A suitcase containing letters and postcards from World War II has been discovered during rebuilding work in a restaurant in The Hague, local broadcaster Omroep West reports.

The letters were written by the Jewish man Israël Bachrach who fled The Hague for Switzerland in September 1942. He returned to the city after the war and opened a book shop in a building on the Denneweg, leaving the suitcase behind when he moved on.

The suitcase was found by the children of history teacher Hans Pols during the refurbishment of the building, which is now a restaurant. ‘This is the dream of every historian,’ Pols told Omroep West.

Pols says he will give the suitcase and the letters to an archive, but did not say which one.