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Pics about rifle production in Buchenwald

mauser202

Senior Member
Here are some photos I took at the Buchenwald museum concerning rifle production. The display gun was a bnz, I think it should have been a bcd instead. Can anyone read the text? My German cousin wasn’t interested in the museum and she kind of paraphrased the captions and didn’t make much sense
 

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These are a little bigger
 

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Wow, thanks for posting that Mauser202! Peter U at the Documents forum can translate a good bit of it I bet. :thumbsup: We'll pic sticky this.
 
G43

Love that G43 that was taken from the rubble after the Brits bombed the place. Would love to know the SN . Hopefully someone can translate.
 
Respectfully, I don't think that the observation is so non-self evident. The Germans, to their credit, stood up and took the hits for it and have gone to significant lengths to be repentent about it. It's not something to be proud of and is embarrassing I'm sure, for Germans to this day, who had as much responsibility for that as I do for slavery. No need for politics.
 
Unnecessary comment about a person and a country you don't even know.M

I do know the country and I do know history. My Swedish and Danish relatives also know all about it. And since this is the United States, I happen to be on the right side of that history. You cannot defend the indefensible or make excuses for that history. And it should not be glossed over or ever forgotten.

It is what it is and not a case of letting bygones be bygones. When you talk about Buchenwald it's not about weapons production. I wouldn't have a weapon made there in my house.:facepalm:
 
I tend to side with Swede and Hambone on this.
While we all share in the passion of collecting militaria, particularly German 98k rifles, we must not ever lose sight of their origin, nor the sinister cause they furthered.
The attrocities perpetrated by the Nazi's during this dark period of our history should always be remembered.
It's a pretty sombering reminder as we banter about serial numbers and humping and incorrect floor plates, etc.
Gave me a bit of wake-up call.
 
There was no intention to defend the indefensible or make excuses for German history on my end. I don't know where you got this from. Maybe you should re-read my post. My reply to Swede's remark had nothing to do with disrespecting or denying Germany's past. It had everything to do with Swede assumed "knowledge" of why the OP's cousin didn't want to visit the Buchenwald site. Unless Swede asked the OP's cousin personally for her reasons, his remark "Not surprised your German cousin isn't interested..." is completely out of line. It is in line, though, with nationalistic stereotypes still being thrown around in this day and age such as "ALL Germans knew about it" or "They are still denying it happened". Non of which is true, that's why you have so many memorial sites in Germany dealing with the Nazi terror. Education is the mortal enemy of ignorance.

What if the OP's cousin simply didn't feel like going there that day? Maybe she had visited the place before and decided once is enough? Who knows. I visited the Dachau Camp about 15 years ago, it was a really bad experience. Will I go there again? Probably not. Once is enough.

Given what Buchenwald stood for, can you explain why so many U.S. collectors are going crazy over getting their hands on Gustloff / bcd weapons? Looking at this from "the right side of that history", are they better or worse people than the OP's cousin?
 
I'm with you too GK. And I meant no ill will towards you or your original comments.
My input was mainly to express the strange mixed feelings this topic elicits for me personally..
 
This going off topic and starting to become offensive.

The people of a country are not collectively guilty of the actions of a government. The average German had about as much control as we do over the actions of our government (less actually, as early as 1933, any demonstrations, protests, opposition would get you thrown in a concentration camp- and they were horrible places from the very beginning). The average German had no way of knowing the future, there was no way to know or grasp the scale of the crimes that their government would eventually commit, or whether the nazis were going to be around forever. What would happen to your wife and children if you got tossed in a concentration camp, whether you survived the experience, the stigma would taint your children as long as the nazis remained in power and you have no way of knowing they would eventually be defeated 12 years later.

A Father’s first responsibility is to protect his wife and children, your extended family if possible, if you can escape an oppressive government, which the nazi government surely was, you do so. Many wealthy or connected Germans, Jews and opponents especially, did just that. If you were stuck in Germany, what would you do? You muddled through as best you could and if you had enough character you tried to do what you could to help others until the regime was overthrown. Many Germans did just this- Louis Lochner, an American reporter of German heritage wrote extensively on this. Thousands of Germans stood up and paid the price for it, in most cases so did their families.

It is even more offensive to suggest that the children or grandchildren are guilty of the actions of Germans 67+ years ago. That is something "progressives" toss around every chance they get about slavery, - which as Fredrick Douglas correctly attributed to was only possible due to government support (he also indicted organized religion of the period). It isn’t the “people” of a country; it is the “people” that occupy position in government, that use force of law to harm others for their own personal gain (power, wealth or status).

As for a rifle discussion, - It wouldn't be a long conversation if we spoke of Buchenwald as a center for arms production.. they didn't make many rifles and none were Kar98k. Gustloff Werke Weimar had a huge factory in Weimar, the Kar98k were assembled there from components made throughout Saxony & Thüringen. Buchenwald provided some labor but “Gustloff Werk II” at Buchenwald wasn’t a huge success... especially after the USAAC gave it a facelift in 1944.
 
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I cannot forget what happened...and no excuses offered by a moderator will make any difference. This is my last post here--I'll get my K98 fixes somewhere else.
 
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Don't let the door hit you in the a$$...

I cannot forget what happened...and no excuses offered by a moderator will make any difference. This is my last post here--I'll get my K98 fixes somewhere else.
 
I cannot forget what happened...and no excuses offered by a moderator will make any difference. This is my last post here--I'll get my K98 fixes somewhere else.

Wow, great 4th post.

I don't think any of us are asking you to forget. I think that people here remember more then others. Everyone here knows what happened and whos responsible. Not some modern day girl. lol. Anyways if you are so sensitive to these matters, ive got news for you. Your K98K didnt do any good.........maybe you should get rid of it.
 
Wow, a self rightous Nazi collector that picks and chooses which part of the Nazi regime is acceptable to discuss:googlie

You never know your rifle may have been used by some SS guy in an execution squad, prolly ought to chop it up?

I'm thinkin beanie babies or pez may be a better collecting avenue:thumbsup:
 

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