While sorting through a deceased person's possessions, what is the most disturbing thing you found?
When I was at university back in the mid 1980s, I was dating this beautiful, blonde, woman whom Iu2019ll call u201cKarla.u201dShe was attractive, quite smart, athletic, and I believed that at that time we were very much in love.We dated for almost two years, and I had given her an engagement ring, which she had accepted. I had met her family, and she mine. We all got along very well, and I spent many weekends at her familyu2019s home in an upscale city just outside of St. Louis.Halfway through our Senior year, we had gone to her house for Christmas. They really outdid themselves on the Christmas decorations, and I was happy to be spending the holiday there. My parents had gone to Aruba, and her parents always treated me like visiting royalty. I always enjoyed my visits there.Two days before the holiday it had begin snowing heavily, and Karlau2019s father, a Doctor, was on his way home through the worsening snow. Somewhere on the Interstate, just before his exit, he was killed in an horrific accident. I truly liked the man, and I was probably as distraught as were Karla and her family.I stayed for a day, and then, wanting to give them some privacy to grieve, drove back to my parentsu2025 house, and spent Christmas with a couple of cousins and my Aunt and Uncle. Karla and I spoke almost non-stop over the break, and I went back for the funeral. It was as bad as you could imagine. Her sister, and Mother were withdrawn, and the atmosphere of sadness was palpable. Their father and husband was dead, and it could be no better. It was a very dark time.Karla stayed at home for the first few weeks of the semester, and then came back to school. I supported her emotionally, and our relationship actually strengthened. She began to pass through her grieving, and life somewhat went back to normal.Around the beginning of spring break, her Mother asked if Karla and I could go through her Fatheru2019s effects, and begin packing them up. She had planned to sell the house as without his income, she couldnu2019t afford to keep it. She also couldnu2019t bring herself to enter his study. There was life insurance, and I really believe she just wanted to live in a place where his u201cghostu201d would not be there in everything she saw. They had been married for over thirty years, and I understand that feeling.His office was neat and well-ordered, and for the first days, we sorted among the papers and books, putting the important papers where they could be easily found and boxing up the lesser documents. Books were boxed up, mementos and accent pieces packaged for the move as well. Oddly, I noticed that, although he had pictures of his wife and two daughters, there were no pictures of him as a younger man, or of his parents. Unusual, but not remarkable. I asked Karla, and she simply stated that he didnu2019t talk about his youth or his family. Not altogether unheard of, and her explanation put it out of my mind.In the back of the closet was an old Mosler safe. One of the kinds you see in the movies with the ornate decorations on the front. An antique, but still, in excellent shape and functional. We stood looking at it for a few minutes, and I had no idea how to open it.Karla walked over to his desk and removed a piece of paper that had been taped to the bottom of one drawer. She told me that her Father had told her never to open the safe, and only use the combination in the event of an emergency.It took us several tries to open the safe, but we finally succeeded.What was inside, took me, and Karla, by complete surprise.Folded neatly inside, on top of a shelf, was the uniform of what we later found out was a Major in the SS. The tunic, cover, slacks, medals and insignia looked like they had been kept clean and maintained. It looked like it had been freshly dry-cleaned and was ready to wear.Under the shelf were several drawers, and in each one were his Ausweis, SS identity cards, daggers, commissions, promotion to the SS Medical Corps, and letters from superior officers; one was even signed by whom we later learned was Heinrich Himmler. There were also a significant quantity of Gold Krugerrands which he had obviously put aside for an emergency.The man who would have been my father-in-law was an SS Doctor who, I now believe, had worked under Mengele at one of the camps. In retrospect, it is still incomprehensible that he could have kept this a secret from his daughters, and presumably his wife. It also seemed logical. My own father was in the Navy during WWII, and never spoke a word about his service.With the exception of the gold, we put all of the contents of the safe into a footlocker, and she locked it up with a padlock. I donu2019t believe she ever told her Mother or sister about what we found except for the coins. She also swore me to secrecy.I know it shouldnu2019t have, but it gradually soured our relationship. She knew that I possessed terrible information about her family, and felt that I would always harbor ill feelings toward her for what her father was. I was numbed by what we found, but couldnu2019t hold her responsible for his actions.Unfortunately, our relationship slowly fell apart. She and I had gotten along so well. We were in love, and had planned on a life and a family of our own. As the poem goes, it ended not with a bang, but a whimper, and less than six months later, she gave me back the ring, and we never spoke again. We both graduated, received our degrees, and went our separate ways.With the advent of the internet, I learned, a few years ago, that her father had been on the u201cwanted listu201d of the Wiesenthal Center. For several months I mulled over whether I should report this to them, but by that time, he had been dead over thirty years and I could not see any reason to disturb his family with reporting this.It still runs through my mind, thirty-five years later.UPDATE #1Thank you all for your reads, upvotes, and comments. I have to be honest. Writing this rekindled my interest in Karlau2019s family. I found her sister u201cLisau201d on Facebook, and we had a long telephone conversation.Their mother passed away in 2025 at the age of 90.I asked Lisa if she remembered when her dad was born, and she said around 1910. That would have made him 35 when the war ended, and around 74 when he died. He looked younger to me.Lisa was two years younger than Karla, and was born around 1963 when her father was in his early 50u2019s and her mom was in her late 30u2019s.I asked her if Karla had ever discussed what we had found when we cleaned out the Doctoru2019s study. She responded that she had been told it was just a bunch of old books, antiques, and almost 20 ounces of gold coins. It was apparent that Karla never shared any of what we found with her sister.Karla is on her second marriage, and has three children, the oldest of whom was just elected to their State legislature.We plan a reunion of sorts, when I will be visiting her town later this year.Thanks again for the interest.
