My family’s history and story is of great concern to, so much so that I intend to reconstruct the family tree as far as I can get in order to know who came before me.
In this same sense, I put a lot a value into objects that have reached through the generations. I have china, some furniture, personal items, photos and photo albums, etc.
Everything tells a piece of a story I wasn’t able to fully live through and instead just brushed me growing up.
It gives me a sense of belonging.
Most of my family were refugees during WW2 and lost pretty much all their belongings, including some truly priceless pieces and properties that are still talked about. I do have a pretty substantial trove of documents and photos dating back to the 1850s though, this was all they were allowed to carry.
Has had never been an attempt to claim back some of those lost properties?
No, there’s pretty much zero chance. They were lost when the borders were redrawn after the war and who knows where it all ended up. Some are probably the heirlooms of a different family now.