Two weeks of digging in Demjansk

[Jean-Loup]

Follwoing Eugene Asafov, of http://www.ww2.relicsshop.com/ 's invitation posted in this thread: http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...light=demjansk I decided to go to Demjansk, something I had wanted to do for a long time, and see the well preserved items that can be found there.

Now that I am back home, I guess I am supposed to serve as a witness to say the following things:
-yes, items that are virtualy mint can be dug up from bunkers, including DD SS helmets, White camo helmets, wood items, leather items, rubber items and paper items.
-no, that doesnt necessaraly involve digging up human remains.
-yes, Eugene is a very honest person, and I dont believe he has ever knowingly sold any fake items on his site. He does not dig up all the items himself, so there is always the possibility of someone asking him to sell something bogus for him. But for the items found by him and his team, I have 100% trust.

I will simply post some of the pictures I took over there, in no particular oreder, with some explanations. If some of you still dont belive it is possible to find items in almsot mint condition in the swamps.... Well, too bad for you.
By the way, before going to visite Eugene, I had NEVER bought a single item from him, so this is not some king of secret plot to sell fakes. I guess you could say I was an independent observer.

First picture, some exelent condition he has for sale. I have seen this style of items being questiond numerous times on the forum. Its not possible, blah blah.
Yes, it is possible, and during my two weeks there, I saw a couple of helmets like this come out of the ground with my own eyes.

[Jean-Loup]

This is how they find their mint items. With a metal rod, they locate the position of an old bunker.

[Jean-Loup]

They they start digging. The rule of thumb, is one day, for one big bunker, for three or four hardcore experienced village diggers, who can dig at the speed of sound.

[Jean-Loup]

This set of pictures is of the same binker, taken at the same angle, so you get an idea of the hard work involved.

[Jean-Loup]

The original bunker floor, at about minus 2.5 meters, or seven and a half feet, had now been reached. This is where the items might be.

[Jean-Loup]

An other view of the same bunker.

[Jean-Loup]

As you can see, it is very hard work, andthere is no garanty that you will find anything. In the case of this bunker, not only were there almost no items in it, but the soil was sandy, and the items were in bad condition.
The only items I kept from this bunker are a bottle with some original wine still in it, and also a 9mm bullet, that a drunken russian latter stole from me.

[Jean-Loup]

This is the kind of ideal bunker, in whitch almost mint items can be found. You can imagine the fun it is to dig in here. As can be seen, the original wooden walls of the bunker are still visible, and in very good condition. A chainsaw had to be used when it was required to cut thru the 60 year old wood.

[Jean-Loup]

An other mud filled bunker. In this one was an almost mint DD SS helmet, totaly repainted. A fellow forum member founf it, and I didnt take any pictures of it, but he can post some if he wants to.

[Jean-Loup]

A german sticl grenade in the ground.

[Jean-Loup]

The same grenade after being cleaned in some muddy water. As you can see, the condition is incredible. Wood, paint, everything is still in exelent condition. Yes, all kinds of helmets can also be found in this condition, but not necessaraly every day, whitch is why I dont have a picture of one taken by myself.

[Jean-Loup]

Here is an original wodden ammo box, still entirely filled with ammo.

[Jean-Loup]

The same box.

[Jean-Loup]

Woden ammo boxes abandonned by other diggers.

[Jean-Loup]

A Totenkopf side cap found by an other digger.