Everything Eventually Resurfaces: Hidden Treasures in Uzda

The Earth is like a bag of trail mix. In trail mix, the little things like the sunflower seeds sink to the bottom of the bag while the larger nuts and dried fruit remain on the surface. So, when I eat the trail mix, my fingers usually reach the almonds, m&m’s, and dried fruit first. But when I shake up the bag, the sunflower seeds and raisins resurface. Eventually everything comes to the surface. The Earth’s surface works in a similar way. If someone drops a coin on dirt, it will most likely be forgotten and become covered with soil. As the Earth rotates and the land shifts, it can be buried even deeper. However, everything eventually resurfaces. This is what I experienced in Uzda, Belarus.

The old Uzda Mikvah (Jewish ritual bathhouse)

We were exploring the outside of the old mikvah (ritual bathhouse) when one of the Helix artist in residence, Benny, found a coin from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth that dated back to 1616! This coin had most likely been buried for 400 years in the dirt, and Benny just happened to be in the right place at the right time to find it. When we examined the Polish coin in present day Belarus, I was reminded of the fluidity of borders in this part of the world. This made me wonder what life was like for the former owner of the coin under the rule of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. What was their job? How did they earn the coin? How did daily life change with shifting political borders in this region? I pondered about what items from my life someone will find in my backyard 400 years from now.

17th century coin from the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth 

Shortly after finding the coin, we discovered hundreds of broken white shells on the side of the mikvah. Among the broken shells, there were a few smooth, round, white objects. They were unfinished buttons! The local historian told us that before World War II, many of the Jews in Uzda were artisans and produced small things like buttons. These unfinished buttons were probably the last things the Jewish button-maker had made before their lives were turned upside down by Nazism. The buttons connect me to the former Jewish button-maker; our lives are now interwoven because we have shared the experience of these buttons.

I am grateful that I was able to find the coin and the unfinished buttons in the trail mix of Uzda. These treasures were covered up by dirt for many years, and I am thankful that the soil just happened to reveal these treasures to me and my friends on the right day.