Gold Engraved Walther PPK Presented to SS Officer Otto Marrenbach

 

 

A quickie before travel day

Hey guys, I have a travel day tomorrow. So I thought I'd give you a quickie. I want to give you an update on a couple of things, and then also show you a few new guns because I know you're like me, you're probably bored looking for something to do. 

 

Update #1

So in way of update, first, the Gundi Awards. Thank you for your votes; those of you who voted, thank you very much. That ended on the 30th of January and we have not heard who won yet. As soon as we find out, we will let you know. 

 

Update #2

Secondly, the SOS gun show in Louisville, Kentucky, coming up to 24th to the 26th, we have an after party on Friday night, the 25th. We're going to call it our VIP reception. We're at the Hilton Hotel right across the street from the convention center. If you can join us, please do that. Let us know that you're interested in coming and we will send you a link where you can register and pay online. It's only $20 per person and with that you get some food and drinks and I'm going to be bringing gold engraved guns. I'm going to be bringing the Luftwaffe ace presentation gun. I'm going to be bringing some really rare pistols, things that I've shown you on the videos I'm going to be bringing to the party and invite you to put on your white gloves and get a picture taken, do a selfie, of you holding a golden engraved gun. It's going to be a lot of fun. We only have room for a hundred people it's filling up fast. So if you want to join us again Friday night, the 25th, we're going to start at 6 be done by 8. We have to get the bed early because we got to hit it hard the next day at the gun show. So that's coming up February 25th. 

 

Update #3 

Now a third update is going to be on this gun. If you remember I actually just did this video. This was the Robert Stanger Engraved PPK. Now Robert, I mentioned he went to Officer Training School before he went overseas, he was a lieutenant. He served his country well. He was awarded two Purple Hearts and two silver stars. One Silver Star in World War II and one Silver Star in Korea. He stayed on after the war and met a woman, a German woman and married her and also worked in the military police helping to keep the peace in Germany and brought this home after the war. So this is the golden engraved gun that he brought home from the war. It came in this red case.

 

How could I have missed this?

And the reason I wanted to give you an update on it is because I completely missed the fact that is very similar to a gun that Rock Island sold in 2018. I knew about this gun because I actually bid on it, but didn't win. Come on over and take a look. 

 

The Rock Island Gun

So this gold engraved in the same red -- not the same red case but very similar red case, gold engraved, we'll check out the serial number. This is reported to have been surrendered by Herman Goering. Again, they sold it in 2018. And you can see the estimated price versus the price that it sold for. I actually knew the story before I knew about the gun. It was Lieutenant Shapiro, he was Goering's personal guard and spent a lot of time with them. I'm not going to say they became friends but they got to know each other pretty well, so much so that Goering did give him an engraved gun. At least that's the story that he tells, I'm not sure of the circumstances. In this write up they talk about the fact that it was given to Lieutenant Shapiro at the time that he surrendered.

 

Which version did you hear?

That's not the story that I heard, I heard that was at a later time. And also we've seen video of Goering surrendering. We have the video here and the only gun that he had, at least we can see in the video, is a Smith and Wesson revolver which he surrendered at the time. There's no evidence that he had a second gun at that point. 

 

Let's stick to the evidence

I do believe there's good evidence that he gave a gold engraved PPK to Lieutenant Shapiro who had it after the war. He kept it for many, many years. And then after he died, his family sold it off. And again, I did bid on this gun, but didn't win.

 

Why is this so interesting?

Now let me show you why I find this so interesting. Let's start with the serial number. Now if you remember, if you watch this video -- my serial number by the way is 408117. This is 408111; so it's only six numbers away. I mentioned that they were only doing black grips at the time, and that this was unique, and that I had very unique grey grip, and grey finger extension bottom. I mentioned that in the video and I said I really believe these are original. I wasn't sure but I really believe they're original because they're so unique and they were not using grey grips in 1944. That's when this gun was made and engraved 1944. But you can see here, there is a grey grip and it's very similar and only six digits away. Here's another picture, you can see the oxidation just like with this one, you see oxidation in here exactly like you would expect to see it. And you can see it is Oak Leaf and acorn. And this is very similar. 

 

Sometimes you just can't get enough

 

So anyway, my update, I've already covered this gun. Sometimes you just can't get enough of it. But I wanted to give you this update, that it's only six digits away from reportedly, Goering's gun that he surrendered to the US Army. 

