First German daggers in Collection, collecting room, and books. Thomas Wittmann interview.

Thomas Wittmann interview about his first German daggers in collection and books.

[@patv1271]

Love Tom. Such a class act and very knowledgable. Great interview.

[@LaCiupacapra]

What a great video.i cannot wait to buy the books and start learning what I need to look for to start my own collection .had the oportunity to actually hold an SA dagger in my hand at an antique convention,but didn't had the courage to invest because I didn't knew exactly what I was looking at.thank you for sharing videos like this to the world.i am a big fan

[@blacksunlori]

AS A COLLECTOR I AM A BEGINNER. I ALREADY LOVE THIS MAN. THANKS FOR THE INTERVIEW!

[@user-ln2ge5if3e]

Thank you, Alex, for very interesting interview with Mr. Wittmann. I hope your job will beginning and I wish you more and more successes in your work! P.S. I'm sorry for my bad English. I will wait this video with Russian translation.

[@patricevialle]

Very impressive collection, no museums in the world has that kind of artifacts and I would happily pay in order to visit Tom's room.

[@davidthompson62]

Just as a matter of safety, Tom really could never show off his personal collection to the general public. Those few he invites to see it, like Alex, should consider themselves very fortunate. He is an irreplaceable man in the field of WW2 German daggers.

[@csaint6780]

Great Interview Alex, thank you!!!

[@WabbitWay]

I have personally known Tom Wittmann since the 80s, from the NJ Meadowland shows. He is a living legend of the hobby. Always generous and gracious, a true gentleman.

[@militariacollectablesbelgium]

I love this video!!! Best source ever!!! Thanks!!

[@terryschmidt8259]

Tom is always interesting with great knowledge .

[@joeguzman3558]

Thank you Mr. Alex for this interview

[@polarroller]

Fantastic.....I had a wonderful German dagger collection but was robbed many years ago....what a loss to me.

[@chartreux1532]

Thanks for the Interview of Herr Wittmann and something i want to share because i think it's welcome in this Comment Section or at least interesting for your Followers: My Grandfathers were both in the Waffen SS, one in the 1st Waffen SS Division "LAH" and the other in the 6th Waffen SS Division "Nord". They both were considered to be no danger or in need of de-nazification after the War according to the Americans. The one who was in the 1st Waffen SS Division also fought in the Battle of the Bulge under the Command of Gustav Knittel (however, he was not tried during the Malmedy Trial nor were any of his Comrades) and he also fought Communist Partisans, which might have helped him with the US Military after the War. In the 1950s the US Military hired him for an Advising Role regarding his Experience against Soviet Partisan Units and other Partisan Units in the East, their Tactics, Methods, what Strategies would be the best to fight them, especially if they are Partisans hiding in Forests or Swamps. The Americans were really considering a War with Soviet Russia at some time, so they made sure to be more lenient and nice to the former Enemy to have an Edge over the Soviets. Even if that former Enemy was in the Waffen SS. He even gave a Lecture to Officers of the American Rangers on Winter and Forest Warfare in Eastern Europe. This is also why i grew up with American WW2 Veterans visiting him for his Birthday, come over for BBQ and Beer etc. So i grew up listening and hanging around a Bunch of former Waffen SS Veteran and American Veterans having a good time together and talking about the War. They only ever talked about funny stuff but did a lot of banter, because those American Veterans were in Fact fighting my Grandfather during the Battle of the Bulge. My overall Point is: After WW2 American WW2 Veterans and German WW2 Veterans got along much better and even helped eachother, sometimes officially through the US Government but usually because US WW2 Veterans were stationed nearby, they met eachother afterwards in one way or another and then became Friends. Those US Veterans even invited my Grandfathers to D-Day Memorial Day a couple of times, yet when you watch any Coverage of the D-Day Memorial Services, no matter what Year, you'd think not a single former Axis Veteran is there.

[@Purpmaster]

Wow this is extremely interesting. I’m very envious that you got to hear first hand accounts from veterans from both sides. Did your family move to the US after the war, or were these American vets that were stationed in Germany?

