Lot 3349

WWII SS/War Trophy Attributed "1936"/"S/42" Luger with Holster

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WWII SS/War Trophy Attributed "1936"/"S/42" Luger with Holster

Estimate: $4,000 - $6,000

Starting Bid: $3,500

(0 Bids)

by Rock Island Auction Company
August 23, 2026 9:00 AM CDT
Live Auction
3600 Harwood Road
Bedford, TX, US 76021

World War II Mauser "1936" Date "S/42" Code Luger Semi-Automatic Pistol with Holster Documented as a War Trophy of War Correspondent Cartoonist Carl Giles from Concentration Camp Commander SS-Hauptsturmfuehrer Josef Kramer Born in London in 1916, Ronald "Carl" Giles ended his school career at 14 years old, taking a job with an advertising agency as an office boy before moving into the animation industry, where he learned the artistic skills that led to his most famous career as a cartoonist. After the outbreak of World War II, he was rejected for military service due to injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident and instead produced animated short films for the Ministry of Information before being tapped to serve as a war correspondent cartoonist for the Daily Express with the 2nd Army. This assignment led him to the concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen with the Coldstream Guards shortly after its liberation by the British 11th Armoured Division on April 15, 1945. In contrast to many concentration camps which were aggressively "sanitized" by the SS before retreating from the advancing Allies, Bergen-Belsen was taken mostly intact as part of a negotiated agreement between the British and the Germans due to a typhus outbreak in the camp. While the original intention was for the British to maintain a security/quarantine cordon around the camp and its sub-camps while a token SS detachment and the camp kapos maintained control, continued abuse of the prisoners combined with an attempt by the SS to destroy records in violation of the agreement led to the British taking over the facilities directly. After moving the remaining prisoners to a re-purposed military camp and forcing the remaining SS men to bury the dead without the benefit of protective gear and documenting everything, the British incinerated the camp with vehicle mounted flamethrowers. At the camp, he interviewed the former commandant: Joseph Kramer. Born in 1906 in Munich, Joseph "The Beast of Belsen" Kramer was a failed electrician and accountant before joining the NSDAP in 1931 and the SS in 1932, shortly before Hitler's rise to power as Chancellor of Germany. First employed as a guard in Germany's prisons, Kramer advanced rapidly through the ranks, serving at Dachau, Sachsenhausen, and Mauthausen before working as Rudolf Hoess' assistant at Auschwitz by 1940. His first camp command came in 1941 with an appointment to Natzweiler-Struthof in occupied France, followed by Auschwitz-II-Birkenau in 1944, where he was directly responsible for the selection of which arriving prisoners would be immediately murdered. His final wartime command was Bergen-Belsen starting in late 1944 and ending with the British seizure of the camp. Due to the arrangement between the British and the Germans, Kramer had been allowed to retain his issued sidearms on the pretense of maintaining order among his own men. Upon learning that Giles (already rather famous for his work) was among the occupiers of the camp, he requested a meeting, where he revealed himself as a fan and requested to trade his pistol, dagger, and armband to the artist in exchange for a signed original work to be delivered later. Giles agreed to the exchange, later noting that Kramer was a charming conversationalist, while admitting himself as susceptible to flattery from fans. Kramer never got his print. As the primary defendant at the Belsen Trial, Kramer was convicted for his crimes at Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen and was executed via hanging on December 13, 1945. Somewhat ironically, Kramer himself served as the subject of three of Giles' works in 1945, commenting on his atrocities and his famous trial. After returning home from the war, Giles resumed his work and was inducted as a member of the Order of the British Empire in 1959. He served as a Life President of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution until finally retiring in 1989 and passing on in 1995. The documentation supplied with this lot indicates that Giles brought Kramer's bartered items back to the U.K. and retained them through the end of his life after which they were sold by his family shortly after his death. An included memorandum dated May 10, 1945, from Captain J. R. Taylor of 1461/21 AGHQ identifies a "LUGER PISTOL No. 6319" as the legally acquired property of Giles suitable for return to the U.K. A pair of "On Her Britannic Majesty's Service" tags are included: one listing details of Kramer's life and the other listing the pistol by serial number as "Given to Carl Giles April 1945 by Josef Kramer Commandant of Belsen Concentration Camp." A July 29, 1996, letter from T. Richard Ashley, a gunsmith and police armorer active in Suffolk, states: "In May of this year I received Luger Pistol No. 6319 and it's 1937 dated holster with stripping tool and spare magazine No. 3090 from a gentleman acting as agent for the family of the late Carl Giles. Carl Giles had been given this pistol by Hauptsturmfuhrer SS Josef Kramer, Commandant of Belsen Concentration Camp." A copy of Ashley's letter to Mike Scott, General Manager of Weller & Dufty, is also included detailing the story of "the Luger '08, formerly the property of Josef Kramer" and the story of Giles and Kramer meeting. He describes Giles as a close friend who showed him the Kramer items which were then being stored in a box in his kitchen. A July 1996 notarized letter from firearms dealer Rick Pearson describes buying the Luger (identified by serial number) from Weller & Dufty on behalf of a customer, noting the copy of a letter from Major R. Ashley relating the story of the meeting with Kramer and declaring that personal research led Pearson to believe that this Luger was both A) personally used by Kramer for summary executions at Auschwitz and B) the only pistol in his possession when Bergen-Belsen was liberated. The pistol itself has typical features and markings for a 1936 production Mauser Luger pistol, with the "S/42" manufacture code on the front toggle link and "1936" date on the chamber, fixed sights, and matching numbers on multiple components, including the alloy magazine base, with a set of unnumbered grips. An importer mark is on the underside of the receiver rail. The holster is black leather fading to brown with age, dated “1937” with “WaA387” and Genschow maker’s marks on the back, a takedown tool, and extra magazine numbered “3090” (this number is noted as correct in the Ashley correspondence), and the armband is printed cloth with the traditional black swastika on a white circle on a red field. The dagger is SA uniform pattern with RZM “M7/37” (Robert Klass) maker’s mark, brown wood grip, brown enamel scabbard, standard single strap belt hanger and a non-regulation vertical frog hanger. An included auction listing indicated this dagger was "Reputedly given to the vendor's father by Joseph Kramer." The pistol, holster, dagger, and armband were later sold by Luger specialist Para Classics to Arundel Classic Guns in 1997.

Manufacturer: Mauser

Model: Luger

BBL: 4 inch round

Gauge: 9mm Luger

Finish: blue

Grips: hardwood

Serial Number6319o

Class: Curio & Relic Handgun

  • Provenance: SS-Hauptsturmfuehrer Josef Kramer; War Correspondent Carl Giles; The Giles Family; A Private Collection; Para Classics; Arundel Classic Guns; Property of a Gentleman
  • Condition: Fine with 80% of the original blue finish, 70% original straw color remains (strongest on the ejector), areas of brown and gray patina, light spotting, edge wear and a few dings. The grips are also very fine with scattered minor dings. Some parts are a bit stiff due to old, dried grease, but the pistol otherwise mechanically functions. The holster is fine with minor scratches. The armband is fair with brown spotting overall, and the dagger is fine overall with minor spotting and some cracking of the leather. These historic items were secured by British War Correspondent Carl Giles after the liberation of Bergen-Belsen by the British 11th Armoured Division on April 15, 1945. They remain potent reminders of one of the darkest chapters in human history.

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $199 $10
$200 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $199,999 $10,000
$200,000 + $25,000