Overview
- Brief Narrative
- Metal remains of a German Mauser P38 pistol found buried in the Kampinos Forest near Warsaw, Poland. The P38 was originally developed by Carl Walther in 1938, and in 1942 production was contracted out to two additional firms, Mauser and Spreewerk. Before shipment to the German army, firearms had to be inspected and stamped with a code (called a Waffenamt) unique to the inspector. The original stamp for P38 pistols produced by Mauser depicted an eagle over the numbers 135. The stamp was changed at the end of 1943 to include letters. Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939 and entered the city of Warsaw on September 29. From December 1939 to July 1941, the German army carried out mass executions near the village of Palmiry, in the Kampinos Forest to the northwest of the city. The forest also served as a base for the Polish Home Army, a Polish underground military movement that resisted the German occupation and provided aid to the Jewish resistance groups leading up to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in April 1943. The Home Army organized and fought their own Warsaw Uprising in August 1944. The “Grupa Kampinos” of the Home Army fought in 47 battles and skirmishes against the Germans until they were defeated on September 29, 1944. Soviet troops liberated the city of Warsaw on January 17, 1945.
- Date
-
manufacture:
after 1941-before 1944
found: after 1960-before 1965
- Geography
-
found:
Kampinos (Poland)
manufacture: Oberndorf am Neckar (Germany)
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of the Muzeum Wojska Polskiego
- Markings
- left side, frame, inspector’s mark, stamped : eagle over 135
- Contributor
-
Manufacturer:
Mauser-Werke AG
Physical Details
- Classification
-
Weapons
- Category
-
Firearms
- Object Type
-
Mauser pistols (lcsh)
- Genre/Form
- Handguns.
- Physical Description
- Heavy, gray metal frame of a Mauser P38 pistol. The pistol is partially intact, missing the grip, magazine, and the front portion of the slide on both sides. The hollow, rectangular handle is angled forward, perpendicular to the abutting oval trigger guard and curved trigger. At the bottom of the handle, on the left side, is a small, rectangular lanyard hook projecting outward at a 90-degree angle. Above the handle and trigger is a flat-sided horizontal frame, which has a stamped, partially worn away Heerswaffenamt (Army Ordinance Office) inspector's mark. On the top back end of the frame is a curved hammer, stuck in the downward position. On top of the frame, partially covering the barrel, is a slide with straight, flat sides and a ridged section on the back. On the left rear of the slide is the safety; a broken, oval-shaped thumb lever. Emerging from the slide is a barrel with a sight on the end. The barrel has multiple cracks with the sections peeling away from one another. The entire pistol is heavily corroded.
- Dimensions
- overall: Height: 5.000 inches (12.7 cm) | Width: 8.625 inches (21.908 cm) | Depth: 1.250 inches (3.175 cm)
- Materials
- overall : metal
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- No restrictions on access
- Conditions on Use
- No restrictions on use
Keywords & Subjects
- Topical Term
- Jewish ghettos--Poland--Warsaw. Jews--Poland--Warsaw. Poland--History--Occupation, 1939-1945. World War, 1939-1945--Jews--Poland. World War, 1939-1945--Occupied territories.
- Geographic Name
- Oberndorf am Neckar (Germany) Kampinos (Poland) Warsaw (Poland)
- Corporate Name
- Getto warszawskie (Warsaw, Poland) Mauser-Werke AG
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The pistol was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1992 by the Muzeum Wojska Polskiego.
- Record last modified:
- 2023-08-25 12:17:12
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn5890
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Also in Muzeum Wojska Polskiego collection
The collection consists of artillery shells, a rifle, and a pistol relating to military activities in the Kampinos Forest and the Warsaw Ghetto in Poland during the Holocaust.
