Opinion on SS Wiking erkennungsmarke

[Jan]

Hi I´m considering buying this ID disc. It looks totally good to me but I just want some more opinions. Please comment!

Cheers Jan

[Matt L]

I'd heard from a reliable collector friend that a bunch of these FAB Wiking discs were taken from the site of a massacre some years ago- I don't know if it was exactly this unit, but I don't expect there are too many different ones around so I tend to stay away from them myself.

[Wagriff]

Is it an exorbinant amount of money they are asking for this tag, Jan? And is it from a reliable dealer or collector? As it sits, the tag looks straight to me. William

[Matt L]

Perhaps I should clarify: it wasn't that these discs are said to have been taken from graves, it's that a massacre and the presence of whole discs means the men were likely ever registered as being killed so they're among the million or so men still considered missing in action. A half disc taken from a grave is one thing because the man's death was noted- then it's about whether or not one feels there's an ethical issue- but a whole one is a very different story. Yes, it matches others I've collected images of so it's fairly certain it's real- which is even more reason to avoid it. I don't normally put much stock in the story of where something came from unless it's directly from the 'discoverer', but when the story is involving theft of identity discs and MIA cases, I won't take the chance and I encourage others to act similarly.

[Jan]

Perhaps I should clarify: it wasn't that these discs are said to have been taken from graves, it's that a massacre and the presence of whole discs means the men were likely ever registered as being killed so they're among the million or so men still considered missing in action. A half disc taken from a grave is one thing because the man's death was noted- then it's about whether or not one feels there's an ethical issue- but a whole one is a very different story. Yes, it matches others I've collected images of so it's fairly certain it's real- which is even more reason to avoid it. I don't normally put much stock in the story of where something came from unless it's directly from the 'discoverer', but when the story is involving theft of identity discs and MIA cases, I won't take the chance and I encourage others to act similarly.

I will try to dig into the provenience of this disc a bit more and see what the story behind it is. I share your opinion on the "theft of identity discs im MIA cases". What is this massacre you are referring to?

Best regards Jan

[Jan]

Is it an exorbinant amount of money they are asking for this tag, Jan? And is it from a reliable dealer or collector? As it sits, the tag looks straight to me. William

The source is a very reliable one. The tag isnt cheap but I could afford it, the moral side of things leaves me wondering though..

Yours truly Jan

[Jan]

How easy or hard would it be to get this ID disk sent to the relatives of this fallen soldier??

Rgds Jan

[Jan]

The dogtag was found in Ukraine.

Cheers Jan

[Matt L]

I was interested too- as much because it annoys me I can't recall exactly LOL- so I checked with the one old friend I figured must have been the source of the story and he says he's not heard it; he said that he believes these 5./ FAB Wiking discs to be unissued stock. It's the only time I've ever heard anything like the massacre story and I was sure it was Wiking and these are the only common discs from that unit so I don't know if I'm really remembering wrong or just who it might have been who told me about the 'discovery'. But it's a situation definitely not worth taking a risk on- it's a very serious aspect to collecting identity discs and one should feel honourbound to be quite careful; it's better to err on the side of caution and delay in case something is 'bad' and if it turns out not to be so to proceed later than to make a purchase and find out one has supported this kind of thing.

An unissued stock disc really isn't terribly interesting anyway, I think, nor valuable since it's not any more of a 'real' Erkennungsmarke than is a blank award document, for example- never issued, never worn, never in action- in a clerk's desk. Marked by the unit, but not part of it in truth...

[Dimas]

I think they was found in buch in Ukraina, I've heard somewhere in river or near it. The collectors of the Erkennungsmarken must be ready to find approx 50% of the Erkennungsmarken was found with the bodies. Part of the ground dug marken was thrown away by soldiers, before they became POW , forgotten in bunkers, missed durring the batles, thrown away by black diggers in the past 40-50 years after the war, but some of them could be still found with remains of the soldiers.
Abowe tag is 100 % original