Mr. Royster: I am a collector and I learned about a very rare uniform so I wrote to the dealer whom I was told had it. Here is a copy of my message to him, his reply and then mine. I thought you might find all of this interesting. I must confess I found it very funny.<\/p>\n
Simon<\/p>\n
\u00a0From:<\/strong> Simon Carrington [mailto:xxxxxxxxx] Gentlemen:<\/p>\n Helmuth Weitze told me a few days ago that you have the parade dress uniform and trousers for a lieutenant in the German Army Fallschirm Infantry unit. As I collect paratrooper items and as this is one of the rarest uniforms, I would be most interested in purchasing it from you.<\/p>\n Could you please advise me of the condition and price of this uniform, and could you send me some pictures of it? Many thanks.<\/p>\n Most sincerely,<\/p>\n Simon Carrington<\/p>\n Wednesday, March 15, 2017 1:38 AM, Teutonia <teutonia@windstream.net> wrote:<\/p>\n Dear Simon ,<\/strong><\/p>\n I regret to inform you that this uniform was literally stolen from us some time back by a thief<\/strong><\/p>\n The details will be in the future revealed in a web site we are preparing .<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s a long and lurid story and I\u2019m not at liberty to disclose the details at this time .<\/strong><\/p>\n Suffice to say that it was an act of criminal \u00a0propensity and an outright felony but unfortunately the uniform is 100% not retrievable and was sold by the thief to some unknown buyer. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s a shame as it was stone mint and beautiful.<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019m very sorry. <\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0You can never know how sorry I am- – \u00a0it was a real tragedy as this scum bag stole much more that this from us<\/strong><\/p>\n Regards <\/strong><\/p>\n Paul at Germania <\/strong><\/p>\n Response<\/em><\/p>\n Dear Paul:<\/p>\n Thanks for your response. In the meantime, I have made inquiries about this uniform and have heard from a California-based militaria book publisher that the uniform in question was sold to a collector in Germany for, hold your breath here, $12,000! Just after I received your response, early this morning, I got another email from a well-known published expert that is, if true, really very funny. I will quote from a portion of this:<\/p>\n “…..I know quite a lot about this uniform.<\/p>\n It belonged to Alfred Schwarzmann, the famous Olympic gold medal winner (1936 Olympics.)<\/p>\n Schwarzmann was the physical instructor for the Army Paratroop unit….won the Knight’s Cross….. and as I understand it from my sources, it was traded to a collector in Virginia for a cheap print copy of a Hitler painting!<\/p>\n The print was worth about $30.00.<\/p>\n The dealer who had the uniform had no idea what it was worth but drove to see the man who had the picture, and who did not claim the print was original, and made the exchange.<\/p>\n The dealer and his wife thought they were screwing the collector to the wall!<\/p>\n The painting, if it was original, would be worth a quarter of a million clear! …..the dealer no longer has the picture.<\/p>\n He sent it off to someone who gave it to the local Humane Society thrift shop and they sold it for $25.00!<\/p>\n The dealer is not too well wrapped and I am told he went into a foaming fit about this.<\/p>\n You know, Simon, if a dealer claims to be an expert in some field, looks at an item in his field and takes it away, that’s an \u201cAs Is\u201d sale.<\/p>\n Final.<\/p>\n Tough darts, dude!<\/p>\n These crooks want to have it both ways, don’t they?<\/p>\n Imagine trading a minty famous Army paratrooper’s complete dress uniform for a cheap print, on the thought that the print was worth half a million!<\/p>\n You can’t cheat an honest man but you sure can a crook….”<\/p>\n Regards,<\/p>\n Simon<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\nSent:<\/strong> Tuesday, March 14, 2017 11:46 PM
\nTo:<\/strong> Teutonia
\nSubject:<\/strong> RE: Fallschirmjager Uniform<\/p>\n