Iraqi Family in Germany Returns Cash Hidden in Sewing Machine

Police at a Christmas market in the German city of Potsdam, near Berlin, Germany, December 1, 2017. Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch
Police at a Christmas market in the German city of Potsdam, near Berlin, Germany, December 1, 2017. Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch
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Iraqi Family in Germany Returns Cash Hidden in Sewing Machine

Police at a Christmas market in the German city of Potsdam, near Berlin, Germany, December 1, 2017. Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch
Police at a Christmas market in the German city of Potsdam, near Berlin, Germany, December 1, 2017. Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch

An Iraqi family living in Germany were pleasantly surprised when they stumbled upon two old sewing machines by the side of the road, just as they were in need of homemade coronavirus masks.

But the real surprise was lurking inside one of the machines: 1,000 euros ($1,085) in cash, stashed there by the previous owner and forgotten about.

"We immediately called the police who tracked down the owner," 21-year-old Sherzad Ahmed told Agence France Presse Monday. "He was very, very happy."

The feelgood story happened in the small German town of Morsbach last Wednesday, local police said in a statement.

The 56-year-old owner had hidden the money in the sewing machine when he was visiting Christmas markets as a travelling salesman last year before forgetting all about the "secret hiding place", police said.

Ahmed, who came to Germany with his parents and two sisters four years ago, said they never considered keeping the cash.

"No, no, no," he laughed, adding that the owner had rewarded the honest finders with 200 euros.

Ahmed's father repaired the machines and his mother, who works in an old people's home, has been churning out masks ever since.



Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivor, Who Devoted His Life for Peace, Dies at 93

Shigemi Fukahori is interviewed at the Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki, southern Japan, on July 29, 2020. (Kyodo News via AP, File)
Shigemi Fukahori is interviewed at the Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki, southern Japan, on July 29, 2020. (Kyodo News via AP, File)
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Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivor, Who Devoted His Life for Peace, Dies at 93

Shigemi Fukahori is interviewed at the Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki, southern Japan, on July 29, 2020. (Kyodo News via AP, File)
Shigemi Fukahori is interviewed at the Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki, southern Japan, on July 29, 2020. (Kyodo News via AP, File)

Shigemi Fukahori, a survivor of the 1945 Nagasaki atomic bombing, who devoted his life to advocating for peace has died. He was 93.

Fukahori died at a hospital in Nagasaki, southwestern Japan, on Jan. 3, the Urakami Catholic Church, where he prayed almost daily until last year, said on Sunday. Local media reported he died of old age.

The church, located about 500 meters from ground zero and near the Nagasaki Peace Park, is widely seen as a symbol of hope and peace, as its bell tower and some statues and survived the nuclear bombing.

Fukahori was only 14 when the US dropped the bomb on Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945, killing tens of thousands of people, including his family. That came three days after the nuclear attack on Hiroshima, which killed 140,000 people. Japan surrendered days later, ending World War II and the country's nearly half-century of aggression across Asia.

Fukahori, who worked at a shipyard about 3 kilometers (2 miles) from where the bomb dropped, couldn’t talk about what happened for years, not only because of the painful memories but also how powerless he felt then.

About 15 years ago, he became more outspoken after encountering, during a visit to Spain, a man who experienced the bombing of Guernica in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War when he was also 14 years old. The shared experience helped Fukahori open up.

“On the day the bomb dropped, I heard a voice asking for help. When I walked over and held out my hand, the person’s skin melted. I still remember how that felt,” Fukahori told Japan’s national broadcaster NHK in 2019.

He often addressed students, hoping they take on what he called “the baton of peace,” in reference to his advocacy.

When Pope Francis visited Nagasaki in 2019, Fukahori was the one who handed him a wreath of white flowers. The following year, Fukahori represented the bomb victims at a ceremony, making his “pledge for peace,” saying: “I am determined to send our message to make Nagasaki the final place where an atomic bomb is ever dropped.”

A wake is scheduled for Sunday, and funeral services on Monday at Urakami Church, where his daughter will represent the family.