After discovering on Tuesday that his antique shop in Graz-Gries had been perfidiously robbed, Erhard Szabo is still shocked – and suddenly lost his livelihood…
There is no sign of a burglary in the front area of the antique shop. But when you climb the two steps into the second room, there is suddenly a huge hole in the floor. Splintered wood lies around, brick dust hangs in the air and broken tiles crunch under shoes. “Normally you break into a jeweler’s or a bank, but not a junk goods dealer.” Business owner Erhard Szabo still can’t believe it. His antique shop on Josef-Huber-Gasse in Graz was the target of a spectacular coup between Saturday noon and Tuesday noon. “When we saw the hole, we were speechless!” On Tuesday he and his son Laurenz went into business unscheduled. “I usually don’t open until Wednesday afternoon, but we had an appointment with an auction house.” At first the 61-year-old thought something had fallen over the back. “Then I saw the hole. It’s unbelievable.” Even the junior boss couldn’t believe it at first: “I was just speechless.” The perpetrators were after daggers and medals. The unknown perpetrators penetrated the apartment building via the basement. “From there, they apparently used hydraulic tools to get through the wooden structure, the concrete ceiling and the tiled floor from below into the antique shop on the ground floor,” says Markus Lamb, spokesman for the Styrian police. Erhard Szabo’s shop has specialized in historical objects from the First and Second World Wars. The burglars were mainly after daggers and medals. The amount of damage is considerable and, according to initial estimates, should be in the six-digit range. However, the antique dealer must first determine the exact extent. The scene of the crime was scouted out beforehand. “The hole is right in the middle of the room,” says Laurenz. Since father suspects a commissioned act. But he’s not sure if the crooks really knew what they were looking for. The 61-year-old, who is 70 percent disabled due to a serious illness, has turned his hobby into a career with his small business. “I couldn’t find any more work. But I really wanted to work,” he says. And because he already liked collecting as a child, the step into self-employment was clear relatively quickly. “Although I used to be laughed at for it.” Now his success proves him right. Many well-known auction houses are now working with the Styrian, who mainly works at special fairs. The French film “Rififi” was shot in 1955. In crook-speak, “Rififi” means a fight among gangsters that can go to extremes. It’s about a highly complex planned coup that succeeds, but then ends fatally for everyone. The black and white film gives its name to particularly sophisticated crimes.Criminals with dirty clothesAccording to the police, it can be assumed that several perpetrators were at work in the so-called Rififi burglary (particularly sophisticated). Due to the brute nature of the criminals’ clothing must have been very dirty. This could not be secured. “If anyone sees such work clothes, they should contact us,” emphasizes police spokesman Markus Lamb. Please call 059133/60-3333 and any police station for information. However, Erhard Szabo does not believe that the matter will arise again: “They are probably already abroad.”
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