Editor’s note: This customer story features our resident blogger Monika Jansen.

If a civil uprising forced you to flee your home, family, and country, what would be the most important, most precious item you’d feel compelled to take with you? This was the question Monika’s father, uncle, and grandmother had to ask themselves in 1956. Her grandmother’s answer to this question ensured that an amazing set of photos made their way into Monika’s hands—photos she knew she had to preserve.

“My dad, uncle, and grandmother escaped Hungary during the student uprising against communism in 1956. My uncle was attending university at the time and his friends began disappearing. One day he came home and told the family they needed to leave. They fled to Yugoslavia and, from there,eventually made their way to the U.S. It was heartbreaking for them to leave as they knew what the consequences would be—they would never see my great grandmother or other family members again. One of the few things my grandmother took with her was this box of photos.”

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