News Poland radar image 'almost certainly Nazi train'

[Notebook]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34090165

Always something?

N.

 

[Urwumpe]

Almost certainly something underground. At least no V-2.

Regarding the German habits at that time, I would actually not even be surprised, if the train only contains the mortal remains of many Jews.

 

[Notebook]

Could be a fascinating? story, think I'll keep an eye on this one.

N

 

[Urwumpe]

Could be a fascinating? story, think I'll keep an eye on this one.

N

Of course. Europe has still extremely many treasures hidden by its turbulent history.

 

[Notebook]

I would guess most of the stolen art/gold is recovered or never will be, but an actual train is something I would never have thought of.

N.

 

[Urwumpe]

I would guess most of the stolen art/gold is recovered or never will be, but an actual train is something I would never have thought of.

N.

That is not that simple. For example, a lot of the stolen art and gold of the Nazis, that had been declared lost after WW2, reappeared in Russian museums lately.

At the same time, many bunkers are known to exist somewhere, but nobody can tell, where exactly. I know that one of the largest WW2 bunkers in the eastern states of Germany is only partially explored right now.

 

[Notebook]

That is not that simple. For example, a lot of the stolen art and gold of the Nazis, that had been declared lost after WW2, reappeared in Russian museums lately.

Well, that may be going back to the original owners?
As for bunkers, I would say only the top Nazis had the means for really serious pillage and plunder(Hitler seems not be interested?) with Goering being the best at it?

N

 

[Urwumpe]

Well, that may be going back to the original owners?

No. If you ask Russian officials, they have never heard or seen that stuff. Or it is suddenly lost. Sometimes stuff had also been mislabelled, intentionally or not. I remember a documentary about porcelain dishes, which clearly showed the originals in the museum, but labelled them "unknown Russian artist" in English (Despite the dishes having the markings of the saxonian porcelain manufacture of Meissen), and stated its true origin only in Russian labels.

As you can expect, it makes it really hard to identify the artefacts and much harder to return them. Estimates are that only maybe 1% of the artefacts stolen by the Red Army had ever been moved out of storage and displayed somewhere public. There are unfounded rumors that quite many Russian families still own some souvenirs of the great war.

As for bunkers, I would say only the top Nazis had the means for really serious pillage and plunder(Hitler seems not be interested?) with Goering being the best at it?

Goering was the most kleptomaniac of a bunch of thieves, yes. He also had much more places to hide stuff, since he also had been responsible for supervising hunting in the third Reich (See: Heinrich-Göring-Stiftung). You have quite many places around the country, where Goering placed some oversized villa for his interest in hunting. Not far from some such villas, you also find bunker ruins.

He really had something to compensate.

 

[Notebook]

A friend of mine has an interest in 1930's German SLR camera, specifically Leitz?(I am seeing him next week-end, so I'll get an update...). He has about 50+ at the last count, and is cutting down! He refurbishes them and puts them on e-bay, quite the little trader.

He did tell me that after WWII the factory and employees was moved to the then USSR and rebuilt and continued production. He doesn't collect these, considering them "not originals" We have had a few discussions about the morality of handling "stolen goods"?

N.

 

[Urwumpe]

A friend of mine has an interest in 1930's German SLR camera, specifically Leitz?(I am seeing him next week-end, so I'll get an update...). He has about 50+ at the last count, and is cutting down! He refurbishes them and puts them on e-bay, quite the little trader.

He did tell me that after WWII the factory and employees was moved to the then USSR and rebuilt and continued production. He doesn't collect these, considering them "not originals" We have had a few discussions about the morality of handling "stolen goods"?

Yeah, Leica cameras, the company Leitz renamed itself Leica in the 1980s because of the stronger brand. The Russian copies are named Zorki, LOMO also build a Leica clone during the 1930s.

But the company itself was not moved to the USSR: The factory is in Wetzlar, which was in the western half after WW2.

That happened partially to Carl Zeiss AG in Jena... some parts of it had been taken by the US army, the rest by the Russians to the Kiev camera works.

 

[kamaz]

A friend of mine has an interest in 1930's German SLR camera, specifically Leitz

Leica. The Russian copy was called Zorki. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zorki

 

[Notebook]

Well, that interesting, I shall have to have a chat with my friend and see if I got the right story. Leica is the camera he collects, had a look at one and they are nicely made, complex especially the travelling shutter arrangement. In fact I'm not sure its a SLR, I seem to remember it had a sort of periscopic viewfinder?
Also I may be confusing the USSR with an East German factory that made copies after 1945?
It was in the pub, and far, far away...

N.

 

[Urwumpe]

In fact I'm not sure its a SLR, I seem to remember it had a sort of periscopic viewfinder?

Well, if the viewfinder looks through the main objective, its a SLR.

 

[Notebook]

Yes, well, Les(my friend) tends to be very enthusiastic about these things, me...less so. Let me have a look around for the model he showed me.

EDIT:https://www.bing.com/images/search?...49488bc5a3b3a4cd4c53c47ccf4cbc3do0&ajaxhist=0

This is the nearest I can find, but it isn't the one he showed me. Wasn't so "detailed" and not sure about the film winder. Looks like I will have to ask next week-end, oh-dear...

 

[Urwumpe]

That's a old Leica IIIc model... which was a rangefinder camera, no SLR. It has its own window for the seeker on top.

 

[Notebook]

Again, its sort of like a nightmare, I wish I hadn't mentioned it. It sort of draws/drags you in. Les is a good friend, but I'm not that interested in pre-war German SLR(or maybe not). How do I get out of this...?
I'll have to ask next time I see him. Its like one of HP Lovecraft's stories

 

[Urwumpe]

I am pretty sure, there is no way out. Welcome to the whole vastness of the universe of cameras.

 

[Notebook]

Indeed. I will ask(subtly) about the details of these cameras. In fact it had an all metal body and was much simpler than that picture. It is awful how these things come back to you.

N.

 

[jedidia]

Well, if the viewfinder looks through the main objective, its a SLR.

Or a transparent mirror. But I guess they didn't have those yet.

 

[Urwumpe]

Or a transparent mirror. But I guess they didn't have those yet.

Well, even the simplest first SLRs had been from the 1960s. everything special before the war had been various different kinds of rangefinder cameras. What mostly improved in the time between 1930 and 1945 had been the various forms of shutter mechanisms.