Haunted History – A Deadly Possession – S01E05

This is honestly one of the strangest and most unusual stories I’ve heard about. The year is 1938 and the place is Poland. On the eve of World War 2, a small group of women hold a séance that opens a portal unleashing pure evil into the world. What follows is a series of unspeakable events, up to and including the holocaust.

The story begins with Kevin, owner of an antiques shop who bought some curious items at an Estate Sale. After bringing them back to the shop his assistant is terrified of an unknown and unseen force in the basement. Glass is shattered, machinery is thrown around the office. She quits her job, moves to Seattle and never speaks to Kevin again.

Shortly thereafter Kevin gives one of the items from the estate sale, a wine box, to his mother as a birthday gift. Within minutes she is struck down with a stroke. While at the hospital she scrawls "Hate box" on a sheet of paper. Has this old and rather non-descript wine box somehow given her a stroke? Is it laced with toxic chemicals?

Kevin goes on vacation with members of his family. While sitting and talking one night, they all explain they’ve had the same horrible dream – a hag that turns grotesque and feelings of death. They quickly learn they’ve all had the wine box in their possession at some point.

Kevin tries to get rid of the box and in this modern age feels eBay is the way to go. Why he feels this is appropriate is a bit of a mystery to me. He’s been plagued with bad luck and feels the box is the source of the problems and thus decides to pass the bad mojo onto someone else? Not cool. Although had I known about the sale I would have snagged it up.

Yosef buys the box, knowing the checkered history. He scoffs at the possibilities, but is soon trying to get rid of the box himself. It’s brought him nothing but back luck and nightmares. Soon it’s in the possession of Jason who also falls victim to health problems, nightmares, shadow figures and putrid smells. This box is far more powerful than the cursed Brady idol.

We come to learn the box may be a "Dibbuk Box" a vessel used to hold evil spirits. So how did this all come about and what does that original séance have to do with anything?

Working together, Kevin ends up going back to the estate where he bought the box from to try and get some answers. Turns out the woman who answers the door is an old schoolmate of his and she explains that her grandmother was the owner of the box. She relates a story of her grandmother and her cousin practicing séances in Poland right before the war. The poverty was rampant, there was a lot of death and the tide of anti-Semitic feelings were on the rise. Without making it sound trite, the séance was a way to pass the time. And perhaps gave hope of life after death.

During one of their sessions, the pair believe they locked on to an evil entity and it pushed it’s way into our world. They tried to perform a ceremony to trap the spirit. The night was Nov 10, 1938 – Kristallnacht – Night of Broken Glass.

This is the night synagogues were destroyed and Jewish men were rounded up and arrested. Another example of Eugenics was in full swing and the Jewish people were the target. The women believe their failed ceremony influenced the Holocaust. They brought evil into the world during a séance.

Another ceremony is tried and this time they believe they’ve trapped the spirit – in the wine box that Kevin bought from the estate sale. Now Jason is in the possession of the box of evil and needs to figure out what to do with it.

Jason calls in a Medium who gets strong feelings of pain and death from the box. She also feels it’s from outside the US. She also admits she feels and evil presence from it. Now what can Jason do? Ironically, he speaks with a Jewish rabbi and builds and Ark for the box. He makes a box of acacia wood and is lined with 24k gold. The wine box is placed inside and he hides it away where only he knows where it is. In essence he has made his own little Ark of the Covenant.

As I said, this story is truly bizarre and would make most likely send John Zaffis into a tizzy. A little salt in a glass container wouldn’t stop this rascal. Can this box really contain the energy of some sort of demon? Did a séance bring forth an evil that actually set the wheels in motion for the Holocaust? What of the pains and strange coincidences that happened right after Kevin brought the box into his shop and gave it to his mom? Is the box just covered with a strange varnish or built from a wood that causes a reaction in people? Is it chemically toxic rather than spiritually charged? And what would have happened if Kevin or Jason would have just burned the box? Would that release the energy and start another series of horrible events?

It’s widely believed that an object can hold both positive and negative energy. Clearly a battery is a solid object that holds chemical energy. Can something like a wooden wine box used in a séance ceremony contain evil? It’s really hard to imagine, but is it possible?

There is a lot of coincidence surrounding that wine box. And those who mess with it all seem to have similar experiences. I can’t really say a homemade Ouija board is responsible for those atrocities, but what if…..?

Haunted History – A Deadly Possession

Other Articles of Interest:

• Deadly Possessions – Dibbuk Box and Robert the Doll – S01E01
• The Dead Files – Terror in the Shadows – S01E03
• Ghost Adventures – Ashmore Estate – S05E01
• Paranormal Lockdown – Oliver House – S02E03
• Lucifer – New Series with Tom Ellis
• Ghost Adventures – The Haunted Museum Live – Halloween Edition
• Ghost Adventures – La Palazza Mansion – S04E09
• Ghost Stalkers – Whisperers Estate – S01E01
• Paranormal State S04E02 – Invitation to Evil
• Haunted Collector – Shadow Boxer and Ghost Storm – S03E08