The Zahlmeister's box, found in Koenigsberg

[Steve T]

Wasn't there a post somewhere where the rum was not available until the 50's? according to the company that produced it?...

I've never seen it and let's be honest....if this was a fake or staged, the person doing it would not have made such a simple error. They would have made sure everything was the right era.

In any case....why fake it ? The gear on it's own is worth just as much with or without this provenance. There is no point in faking it.

Steve T

[mr.dirt]

many people buried the evidence of an, shall we say, "inconvienient past" in boxes like these... many more buried their valubles to keep them safe from the invaders. Many of those people did not survive the war and those boxes and their history still remain to be found.

There are 2 milk containers filled with art and writing etc. by prisoners of Auschwitz long gone up the stacks that are still yet to be found. 5 others were. A large horde remains in the ruins of the Warsaw ghetto but it has yet to be found.

A friend of mine , an AF pilot was stationed in Berlin just after the end of hostilities. he said that the germans would line their valubles up for sale near the Tempelhoff airport runway. One item in demand as trade for food or cash were large grandfather clocks. He told me this story as I stood before the clock he aquired there. He and another pilot were trying to decide between 2 different clocks... one of which was the one I saw. He had rank so the first choice was his. he made it. The other officer got the other clock. When the clocks were being disassembled for shipment back to the states they had to disassembled and pack the clock's counterweights. The counterweights on the clock he DIDN"T choose turned out to be filled with SOLID GOLD.
Even 50 years later it still gauled him!

Most of this stuff has yet to be found... and when it is it's a window back to a terrible time... When one sees the artifacts brought up from those holes filled with human remains one tends to forget the agony, fear, gore and horror that filled those final postures.

My dad traded K Rations andC Rations for jewelry. When my Mother passed away my sister found a bag made of parachute cloth filled with Ruby and garnet neclaces and bracelets and gold chains, all with German hallmarks dating to late 19th century (1890's).

I asked my Dad and he said that he was giving away crates of rations in Munich and in the area around Mathausen Camp and people were offering the stuff for more rations and fresh bread.

I still have the Rolleflex camera and his A2 Flight Jacket from the 7th Photo group along with all the stuff my wife's Uncles brought back
(had to get a FFL to keep all the good stuff).

[turfdude]

Looks like there is some white mold on some of the items, but the cigars and the wooden cigars box are in perfect condition? A bit of a stretch to me.

[panzerjaeger44]

people say its fake who knows but however the box did have a rubber seal around the interiors edge thus making it equally plausible that the items inside remained in such good condition

[Dimas]

Just bumping this thread

[Australia]

The moisture/ mould would cause foxing on the paper items and labels , and the mould would of made its way into the whole contents over time leaving a mess ,unless the box was in the ground for a short time +- 5 years. Regardless if it had a air tight seal.

I asked a forensic police officer I know.

[Kraychete]

fantastic findings...

[M18922]

I believe in it.

[Danmark]

Stranger things have turned up - but the school I went to as a child buried a 'time capsule' sealed drum in 1960 and dug it back up for the 50th anniversary in 2010 and the cloth items were all stained from the metal items in the drum. One theory was the oxygen trapped in the container when sealed ( it wasn't vacuum packed ) caused the damage ( possible sealed on a humid day with the air having a high moisture content? )

For these items NOT to have corroded / deteriorated it must have been rarified air and a non-breathable rubber that did not also dry out over the decades ....... interesting stuff!

Dan

[Dean]

I've seen this dig before on YouTube . It is absolutely incredible! I have watched the video for years now. I found it under 'WW2 digging' and the cover of the video shows an upside down relic German helmet with a relic drum magazine inside.
Dean.