-
Question regarding a Hitler Youth knife
I came across a well used Hitler Youth knife at a local antique/flea market type store the other day here in Louisville and considered buying it but first I wanted to know if it was genuine. I came home and watched a 13 minute video posted by a fellow collector on You Tube and came away convinced it was authentic. It certainly has "the look" of being 80 years old and most likely in World War II. Along the lower edge of the nickel plated handle there are two narrow areas of light rust and/or pitting and with a 14X magnification loupe I think it may be due to some blood splatter as it has a definite reddish tint in certain areas and seems to be the cause of the rust itself. However, the reason I am writing you today is because I would like to know more about this particular knife. In particular, who the maker is.
The knife is fairly well worn, the scabbard is basically bare metal with a patina, the handle shows two small but stable cracks reaching one of the rivets on both sides, the blade itself is slightly loose although not drastically, it appears to have been sharpened in the distant past, the emblem at the center of the handle is there but missing parts of the red portion, and the tip is intact. It has the early inscription "Blut und Ehre!" still visible but light on the blade which I take it to mean it was manufactured sometime before 1938. The maker is Solingen Ges. Geschutzt and has what appears to be two oak leaves of some kind with the letter M positioned above them. There is no date or any other markings I can see.
Could you please supply me with some information regarding the maker of this particular knife and the approximate rarity?
If you're wondering by the way, I paid $150 for this knife and scabbard on Sunday October 26, 2014 here in Louisville, Kentucky. It does not have the leather washer for the blade and the leather scabbard belt holder is missing and it looks to have been torn away at some point as a short section about an inch or so long is still attached to the scabbard by the two retaining rivets themselves.
Thank you for any information you can supply. I have collected World War II material for decades but this is my very first Hitler Youth knife although I've wanted one for some time. When I saw it yesterday I decided I had to have it based on it's "been there" look and the price listed.
Sincerely,
Robert Zoeller
Louisville, Kentucky
E-mail address: Robert_zoeller@yahoo.com
-
10-27-2014 06:55 AM
# ADS
Circuit advertisement
-
Hi Robert, and welcome to the Forum. Could you please
post some pics of your knife and upload them directly ?
'A picture is worth a thousand words', as they say,
and will make it much easier for members to tell
if you have a good one or not.
Also, it is not recommended that you show
your email address.........
-
I'd gladly post photos of the knife, but I tried that before on different forums when it came to questions I had about certain guns and I never could figure out how to do it.
-
There is a 'Go Advanced' key to the lower right of the
Quick Reply box. Click on it and then scroll down to
Pictures Upload.
The 'File Upload Manager' box appears - you can
then 'Add Files' and select your pics. Quite easy
once you do it a few times.........
-
The makers mark indicates it was made by "August Merten" of Solingen. The Motto on the blade and the lack of an RZM marking tells you that it is an earlier one-made between 1933-1936. It does not sound to be in the best of condition,and a great many of these knives are Not to be found in minty shape, as they were meant to be and were quite heavily Used by boys. At $150, I would say that you paid a fair price for it, but at the top bracket of it's value. It's definitely "been there" and one can only imagine what it has seen and done in it's lifetime and how it ended up over here in the States-no doubt brought back by a returning GI.
William
"Much that once was, is lost. For none now live who remember it."
-
-
The "Solingen Ges. Geschutzt" marking above is what my Hitler Youth knife has. The motto is on the other side and still fairly visible. I have not mastered posting photos here yet, but I asked my wife to post the ones I took earlier today on my Face Book page. They are open to the public. If you would like a series of photos regarding this particular knife, feel free to take a look. Any comments would be especially appreciated by the way. Good, bad or indifferent. There are 16 in total. Click on the additional comments section to see them all. Here's the link to the photos. I'll leave them as first up when you click on my page: https://www.facebook.com/bobby.zoeller.7
-
Bobby i would like you to post your pics here and not on some social media page that will change every month.
If you ask the help of the members here then at least take the effort to provide pics to make this a worthy topic,
Lots of members do not have Facebook, photobucket etc...and links like yours will vanish over time, leaving us here empty handed with a lot of talk.....and no pics to back up whats been stated or said.
Ger
-
I'd love to post the photos here but I myself am not all that up on doing it. My wife does all that technical stuff and I asked her to post them on Face Book because that is where she has all of her photographs. I will try to see if she can post some photos here later today. I do however appreciate all the information you supplied me. I has been quite helpful.
-
P.S. If you want to forward me your actual e-mail address I can send you the photos right from my e-mail account if you want to take a look at them that way.
.
Bookmarks