Far from being gleeful over this. Regarding Mr. Singer he has nothing to proove although he has just shown the community what a true gentleman he really is.
I cant say Im not seething angry over this type of fraud of which we the serious collector, regardless of experience are the victim of these people.
I think that people need to be satisfied with the SS uniforms they find that actually were SS uniforms even if they were restored at some point. I think also that the prices on the unproven pieces need some serious thought behind them to keep this hobby in check for future generations.
I cant say Im not seething angry over this type of fraud of which we the serious collector, regardless of experience are the victim of these people.
I think that people need to be satisfied with the SS uniforms they find that actually were SS uniforms even if they were restored at some point. I think also that the prices on the unproven pieces need some serious thought behind them to keep this hobby in check for future generations.
But there were people back then that were very good at putting on orig. insg on a stripped tunic.I have seen some of the tunics that Charlie Snyder had put together back then that are in peoples collections today and they swear that this is a real untouched tunic to this day and have had big name collectors look at them and swear that they were untouched tunics to this day.I have seen first hand people put orig. helmet decals on helmets back in the 50s and 60s because back then as today a collector looked for the same thing as they do now a helmet in exc. with decals the same with tunics a true COLLECTOR would look for all the things as they do now.If you found out that your tunic,helmet was a fake you tried to get your money back if the person that sold the tunic to you would not give you back your money(if you were a true COLLECTOR and not a ripp off)you took that tunic,helmet etc to all the gun shows and told everybody where you got it and how you know it is a fake.We did not have the internet back in those days but we had word of mouth and that woked very well among collectors and their friends you ask anybody if a piece was bad everybody in the country that went to gun shows knew about that tunic etc.One forum member say's he knows George Peterson.I knew George when he worked in northen Virginia and had only 2 Luft. tunics in his collection.I have seen George and the guy who use to own Globe Militaria and Charlie Snyder have a ton of ORIG.WW2 stripped uniforms that people bought and had orig. ins put on them.I had a orig STRIPPED SS tunic that I took to Ted Lenkels wife in NJ and had her put orig SS insg on it the way I wanted it. Mrs Lenkel was a seamstress(so the story goes) in a work camp in Germany during WW2.I called this tunic a hanger a real stripped tunic with orig. SS insg.and a lot of loops for medals just the way I wanted it.To make this story even more far out was the FACT that Ted and his wife were Jewish.As I said I do not know if the story about her being in a work camp or not was true but the one thing I do know for a fact that she was a German jewish lady and a master seamstress and that a lot of dealers would send tunics to her so she could work her magic.I sat right there with her as she put my tunic together and told me stories of how they did this back in Germany and how I could tell the difference from a US seamstress to one that was taught the trade in Germany.Some of the insg. that I had for MY tunic was as she said not right for that year tunic and would get the right insg and put it on for me and send me the tunic when it was ready.Oh yea this was 1962.So please don't tell me that they did not know what they were doing back in the day.
and did not hide it but came out with it.
I am sorry to hear the story end this way. 
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