In the late 1960’s my mother went to see a Chanukah menorah that her friend’s Polish neighbor wanted to sell. It was obviously very old, but was also very dirty and most of the silver plating was worn off. But seeing that it was made is Warsaw, and being that her parents were from Poland, she thought it would be nice to have, so she bought it.
Being the mechanical type, I immediately decided to try to clean it up, and disassembled all the component parts. Even after the best cleaning job I could do, it still looked pretty poor after it was re-assembled. But because of the sentimental attachment, we kept it on display in our home for many years.
Curious as to how it came to be in the hands of a Polish lady who knew nothing about it other than guessing that is was some sort of Jewish object, my mother asked her. She related that she had recently gone back to Poland to visit her parents. Her mother had decided to put in a garden in the back yard — and when digging it she found this buried in the ground!
Of course my mother knew that many Jews buried valuables when they were being rounded up and sent to the camps, believing that they would return and not wanting these items to be stolen.
Recently (2024) I asked my mother if I could have this piece, and she readily agreed. This time, I decided to have the silver plated parts re-plated, to try to restore its original appearance.
A local Jewish silversmith did the work, and after it was re-assembled, it looked wonderful!
A bit of internet searching uncovered some interesting facts….
As can be seen here, some versions of this same menorah were completely silver-plated. I found other versions that were part brass and part silver-plate like ours is. Also, ours is missing the original crown on top, as well as the side cups. Note that the two elevated side cups were intended for use as Shabbos lights for the Shabbos during Chanukah.