The other day, while rooting through an old box of various knick-nacks of my late grandfather, we turned up what is as near as I can tell an authentic “Third Reich Battle Flag.” Obviously it is a “souvenir” from his time in WWII (along with a fair amount of nazi currency and a non-working Luger), and it’s actually in excellent condition with the exception of a few bullet holes.
Written along the left seam is the abbreviation “LOH. KR-FL.” exactly as I have written it here.
Firstly, does anyone here have any clue what this would stand for? I figure the last half might be something to the effect of “krieg-flag”, but I do not speak any German.
Second, anyone have any clue as to how I would figure a value on such an odious relic? We don’t have any intention of selling it, if for no other reason than the fact that it could turn up in the hands of a very sick person, but quite honestly we haven’t the faintest idea what the right thing to do with such a thing would be (other than urinating on it and then burning it to ash). Google searches only turn up stuff I don’t want to look at, and I’m not sure sales on eBay reflect the value such an item might have to a museum or something, rather than a twisted person willing to pay any price for such an item. It may be the right answer is it should be donated to a museum in my grandfather’s memory, but even at that I’m not sure what sort of museum would want such a thing. Any ideas, or experiences from other people who have found nazi “souvenirs” among their parents personal stuff?
Yeah, right, it’s so odious that feel you must tell us about the excellent condition and the other collectables with it, and you’re keen enough to research the meaning of some text on it. Bin it if disgusts you that much. Otherwise, do a Google search on “LOH. KR-FL”. This finds other examples on lists of dealers who will no doubt know what it means, and might even buy the horrible, horrible thing from you.
This is exactly why I was loathe to post any details of what the abbreviation was on, but I thought the context might clarify things a bit. If you feel I’m truly the scum of the earth, please feel free to pit me so that you can get it off your chest. Everyone can join in, since it’s so clear that I joined this board in February 2001 so that I could spam it with offers of nazi collectibles two years later.
In any event, thank you for reminding me to actually google the abbreviation, I tend to forget the obvious solution. A quick perusal suggests the flag is of essentially no value (or, more importantly, suggests it is relatively common), so I will make no effort to preserve it.
Now that value is determined, as I stated in my OP, I’m interested in a museum or something that would like a donation of an artifact that is in comparatively outstanding condition. Anywhere in the world is fine, we’ll ship it wherever, but I would very much like a tiny plaque or something in honor of my grandfather. Or, for that matter, just any ideas other than the urinating and burning suggestion I put in my OP would be greatly appreciated. I’m the sort of person that doesn’t throw away five year old receipts, and an avid history buff to boot, so just destroying such artifacts is not something I like to do without careful consideration and ensuring there is no one else in the world who can use it for educational purposes.
Do you think your grandfather would have gone through all the trouble of taking this item home just so one of his descendants could urinate on it and burn it? Why didn’t he do it, or his (daughter or son) for that matter?
A bit melodramatic, don’t you think? Why did you care what the item is worth, if you feel so strongly about destroying it? While we’re on the topic, what on earth is a “Third Reich Battle Flag” and why would you have such strong feelings about it if your grandfather didn’t? If it’s as you describe, it would be a military item, not a holocaust item - he probably understood this, which may be why he kept it.
If it were me, and I wanted to give this thing to a museum, and I wasn’t too concerned about turning a profit, I would consider calling a few universities and asking to talk to someone in the respective history department. I know from walking through the museum at my school that somebody there seems to have a WWII fetish (or maybe WWII memorabilia is just the easiest stuff to get ahold of). Just a thought. If this “battle flag” could be valuable to somebody (including in non-monetary terms), I think it would be a shame to piss on the thing or burn it. Just MHO. Good luck.
Up at Fort Benning they got a display of captured German weapons and behind it is HUGE swastic flag. Well, it really isn’t a flag, it is a flag-like thingee that hung off an opera box.
Anywho some young (US) subaltern took the thing home with him. As he advanced in ranks, he used it as office decor. As a rug. “GO ahead, spit on it I do every morning.”
the kr-fl most likely stands for Kriegsflagge. LOH would prolly describe the intended use (where and when), though this is more of an educated guess that certainty.