Meet Artur Stasiek (History ’18), Estate Liquidator
Meet Artur Stasiek; he majored in history, graduating in 2018. Subsequently he joined the University of Glasgow for a Master of Letters in Conflict Archeology and Heritage. Although he is currently employed as an estate sale specialist at Merchant Traders Estate Sales in Chicago, Artur is a private historian who collects memorabilia of the second world war and maintains a blog to post about their hitherto unknown narratives. He defines these objects as ‘keepsakes’, or artifacts left behind as mementos: photographs, but also postcards, letters, items used in military, and so on. In his own admission, what fascinates him are “these tangible links left behind by the war.”
Artur was born to immigrant parents who left communist Poland in the 1980s. He was raised in Chicago suburbs hearing stories about the lives of his predecessors in Europe during the war-torn years. Artur’s grandmother survived the German occupation of Poland and she would often recount to him her experiences of living through those times. These accounts taught Artur to appreciate the past.
Artur’s penchant for unraveling the histories of the second world war spanning for almost a decade has taken him on a quest across two continents. ‘Conflict sites’ are of particular interest to Artur. These places bore witness to actual conflict, but they were also used for activities before and after it. As his blog elaborates, recruitment offices, army hospitals, barracks, graveyards, and monuments serve as examples of sites of conflict.
Artur’s training in history and archeology helps him in his job of liquidating estates. When his clients either want to sell off the possessions of their own homes or of their inheritance, his company is appointed to stage the house, price the contents, and host a sale. Artur is involved in every step of the process. His ability to examine the objects of a site, research them, and evaluate their price helps him smoothly carry out transactions. Artur’s passion and profession demonstrate the wide-ranging benefits of pursing history as an undergraduate.
