“He passed and the heirs disposing of the estate took it to the thrift store.”
It’s a common story that the kids of WW2 veterans hated “dad’s war trophies” and had no idea of their value when they ‘got rid of’ them.
Over the course of the years I’ve attended a few estate sales in Sacramento and at absurdly low prices I’ve picked up:
1. A German Cross in Gold
2. A Victoria’s Cross
3. A signed collection of the Four Freedoms by Norman Rockwell (lithographs)
4. A old copy of Mein Kampf signed by the author
5. Twenty British sovereigns (cost me the princely sum of $10)
6. A Norden bombsight
7. A small collection of Kriegsmarine Lugers
8. A pair of gray Luftwaffe gloves (very small)
9. Assorted currency, coins, and stamps
10. A Lithuanian passport with a transit visa signed by Chiune Sugihara (I sent it to the Yad Vashem)
etc.
It stuns me sometimes the dripping contempt these kids have for their fathers and grandfathers. Which makes it easier for me to all but steal these things from them.
Sad to hear about kids. I googled the luger, since I have owned a few. Is it the Brandenburg eagle over the “M” that makes it Kriegsmarine?
Note to Self-—
Estate Sales!
So what. I picked up the wallet size Mona Lisa in Paris. Guy selling it really needed the Euros. Big payday coming.
We are going through that process with Mom and Dad’s estate.
Everything has been evaluated and whatever the siblings wanted has been claimed. I don’t feel right about selling Dad’s WWII uniform and Japanese and Chinese souvenirs so we are donating them to a museum.
Wow.