Flooding in Germany leads to hidden Nazi cache

[MiddenMonster]

A guy in Hagen, Germany was renovating his aunt's home after it was damaged by recent flooding. In a wall cavity he found a cache of Nazi artifacts, including newspapers, documents, gas masks, a revolver and the most badass set of brass knuckles I've ever seen. Good picture in the article, and I would love to read about what was in the documents in the future:

Hidden Nazi cache revealed in Hagen

Wouldn't mind having the revolver, either...

 

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[crashbandicoot]

Neve know what,s in those walls!That is one whoop ass set of knucks and that revolver sure has a big bore!

 

[MiddenMonster]

Neve know what,s in those walls!That is one whoop ass set of knucks and that revolver sure has a big bore!

Based on what's shown in the pictures, that guy's uncle--or whoever lived in the house during the Nazi days, was pretty high up in the hierarchy. The "Gautag" medal indicates a regional administrator, or at least a member of the administration of the South Westfalen district. I'm not sure if "10 Jahre" means they were members for 10 years, or if the organization was 10 years old at the time the medal was created. The little "SA" pin means they were a member of the Sturmabteilung, i.e. Brownshirts. When you throw the gas mask, revolver and those brass knuckles into the mix you have to conclude that whoever owned them was serious trouble who probably created more than their share of mayhem and damage before WWII (The Big One) ever started. No wonder they hid all that stuff in the walls when the Allies blew into town. That's the kind of person who ended up in a war crimes trial. It would be interesting to place a name to the items and find out what happened to them. I wonder how many chins and cheeks those brass knuckles stoved in back in the day?

 

[islamoradamark]

Thanks for the read very interesting

 

[MiddenMonster]

Here's an update, based on a Live Science article. The aunt evidently didn't live in the house back in the Nazi days; the house apparently served as the local office for the Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt, which was a welfare organization. The article goes on to say that some of the artifacts that were found were probably display items for the office. The cache was actually found in a narrow shaft between two houses, I guess like row houses. What is interesting, and wasn't in the first article is that 12 boxes of stuff was removed from this location, including documents on pregnant women. Here's the followup article:

History teacher finds secret cache of Nazi artifacts hidden behind house wall

 

[RTR]

A guy in Hagen, Germany was renovating his aunt's home after it was damaged by recent flooding. In a wall cavity he found a cache of Nazi artifacts, including newspapers, documents, gas masks, a revolver and the most badass set of brass knuckles I've ever seen. Good picture in the article, and I would love to read about what was in the documents in the future:

Hidden Nazi cache revealed in Hagen

Wouldn't mind having the revolver, either...

A Luger would of been much better

 

[MiddenMonster]

A Luger would of been much better

Yes, as long as it had all the original parts. I think the German Luger had issues when parts were replaced. I always loved that gun, with the swept back grip and the overall not-messin'-around look it had.

 

[Gare]

I myself would be really scared to dig items in Europe with all the unexploded ordnance THERE 111

 

[VaGent]

I myself would be really scared to dig items in Europe with all the unexploded ordnance THERE 111

There are a LOT of guys who dig WW2 stuff, especially on the Eastern Front. I used to follow some of them on FB. As much "grave robber" bad press as they sometimes got, the ones I saw did in fact make sure human remains were properly turned in and documented. But you have a point about live ordnance....

 

[Gare]

Thanks VaGent it just scares me bad. I have had to DIS ARM American Civil war items after 150 years old they were still dangerous. I can not imagine finding things from WW 2

 

[crashbandicoot]

Thanks VaGent it just scares me bad. I have had to DIS ARM American Civil war items after 150 years old they were still dangerous. I can not imagine finding things from WW 2

I read a lot of WWII history.Currently I,m reading on the breakout from Normandy and the pursuit across France. I just finished reading a large volume on the Lorraine Campaign.At several times they list the number of artillery rounds fired in a day and it,s astronomical. This is just the 105mm and larger,it doesn,t count the mortar and tank rounds fired.Some days over 20,000 rounds were fired into a very small area. Count me out on a metal detecting expedition to WWII battlegrounds.

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

Very cool !

 

[MiddenMonster]

Count me out on a metal detecting expedition to WWII battlegrounds.

Good grief, Crash! Doesn't that pretty much exclude all of mainland Europe, then? Just get yourself one of those explosive sniffing pigs--and make sure it ain't one trained for truffles!

 

[crashbandicoot]

Good grief, Crash! Doesn't that pretty much exclude all of mainland Europe, then? Just get yourself one of those explosive sniffing pigs--and make sure it ain't one trained for truffles!