 

Here is something new

Okay, something old, something new. This is a new gold engraved. I didn't get it recently and in fact, I showed it in a previous video but just briefly, I never really went into it very much. But this is a presentation to Otto Marrenbach. He's not a well-known Nazi, somebody that would resonate with you in terms of oh yeah, I know that name. But you can see the same red case. 

 

Here's what's unusual, comparing the old and the new

Now this is unusual, because this brass cleaning rod it actually goes to a 22 caliber. But in this case, it actually goes better here than this one, which is blued. This is actually the right cleaning rod for a 7.65, but I think this actually looks better. So I don't know if that's the way they presented it or somebody added it later. But generally this goes to a 22 caliber. You see the dummy rounds, same as over here. You see the dummy rounds? Now this one has an engraved magazine in it, but then also the finger extension magazine. This one does not have the extra finger extension magazine, but you can see it is cut out for that. So it's very similar. And then this the magazine that's in the gun. You can see the construction of this. As this gets worn down, what's underneath here is nickel. You can see a little bit of nickel coming through here. So they would nickel plate it and then gold plate over the nickel. And when the gold plating wears away, that's what it looks like. But this gun is in excellent condition. This serial number makes it 1938. So I would expect crown N proofs not eagle N. Eagle N started in 1940. So crown N proofs, 1938, just before the war started. 

 

Why did Otto Marrenback have this?

What was Otto Marrenbach doing this was his superior officer from what I understand. And that date the 27th of July 1942, that is actually his birthday. So what was he doing? He was celebrating his birthday. 

 

Otto Marrenbach

Now who was Otto Marrenbach? He was a high ranking Nazi Party official. Here's a picture of Otto and what I learned about him, it's not somebody I really know well. Although now that I have the gun, of course, I had to read up on them a little bit. He was actually part of the labor union or the labor force. He was an industrialist. He joined the party in 1928. So he was an early joiner, joined the party in 1928. He had several businesses, most of his businesses involved steel and electrical production. So of course, that's very important to Germany as they're building up for the war. He became a very wealthy industrialist, he actually ran for office. He ran for the Reichstag, which is their political assembly. He ran for the Reichstag in 1938 and won. He actually served in the Reichstag from 1936 all the way to the end of the war. 

 

Side note

This reminds me that I have a plate, it has nothing to do with this gun. But I picked up this -- I didn't pick up the plate. Somebody dropped off this plate a while ago, and I wasn't sure what to do with it. But it is China. That's the symbol of the Reichstag. And so this must have been a dinner plate when they served meals there.

 

Back to the Reichstag

So the Reichstag, of course, that was where they had their political assembly, and it has a storied history, including it was burned down and that was one of the many made up reasons why they persecuted the Jews. And of course, you also see that at the end of the war, when the Germans took over Berlin and blew up the swastika at the top of the building. So this is a plate from the Reichstag, and let's go back to Otto. 

 

 

Now back to Otto

 

Otto had a brother Fritz, who was also a high ranking member of the Nazi party. So again, he was in charge of the labor unions, what they call their labor movement, an industrious or wealthy man. Along with that, of course, he got other positions, including he was an oberfuhrer in the SA in 1938. He didn't last there very long because he must have been a smart man. He left the SA, he resigned from the SA and moved over to the SS. I guess he saw the handwriting on the wall and realized all the influential positions were being taken up by the SS. So he went from oberfuhrer of the SA to oberfuhrer of the SS. He remained there through the end of the war. He did survive the war and he died sometime in the 1970s. 

 

The two gold engraved guns

So let's take a closer look at the two gold engraved guns. Very far apart in terms of 1938, at least made in 1938, it wasn't presented until 1942. This was made in '44, probably presented in '44 or '45. 

 

Himmler did some interesting things

Isn't it interesting that Himmler was still taking gift guns from the Walther factory all the way into 1945? I thought it was interesting that he used it to give to the Americans when he surrendered. Because of his position, he was given these kinds of gifts, kind of as a bribe or for better treatment. I'm sure in his mind, if he brings one of these gold engraved guns and surrenders to the Americans, it creates goodwill. And also the nice red case. It's a beautiful assembly, and any officer might be a little bit swayed by the inherent gift of a gold engraved PPK. I'm not sure the Russians would have treated them as nicely, but in the end, he was sentenced to death. And as most of you know, he was due to be hung. On the night before he somehow got a poison capsule and killed himself. 

