Description:

BERGEN-BELSEN CAMP PRISONERS' CAPS
Lot of two caps recovered from the notorious German concentration camp Bergen-Belsen in Lower Saxony by a British medic. The caps are both of the common "wide-topped" construction with alternating white and blue stripes, one cap having wider stripes than the other but both patterns often used in the camps. The caps are very musty and worn within, apparently having been stored in a very damp location for a long period of time. They are accompanied by a ca. 1970 letter of provenance from Frederick Browne, a British medic who helped liberate the camp and returned there in 1963. Browne was also the first president of the Dunkirk Veterans' Association. He writes Secretary J. W. Upton of another veteran's association of his time at Bergen-Belsen: "…Yes I was one of the first in as a medic,and I can tell you the sights I witnessed still haunt me to this day…I returned a few years ago and the place is nothing like it was. There is now a memorial, a photo of which I enclose [included]…I was told by my superior to obtain some of the inmates uniform[s] for future exhibition purposes, and hence I have two caps and a jacket I can bring…I am sure this will interest your members…". The caps were left with Upton and thereafter passed to our consignor, the War Museum in New York. Also included is a newspaper article picturing Browne, Belsen, and retelling his account of his service at the camp and his return there post-war.

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March 18, 2016 10:30 AM EDT
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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