Singaporean Man Travels Over 6,500 Km To Reunite Wwii Artefacts With Original Owners After 8 Month Quest

Wesley Leon Aroozoo, a 39-year-old lecturer at Lasalle College of the Arts, has a passion for collecting vintage items, which he does when he is not teaching. He enjoys acquiring old toys, video games, arcade machines, and even old medical equipment. However, his interest in his collection goes beyond owning the items. He wants to learn about the history behind each piece. He believes that the stories behind the items are as interesting as the items themselves. One day, Aroozoo came across a listing on Carousell that caught his eye. The listing included old stamps, postcards, articles, and some peculiar-looking books that were poking out in the background of the images. Upon inspection, Aroozoo realized that the documents were old work booklets used during the Nazi period in Germany before and during World War II. While some may have seen these items as useless relics, Aroozoo viewed them as if he had found gold. He saw the vintage items he'd bought as a giant jigsaw puzzle ready for him to piece together. Through his search, Aroozoo uncovered that the items he purchased actually belonged to two brothers named Wolfgang and Woldamar Scheck. He was able to piece together the lives of the brothers from the 1930s to the 1980s. He discovered that Woldamar and his family had left Germany for Australia, whereas Wolfgang stayed back in Germany. The development piqued Aroozoo's interest even more, and he wanted to find out why they were separated. Aroozoo started searching for Wolfgang and Woldamar on Google, which naturally expanded to trying to track down Woldamar's family. After some simple searches, he began scouring social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, and he messaged users with the surname Scheck. Aroozoo was trying to connect with the Scheck family, in particular to Ms. Patricia Scheck (Woldamar's daughter) or Mr. Robert James Scheck (one of Woldamar's sons). He received some replies, but ultimately, they turned out to be nothing. Although Aroozoo's hobby had turned into an obsession, he never gave up. He continued searching for the rightful owners of the items for many months, even while balancing his full-time job. He spent countless nights combing the internet for traces of the family. Aroozoo's dedication was fueled by the desire to return the items to the rightful owners. He believed that if he had interesting family documents from his great-grandfather, he would want someone to give them back to him. Finally, Aroozoo's search led him to a relative of the Scheck family. He discovered that the family had no idea about the existence of these booklets, and they were grateful to receive them. Aroozoo had succeeded in his mission of returning the items to the family. The experience taught him that the history behind vintage items is what makes them valuable, and there is joy in giving back something that is meaningful to someone else.