Carousell purchase of pre-WWII items leads Singaporean to original owners’ family 6,000km away
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(From left) Mr Michael Scheck met Mr Wesley Aroozoo and his wife Ho Shengjuan in January in Brisbane.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF WESLEY AROOZOO
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SINGAPORE – In November 2022, Brisbane resident Michael Scheck received an e-mail from Singapore informing him that documents belonging to his father and uncle had been found. His first thought was that it was a scam.
The 63-year-old told The Straits Times: “I have never before heard (of someone) offering to give me something so I initially ignored the e-mail, although the sender wasn’t actually asking for anything.”
It was only after the sender contacted his daughter and son through LinkedIn, and after Mr Scheck had verified the credentials of the sender, that he replied.
The sender – film-maker, author and film lecturer Wesley Aroozoo – was 6,100km away in Singapore and the documents he had were a chance find while browsing on e-marketplace Carousell in April 2022.
The set of documents – which he bought for around $80 – included work booklets dating back to Nazi-era Germany, postage stamps and family photographs.
He searched for leads on the original owner of the documents for eight months.
The documents belonged to two German brothers – Mr Woldemar Scheck and Mr Wolfgang Scheck, who were born in 1922 and 1924 respectively – and detailed their employment before and during World War II.
Work booklets and other documents belonging to Mr Michael Scheck’s father, Mr Woldemar Scheck, and uncle Wolfgang Scheck.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF WESLEY AROOZOO
One certificate documents Mr Woldemar Scheck’s immigration to Australia in 1967, along with his wife and four children, with the youngest listed as a seven-year-old Michael.
Mr Aroozoo, 39, told The Straits Times that the Nazi swastika symbol on the booklets caught his eye while he was scrolling through Carousell.
The sellers, according to him, were stamp collectors who chanced upon the documents that were part of a larger group of items in a bulk buy.
The lecturer in the film programme at Lasalle College of the Arts said: “It drew my attention immediately. I know these are pre-WWII or WWII items and they hold a lot of history. But I didn’t know that it had a lovely human side to it as well that deserved reconnection.
“The documents held so much information on the life these two men led during a time in Germany that was uncertain, and I felt strongly that their family should have these documents returned to them at all cost.”
The documents were a chance find Mr Wesley Aroozoo came across while browsing on e-marketplace Carousell in April last year.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF WESLEY AROOZOO
While the immigration documents pointed the way for Mr Aroozoo’s search, he was led down many dead ends.
The first lead came only in October when he chanced upon a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that showed the names of employees of train operator Queensland Rail.
He had previously tried entering Mr Michael Scheck’s name along with different Australian states, finally hitting the jackpot when he typed in Queensland.
Unable to open the file, Mr Aroozoo scanned through the lines of code, finally spotting his name amid the jumble of letters, numbers and symbols.
He reached out to the rail operator and was eventually put in touch with Mr Michael Scheck, who works as a principal software and systems engineer.
Mr Wesley Aroozoo spent eight months searching for leads on the original owner of the documents.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF WESLEY AROOZOO
The pair eventually met at a hotel in Brisbane in January 2023, with Mr Aroozoo’s wife, marketing manager Ho Shengjuan, 35, in tow to help film the journey for a documentary he plans to make.
Mr Michael Scheck said: “I was amazed at the effort that Wesley went through to get in touch with us. Most people who discover documents like this would probably just throw them in the bin. The amount of effort Wesley put in speaks of his character.”
Mr Aroozoo said that after returning the documents to Mr Michael Scheck, they chatted for an hour.
He added: “There was an immediate sense of satisfaction after he left. I just turned to my wife and said ‘wow’.”
Mr Aroozoo said this was not his first such search for the background of vintage items he has found on Carousell, and is unlikely to be his last.
The documents belonged to two Scheck brothers Woldemar and Wolfgang, who were born in 1922 and 1924 respectively.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF WESLEY AROOZOO
Recounting his childhood visits to thrift shops and the thrill of discovery he felt, Mr Aroozoo said: “Rummaging through bags of items with my family members was fun and perhaps these old historical items make me feel safe.”
He noted that the successful return of Mr Michael Scheck’s family documents and photographs was possible because of the technology available today.
“Finding Mr Scheck was a lucky strike and the experience of the search was one of the most valuable takeaways for me,” he added.
