Quote:
Originally Posted by ErichS
Looks like a fake to me Jon!  |
Guys:
What Jon has posted, an original picture of Fritz Todt's funeral pillow, depicting the German Order, is nothing less than extraordinary. The German Order that is shown in the original photo is clearly the so-called Souval "fake".
How could this be? The experts on the Forum have told us over and over again the the "chicken headed" German Order is a Souval reproduction and that the Duemer version with the round headed eagle is the only accepted "original".
The only other funeral pillow picture of the German Order that I have seen prior to Jon's posting, was at Heydrich's funeral in June 1942. The German Order in that photo is the Duemer version, with the round headed eagles and the Fuess type Gold Party badge in the center.
Therefore, either the Todt photo is somehow a fake, or the reality is that there were two makers of the German Order.
Fritz Todt was killed in an air crash on February 8, 1942. His funeral was on February 11th. Clearly, it would have been impossible even for the Germans to have produced the depicted German Order in a period of three days.
This is strong evidence that the German Order had already been in the works in February 1942, and the funeral was the logical time to reveal it.
In my readings about the NSDAP, which the German Order is the Party's highest award, per Hitler himself, the Party rarely gave an exclusive lock to any one manufacturer to produce an item, whether it was a dagger or a medal. This was the "socialist" aspect of the Party in action, by spreading the work around.
It is obvious to me that the Party vetted two contracts for the production of the German Order, which would be standard business practice. For whatever reasons, the Party could have decided to grant the German Order as produced by Duemer subsequent to Todt's funeral, as the award piece, and placed the so-called chicken head version in storage.
I would point out that Andre Huskin's 1999 Katalog depicts a pin back third class chicken headed German Order, as an original. I have contacted Herr Huskin and he has informed me that he stands by his opinion in his book, that the chicken headed German Order is in fact an original.
We have been told that this version is a Souval reproduction. Nobody has ever posted a picture of somebody telling us that he bought this from Souval in the 60s or early 70s, and this is what Souval produced. Such a direct line from the purchaser, has never been established.
Therefore, the common opinion that these so-called chicken headed eagles are fakes, may just be one of the endless collector myths that we pay lip service to, without the slightest supporting evidence. A very common tactic in the WAF.
Therefore, the challenge is to show that the February 1942 photo of Todt's funeral pillow is a product of a photo shop, or in the alternative these 'fakes" are in fact period originals.
Do any WAF members have some cogent factual evidence to refute this, not just conclusionary opinions based on what other members have said?
Gary
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