Overview
- Brief Narrative
- Luger P08 pistol, holster, and magazine captured by Shmuel Mizrahi from a German sergeant during a battle in the fall of 1944, near Zvornik and the Drina River in Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina). The Luger P08 was first designed in 1898 by Georg Luger and manufactured by Deutsche Waffen und Munitions Fabriken (DWM). Production of P08 Lugers would last until 1942, with a total of approximately two million units produced. Shmuel Mizrahi lived in the North Macedonian region of Yugoslavia, and was active in the communist party and Hashomer Hatzair, a Zionist youth movement. On April 6, 1941, Germany and Italy, supported by Hungary and Bulgaria, invaded Yugoslavia. After the invasion, Shmuel was imprisoned and tortured by Bulgarian occupation forces. Shmuel escaped and joined a partisan group near the city of Skopje. He stayed with the partisan group until it collapsed, and then fled to Albania, which was occupied by Italian forces. In Albania, Shmuel used false identity papers, under the name of Shaban Hussein, to go to Tirana and join the Albanian partisans. He was captured by the Italians, and scheduled for execution, but his sentence was commuted to imprisonment. In 1943, he was transferred to the Pristina concentration camp. After the Italian government surrendered to the Allies in September 1943, Germany occupied Albania. The camp prisoners were sent on a forced march, during which Shmuel was able to escape. Shmuel joined the 21st Partisan Brigade. After being wounded in battle, he returned to Skopje, where he remained for the rest of the war.
- Date
-
manufacture:
1920-1922
acquired: 1944
- Geography
-
acquired:
Zvornik (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
manufacture: Europe
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Viktor Mizrahi
- Markings
- a
bottom rear of barrel, engraved : [maker’s mark] / N / 8681 / [maker’s mark]
receiver, front left side, engraved : [maker’s mark] / N
frame, front, engraved : 8681 / [maker’s mark]
left side, rear of receiver, under safety lever, engraved : GESICHERT [Secured]
receiver, rear, engraved : 10
receiver, top, engraved : DWM 10 (Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken) [German Weapons and Ammunition Factories]
receiver, top, on loaded indicator, engraved : 11
c
left side, top, engraved : [maker’s mark] 37
left side, bottom, engraved : fxo / [maker’s mark] / 37 / P08
bottom, engraved : 3004 / [maker’s mark] - Contributor
-
Subject:
Shmuel R. Mizrahi
Manufacturer: Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken
Previous owner: Shmuel R. Mizrahi
- Biography
-
Shmuel Rahamin Mizrahi was born in 1920, in the Macedonian region of Yugoslavia. His parents were Rahamin and Rena, and Shmuel had four brothers and sisters. As a young man, Shmuel was active with the communist party and Hashomer Hatzair, a Zionist youth movement that taught Jews skills such as farming and other types of work that would be useful when Jews resettled Israel.
On April 6, 1941, Germany and Italy invaded Yugoslavia, supported by Hungary and Bulgaria. Yugoslavia was partitioned into zones of occupation. After the invasion, Shmuel was arrested and imprisoned by the Bulgarian occupation forces. While imprisoned, he was tortured. Shmuel managed to escape, and joined a partisan resistance group near Skopje. Shmuel stayed with the partisan group until it collapsed, and then escaped to Albania.
Albania had been invaded and occupied by Italian forces in April 1939. The Italian authorities enforced some anti-Jewish restrictions, but generally treated Jews better than their German counterparts. In Albania, Shmuel met with Pasha Reznich, who gave him identity papers under the name of Shaban Hussein. With his new alias, Shmuel went to Tirana, where he found his sister, Grazia Comforty, and joined the Albanian partisans. He was caught by the Italian authorities, and scheduled for execution, but his sentence was commuted to 101 years imprisonment. In 1943, he and other political prisoners were transferred from Tirana to the Pristina concentration camp. Prisoners in the camp were forced to sleep on the floor in rooms without doors or windows, and were given insufficient food.
