Re: [Leica] Nazis and Leicas

["Alan Hull" <hull@telia.com>]

From Marc James Small 
> Alan, do you know any veterans of the War in Europe? 
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During the first three years of my nine year military service, I had to
watch many hours of archive film from the MOD.  Only once did I get a
whiff of any ill-treatment of POW's.  This was just a short outdoor
film clip and showed a German officer in full uniform march smartly up
to a British officer who was dressed in casual fatigues (sort of like a
desert rig) give a proper military salute (could have been a Z Heil,
not sure) then hand over his pistol and baton.  The British officer
took the baton raised it above his head and struck the German across
the cheek so hard the German fell to the ground.  End of clip.

Twenty years ago I married into a prominant German family.  My
father-in-law was a doctor in the Wehrmacht during the war and after
the surrender, like all German officers, he was held in an Allied camp
for questioning which was supposed to weed out those officers the
Allies thought they may want another word with later.  I asked him how
he was treated and he said he was treated very well indeed but the food
was insufficient.  Always hungry.

My mother-in-law had a brother who was a police chief in a large German
city.  Although I have never seen any documents, just some photographs,
I was assured that he was a policeman throughout the war in a uniformed
branch of the SS.  He did not survive the war.  As WWll is not my
interest I hardly pay attention.  It was this knowledge though that
made me respond to this thread.  No names, but a very honourable family
as many upper class Germans are.  Including Leitz of course.

WW1 is my interest.  And what I would give to use that Back to the
Future Machine and travel back to the Menin Gate with a few M2s and a
heap of film.  Just for a month or two.

Alan