Militaria - Stuff you have and hate but think you should hold onto

[Smithy]

I've been trying to tidy up all my stuff of late. The wife has been onto about it and rightly so, I've got lots of stuff which just needs to be organised and stored so it's not in the way.

Doing this I came across a Waffen-SS cap I have, it's in perfect condition (dated to '44) and something I've had for years but in truth it always makes me uneasy. I've got some WWII German stuff which I don't really have a problem with but this is the only Waffen-SS thing I have and it still gives me chills whenever I pick it up. It's in perfect condition and I think yeah, I could sell it but it is an amazing historical piece.

Just wondering whether anyone else here has that similar kind of quandary with having an interesting historic piece but perhaps one that is slightly unsavoury in terms of its origins.

The cap is beautiful and in excellent condition but what it represents always makes me think twice about it, especially that death's head badge. Part of me wants to sell it but the other side of me thinks if I hold onto it, it's going to shoot up in value. Waffen-SS caps have doubled in value over the last ten years and I'm wondering if it's worth hanging onto it.

 

[B-Man2]

Tim
I’ve dealt with this topic on a number of occasions talking to people about some of the items in my collections . My response is this.
“This item represents a period in history that was horrendous, but it as bad as it was, it should never be forgotten . As the saying goes those who ignore and forget about history are doomed to repeat it . Secondly this item represents something that young men from many country’s dropped everything in their lives and went to fight against . In the process of doing that, they collected and brought home war trophies as mementos of their participation in that war . They brought them home as a souvenir of being there, fighting against that threat and saying “yes I was there, I did my part, and I captured this as a result of being there, and here it is ,to prove I was there” . Most of those young men are gone now, but if you’re a family member who happens to have an item like this , always remember what the person who captured it sacrificed to obtain it and bring it home , so that later generations would never forget . Some may disagree but those are my feelings on the issue .

 

[Smithy]

Tim
I’ve dealt with this topic on a number of occasions talking to people about some of the items in my collections . My response is this.
“This item represents a period in history that was horrendous, but it as bad as it was, it should never be forgotten . As the saying goes those who ignore and forget about history are doomed to repeat it . Secondly this item represents something that young men from many country’s dropped everything in their lives and went to fight against . In the process of doing that, they collected and brought home war trophies as mementos of their participation in that war . They brought them home as a souvenir of being there, fighting against that threat and saying “yes I was there, I did my part, and I captured this as a result of being there, and here it is ,to prove I was there” . Most of those young men are gone now, but if you’re a family member who happens to have an item like this , always remember what the person who captured it sacrificed to obtain it and bring it home , so that later generations would never forget . Some may disagree but those are my feelings on the issue .

Well said and well reasoned Burt.

I'll hold onto the Waffen-SS cap for a bit longer as prices rise. As a piece of militaria it is spectacular. Just every now and again what it represents gives me the willies.

 

[Silver Surfer]

Some years I sold off the few nazi items that I had. Most came to me from vets or other kids whose dads brought them home. Most of the stuff that was around when I was a kid were all kinds of insignia, and badges. Lots of helmets, too. Some kids would tell of their pops sheathed long knife with swastikas on them, but we’re not allowed to monkey around with them. Same with German side arms. Japanese loot usually consisted of bayonets, insignia, badges, and unit, or regiment banners and or flags. At some point in my 30s I got some kinda creepy feeling about the nazi stuff, kinda like that scene at the end of “raiders of the lost ark”, like the karma of the stuff was caustic. Wwll and the third reich are long gone and over, but nazism remains alive and well.

 

[London Cabbie]

Black G-1 by 5*

 

[Chris 55]

Tim
I’ve dealt with this topic on a number of occasions talking to people about some of the items in my collections . My response is this.
“This item represents a period in history that was horrendous, but it as bad as it was, it should never be forgotten . As the saying goes those who ignore and forget about history are doomed to repeat it . Secondly this item represents something that young men from many country’s dropped everything in their lives and went to fight against . In the process of doing that, they collected and brought home war trophies as mementos of their participation in that war . They brought them home as a souvenir of being there, fighting against that threat and saying “yes I was there, I did my part, and I captured this as a result of being there, and here it is ,to prove I was there” . Most of those young men are gone now, but if you’re a family member who happens to have an item like this , always remember what the person who captured it sacrificed to obtain it and bring it home , so that later generations would never forget . Some may disagree but those are my feelings on the issue .