After the Italian government surrendered to the Allies in September 1943, German forces occupied Albania. The camp prisoners were evacuated and sent on a forced march by German soldiers. Shmuel escaped during the march and joined the 21st Partisan Brigade. As a member of the Brigade, Shmuel participated in a battle in the fall of 1944, near Zvornik and the Drina River in Croatian-occupied Bosnia-Herzegovina. He was later wounded in a subsequent battle. Shmuel returned to Skopje, where he remained until the German forces and their collaborators withdrew from the country in in April, 1945. After the war ended, Shmuel married and had three children.
Physical Details
- Classification
-
Weapons
- Category
-
Firearms
- Object Type
-
Pistols (lcsh)
- Genre/Form
- Handguns.
- Physical Description
- a:
Semi-automatic, black metal 9mm pistol. The handle extends down and back on a diagonal, with rounded front and back straps and knurled wood grips attached to both sides by a screw on the bottom. The butt of the handle has a rectangular hole where a magazine (c) is inserted within the hollow handle. The circular trigger guard extends out from the front of the handle and contains the crescent-shaped trigger. Attached to the top of the handle is the rectangular, metal receiver. The rear of the pistol has a small, metal, rounded handle, and above it the end of the receiver is rounded with a small, flat centered lever. On the top is a small, notched peep sight and in front of it is a pair of small, rounded knobs with ridged surfaces. In front of the knobs, a narrow, rectangular ridge slopes down to the front of the receiver. A smooth, cylindrical barrel is attached to the front of the receiver. The barrel extends out, and has a small, thin, fin-shaped sight on top of the end. On the left side of the pistol, there is a small magazine release button between the handle and trigger guard. The release is a small lever with a raised, round, knurled end above the trigger guard. There is a small safety lever on the rear of the receiver. German text is inscribed below the safety.
b:
Triangular, stiff, brown leather, handgun belt holster for a Luger P08 pistol (a). The holster has a hard, leather back panel shaped like a pistol. The front of the holster is divided into several separate sections sewn onto the back panel with tan thread, leaving the gun partially exposed when inside. There is a small, cylindrical leather pouch with a rounded tip attached to the narrow, bottom end to hold the barrel, and a wide, horizontal strap across the center to secure the body of the gun. A thin, leather strap is attached to the top of the panel with a rivet, and attaches to the center strap via a snap. The back of the holster has a wide belt loop attached with three rivets, and another two rivets in the rear of the panel. The back surface is worn and peeling and the rivets holding the belt loop have surface rust. The belt loop is a darker brown than the rest of the holster and the leather has a treated surface.
c:
Narrow, rectangular, brown-colored metal 8-round magazine for a semi-automatic pistol (a). It has a flat back and sides, with a rounded front edge. The silver-colored bottom has a rounded point with a small, round, smooth, drum-shaped grip on either side. The interior has a spring attached to an angled platform that sits within the opening at the top. When the platform is pushed down, it compresses the spring, which is visible along the right side through a rectangular cut out. There is a small hole in the front, midway near the top, and a small round hole near the bottom on the left side. The metal is scratched from use. - Dimensions
- a: Height: 5.500 inches (13.97 cm) | Width: 1.375 inches (3.493 cm) | Depth: 8.500 inches (21.59 cm)
b: Height: 5.500 inches (13.97 cm) | Width: 1.875 inches (4.763 cm) | Depth: 9.250 inches (23.495 cm)
c: Height: 5.500 inches (13.97 cm) | Width: 0.875 inches (2.223 cm) | Depth: 1.125 inches (2.858 cm) - Materials
- a : metal, wood
b : leather, metal, thread
c : metal, aluminum - Inscription
- a
frame, right side, stamped, white ink : SN:8681, LUGER P08, 9mm, Germany,Mistral Inc.,Bethesda MD
receiver, right side, stamped, white ink : SN:8681, LUGER P08, 9mm, Germany / Mistral Inc.,Bethesda MD
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- No restrictions on access
- Conditions on Use
- No restrictions on use
Keywords & Subjects
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The handgun was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2018 by Viktor Mizrahi.
- Record last modified:
- 2022-09-06 16:52:38
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn709051
