Leica LTM 1946 Elmar 5cm with engraving "Property of U.S. Army"

[David Hughes]

David,
pure coincidence, but a couple of weeks ago, just after we had a discussion here I saw a documentary on German TV that shed some light on the background of the supply situation in Germany during the war. After attacking the Soviet Union in 1941, the Germans were more or less plundering all the crops and food they could get hold of in the areas they had conquered in the east and sent it back to Germany to the effect that the supply situation was still pretty good at the end of the war. The motivation behind that strategy (known as the "Hunger Plan" and also as "Backe Plan", named after the strategy's mastermind, Herbert Backe) was not only to supply the German civilians with more food and keep up the morale, but also at the same time to get rid of the local population in the occupied areas in the East by simply letting them starve. In the end, one of the sick ideas behind the war had been to conquer new areas of settlement for the "Aryan race" in the east and so they had to get rid of part of the local population anyway.

This organized plundering of food in the East explains why the Germans appeared to be surprisingly well fed in the eyes of the British who came here during 1945 (which is reflected in the article you were referring to). It was only after these war time food supplies had been used up in Germany by 1946 that the supply situation in Germany got really dramatic.

John

Hi John,

Thanks; very interesting.

Funny thing but I was thinking about this a couple of days ago. We'd run out of sugar and I opened a packet and then cut off the far end after emptying it to get the last few grains out. A war-time habit that's still got a lot of mileage in it...

Regards, David

 

[K14]

Pimps

Pimps

This has been the second time I've seen pimps hire LeicaTom as their hooker. Meaning they pimp information out of him to gain a higher price on the market.

Hey...I might be wrong but Tom, publish that book and refer future pimps to buy your book and get that information.

Just my take on the matter and this thread...

Cheers,
Gary

 

[LeicaTom]

This has been the second time I've seen pimps hire LeicaTom as their hooker. Meaning they pimp information out of him to gain a higher price on the market.

Hey...I might be wrong but Tom, publish that book and refer future pimps to buy your book and get that information.

Just my take on the matter and this thread...

Cheers,
Gary

Yeah Gary you have it all wrong!

I share my information openly with everyone and no one has to "pimp" anything out of me, I enjoy Photography and Leica History.......... and when it comes down to the US Army or Military stamped items from Leica they are RARE AND VALUABLE anyway you look at it, the market is where it is now and the collectors either pay the price they want to or the item sits for 5 YEARS on a shelf someplace.

I carry on with Leica history as a fun hobby, I'm selling most of my collection now, moving on to other things and I haven't plans for a Leica book anymore, but I will chime in here and there when someone needs help or I see that I can share something of interest as long as it's still fun to do so, it's all in a very relaxed mood and what I say has NOTHING to do with what happens in the collectors price market, those folks at the Leica Shop and those who do the Auctions and bid at them already have it in their heads what outlandish price to ask for or pay for things.
And if anyone who's followed the market knows that it's been over 5 years since the bubble burst and the pre 1946 Leica items are now all in such great demand, they aren't ever going to get cheaper, they are just going to get more and more expensive as there's less and less pieces to go around.

Tom

 

[K14]

I understand Tom and thanks for sharing your side! Your a gentleman at heart!

I'm sorry to hear there will be no book. I was looking forward to it.

That being said, I can only call it how I see it. Like the fellow who showed up one day with that Kreigsmarine Leica; he seemed quite desperate for information and you gave him some really good help and background on his camera. Next thing you know he put it up for auction and vanished. That didn't seem very nice of him.

Yea there are no forum rules against posting only for gaining higher market interest in these items. Ethically though, one should look deeper and realise that a greater respect is due to you and the information you and others give here.

I've enjoyed the history you've provided on some of these these wonderful cameras. You have a "BIG THANKS" from me personally and I hope the forum and members recognize what a great asset you are to the RFF community.

Cheers,
Gary

 

[LeicaTom]

I still might throw a website spot together with some general pix and information about IIIC K's and "wartime" Leica's? Maybe? but I have returned to my great love of vintage Volkswagens and that's why I'm selling off some if not all of my Leica collection.............

I found a car which in-it-self is a miracle of a time capsule, a 1957 car with less than 28,000 original miles on it, original paint and interior etc. etc.

So that's what's been pulling me away from collecting Leica's , not that I won't have at least one very interesting film Leica, but that's on hold for now

Enjoy!

Tom

 

[joeswe]

This has been the second time I've seen pimps hire LeicaTom as their hooker.

Gary,

first, I am not a pimp and second, I don't like to be called one. Third, if you should ever feel the urge to tell me something personal again, or just insult me, like you did, then address me directly here in the forum (or write me a PM) but don't refer to me in the third person as if I was absent when in fact I am present here, because neither am I your little child nor am I your servant.

John

 

[joeswe]

Yea there are no forum rules against posting only for gaining higher market interest in these items. Ethically though, one should look deeper and realise that a greater respect is due to you and the information you and others give here.

As I have already expressed above, I am very grateful to Tom for sharing his knowledge and I think he is fully aware of that.

Forums like RFF are places where people meet to share their knowledge.
For me this forum is definitely not a one way traffic, I always try to share information from my side, even if in this case it was very little I could contribute, because I am not a collector and the LTM in general and military Leica stuff in particular are terra icognita for me. I most definitely have not become a member of this forum only to sell this lens and then move on, as you insinuate. Although I might not be part of the collector's community at RFF, I have been a member here of RFF and been giving help and sharing information with others where I could. You can easily verify this by reviewing my message history.

I opened this thread out of curiosity about the lens and also to find out about it's realistic value and yes, I admit, maybe find a buyer. Indeed one person got into contact with me and wanted to purchase the lens but his offer was more or less what I had paid myself, so I had to decline. Through the conversation with Tom I realized that it is very difficult to determine the right price for such an item from the seller side alone, so I heeded his (and other people's) advice and had it auctioned. I am sorry if I hurt anyone's ethical feelings here by writing too publicly about what I was going to do, but I cannot see any wrong in it.

A lot of people write here and read here and almost everything that is written here might or might not influence the perceived value of the things in the eyes of one reader or the other, even if it's just people writing what a fantastic lens the Voigtländer xyz is and the particular lens happens to be on sale in the classifieds section, so what. Now, in this particular case I sincerely doubt that this thread had any influence on what was going on at Rahn's auction last weekend.

John