Auschwitz Property Tag

[jvanzo]

This very thin zinc metal tag (property tag?) has "Lagerkommandantur" stamped on top, a party style eagle and in faint, very old style Germanic script "Auschwitz" on the bottom. It measures about 2 inches across and is 1.5 inches tall and is almost razor blade thin. Is this a concentration camp property tag? Personnel ID tag? Anyone ever seen anything like this before? It came in a vet's cigar box of souvenirs and I have little doubt regarding its originality.

[Jon. H]

I have seen a few of these, and as 90% of other KL items on the market it is not original.

It is a pure fantasy piece.

[jvanzo]

I have seen a few of these, and as 90% of other KL items on the market it is not original.

It is a pure fantasy piece.

It came in a cigar box with 50 other pins, badges and patches that the vet brought back home after the war. If it is a fantasy piece, then it is the only one that is not original.

[A H]

Any chance of seeing the back?

thanks

[Jon. H]

I would be highly surprised if this one should turn out to be good.

I've seen 20-30 of these and they have all been judged as "never existed" etc.

[jvanzo]

Tag reverse

Here is the reverse of the tag. If you have seen 20-30 of them, then it is a fake. Maybe made right after the war for the American GI market? It is funny, though. Most SS/KL fantasy pieces are (too) well made and prominently show interesting information. This one is very hard to read, and the "Auschwitz" is printed in a very old 19th century script that doesn't look like "Auschwitz" to the normal reader.

[luftwaffe blue]

Pieces like this were made as long ago as the late 1960s, this in itself makes these over 40 years old, i have seen a handful of these on a flea market in London around 1987, all fakes as well as some others with KL Sachsenhausen stamped on them, there are KL collectors on the forum who maybe able to assist further, Sean