 

A comparison of the two gold engraved guns

So let's just do a little bit of a comparison. This is also oak leaf and acorn here. The oak leaves are a little bit smaller, and you have this ribbon here. I've seen that in other guns. So this is probably one engraver and that's his style. I don't know the names of the engravers. But that was one style that I've seen with other guns earlier. And this was a later style. So I think they're two different engravers. You can see the front. Again, they use the same trim, here and here. Usually underneath the muzzle is usually interesting. Here they use an oak leaf. The two colors of the gold, I'm sure that has to do with gold content. And I would guess this has less gold content. Can't say that for sure. You see eagle N versus crown N. You also see the serial number is on the frame and the slide. And as it was in 1938 when they made this they didn't put the serial number on the slide, it's prettier in my mind to not mess it up with a serial number. But I think this is an overall better looking gun. The magazines are engraved on the bottom under the tang. Let's see under the tang, that's actually very, very similar. And then of course the brown grip versus a purple grip. Also, I mentioned before the grip screws are engraved on both sides. You can see the grip screw has a little bit of engraving on this one. Very slightly engraved here, very slightly engraved here. 

 

Here's the biggest difference

And then the biggest difference is this plate, which I often see here and in a square where it will have a presentation and it will have who it was given to and maybe the reason for the gift. This is one of the few that I see with the oval here. Only other thing, notice the safety you have an Oak leaf here and this is more of a flower burst. 

 

Very different but somewhat similar

So two Gold engraved guns, very different. But in some ways very similar. Okay, two really quick things. I said this is going to be a quickie, but I get carried away. 

 

Quickly, tell me what you see

 

These are really, really quick. I just thought this was interesting. This came in exactly like this. What do you notice right away? Well, you probably say okay, this is a Japanese rifle paratrooper because it comes apart, and we've done videos before. This unscrews you pull that off, and then it just pulls apart. So that's the essence of the Japanese [inaudible 14:29]. There we go. That obviously pulls apart. What's unusual and makes for an interesting conversation is this is an M1 Carbine strap. 

 

Here's the question

 

So the question is, did a Japanese paratrooper capture an M1 Carbine and take the strap, or did the American soldier capture the paratrooper and put his own M1 Carbine strap all that is to say, I don't know. It's just an interesting quandary and I'm going to keep it the way it came in because that's probably part of the history. 

 

A 1911 Colt

Along the same vein is this pistol right away you see this is a 1911 COLT it's been adjusted, altered actually. And if you look inside this is actually a beautiful Beretta, late war there's no legend here, no date here, no caliber here. It is 32 caliber. It is definitely late 1944. I don't think 1945 because I don't think they -- they produced a little bit in the beginning of '45. So late '44 early '45. It has like a very low military finish. It does have the 4UT here you probably can't see it but that is the technical unit. That was the proof mark; it was approved by the Nazis for the German army. And this is just a good example of a late war Beretta, hardly anywhere at all. But it came to us in this holster. Well obviously this holster was altered from a 1911. They cut here, it says us so again. 

 

Same Quandary

The same quandary, was this a German who captured an American sidearm and made this adjustment? Or was this an American who captured a German sidearm and made the adjustment. No matter how it happened, this is how we got it and I definitely think we should leave it this way. 

 

One last thing

 

Okay, the very last thing I want to show you is just I found this really cool. You might be [imitates yawning] by now, but I thought this was really cool. This jacket is in an unissued condition when I see a World War II era jacket, in fact, I would have said this is not from World War II. But in fact it is you can see the patch here Army Air Forces that's the patch here and again this fur is in excellent -- it's not fur, I think it's faux fur and this is a size 40. And you can see from this that it has to be World War II because Air Forces are the US Army. The Air Force was not separate in World War II; after World War II they separated. So this is a World War II jacket, I think never issued and the reason I think it's cool is because I would be the hit of the neighborhood. I just think somebody out there is going to want this it's probably a little bit small, but just check that out. Isn't that cool? When you like to go to your kids PTA meeting and we're one of these I just really like it.

 

It will be on the website

We're going to put this on our website. So if you want to check it out, this is going to be for sale and I just think from World War II in pristine condition. 

 

We made it to the end

Hey, a few odds and ends and a couple of doodads and we got ourselves a video thanks for watching. Make sure you like and subscribe to our channel and we're going to get back to you on the Gundies.