[@chartreux1532]

@@Purpmaster Hello, American Vets stationed in Germany. I also recorded most of the Talks with my Veteran Family Members, currently writing most of them down and translating to english, will take a while though. I take your "Did your family move to the US after the War?" as a compliment for my english skills. But to be fair, since the Grandfather who i grew up with in the same big House was the one who worked together with Americans, i started to learn english even before we started it in School (5th Grade High School). On top of that i started to force myself to watch CNN International back in 2001 when 9/11 happened as my News Source. So i had some Advantages over others learning the english language. My German Accent however, is still very strong haha. Regarding US Vets stationed around here. I basically grew up in a Village with a huge US Military Base was just on the other Side of the River, in fact it was so big, the german Village on the other side of the River had a big street going past it, maybe like 5 Minutes of Driving, then you got to the US Military Bases (Former German Military Bases of Course) But the Americans americanized the whole Area around, so as Kids we would always ride our Bicycles into "American Town" to the "Home-Made Fried Chicken" Place which was next to the Entrance of the Living Quarters of Military Families, and while the Owner (A nice Lady and her Husband, a US WW2 Vet from Tennessee) could speak perfect German, we would always try to order in english and they played along. Quiet a few of those US WW2 Vets even decided to stay and live here. Btw: One of the Grandfathers is still alive and doing well, so if you or anyone else has Question, feel free to ask, he's a pretty open Guy, even about the gritty, sad and depressing Stuff. I'm gonna show him that someone from another Country is curious and has Questions, and he'll be happy to answer. Cheers

[@Purpmaster]

Chartreux wow very glad to hear one of your grandfathers is still alive, how old is he? I would love to hear some of his accounts of his war experience. And yes btw, your English definitely threw me off lol I grew up around vets as well, my next door neighbor who was basically family was a 3rd army vet, Sherman navigator who fought in the Bulge and was one of the First to the Eagles Nest and had some great souvenirs from the war. I’ve always had a great interest in the European Theatre of ww2 and am a collector of German Firearms and Militaria. Are you a collector as well?

[@logancurl9526]

This is so amazing and interesting to hear! And yes, your English skills are fantastic! Even better than some of my fellow Americans, honestly. I assumed you must have moved to the U.S too, while I was reading your post! I would love to have more in depth conversations about different things, if you're still open to that? I am very fascinated by the German military during WW2, especially the tactics, weapons, aircraft, and mobile armour such as panzers/tanks! I've basically come to the same conclusion that it seems General George S. Patton did at the end of the war, because in August 1945, he wrote in his diary "We fought on the wrong side of this war. We defeated the wrong enemy..." and in a letter to his wife, when referring to newspaper articles that were demonizing the ex-German military members and also claiming American military personnel interacting/fraternizing with the ''evil'' German civilians was extremely dangerous and should be stopped or prevented, Gen. Patton wrote to her: "...All that sort of writing is done by Jews to get revenge. Actually the Germans are the only decent people left in Europe. It's now a choice between them and the Russians. I prefer the Germans.". My great grandfather was in Normandy (well, actually in the water off the coast of Normandy) on D-Day, serving in the Navy, he passed away about 5 years ago unfortunately. I also had 2 great uncle's, that were brothers, that were in the U.S Army, one that was involved in the D-Day invasion and was killed in action on August 5th 1944 in France fighting against an SS Panzer unit I believe. My dad found the typed hour-by-hour action reports from his unit online, and in one of the really bad battles that my uncle was made it thru, being 1 of only about 25 survivors, one of the sergeants who spoke some German got on the radio and communicated with the SS soldiers and explained to them that they didn't wish to surrender, but they had so many casualties on our side that they no longer wished to fight and they had lots of wounded men that they needed to get out very soon before they died. The Germans, being noble gentlemen in my opinion, not only stopped all firing towards the Americans, but actually sent 2 of the German medics down to assist our guys. The report said that those 2 German medics were responsible for saving numerous American soldier's lives and assisted in carrying the wounded men out of the battlefield, but they were sort of nervous and would only carry the wounded a certain distance and leave it up to the Americans to get them the rest of the way back, out of fear they may be taken prisoner if they got too far away from their own unit, which is completely understandable. The other great uncle, his brother, actually was M.I.A for a while and got separated from his unit during some fighting right at the end of the war, and was taken in by a French family that hid him to save his life, and he ended up staying with them for a long while and worked on their farm, to sort of thank them. He eventually saved enough money to make his way back home. I see that it's been 11 months since you posted your comment, is you grandfather still living at this time? I would love to ask him a couple of questions, if so!

[@mamavswild]

@@chartreux1532 Is he still around? Hope all is well!

[@pedrojuliancereceda8301]

Such a great collection! Congratulations to this gentleman!

