![]() The bottom of the canister is heavily rusted and through these rusted holes can be seen some of the white coloured filter lining. The remnants of a small manufacturer's stamp are also barely visible. On the canister is stamped in faded blue ink '9u'. When the canister is removed an embossed 'H2' can be seen on the outside circular metal mounting surface of the mask. A long khaki cotton webbing strap attached near the chin enables the mask to be suspended around the neck.Ī rusted and scratched grey-green canister filter unit is attached to the mask. Khaki cotton head straps are connected to coiled springs inside cotton sleeves to keep mask in place. The right 'spider' fitted to the mask has some of the inner circular metal piece missing. Internally, the eyepieces have removable metal 'spiders' enabling the inner layer (which was coated with gelatine to absorb moisture) to be replaced. The circular eyepieces are made of two layers of yellowed celluloid, set in painted circular steel frames with leather gaskets where they are let into the mask. The single seam running under the chin and the folded edge of the mask are coated with a black sealant lacquer partially made from rubber. The mask is made from a single piece of chrome-tanned sheepskin dipped in an oil sealant solution. have been in the process of viewing and sorting the recovered material.German 'Lederschutzmaske' (Leather protection mask) gas mask. ![]() “The amount of material found in the wall is overwhelming,” the city archive said on Facebook on Monday. Archivists were able to find more information about Wiedey in the city records, including the fact that she married in 1913 and had two children, but were unable to track down much about her apparently unsuccessful suitor.Īrchivists have recovered 12 boxes of materials from the site and are in the process of examining them. In addition to the Nazi-era materials, a 1905 love letter sent to a 17-year-old girl named Hedwig Wiedey was found hidden in the hoard, reports Mike Fiebig for Die Westfalenpost. The NSV most likely kept them in a “memory corner” of the office alongside badges bearing images of eagles and swastikas. “We hope, for example, to come across files on the distribution of so-called Jewish furniture,” Blank says.Īndreas Korthals, an archivist at Stadtarchiv Hagen, a state-run government agency, tells Live Science’s Tom Metcalfe that Nazi stormtroopers probably used the brass knuckles in street fights against communists. It also benefited from donations of assets and goods seized from Jewish groups and individuals. The organization ran relief operations and kindergartens. Many contemporary accounts describe this kind of rapid disposal of sensitive materials-but it’s unusual to find an intact trove.Īccording to Blank, the find may help historians learn more about the NSV and its role in the Nazi regime. “That must have happened very hectically,” he says. Ralf Blank, manager of the Hagen city archive, tells Frankfurter Allgemeine that NSV members probably hid the documents and other materials in the wall when Allied troops marched into the city in April 1945. Yurtseven and his aunt say the family had no idea of this history when they purchased the property in the 1960s. Investigating further, he found a cache of World War II–era artifacts, including a portrait of Adolf Hitler, a revolver, gas masks, Nazi Party badges, brass knuckles, letters and documents.Īs it turns out, the building housed the local headquarters of the National Socialist People’s Welfare organization (NSV) during the Nazi era. When Yurtseven pulled out a rotten piece of plasterboard, he spotted a foot-wide space behind the wall containing a newspaper dated to 1945, writes Insider’s Sophia Ankel. ![]() “I didn’t think it would turn into such a huge discovery.” “I got goosebumps,” Sebastian Yurtseven told local media, as quoted by the Times. Last month, a history teacher cleaning his aunt’s house in Hagen, Germany, after severe flooding discovered a trove of Nazi artifacts hidden behind a wall, reports David Crossland for the London Times.
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