hitler youth knife hallmarks

[Jeff Leblanc]

need a little help confirming the hallmarks on a hitler youth knife i found in the attic. went rummaging around and found a box of my grandfather's old stuff he saved from his house before hurricane katrina wiped it out. among all the photos and jewelry was a hitler youth knife in fairly good condition, just seem to be having a little trouble nailing down the hallmarks on it. no motto, says solingen germany on one side and has another mark right next to it that i cant identify. any help or links to a guide/reference site would be appreciated.

[ian]

"GERMANY" on the blade and "MADE IN GERMANY" on the belt loop are not good as far as originality goes
i would say post war copy
cheers ian
welcome to the forum ,,

[douglas2496]

Yes, Ian is right, this is a reproduction. The markings are wrong and the scabbard has a lip at the throat which is only found on copies.

[maximus71]

Post war reproduction, the lip on the scabbard and the fact that it says germany on it are a dead giveaway.

[BOB COLEMAN]

Technically this is not a reproduction. These knives were post war assembled from original parts and sold as curios in the late 1950's and early 60's. They were advertised for sale in the advertising sections of period men's magazines. As they were being imported from Germany, import laws required that the country of origin had to be stamped on the item.

[maximus71]

My error, post war manufactured should have been the phrase. it still has value, just not as much as a period one.

[douglas2496]

That's interesting information Bob, of which I was not aware. I have frequently dismissed these knives as outright fakes - do you know if all the parts were actually made during the Third Reich, or just some of them? Presumably the scabbard is of post war manufacture, for the reason already mentioned. As the blades have different markings to war time assembled pieces, do you think that the TR period blades were unfinished and unmarked, or that the original markings were removed and replaced?

[Larry C]

Thread moved to the HJ dagger forum