Story of How a Nazi SS Engraved Gun from Buchenwald Concentration Camp got to Us 

1937 Engraved Walther PP

Hey, guys, welcome to another walk-in Wednesday. I have a really exciting find for you guys. Like other videos that I've done, this one didn't actually walk in. I picked this up at a gun show from a friend; I knew ahead of time because I actually used to own this gun. It's a phenomenal find and actually a very sobering story. This is an engraved Walther PP from 1937. And it comes in this shoulder, aka shoulder holster.

Brief History of this Engraved Walther PP

Now I bought this back in 2004 from a dealer up in Maine. I then sold it to a friend of mine down in Georgia, Richard Hunter. Richard Hunter, at the time, was working as a private investigator for a law firm. And so, he had access to files that I didn't have access to. And long story short, he was able to track down Ted Blaisdell and get the following story. Now, I have to start off by saying, if you've watched other videos, we've told you the number one story we hear from anybody who captures a gun is I took this from a dead SS officer. 

Is this Gun Actually from an SS Officer?

And we always laugh about that because, you know, when dad or grandpa tells a story, it always gets embellished. And I know if I brought something back, it would have been from a dead SS officer, not from a cook or a clerk. It had to be a dead SS officer. So, this actually came from a dead SS officer. And again, it's a little bit sobering. So, I don't want to make light of this story because it was taken out of Buchenwald.

Gun is verified by Legendary USA Veteran Ted Blaisdell

So, my friend Richard Hunter called Ted, and he actually got his home health care worker because Ted was in his final days of his life. So, it was very timely that he called. He bought this in 2005, and it was in February of 2005 that he talked to Ted. And then Ted passed away within weeks. So, you know, I'm really glad that he was able to track down this story because this story deserves to be told. So, Ted was a pilot, and he worked for the Army Air Corps.

He actually transported dignitaries in those little small Piper planes that the U.S. Army did. They did a lot of observation. He said he transported Eisenhower a few times. He was stationed in Paris, and he would take people back and forth for different meetings and opportunities. In this case, it was two congressmen. They'd heard about the death camp. So, it was right at the end of the war in 1945, two congressmen, one had to go and visit Buchenwald.

So, they came to Paris, and Ted, who is at the time, he was a major at the time. Later, a colonel. He was in charge so he could have assigned somebody else. But he said, I wanted to do this because it was a great photo opportunity to be with a couple of congressmen, they went to. Buchenwald. So, when he got there, he said he describes the scene and it's actually written up in this book.

Veteran Bring Back Stories by Ed Tinker. Another good friend of mine. You see the gun there, and he tells the story about going there, and he describes the scene that's pretty graphic about what he saw there. It was very, very sobering. But one of the things he saw was an SS officer dead, draped over a fence. They took the body down. And when he took the body down, he said around his neck was this gun, in the shoulder holster.

Sometimes life and Engraved Walther PPs come Full Circle

He then brought it back from the war. He kept it all of his life. But toward the end of his life, he sold it to a dealer up in Maine. And then it came to me. I sold it to Richard Hunter. Now, I told Richard, if you ever decide to sell this gun, I want it back. And so, I was able to purchase back. And this is one that I will not be offering for sale just because of the historical significance.

It is factory engraved, by the way. We know that from the serial number, that serial number, we've talked before that they came in solid blocks. And this one was it was factory engraved. And it also proves another theory. I did a video on Waffen proof guns. Which one? How do we know it went to the army, or how do we know it went to the military? We've talked about a lot of the soldiers would do private purchase guns.

So I Just Graduated from SS School, What do I Get? 

This one is not Waffen proof. The military never would have issued an engraved gun. So, this was a private purchase gun. A little forensic logic would tell me that probably came from a well to do family because these were expensive, and people didn't have money for things like this. Oftentimes people would buy a graduation gift when you graduated from your SS school. Families, I've seen documentation that family would present it to their son upon graduation. We don't know the whole story of this, but it's going to an SS officer who was assigned to Buchenwald.

Probably not the cream of the crop. And the reason I say that is everybody wanted to be, you know, every good German wanted to be fighting in the front lines and defending the fatherland. He went to Buchenwald, which was not the cream of the crop. So, we know a little bit about this guy, but he clearly this gun came from a dead SS officer. I'm proud to add it to my collection. Thanks for watching.

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