[@JACOPO.OFFICIEL]

Very good video, as always Mr.Wittmann never disappoint 👍👍👍👍👍

[@user-bf4dd3oq4b]

VERY INTERESTING.I REALLY LOVE BAYONETS.THEY ARE STRONG AND MOSTLY BEAUTIFULLY MADE.I HAVE COLLECTED A NUMBER OF THEM AND ALSO A EUROPEAN SWORD.I HAVE NEVER THOUGHT THAT ANYONE COULD GET BIG SUCCESS FROM VOLLECTING DAGGERS LIKE YOU DO.BRAVO!!!

[@FrankRzzo]

Breathtaking collection. Very nice

[@larryburwell8550]

Tom is the man on daggers honest informative and a great guy, what he says is carved in stone

[@axelwerker4775]

Great interview! Tom is Super!

[@jmiller1977]

Extremely interesting guy I really like him and I just got into Knives recently and a little bit into daggers and I’m starting to learn a lot about them and like he said the money is the proof I probably sold $100,000 worth of blades this year or last year

[@johncraig2684]

good luck with your channel....very interesting

[@robertberardi2362]

Great interview Alex

[@samparkerSAM]

My dad was born in 1941, his strory about the daggers reminds me of my father. I own a German sword, that he left in the yard... turns out it was a family sword from the 1840's from my own ancestors. The Throwing of daggers is also similar to my own childhood, i had a cut down NCO ames sword... years later i realized it was my Great great grandfathers union fighting knife from the Civil War... We gave my Grandfathers German Dagger to my cousin...I intend to replace it in the future.

[@nicobas773]

Thats impressive Tom !..

[@user-gl2mo4lz9f]

Занятная коллекция! Очень бы хотелось там побывать. Не стал смотреть до конца,подожду перевода. Алексей привет и спасибо!

[@jons23]

Amazing man

[@kolloduke3341]

WOW ! love the torpedo ..

[@user-bf4dd3oq4b]

VERY INTERESTING.

[@Nikolay_Kashnik]

Спасибо Алексей. Обязательно нужен перевод.

[@jurgenl9975]

Позитивный дядька и дом прям "полная чаша"...))))

[@harryhaller8298]

Спасибо ! Теперь с переводом .

[@discoveryadventures2296]

Good afternoon I am just starting out in collecting daggers. I have seen a 1938 SA dagger and a 1933 SA dagger here in the UK. Which would be the better option as a collectable item. Both are in reasonable condition. Also should I have the blades polished and wood treated to restore lustre? Your advice would be very much appreciated. Regards Peter

[@johnwilliams5466]

Most collectors prefer their items not restored

[@prinzessindianavonbaden787]

The company Eickhorn Solingen still exists today. They produce knifes, military knifes, etc. - good 🇩🇪 quality, best in the world. These companies in Solingen, Eickhorn, Hörster, Alcoso, etc. produced fantastic daggers in the time of the third reich. There have been also miniature daggers from these companies, produced for advertising. Can be used for opening letters for example. They are very rare and i love this small daggers, Luftwaffe or Wehrmacht available...

[@brittakriep2938]

WKC ( Weyersberg, Kirschbaum & Cie) also still exists and still produces daggers, sabers etc..

[@joeguzman3558]

Tom is 100% class

[@grek1447]

Пивко не изменено с ним ! Молодец

[@isoto0224]

I wish this man was my grandfather lol!

[@mrhaltstop2294]

I hope Mr Wittmann has a good working alarm system ...

[@joeguzman3558]

Buying from Tom is 100% garranree it a real thing not a take

[@flatbushfox]

THATS YOUR VOCATION TOM

[@user-jv6ql7lu6p]

Сильно.

[@bigjumbo9479]

John wick would have a field day in that room😂😂🔪🔪🎆🎆🧨🧨⛏️

[@kristians7377]

Alex, are you on social media at all? Or any way to contact you?

[@alexwarstory]

Instagram @warstory_ru you can text me there

[@kristians7377]

@@alexwarstory will do, thank you!

[@johnzeszut3170]

Only a rock star or Maharaja can afford to collect these items.

[@user-jo7pp2dl8v]

Круто и непонятно)))

[@Рябчиков_Жуй]

Почти всё понятно,есть над чем поработать(в плане улучшения моего английского)

[@jacksonscott1646]

I have an original sa dagger

[@GidionApex]

I'm going to buy all his SA,SS,DAGGERS very soon I will have the largest collection in the world

[@alexandersteffen7805]

i think he is drinking a ST paul beer right?

[@zeevraskin9150]

Обещал рассказать о подготовке к этому интервью было похоже на войсковую операцию?)))

[@johanzibert7490]

Приятный старичёк,можно не переводить.

