Realizing this, the Wehrmacht designed a new system and began issuing it in 1941. This process was cumbersome and time-consuming, both heavily undesirable factors when considering that immediate treatment of blister agent exposure is necessary to significantly counteract the effects of the agent. The paste was then spread on any skin exposed to blister agents using a gauze pad. The soldier was supposed to crush the tablet into a powder, and then add water to turn it into a paste. The first issue decontamination kit was a Bakelite container that held Losantin tablets. The gas cape was often strapped to the side of the canister for ease of use. Some canisters had a lining of aluminum sheet metal. The straps allowed it to be carried at the small of the back, which limited the potential unwieldy nature of the canister, keeping it out of the way for the soldier to use his weapon, go prone, and whatever else was necessary. The inside of the canister lid had a small container for gas mask antifog lens inserts, which in an emergency could also be used to replace broken gas mask lenses. The cleaning cloth was officially kept at the bottom of the canister, and was held down by a spring system designed for the carrier. The canister was waterproof when closed, and protected the mask from being jostled, bumped, and smashed due to its sturdy metal construction. The German gas mask carrier during WWII was a metal canister. Decontamination kits were also issued, in two types. Some were also issued with a rubberized 'gas cape', which was a chemical-resistant sheet that one was supposed to throw over themselves should blister agents be deployed. Every soldier was issued a gas mask, which was kept in a metal canister. Having learned from the chemical warfare of WWI, however, Germany wanted to keep its army protected against chemical warfare. Germany, the Soviet Union, and Britain all had large stockpiles of chemical munitions- the Germans had a slight edge in having the first nerve gases, but knew better than to push chemical warfare into the mix. have been in the process of viewing and sorting the recovered material.Germany had an interesting approach to gas protection in WWII. “The amount of material found in the wall is overwhelming,” the city archive said on Facebook on Monday. Archivists were able to find more information about Wiedey in the city records, including the fact that she married in 1913 and had two children, but were unable to track down much about her apparently unsuccessful suitor.Īrchivists have recovered 12 boxes of materials from the site and are in the process of examining them. In addition to the Nazi-era materials, a 1905 love letter sent to a 17-year-old girl named Hedwig Wiedey was found hidden in the hoard, reports Mike Fiebig for Die Westfalenpost. The NSV most likely kept them in a “memory corner” of the office alongside badges bearing images of eagles and swastikas. “We hope, for example, to come across files on the distribution of so-called Jewish furniture,” Blank says.Īndreas Korthals, an archivist at Stadtarchiv Hagen, a state-run government agency, tells Live Science’s Tom Metcalfe that Nazi stormtroopers probably used the brass knuckles in street fights against communists. It also benefited from donations of assets and goods seized from Jewish groups and individuals. The organization ran relief operations and kindergartens. Many contemporary accounts describe this kind of rapid disposal of sensitive materials-but it’s unusual to find an intact trove.Īccording to Blank, the find may help historians learn more about the NSV and its role in the Nazi regime. “That must have happened very hectically,” he says. Ralf Blank, manager of the Hagen city archive, tells Frankfurter Allgemeine that NSV members probably hid the documents and other materials in the wall when Allied troops marched into the city in April 1945. Yurtseven and his aunt say the family had no idea of this history when they purchased the property in the 1960s. Investigating further, he found a cache of World War II–era artifacts, including a portrait of Adolf Hitler, a revolver, gas masks, Nazi Party badges, brass knuckles, letters and documents.Īs it turns out, the building housed the local headquarters of the National Socialist People’s Welfare organization (NSV) during the Nazi era. When Yurtseven pulled out a rotten piece of plasterboard, he spotted a foot-wide space behind the wall containing a newspaper dated to 1945, writes Insider’s Sophia Ankel. “I didn’t think it would turn into such a huge discovery.” “I got goosebumps,” Sebastian Yurtseven told local media, as quoted by the Times. Last month, a history teacher cleaning his aunt’s house in Hagen, Germany, after severe flooding discovered a trove of Nazi artifacts hidden behind a wall, reports David Crossland for the London Times.
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