The "Asterisk" Again

[bill m]

Hi Marvin,

Do you have any proof that the SS furnished forced labor in the Mauser Luger factory? At what positions in the Mauser Luger production were they used? Do you have any proof that forced labor was used in any highly exacting manufacturing proceedures or high tech proceedures of Lugers at Mauser? If this is all correct, they way isn't more "*" found in the byf 41 and 42's than the 1940's, as I'm sure the forced labor issue was worse in 42 than in 1940.


When did the SS "*" come into use? Is the "*" found on Lugers the very same as that used on the rings and other items? Size, style, and contex?


I always thought that Hitler lost faith in the SS and basically, they received left overs from the Army. The Army got first pick and first issue of all the good stuff. This said, in 1940 and 1941, Germany was rolling over everyone in their path, so SS inspections of forced labor makes some sense, but not SS inspections of Mauser produced weapons. Is the "*" found on other Mauser pistols, like the M1934, or HsC variations? Not to my knowledge. Do you think Mauser is going to allow the SS to put a stamp on there products? Not hardly. If that were the case, why have an Army acceptance stamp, and not an "*" stamp to show it was accepted? The "*" is an inspection mark or test mark of some kind, without question in my opinion, but not an acceptance mark, which is a big difference, done by MAUSER. If you are correct, then what were the SS inspecting with this mark on the Lugers anyway, the workmanship? Function? Hardness? Tolernaces? And why is the mark random, actually very scarce? Mauser had the contracts, not the SS, so Mauser was going to be responsible for their product. Do you actually think Mauser was going to put forced labor in positions to disrupt production? Perhaps shoveling coal into a furnance, or dipping parts in a solution, but not any highly skilled positions.


I think you have a very interesting theory here, Marvin, which needs a lot more research to have any merit as being correct. You may be on to something here, but you're going to have to provide some actual facts to some of the questions above as a starting point. I would gladly help you research some of this, but have no idea where to even start. Good luck and thanks for your opinion. Appreciate the effort!