Widow hands over husband’s secret stash of historic weapons to the police

An Israeli woman shocked police by handing the secret cache of old IDF weapons her late husband had collected over the years.

By ELIYAHU KAMISHER
Updated: JUNE 12, 2017 21:39
AMONG THE WEAPONS were a sniper rifle from 1890, two revolvers, two Kalashnikov rifles, five pistols, cartridges and bullets. (photo credit: POLICE SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
AMONG THE WEAPONS were a sniper rifle from 1890, two revolvers, two Kalashnikov rifles, five pistols, cartridges and bullets.
(photo credit: POLICE SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
A 75-year-old widow arrived at a Tel Aviv police station on Sunday and returned her late husband’s secret cache of antique and historic weapons.
According to the widow and her son, the deceased, a former IDF lieutenant-colonel, stored the weapons behind a bookcase in a secret room in the apartment.
Two weeks before dying from a serious illness, the former officer-turned-architect called his son, who lives in England, and gave him instructions to retrieve the weapons from the previously unknown hiding spot.
Following the instructions, the son told police that he arrived at the apartment after his father’s death and retrieved the weapons.
Among the weapons was a sniper rifle from 1890, two revolvers, two Kalashnikov rifles, five pistols, cartridges and bullets. According to the son, the weapons were collected from the many wars his father participated in. The family now wants to donate the weapons to the IDF Artillery Museum.