Thesis Interview items

[HerrKaiser]

Hello all,

As some may remember or know through correspondence with me, I am in the process of writing a master’s thesis of American memory of World War II through the lens of war trophies and souvenirs. Today I was able to get my first interview in. Attached are some pictures of the overall stuff brought home by this interview subject’s grandfather, including his very nicely kept 1916 DWM Luger. I’ll try to keep this thread updated as I get through more interviews and more stuff. In the meantime, hopefully you enjoy!

[lugerholsterrepair]

Quinton, Sweet! I suspect that very fine Luger has been kept in that holster all these many years..A kick in the head to the holster causing damage theory...

[HerrKaiser]

Hello,

So, an addition where some of you could potentially help with this project Part of my aforementioned thesis will cover the WW2 militaria collecting market and its impact on American perception and collective memory of the war. I figure that at least some of us here on the forum fall into that sphere. If you would be willing to help me by filling out a survey; link included here and at the bottom: https://bgsu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/f...16m0rquZA5YYUBit would be very much appreciated.

It is a 7 question survey, and one that does not require or even ask for any personal identifying information. The questions are just asking your views on the WW2 militaria market and the impact it has on general American memory of the war, if at all. Included below is the university required IRB form which also gives a more complete outline of my project as a whole if you are interested, I have it set up and approved to require no action or signature to protect and ensure the anonymity of respondents. The survey link is also at the bottom of the post, I apologize for the long read to get to it but I am required by the university to present all this information about the project to you first. I cant seem to get it uploaded as a word file either. Thank you for your interest and have a wonderful day!

(PS, if you have taken it once you cannot take it again from the same computer or it will discard your answer)


Informed Consent For: COLLECTIVE MEMORY


Summary and Key Information

I am studying the relationship between Americans who have collections of World War II memorabilia and the American memory of World War II that surrounds them through interviews and surveys. That is to say, how does or did Grandpa’s Beer Stein collection or captured battle flag hanging over the fireplace influence people’s memories and perceptions of World War II. Many soldiers took home military equipment (such as weapons, uniforms, flags, and other military supplies) or trinkets and decorations (such as jewelry, watches, Beer steins, silverware, cameras, etc.) that they had confiscated or found during the war in order to show off to their families and have as keepsakes to remember their times in military service. I am conducting interviews and surveys in order to understand how the presence of these objects which were brought home by service members affected their families’ understanding of World War II. The study also seeks to understand how the excess of these keepsakes generated a major collecting market in the United States, and how collectors/dealers view both the war and society’s image of militaria collectors in general, also to be conducted by a survey questionnaire.

About the Researcher:

My name is Quintin Monnin and I am a Graduate Student in the Bowling Green State University History Department. My advisor is Dr. Walter Grunden, also of the BGSU History Department. We are studying American War and Memory through the lens of the objects and war trophies taken home by soldiers during the war and subsequent occupations.
You are reading this as you are about to take the survey regarding collectors/dealers of World War II militaria and your views on how it influences and contributes to American memory of World War II now and in the future.

Purpose:
This study is important because American looting and trophy taking in World War II is a very widely known phenonemon in popular culture, but there has been little scholarly research done with a focus on the practice. It comes up very frequently, but only in passing mention, in scholarly, biographical and autobiographical books such as Band of Brothers (Ambrose), Parachute Infantry (Webster), War Without Mercy (Dower), The Good Occupation (Carruthers), With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa (Sledge), and Infantry (Stannard), to name a few. The only scholarly work done on this particular aspect was a thesis written in 2010 by Seth Givens at Ohio University titled “Bringing Back Memories”, but his thesis only looks at American looting and souvenir hunting during the war with little said about the fate of objects taken after soldiers returned home. That is where this project seeks to pick up from.

The benefits to you are that it gives you a "safe space" to discuss your collecting hobby and the value these artifacts have to you and society at large as some may feel these items to be too controversial to discuss in a more public forum. The benefits to society at large are more broad and general. One such benefit would be that it could give more credence and positive visibility to collectors of militaria, which some may consider a taboo hobby given the nature of some of the items collected. In research of collecting, militaria collectors seem to be perceived as an ostracized group of the collecting world as a whole. It can also provide a clearer picture of how social memory functions in relation to war veterans who have passed on and can no longer speak their minds, but which have left their legacy and possible influence in a material way.

Procedure:

For surveys of dealers and collectors, The process will be:

1. Subjects find survey online in a public forum OR are directed to it by myself or colleagues familiar with my work in personal conversation and they wish to participate.
2. Subjects read the informed consent page on the front of the survey and choose to take and submit the survey or not.
3. Subjects are then finished with the process

Voluntary Nature:

Your participation is completely voluntary. You are free to withdraw at any time. You may decide to skip questions or discontinue participation for any or no reason without explanation or penalty. Your decision on participation will not affect your relationship with Bowling Green State University.

Confidentiality Protection:

In the surveys you are not asked to give any signatures for consent nor are you compelled in any manner during the surveys to give any personal information, it is purely voluntary should you choose to do so. The software used to run the survey is set to track them anonymously, I can contact you only if a voluntary release of personal or contact information in the survey is given. Note that in an online survey (1) some employers may use tracking software so you may want to complete the survey on a personal computer, (2) you should not leave the survey open if using a public computer or a computer that others may have access to, (3) you should clear your browser cache and page history after completing the survey.

Risks:

The risk of participation is no greater than that experienced in daily life.

Contact Information:

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding the project or your participation in it, please contact us.
Quintin Monnin: Graduate Student
Email: qmonnin@bgsu.edu
Address: 143 Williams Hall

Walter Grunden: Associate Professor, graduate faculty

Phone: 419-372-8639
Email: wgrund@bgsu.edu
Address: 134 Williams Hall

You may also contact the Chair of the Bowling Green State University Institutional Review Board, at 419-372-7716 or orc@bgsu.edu, if you have any questions about your rights as a participant in this research. Thank you very much for your interest in the project!


INFORMED CONSENT AGREEMENT:
I have been informed of the purposes, procedures, risks and benefits of this study. I have had the opportunity to have all my questions answered and I have been informed that my participation is completely voluntary. I agree to participate in this research. In lieu of a signature in order to protect my confidentiality/anonymity, I recognize that by continuing with this survey I am indicating my informed consent to participate in this project.

SURVEY LINK: https://bgsu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/f...16m0rquZA5YYUB

[mrerick]

The link fails to bring up anything.

[HerrKaiser]

That should have fixed it, link works from my screen.

[Edward Tinker]

done

[Mac Cat]

The link is working. I contributed my thoughts. Good luck with your survey and research!

[HerrKaiser]

Once again; a hearty and sincere thank you to all who have participated so far, and to any who may do so in the future. Even now with only 11 responses thus far submitted, there very high quality answers and insights that are very helpful to the project.

On Wednesday I am going to a local gun range to meet another interview candidate, and we will be mixing business with pleasure as he wanted to bring some of his C&R firearms to the range(he said he wanted to give some time to think about this survey before answering it). Here over the course of the next month and a half or so, I should be conducting at least 4 more of the interviews and then posting some long-overdue pictures of the stuff from them (so long as they are okay with it).

[mrerick]

Done... Hope it's useful.

See our recent book on Paul Mauser for an example of how artifacts can help bring history to current relevance.

http://www.paul-mauser-archive.com/book%20information.htm

[HerrKaiser]

It’s been awhile for this thread, but I have another interesting item. A Japanese good luck flag.