Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/11/24
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Jeffrey Frankel wrote: > > I had an unusual incident at work a few months ago. > > I was discussing my LTM camera in the maintenance department of my plant > when an electrical contractor came in a listened in. An elderly Polish man, > he smiled and asked if I would like to see his screw mount. I said sure. > > About two weeks later he returned with a fairly beat up IIIA (?I think) with > an uncoated 50 elmar. > > He went on to tell me the following story (paraphrased): > > He had just taken an SS officer as prisoner and found the camera on his > posession. When the prisoner swore at him in German (Not realizing that he > spoke German), he took him out back, told him he would not need the camera > any more, and shot him in the head. > > I just stared at the camera in my hands, as a wave of revulsion came over > me. The quiet calm of that well used piece of German photographic > perfection was shattered by the reality of the story. > > I handed the camera back to him and washed my hands as soon as I was out of > the room. > > Boy, It's good to get that off my chest. Saved me a visit to the therapist. > > Jeff I'm sorry to have to respond to this overly loaded but not exactly off topic thread on the eve of a relatively light hearted American holiday but I feel like I must ask: What specifically did you find revolting? A. the electrical contractor's actions? B. the horrific realization of mans humanity to man? C. the dumb metal of the camera itself? I'm a little vague on where you're coming from with this story. Spell it out for me/us because it sounds a little like you are repulsed by your contractor. He might have been having a bad day that day long ago. I owned a IIIA and I sometimes wondered what horrible atrocities it might have been used to gleefully document. Or could it have been used to document mushrooms growing. What did the SS officer like to document with that camera? If cloud formations had been his main genre he might still be doing it today. Collecting guns might make for less loaded conversation might it? Mark Rabiner Is it me that is missing the point? I hope not and I don't think so.