Imagine stumbling upon a hidden treasure, buried by your ancestors on the eve of a world-altering conflict. This isn’t the setup for a novel but the real-life adventure of a man who unearthed his family’s legacy, guided by a hand-drawn map from his father, eight decades after it was concealed from invading forces.
A Legacy Buried At The Brink Of War
As the shadows of World War II stretched across Europe, one family in eastern Poland made a desperate decision to bury their valuables, safeguarding them from the imminent Russian invasion. The Glazewski family, never to return to their hiding spot near what is now Lviv, Ukraine, left behind a treasure unbeknownst to anyone but themselves.
Fast forward 80 years, the grandson of Adams Glazewski, the family patriarch during those tumultuous times, embarked on a quest to reclaim the past. At 69 years old, Jan Glazewski turned to his father, who, with the help of memory alone, drew a map 50 years after they fled their homeland.
The Map That Spanned Generations
“My father provided me with this map, some directions, and he drew it all from memory, half a century after leaving,” Jan shared. The map detailed the location of their former manor, long since destroyed by the Russians, leading Jan through cultivated fields now overtaken by brush and down a slope to the edge of a forest. It was here that the treasure awaited.
Unearthing The Past
With metal detectors in hand, Jan explored the forest’s entrance as outlined by his father’s map. What he found was nothing short of miraculous—a box of jewels belonging to his mother, who passed away when he was just seven years old.
“Touching the objects my mother had packed away 80 years ago was incredibly moving for me,” Jan recalled. “It’s profoundly significant. It’s like fulfilling a lifetime dream, as a boy, to find a treasure. But more importantly, it fulfilled a directive from my father. It gave me immense satisfaction. I walk taller, more confident.”
Among the treasure were jewelry, an engraved baptism spoon, and numerous artifacts, valued at thousands of dollars. Jan hopes to display some of these pieces in memory of his family, a testament to their resilience and a bridge connecting the past to the present.
In uncovering this hidden treasure, Jan didn’t just find tangible pieces of his heritage. He reconnected with his roots, honored his father’s memory, and closed a chapter of his family’s story that had been left open for far too long.
