View of the inside of the trousers, also with T&G market buttons. Maybe the type of material used for the pockets will be familiar to uniform collectors?
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Full view of the pants (sorry for the poor background in the photos...)Comment
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A view of the well worn pant legs.Comment
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Now, here are some reasons that were used last year to question the authenticity of this set when I first posted photos of it:
"I dont see why any survivor would have kept a uniform like this; and anyhow, these uniforms were burned in 1945 because they were infested with lice and filth".
Well, anybody who has read books about post war Europe in 1945 has surely read about the many "ghoslty figures wearing striped uniforms" that could be seen in trains, or on the streets, trying to get home.
An example of such a man is visible below in Paris in 1945 (note the collar stripes are not oriented in the same way as on most period tunics...). Please take a minute to forget about uniformological technicalities, and look at the expression the faces of these poor people.Last edited by Jean-Loup; 09-21-2008, 06:18 PM.Comment
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"It is impossible that the Germans would have tolerated a French flag being worn on a uniform".
Now, wether the flags were done before or after the liberation of the camp is hard to say, considering the lack of photos from before the liberation. However, I think the photo of Clément in 1945 is self explanatory.
Here is an other photo I found showing a French flag being worn at Dachau. Also note the German tunic buttons on he man on the left.Last edited by Jean-Loup; 09-21-2008, 04:06 PM.Comment
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"The tunics were not made of HBT, they were made of thick reversable cloth"
It is clearly visible on period photos that the prisonners wear a mixture of HBT and thick cloth, though the thick cloth is more often used.
It is of course difficult to find a period photo of the HBT cloth that shows wether it is reverseible or not....
Here is a period photo showing a mixture of HBT and thick dark cloth being worn.Comment
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The BHT cloth is not only much lighter on photos, it also has narrower stripes. Here the man being caried is wearing HBT.Comment
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Some HBT tunics taken in the Belgian war museum by Peter U.Comment
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An otherComment
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I consider I have now done my homework concerning my set, except that I have not met Cléments son yet.
I will post a few more sets of holocaust tunics that I have seen in museums, (or have been sent photos of) for future reference, though I can not vouch for all the tunics being authentic.Comment
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An other from Peter U.Comment
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an otherComment
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moreComment
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And one last one from Peter U and the Belgian museum.Comment
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More, with a photo of the survivor giving the tunic to the museum.
I actualy dont think holocaust uniforms are very rare. I do think though that they are very tresured by those who kept them, and obviously, there is no surplus availlable, etc.
The items would usualy not end up on the market, but would be given to museums, or kept by famillies, explaining why collectors have a difficult time finding a set. But most museums seem to have at least one set, and I have no reason to doubt ther authenticity.Comment
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