WW2 German Prisoner Of War Wooden Shoes Made From Damaged zeltbahns

Code: 12182

For sale is a pair of WW2 German Handmade unissued POW KZ shoes. I currently have a few pairs of these Unissued shoes which were recently rediscovered in a warehouse/ factory in Innsbruck, Austria. Most of these shoes still have there connecting tab ready for transport. Condition is as seen, but are in good condition, associated damage with storage marks several holes please see photos, unissued and unused. These shoes will often have inspections marks on the underside of the shoes, these were done as quality control checks, so that if any problems with the product could be identified and so could the person/ team who produced them.

During the early part of the war KZ camps were primarily set up as labour camps, in which both Innabruck -Reichenau and Buchenwald both had forced labour shoe factories. In the early days KZ inmate shoes were made from using recycled materials, the soles were made from wood, and were made from scrap/ off cuts of leather, German uniform that could no longer be used because of condition etc. The shoes here for sale are made from Ww2 german splinter camo zeltbahns, with to much damage these zeltbahns would become in effective and be given to the camps for making uniforms, scraps of leather used for the toe cap and side strip, attached to the wooden clog via pins. With these shoes being found in Innsbruck Not so far from the KZ I believe they were produced in Innsbruck -Reichenau KZ, most of the pairs I have still have there leather strap ready for transport. Other examples of these shoes can be found in the Buchenwald Museum and the United States KZ memorial collection.

Rechenau was planned and built as a work camp for Italian (mostly) forced laborers who were labeled as in breach of their work duties arbeitsvertagsbrüchig. However several years later it ended up becoming a ‘half way station’ between places to the larger camps, here you would stay a short stay and then be moved to one of the much larger camps. The number of deaths in the Buchenwald KZ is estimated to have been 56,545. In 1945 when each of the KZ had been cleared the majority of the inmates uniforms, shoes and living accommodations were burned to stop the spread of diseases already infesting each of the camps. There are very little pairs of these shoes around with that happening at the end of the war and most of the shoes being used at the very start of this!

These are guaranteed original or money back guaranteed. These will be sent via special delivery and dispatched within two to three working days.