NEWTON, MASS. (WHDH) - A Newton man is asking the public for help tracking down a bicycle that holds a lot of sentimental value for his wife.
Allan Steinmetz says he is willing to do whatever it takes to find his wife’s vintage bike after he accidentally sold it in a neighbor’s yard sale.
“She went ballistic and rightly so,” Steinmetz said of his wife’s reaction.
The reason his wife was so upset was because the bike was gifted to her by her late father, who was a Holocaust survivor.
After surviving the Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps, Steinmetz says his father-in-law lived life to the fullest, buying the best of everything.
This included a French Motobecane grand touring bike for his daughter.
“Instead of putting on the rallying bars, he put on regular straight handlebars to make sure that she stood straight and be proud of his survival and his heritage.”
Steinmetz is now putting up posters all over town hoping to bring the bike back home.
“I have spent the last four days doing nothing else,” he says.
The husband is finally getting some help in his quest from former Secretary of State John Kerry who tweeted, “Massachusetts: Hope we can help this nice man from Newton! As a husband, and as a son who never forgot those sentimental sentimental objects from my pa, this strikes a chord – and knowing her father was a Holocaust survivor makes it all the more poignant.”
Steinmetz knows that some people may laugh at their situation, however, for his family this search is about more than just a bike.
“I hurt my wife and I recognize it,” he said. “I love her dearly and I am doing whatever I can do to bring back that bicycle.”
He says he is willing to offer some sort of reward or reimbursement for the bike’s return.
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