What a reply you nailed it.

 

[warguy]

As a long time Militaria collector I always find it strange that folks get such bad vibes about the Nazi stuff but will collect Japanese items and Russian items without the same sick feeling. Those who know their history should understand the level of atrocities committed by other warring nations. Like
most serious Militaria collectors, I do it for the history it represents of course and not for political reasons or to relish in the terrible things committed by certain units, etc,

Having said that, I do get it and in fact I am in the process of liquidating much of my thirty year German collection but I am doing that not because owning it keeps me up at night, but rather to refocus my collection into US Arny Airforce and USMC. Some of this also is to downsize as I consider a final move to a smaller home in my sunset years. The most difficult part is that I have a library of dozens of books on German military collectibles and now won’t be referencing them much.

 

[Smithy]

As a long time Militaria collector I always find it strange that folks get such bad vibes about the Nazi stuff but will collect Japanese items and Russian items without the same sick feeling. Those who know their history should understand the level of atrocities committed by other warring nations. Like
most serious Militaria collectors, I do it for the history it represents of course and not for political reasons or to relish in the terrible things committed by certain units, etc,

Having said that, I do get it and in fact I am in the process of liquidating much of my thirty year German collection but I am doing that not because owning it keeps me up at night, but rather to refocus my collection into US Arny Airforce and USMC. Some of this also is to downsize as I consider a final move to a smaller home in my sunset years. The most difficult part is that I have a library of dozens of books on German military collectibles and now won’t be referencing them much.

It doesn't keep me up at night. It's a great piece - it's near mint with no moth holes or discoloration from age, it's just for whatever reason as I get older I'm starting to feel I want it less and less. That's not because of the historic nature of it but more what it represents. Maybe that's me becoming more of an idealistic old coot as I get older but for whatever the reason, I like the idea of having it less than I did when I was younger. It's also something that lives in a box wrapped in acid free paper and only gets dragged out when someone asks to see it.

In the meantime, I'm going to hold onto it, as I mentioned above Waffen-SS caps have roughly doubled in value in the last 10 years so I'm thinking of it purely as something I'll sell in a few years time after hopefully it's increased in value a little bit more.

 

[ausreenactor]

Happy to have it all...

If it it appreciates I will appreciate it. If I get it cheaply...even better.

Never now when that fifth pistol cleaning rid will come in handy.

 

[Smithy]

The thing with Waffen-SS stuff is that the prices are always increasing so much more than for example Wehrmacht or Luftwaffe stuff. I suppose it's that whole allure of "Le Terrible", but they've been really shooting up over the last few years.

 

[B-Man2]

The thing with Waffen-SS stuff is that the prices are always increasing so much more than for example Wehrmacht or Luftwaffe stuff. I suppose it's that whole allure of "Le Terrible", but they've been really shooting up over the last few years.

Well …. If you think about that fact alone ie the prices doubling etc . That means that a hell of a lot of new and old collectors of all ages still have an interest in this stuff . That should offer you a little different perspective. .

 

[Silver Surfer]

Nothing keeps me up at night,………except my wife’s snoring.

 

[stanier]

I've been trying to tidy up all my stuff of late. The wife has been onto about it and rightly so, I've got lots of stuff which just needs to be organised and stored so it's not in the way.

Doing this I came across a Waffen-SS cap I have, it's in perfect condition (dated to '44) and something I've had for years but in truth it always makes me uneasy. I've got some WWII German stuff which I don't really have a problem with but this is the only Waffen-SS thing I have and it still gives me chills whenever I pick it up. It's in perfect condition and I think yeah, I could sell it but it is an amazing historical piece.

Just wondering whether anyone else here has that similar kind of quandary with having an interesting historic piece but perhaps one that is slightly unsavoury in terms of its origins.

The cap is beautiful and in excellent condition but what it represents always makes me think twice about it, especially that death's head badge. Part of me wants to sell it but the other side of me thinks if I hold onto it, it's going to shoot up in value. Waffen-SS caps have doubled in value over the last ten years and I'm wondering if it's worth hanging onto it.

