his childhood home to see what his father had left behind. He was in his 80s, after all, so he didn’t need the cash…
A Little of Everything
“We were surprised that so many ordinary things were hidden there in the attic,” said museum employee Tomas Okura in an interview. “Thanks to these circumstances, these recovered objects have a very high historical value.”
Property Of The Czech Government
Some of the objects were actually considered the property of the government since Rudi no longer had ownership of the home itself. Rudi wasn’t upset by this, though. His goal of heading back to his childhood home was to find out what was there and see if his gut feeling that things were hidden behind was true…
The Lopez Findings
Rudi wasn’t the only man who found things in the attic of his childhood home. The Lopez family found something wild in their grandfather’s attic after years of hearing his unbelievable stories…
Where’s the Treasure?
After the passing of their grandfather, the Lopez family decided to search his home to see if his stories were true. Grandfather Lopez liked to tell quite the tall tale, claiming he located the treasure of Spanish pirate, Jose Gaspard…
Telling the Truth
So his children decided to look into these stories a little bit more. They went up into his attic to look for this “pirate treasure.” But, believe it or not, they found something that stopped them dead in their tracks…
The Findings
First, they came across a map of Tampa Bay dating back to the 1930s. Then, hidden in a small box, they found several Portuguese and Spanish coins from the 1700s! Their eccentric grandfather had been telling the truth all along.