Polish collectors: a bit corroded, but complete, eh? Now where would one find something like that?
"Nieśmiertelnik niemiecki http://Pi.Ers.Kp. 269" 179,99 zł That's some nasty corrosion, almost like organic acids and who knows what else has been all over it. But collectable for many many Polish "passionates"
Polish collectors, passionate about the past: a bit corroded, but complete, eh? Quite deeply corroded, something has eaten deep into this one. Now where would one find something like that?
"Nieśmiertelnik niemiecki L.E.B.7" 129,99 zł
That's some nasty corrosion, almost like organic acids and who knows what else has been all over it. But collectable for many many Polish "passionates".
Another one for Polish collectors: a bit corroded, but complete, eh? Now where would one find something like that? There's some money to be made here:
"Nieśmiertelnik Inf Ers Btl 474" 179,99 zł"
"NIEŚMIERTELNIK - ŁADNY, WYRAŻNE CYFRY i LITERY 999 zł" https://allegrolokalnie.pl/oferta/niesmiertelnik-
"Nieśmiertelnik jeniecki z okresu II Wojny Światowej. Stan widoczny na zdjęciach. Z uwagi na nieznajomość tematu i nie chcąc nikogo wprowadzać w błąd wystawiam jako kopia. Brak możliwości zwrotu".
Odd corrosion. Stalag VIII-E (also known as Stalag 308) was a German World War II prisoner-of-war camp located next to the village of Neuhammer, Silesia (now Świętoszów, Poland). Polish, French and Soviet prisoners died there. Did this belong to one of them?
Finds lie this are relatively common on sites where metal detectorists and collectors sell items, and are very troubling. The letters were stamped on with punches when the individual mentioned entered a military unit (or in the case of the last, prison) and were carried on their person all the time. The idea was that if they were injured or killed in action, the tag could be snapped in half and the part that was on a thong or chain around the body's neck stayed with it to identify it when it was buried. The other would go to the unit's command and the lists of the dead would be compiled on their basis. Thus the latter snapped off halves could get into the ground relatively easily as once copied onto lists they were of no further use. The other half usually would have found their way to proper military graves.
The issue is that these unsnapped ones were often lost in the field with unrecovered bodies.* when a detectorist finds such a body there will be metal buttons, metal equipment fittings (buckles, hooks, studs), military decorations, hat badges, indicators of rank, and sometimes objects of organic material (ammunition pouches, belts etc). The fact that these items appear on the collector's market raises the question how they were retrieved and what happened to any human remains and personal belongings that were separated from these identification tags? Were they recovered by specialist services, or were they ignored and scattered in the forest with the artefact hunter taking just the collectable items to sell on? ** Though I may have missed one or two, I have not seen a single case on a Polish forum where somebody asks the finder or seller of such an item to explain precisely how they got their hands on it.
* Others may have been discarded when units were disbanded, telling these from those on bodies needs knowing the context of discovery.
The issue is that these unsnapped ones were often lost in the field with unrecovered bodies.* when a detectorist finds such a body there will be metal buttons, metal equipment fittings (buckles, hooks, studs), military decorations, hat badges, indicators of rank, and sometimes objects of organic material (ammunition pouches, belts etc). The fact that these items appear on the collector's market raises the question how they were retrieved and what happened to any human remains and personal belongings that were separated from these identification tags? Were they recovered by specialist services, or were they ignored and scattered in the forest with the artefact hunter taking just the collectable items to sell on? ** Though I may have missed one or two, I have not seen a single case on a Polish forum where somebody asks the finder or seller of such an item to explain precisely how they got their hands on it.
* Others may have been discarded when units were disbanded, telling these from those on bodies needs knowing the context of discovery.
** there are also a lot of fakes, distressed to make it look as if they came off bodies.
No comments:
Post a Comment