Erkennungsmarken- ID discs ?

[Eike41]

Paul, as far as I can tell no one in Russia is digging legally. The whole place appears to be a kleptocracy with people digging however and wherever they can. It is terrible how remains are treated, but for the most part anyone dealing with military items from these places are enriching poor people who try to make part of their income from this digging. I do think this issue may be reduced because it is no longer legal to dig in Russia, the items in the ground as of 2013 now belong to the state. The Russians apparently are taking a cue from France as this new law is very similar to the French one. I cannot think of any practical advice that would help conscientious collectors avoid the facts of ground dug items.

[Matt L]

It seems like our experience in this area was correct , what has happened to the remains of the soldier ?

In this instance, yes, however it's still something that can only ever be a possibility so should only ever be presented as such; the statements were more of virtual fact instead of 'this is a possibility'.

[johnschou]

Hi Eike41, no worry, but you are pin pointing an issue, there is always a moral question about Collection stuff from wars and certainly dead people, but most of us consider these items (all diffrent stuff from WWII) as relics or historic items, and ofcourse when I have an id disc in my hand my first thought is always, this has belonged to a dead person, it is a very personal item, it is not the same feeling/ thought when I have a helmet or an other thing in my hand. I think it is very interesting that you have done some real digging, it is certainly another experience :-), I just get my Things buying from people on the Internet or exposicions.
Regards
John

[Matt L]

It's not so much about general items taken from remains, it's the identity discs; in this case it hardly matters since the disc is illegible, but with something like a million men still listed as missing from the German side alone, these 'black diggers' who take legible Erkennungsmarken from remains forever destroy any chance of identification, and potentially solving a missing case. Thus buying discs from people known to have taken them from remains without properly notifying the relevant authorities encourages them to continue.