Date: after 1929-before 1965
Metal remains of a Karabiner wz.29 bolt-action Mauser-type rifle found in ruins of Warsaw Ghetto
Object
Metal remains of a Karabinek wz 29 Polish bolt-action rifle, found among ruins of the Warsaw Ghetto in the 1960s. Production of the wz 29 began in the early 1930s at the Polish National Arms Factory in Radom, and it was based on and nearly identical to the German Mauser 98k, the standard rifle for the German army. The wz 29 was the standard Polish infantry weapon when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. A few days later, the factory at Radom was forced to shut down when local officials ordered the employees to evacuate. Despite Polish resistance, the Germans bombarded Warsaw with artillery and occupied the city on September 29. On October 12, 1940, German authorities in Warsaw decreed the establishment of a 1.3 square mile Jewish ghetto and required over 400,000 Jews from the city and nearby towns to relocate there. Between July 22 and September 12, 1942, approximately 265,000 Jews were deported from Warsaw to Treblinka killing center, and another 35,000 were killed inside the ghetto. That October, Jewish resistance groups made contact with the Polish Home Army, a Polish underground military movement that supplied them with a small number of weapons, including rifles, pistols, and grenades. On April 19, 1943, the resistance groups within the ghetto fought back against the scheduled liquidation, using hundreds of constructed bunkers around the ghetto. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising lasted a month before the German military suppressed the resistance, razed the ghetto, and transported the remaining inhabitants to forced-labor camps, and killing centers. On July 19, 1943, the SS established Warschau concentration camp on the ruins of the former Warsaw ghetto, which camp prisoners were assigned to demolish and clean up. The impending arrival of Soviet forces led to the camp’s closure in July 1944. A second uprising erupted in Warsaw in August 1, 1944, which was defeated by German forces on October 2. The Soviet army liberated the city on January 17, 1945.
75 mm artillery shell found in the ruins of the Warsaw Ghetto
Object
Remains of a 75 mm artillery shell, found among ruins of the Warsaw Ghetto in the 1960s. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland and Warsaw on September 29, after subjecting the city to heavy artillery bombardment. Warsaw had the largest Jewish population in Europe before the war. On October 12, 1940, German authorities in Warsaw decreed the establishment of a 1.3 square mile Jewish ghetto and required over 400,000 Jews from the city and nearby towns to relocate there. Between July 22 and September 12, 1942, approximately 265,000 Jews were deported from Warsaw to Treblinka killing center, and another 35,000 were killed inside the ghetto. That October, Jewish resistance groups made contact with the Polish Home Army, a Polish underground military movement that supplied them with a small number of weapons, including rifles, pistols, and grenades. On April 19, 1943, the resistance groups within the ghetto fought back against the scheduled liquidation, using hundreds of constructed bunkers around the ghetto. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising lasted a month before the German military suppressed the resistance, razed the ghetto, and transported the remaining inhabitants to forced-labor camps, and killing centers. On July 19, 1943, the SS established Warschau concentration camp on the ruins of the former Warsaw ghetto, which camp prisoners were assigned to demolish and clean up. The impending arrival of Soviet forces led to the camp’s closure in July 1944. A second uprising erupted in Warsaw in August 1, 1944, which was defeated by German forces on October 2. The Soviet army liberated the city on January 17, 1945.
75 mm artillery shell found in the ruins of the Warsaw Ghetto
Object
Remains of a 75 mm artillery shell, found among ruins of the Warsaw Ghetto in the 1960s. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland and Warsaw on September 29, after subjecting the city to heavy artillery bombardment. Warsaw had the largest Jewish population in Europe before the war. On October 12, 1940, German authorities in Warsaw decreed the establishment of a 1.3 square mile Jewish ghetto and required over 400,000 Jews from the city and nearby towns to relocate there. Between July 22 and September 12, 1942, approximately 265,000 Jews were deported from Warsaw to Treblinka killing center, and another 35,000 were killed inside the ghetto. That October, Jewish resistance groups made contact with the Polish Home Army, a Polish underground military movement that supplied them with a small number of weapons, including rifles, pistols, and grenades. On April 19, 1943, the resistance groups within the ghetto fought back against the scheduled liquidation, using hundreds of constructed bunkers around the ghetto. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising lasted a month before the German military suppressed the resistance, razed the ghetto, and transported the remaining inhabitants to forced-labor camps, and killing centers. On July 19, 1943, the SS established Warschau concentration camp on the ruins of the former Warsaw ghetto, which camp prisoners were assigned to demolish and clean up. The impending arrival of Soviet forces led to the camp’s closure in July 1944. A second uprising erupted in Warsaw in August 1, 1944, which was defeated by German forces on October 2. The Soviet army liberated the city on January 17, 1945.
