Presentation Luger
 

Ed, Hugh, this one's for you.

http://www.hermann-historica.com/auk...s/lot/2451.htm

If this is real (seems to be) then there must be others for more "notable" folks.

rk

Hey, I should never have come out of the closet! :D

I believe Dr. Ley commited suicide in his cell before they could hang him as a war criminal.
Lonnie

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Originally posted by Lonnie Zimmerman:
<strong>I believe Dr. Ley commited suicide in his cell before they could hang him as a war criminal.
Lonnie</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">What did he do?

John, he didn't commit suicide becuase he owned a "flashy" gun :D

(sorry, I've read it, but don't remember)

<img border="0" alt="[jumper]" title="" src="graemlins/jumper.gif" /> One of these days I'm gonna have a pair of Ivory grips like those on my Armydilly gun! <img border="0" alt="[jumper]" title="" src="graemlins/jumper.gif" />

Robert Ley was head of the Labor Front of the Reich during the war. He helped organize, with Speer and Sauckel, slave, prisoner of war, and forced labor. If I remember right, he hung himself with a belt in his cell, after that, none of the inmates were allowed belts.

Speer made out like a bandit, didn't he?

Yes. Albert Speer was probably the second most dedicated Nazi of the war, only behind Hitler. In his book, Inside the Third Reich he claims that he was just a nonpolitical miracle worker, that he didn’t know about the death camps, and that he hated Hitler and even plotted to kill him. None of these things was true. Like a lot of Germans, he was a meticulous record keeper. And after the war, they found Memoranda in his vast files that gave detailed accounts of the death camps, his massive use of slave labor, and even several letters expressing gushing admiration to Hitler. During Nuremberg, he went to great lengths to point out that he had fought for the Jews to provide them better food and shelter. But, once again, according to his own documents, he only did this so they would be more productive workers. Much has been written about how he weaseled out of the noose at Nuremberg. Basically, he was a cool and smart character under pressure, admitting his guilt and being the only one to show remorse.

Tac:

The German occupation of the Channel Islands in 1940 is the source of one of the most incredible photos I have of WW2. It’s on pages 6-7 of the Time Life WW2 series book “The Battle of Britain”. In this photo, it shows two British bobbies on the Channel island of Guernsey, watching over the harbor area while a German soldier calmly walks toward them. Another photo shows a German sentry with a 98k rifle in front of the RAF headquarters on the island. He’s got a smirk on his face. Other photos show English and Germans mingling freely. It never ceases to amaze me the amiable attitude that the Germans and the English sometimes had toward each other during WW2. It’s a fact that Spitfire and ME-109 pilots showed chivalry toward each other during the Battle of Britain. And both Hitler and Rommel left written accounts that they regretted having to fight and kill the English. Speaking as an American, I find this cultural phenomenon most interesting and amazing.

I believe that the Channel Islands occupation was entirely bloodless, free of atrocities, and a very amiable affair overall.