Never before had I seen a German Luger in person, let alone the treasures inside the cigar box. All brought back as souvenirs from the Second World War. How they were acquired, our client had no idea. Her home originally belonged to an uncle who emigrated from Denmark in 1920. The uncle did not serve in the war, as he was too busy being a Al Capone-era Chicago union leader!
This post is part of an ongoing series called ‘Workplace discoveries’, which documents interesting Second World War related artifacts that I discover at work. My regular job is to manage an estate sale company. Artifacts documented in this series are not necessarily in my possession, and may been saved by the homeowner or sold to another customer. Any item I do buy has first been made available to the general public.
Estate of an Al Capone-era Chicago union leader
Since joining my current company in December 2019, I have conducted many estate sales all throughout the Chicago area. Each sale has a treasure, or maybe a few, that are memorable. The rest of the contents tend to be forgettable, like the kitchen utensils, home decor, clothing, and other unitarian items, that we come across at every sale. Only a few sales remain vivid in my mind as if they happened just yesterday. One of them occurred in River Grove in September 2020. My boss and I still occasionally talk about that sale.
The house was a two-story wood bungalow, not the typical brick bungalow you see everywhere in Chicago, possibly over a hundred years old, which needed renovation. Our client acquired the property from her uncle and saved much of his estate. What a time capsule!
Our client’s uncle was a real character. He was a Danish immigrant who arrived to this country in 1920, first settling in Washington, D.C. There he found work as a chauffeur for the Danish legation. After several years he moved to Chicago and operated a garage by 1929. Some of his customers were bootleggers, whose cars he tuned-up or repaired, according to his niece. Undeniably the uncle was active in the local garage union. As one of its directors in 1940, he was called to testify by a grand jury about some union problems: unexplained checks and the murder of a uncooperative union member.1 Definitely not a man to make enemies with.
Needless to say, we uncovered many interesting historical artifacts at the estate. Left over from the uncle were garage tools, union memorabilia, ephemera, and even a beaver skin top-hat, likely worn during his chauffeur days. Still, there was more accumulated by his extended family. Really out of place in the house was a large collection of Pokémon and Magic: the Gathering cards.
Among the sale’s highlights was a German Luger which the homeowner had little knowledge of. Never before or since then have I handled a pistol of that type! Funny enough, not too long ago I spoke with a customer whom I first met at the River Grove sale. He showed up in line for the Luger but did not get it. To this day he laments over the Luger that ‘got away’.
A double dated 1918 German Luger
Graceful in old age, the Luger had some wear to be sure. Slight surface rust was present. The inside of the barrel needed cleaning. Despite these minor blemishes she was a looker. Most of her original bluing, finish, was intact, as well as all of her stamps. She attracted attention from all over the country and in the weeks leading up to the sale, we received countless offers. There was no chance for a pre-sale as that was against company policy. Instead, interested buyers just had to wait for the sale to own a piece of history. But what was the gun’s story?
Our Luger, serial no. 2079, was produced by Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken (DWM) during the First World War. The top of its receiver bore a production date of 1918, along with the crest of DWM. There was also a stamp of 1920 which was actually a property mark, not a date.
When the Western Front fell silent in November 1918, peace and stability did not immediately return to Germany. The early Weimar Republic became engulfed in political turmoil, ravaged by constant assassinations, attempted coups, rebellions, and other troubles. In addition, the Treaty of Versailles forced Germany to disarm and imposed restrictions on its armed forces. The army had to reduce its size, to 100,000 soldiers, and its arsenal as well. Within this context the Weimar government enforced strict gun control.
From the millions of weapons stockpiled from the war the Weimar government could retain just a few hundred thousand. Furthermore, the Weimar arsenal was limited to arms deemed sufficient for a small army: rifles and hand guns. Selected weapons became stamped with 1920 to signify that they were government property. It had the dual purpose of recording the army’s inventory and preventing theft.
Also at this time the Weimar government instituted a civilian gun confiscation program. It began in 1920, with the passage of a civilian disarmament law providing bounties for turned in guns. This amnesty period lasted for approximately a year. Thereafter, the unauthorized possession of guns became a criminal offense.
At first, I thought 1920 referred to the gun’s rework or modification. Only until very recently did I discover its true meaning. The collecting world of Lugers is massive with many factors to consider, like models, manufacturers, stamps, etc. People new to Lugers, like myself, can easily make mistakes. What educated me on the property mark was a YouTube video published by Ian McCollum of ForgottenWeapons.com:
Souvenirs from Nazi Germany
How the Luger made its way into our client’s estate, I have no idea. Most likely an American serviceman brought it home after the Second World War. Lugers and other types of German guns, like the Mauser Kar.98k and the Walther PP and PPK, were popular war trophies, souvenirs, for servicemen returning from the European Theatre. These guns were permitted into the United States with military authorization and a customs declaration. I suspected that our Luger was a 1940s souvenir because of a few other items also at the estate.
Click here to read about another fantastic war trophy I found from the war, a German hospital sign.
Inside a cigar box was a small trove of military insignia, including patches, badges, buttons, and medals. Standing out in this motley assortment were several German pieces. These included an Iron Cross 2nd Class, patch, and belt buckle. The latter two items shared a connection to Nazi Germany’s regular police force, named the Ordnungspolizei.
A patch depicted an eagle with wings extended horizontally, holding onto a swastika, and surrounded by a wreath, embroidered in silver flat-wire thread on green cloth. This striking piece of craftsmanship was the shoulder insignia of officers, as opposed to enlisted men, in the police.
Going along with the patch was a police belt buckle. In its center was a raised circular shield which once displayed a swastika, wrapped with the phrase ‘Gott mit uns’- German for God with us, made common on Prussian heraldry and later adopted by the German military. Our buckle was a classic example of ‘denazification‘, its swastika buffed out to allow its public wear in post-war Germany.