Tim mate, I get every word. A piece of history and something a lot of people would want to own, buy you don't feel comfy with it. I've got a Luftwaffe dagger someone gifted me, and kind as that was, I wish they hadn't, I'm just not into that Nazi stuff whichever way it's spun. somehow I don't mind models, but the actual thing just gives me the creeps, I'd rather it gone.

But, history is history... and it could be worse...

 

[Silver Surfer]

This thread reminds me of the kriegsmarine u-boat watch that I bought in Antwerp in the ‘70s. Never sold it, so it must be around……….somewhere. Brain, don’t go Homer Simpson on me.

 

[MauldinFan]

I knew a Marine vet who had a Japanese skull as a war trophy. Before he passed away, I worked with the Japanese consulate to have it taken to Japan for burial and DNA extraction. They never found out who thean was.
Another vet I knew brought some truly nightmarish items out of a concentration camp. Let's just say there were bones involved. I'd had the the family in touch with the holocaust museum but never heard what happened there.
I'm a vet myself, but even with a lifetime of studying WW2, I know I'll never fully understand the scope of the horror and suffering involved.
I have things in my own collection that give me pause. Flak pieces recovered from a B17, items from KIA soldiers, even fragments of a BF110 where the crew all died very badly. I think it's important to never forget the cause of all these "neat things" we collect.

 

[Smithy]

I knew a Marine vet who had a Japanese skull as a war trophy. Before he passed away, I worked with the Japanese consulate to have it taken to Japan for burial and DNA extraction. They never found out who thean was.
Another vet I knew brought some truly nightmarish items out of a concentration camp. Let's just say there were bones involved. I'd had the the family in touch with the holocaust museum but never heard what happened there.
I'm a vet myself, but even with a lifetime of studying WW2, I know I'll never fully understand the scope of the horror and suffering involved.
I have things in my own collection that give me pause. Flak pieces recovered from a B17, items from KIA soldiers, even fragments of a BF110 where the crew all died very badly. I think it's important to never forget the cause of all these "neat things" we collect.

I'm mates with Ken Wynn (he of "Men of the Battle of Britain" fame) and I still remember when I went round to his house the first time - he has probably the largest private collection of artefacts from downed aircraft from the Battle of Britain, a simply huge collection. Several are bloodstained parachutes from both Fighter Command and the Luftwaffe - very sobering to see and hold. Terrific pieces from a historical standpoint but chilling and confronting to have in your hands.

 

[Smithy]

View attachment 67493

Good Lord Chris that's far worse than a Waffen-SS cap, truly a thing of abject horror and from the bottom of humanity's barrel!

 

[MauldinFan]

I've known people with some truly amazing things in collections. One friend of mine was digging around Antietam (on private land outside the park, with landowner permission) and found a skeleton of a Yankee soldier, with a shattered pelvis and next to it as a belt buckle holed by the minee ball that killed him.
Another guy I know went to Russia to look over some WW2 battlefields and found a German M35 helmet not only with a nasty shrapnel penetration to the side, but he found large chunks of skull to the opposite side of the inside of the helmet.
All, truly sobering.
I befriended a 91st BG co-pilot in the 90s, who sadly has since passed away (blue skies, Mister Delo). But back in the day, he gave me all his WW2 stuff except for his A2 (his son had that) and his M1911A1 (which he didn't offer to give it to me and I wouldn't have dreamed of asking for anything of his). Among the neatest things he gave me was two pieces of flak recovered from his B-17. One had the rifling visible, and the other had a blob of aluminum on one end, He said that was from when it punched through the bottom of the nose, came up underneath him and schwacked against the [stolen] British manhole cover some of them screwed underneath their seats. He was adamant that that extra plate saved his favorite part of himself, and he kept it. They ditched that B-17 into the North Sea during the "Big week" in 1944, so I have the only part of it in existence. You always read about flak and see the photos, but holding a piece really brings it home.
I've been peppered by shrapnel and debris from explosions in the Army, but I couldn't imagine flying into a wall of that mess! I tell people that WW2 bombers could have carried more bombs, but they had to also account for the big brass ones those airmen had!