[@Alex_2420]

Когда с переводом???

[@alexwarstory]

В процессе. Еще 2 серия на английском будет. Потом начну переводить

[@yurak4003]

Он же очень простыми фразами говорит! Что не понятно?

[@user-jo7pp2dl8v]

Всё)))

[@yurak4003]

@@user-jo7pp2dl8v печально(

[@allourep]

Ah yes. It may be a good investment but after owning something of this significance for a decade or two, how could you ever let it go?

[@hellbillygoebig9446]

Kyle Miller U can’t take it with when u croak

[@alko4188]

а что за пиво пьете? ))

[@alexwarstory]

Да просто светлое)

[@lawyer48Smolensk]

Очень приятный дядька, который свое увлечение сделал смыслом жизни, а потом и очень прибыльным бизнесом. Фраза про то, что не надо становиться коллекционером, который покупает вещи, кладет их в банковскую ячейку и никому не показывает, особенно понравилась. Лично я стараюсь показывать свою коллекцию гостям (если им это интересно). Пытался сделать выставку к 9 мая в местной школе. Но там сказали, что будут рады только вещам ркка, мол фашисты нам не нужны. Я пытался объяснить, что историю надо показывать со всех сторон, но остался не услышанным

[@Gute_Laune_Goy]

isn't Wittmann a german Name?

[@brittakriep2938]

Ja, sie Blitzmerker!

[@Gute_Laune_Goy]

@@brittakriep2938 red nicht!

[@brittakriep2938]

@@Gute_Laune_Goy : Warum fragen sie auch so blöd? Wer dumm fragt, bekommt eine dumme Antwort.

[@Gute_Laune_Goy]

@@brittakriep2938 ja schön und warum hat er deutsche name als amerikaner? dann erzähl mal

[@brittakriep2938]

@@Gute_Laune_Goy : Vermutlich weil seine Vorfahren aus einem deutschsprachigen Land gekommen sind, der Name bei der Ankunft von US Beamten richtig notiert wurde, und seine näheren Vorfahren trotz der Deutschfeindlichkeit seit dem ersten Weltkrieg ihren Namen weder übersetzt noch verfremdet oder geändert haben. Wittmann dürfte vermutlich Wittwer bedeuten, da man noch vor etwa 20Jahren bei sehr alten Leuten das Wort Wittfrau für Witwe hören konnte.

[@ULM]

Будем учить АНГЛИЙСКИЙ ЯЗЫК. Точно. Ни чего НЕ понятно?

[@billjazira1598]

This book is way too expensive

[@xrottiers4650]

stolen goods of german property and he is proud of it , shame on you

[@mamavswild]

If I looted like this in Iraq and Afghanistan (deployed twice, I’m a US paratrooper with the 82d (ABN)DIV) I would’ve lost rank, maybe even my freedom. That being said, IF the soldiers sold them themselves post-war in order to get extra money in tough times to US soldiers, I have less of a problem with this. The problem is, it’s all mixed in together. His story about his uncle bringing home two daggers during fighting YOU KNOW came off of looted prisoners or dead bodies…this is no longer acceptable and hasn’t been for decades. The German veterans even today, complained about how US soldiers were especially bad with looting and theft, even ra pe. Can you imagine the hew and cry we would send up if the German soldiers looted off of US dead bodies or prisoners?! OMFG! There’d be whole books about it. In reality, when Germans took prisoners, their items were placed in Red Cross bags and held while they were imprisoned as POWs and were quite disciplined about not looting. The British actually complained to the US staff about cleaning up our soldiers’ acts…it was embarrassing them. Canadian soldiers were also pretty bad with looting, Aussies and Kiwis much better. To this effect, (far too late in my opinion) the army started issuing certificates to soldiers when they wanted to take things (‘souvenirs’) home showing that they were acquired legally. They cracked down way too late in my opinion. Warning…Be ESPECIALLY CAREFUL with medals…these were the MOST looted items! looting of medals is especially heinous if you ask me; they are especially personal to the soldier and we would’ve thrown an absolute FIT if the situation was reversed.

[@darrengilbert7438]

And you don't think the Germans looted. There are pictures of dead GI's shoeless and German soldiers putting the shoes on. In Vietnam there were war trophies brought home and in every war in every country, soldiers have taken souvenirs. They were all taken by stealing or looting if you get right down to it. Only with the woke generations has this become an issue. But at the same time, these same woke liberals are silent on the smash and grab looting that their fellow liberals do in certain cities. Grow up.