WWII time capsule

[cmore]

I found this on FB. It hasn't been corroborated yet.
I know we have experts on this site.
Is it real? Even if not it is pretty cool, I think.
I think it would have to be an officer's.
See for yourself.
And please, I posted here to hear from the people here. I could not
possibly care less what snopes has to say about anything.

MUST SEE: Amazing WWII Battlefield Discovery [Photos]

 

[bigwheelzip]

Even though this two year old story seems to have no further follow-up stories, it seems plausible. The locale that it was purported to have come from, Nevsky Pyatachok, was the sight of a brutal 14 month siege battle that left 160,000 German casualties.

After the war, a tradition began in which the children of Leningrad schools took summer trips to the area to search for numerous remains of those that died there. Official burial ceremonies were then held commemorating the dead of those battles. The ground there still contains unidentifiable skeletal remains.

A more recent WWII discovery is in the news this weekend. In Frankfurt on Sunday, authorities will evacuate an area with 70,000 inhabitants, to hopefully disable a huge British bomb.

Frankfurt to evacuate 70,000 while World War II bomb defused

 

[e3mrk]

It seems a lot of the SS Men that were in that area buried anything that linked them to that branch of the German Military in case the Russians captured them or to try and prevent being found out by the Allies at the end of the War. Unfortunately for them the lightning bolt tattoos under the right arm gave them away.

 

[LVSteve]

A more recent WWII discovery is in the news this weekend. In Frankfurt on Sunday, authorities will evacuate an area with 70,000 inhabitants, to hopefully disable a huge British bomb.

Frankfurt to evacuate 70,000 while World War II bomb defused

A 4,000 lb HC "Cookie" is not even a big one, according to my late grandfather who was Bomber Command ground crew. He often saw the 8,000 lb beast loaded, but the 12,000 HC was pretty rare.

One of his scariest stories involved an aircraft that aborted its mission. Next morning somebody sent to the cockpit got fat fingers and discovered that the armourers had not yet visited the plane.....

 

[swsig]

The uniform indicates the owner was a physician because of the caduceus insignia. There also appears to be a surgeon's gown in the box. The contents look awfully clean for having been buried so long. It must have been a very airtight box to keep out moisture and bugs.
All I can add is, "Hmmm".

 

[kimporter]

i had heard thru various ww2 websites that it was fake,i tend to believe it as those cegars look mighty fresh

 

[Alk8944]

Seen it before, interesting story, but that is just what it is. A steel box buried in the ground more than 70 years ago would have rusted through many years ago, no matter what form of rust proofing had been done to it!

It's BS.

 

[shouldazagged]

The contents look awfully clean for having been buried so long. It must have been a very airtight box to keep out moisture and bugs.
All I can add is, "Hmmm".

Distinct odor of overripe carp. The "preservation" is altogether too perfect for over seventy years underground. Or thirty years.

 

[retiredbadge8091]

I would consider the alleged source, and really question the possibility of finding a box in that condition with contents in near pristine condition.

 

[Watchdog]

This happened over two years ago.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

If you put a uniform in a waterproof box, it'll last a while.
But those cigars?
They look like they were bought last week!

 

[moosedog]

Could be true. Depending on the climate and soil conditions where it was buried, it could have been preserved rather well. Check some of the tanks that they found in bogs in Europe. They have very little rust because of conditions mentioned. Why would someone fake it and not disclose the site info? Not much to be gained really, no big ticket items that I can see.
Those cigars look moldy as all get out.

 

[Absalom]

It is actually a veterinarian's uniform and tag.

According to discussions on European WW II collector sites, the photos appeared for the first time around 2007 and have generally been considered a fake.

Nález z Ruska - bez komentáru – Detektor web.cz - Detektory kovù

 

[Gamecock]

There was a war fought in Eastern Europe than involved millions of soldiers and millions of civilians. The grounds are surely full of artifacts.

This one? Dunno.

 

[Ray1970]

On a related subject, there are a bunch of videos of guys in Eastern Europe or parts of Russia who go out treasure hunting with metal detectors and find some pretty cool stuff from WWII. Stashes of weapons buried by the Germans when they retreated, unexplored ordnance, etc. pretty entertaining to watch but I just leave the volume down since I don't speak whatever language those guys speak anyways.

 

[cmore]

It is actually a veterinarian's uniform and tag.

According to discussions on European WW II collector sites, the photos appeared for the first time around 2007 and have generally been considered a fake.

Nález z Ruska - bez komentáru – Detektor web.cz - Detektory kovù

OK thank you for your time. A lot of good info. I was hoping someone
could ID the tag.

 

[Absalom]

OK thank you for your time. A lot of good info. I was hoping someone
could ID the tag.

With the caveat that this is not my expertise, but comes from various German militaria forums (whose qualifications or lack thereof I can't vouch for ), here are the details:

The shoulder tabs are those of an "Oberstabsveterinär", an untranslatable officer's rank in the veterinary service of the Wehrmacht.

The "H. St. V." refers to "Heeresstabsveterinär", a function to go with the rank, Insterburg was a town in formerly German East Prussia (now annexed by Russia), likely the command or district the former owner of this stuff was attached to.

The material in the box, except maybe the fresh cigars, looks authentic on the surface. If I had to come up with an explanation, my wild guess would be that a collector or other hoarder stashed and preserved it after the war, and someone with a sense of humor inherited or acquired it otherwise and staged this prank. You can always get attention with a "Nazi find".

 

[DWalt]

I imagine the Wehrmacht had lots of vets. They still used horses in large numbers as beasts of burden during WWII. Also they often traveled with livestock which they butchered for food. I remember reading that the Wehrmacht had special slaughter and meatcutting groups, a field slaughterhouse operation.