I inherited this German k98 from my grandfather. He had brought it back (dufflebag smuggle) from the war, and kept it at his house. The rifle is in superb condition and me, being a history/gun buff fell in love with it from a very young age. My grandfather is nearing 96 years old now, and with that comes the usually effects of age. He's still extremely sharp, as I had taken a bunch of his photos from the war and gone over them with him while recording us both with my GoPro Hero 5. He was able to rattle off everyone in the photo, the date, the time of year and who the photographer was. It was amazing. I learned that him and a friend at the end of the war met a German girl named Gretel (ironic right) and that Gretel was a beer maiden for a local restaurant in the town. Being that my grandfather is a short man of German descent, naturally he was drawn to her for the prospect of a nice beer. The only problem was, the only place that she could get beer was from the top of a mountain. I know I know, it sounds like a fairy tale...except he has the pictures to prove it. He said it was about a 3-4 hike one way, and that Gretel would do this every day and bring beer back to town. Him and his friend befriended her and followed her to where she would get the beer from. He said that it was the "best beer of his life", probably because of the altitude, the hike and the lack of alcohol during the war. Either way, I believe him because it was probably a really damn good beer.
This rifle was taken from a "Hitler-Jugend", or Hitler Youth. My grandfather told me that the kid he had taken it from was no older than 16 at most, and that when he saw the AAA Half Tracks with quad .50 caliber AA guns mounted he just stopped and stood there. My Grandfather dismounted the back of the Half Track and walked up to him, the kid just stood there. He said that he grabbed the rifle from him slowly and as he reached out, the Hitler-Jugend pissed himself. Now, my grandfather is far from intimidating. Short, stocky and fairly quiet man that lets out a few hearty chuckles here and there.
I can however, imagine how scared that kid must have been. After all, this was the end of the war. Russia was at the door step of Berlin and the last stand was being made in the city. More than likely this kid was either straight up indoctrinated or forced to go along with like many other German citizens. Either way, it makes for a kickass story and makes me a proud grandson.
While in Michigan, I went to a few antique stores to see what we could find. I found this book. Titled "Deutschland erwache!" ("Germany, awaken!"), it is a Nazi propaganda photo album produced in 1934. It was produced by the Cigaretten-Bilderdienst Hamburg-Bahrenfeld, Germany. It depicts the rise of the National Socialist Movement from the early 1920's until the seizure of power in 1933. The book is all original, and an eerie reminder of what the past holds. . .
Thumbing through the pages with my 94 y/o, 10th armored division 796th armored battalion grandfather, he was pointing out leaders of the Nazi party right and left. Giving me names, what their role was, who was above and below them in the rank structure. Every time he saw a picture of Hitler, he cringed and said "That guy was an absolute lunatic!" or a similar variation. . .
Thought I'd share this cool find.