Hi guys,
Over the years I have read so many differing reports that it is hard to know what this Gentleman has (or had). I kept hearing that the Panther was a 1943 model. Perhaps, 1943 parts assembled post war by the French? Very interesting to learn that it has no battle pedigree, but still must be a very rare beast.
I had heard that no looted artwork or other valuables were found. I totally support the return of any items taken from Holocaust victims or from occupied territories. You are quite correct that given his background he should of known he was taking a chance with owning anything not allowed by law.
DEWATs (Deactivated War Trophies) are a tricky area with laws being changed all the time, seemingly for no reason. Here in the States we cannot import a Canadian DEWAT as they don't meet all the U.S. requirements (I don't know about the other way around though). I have two German friends who are both
serious TR collectors with massive collections. I met them through a friend of mine who is a very well respected U.S. dealer of militaria. The two (who will remain unnamed) both have a Von in there last names. They are very well off and well connected, coming from a long line of military families. Both have purchased firearms here in the States that were not deactivated. They then had them worked on to make them legal to import and own in Germany (kind of a shame as they were very rare). The following red tape and inspections took nearly a year before they were cleared, and one had to be further modified. I asked them how they were allowed to have these collections given the delicate state surrounding these things in Germany. They said that as long as it is privately displayed and not generally viewable by the public things were allowed. Of course this was about 15 years ago, so who knows what the standard is now. Given their status perhaps they were treated a little "easier" than the common citizen?
I have a friend who is a docent at the late Paul Allen's Flying Heritage and Combat Armor Museum in Everett, just North of Seattle where we once lived. I was treated to an after hours, behind the scenes tour of the museum and workshops. Unfortunately, this was before he acquired his collection of armor and it was strictly an aircraft museum (except for the Kettenkrad). So no, I still haven't stood next to a real German Panzer!
I can't fully recall which plane it was (either the Me 109, or his Fw 190) that was caught up in customs for over a year, sitting in the Port of L.A. Since it still had a working cannon, it was still legally considered a "weapon of mass destruction". He finally got it cleared but I'm not sure anymore what he had to do to make it legal. If Mr. Allen has to put up with the law's, I guess no one is really exempt!
It'll be very interesting to see the final outcome of this long running tale, and to maybe clear up some of the confusion too! Keeping anything a secret nowadays is next to impossible given the state of society. My Grandfather had a saying he was very fond of: "Admit nothing, deny everything, make counter accusations"!
I prefer "3 can keep a secret, if two are dead"!
Just kidding,,, really!
Very, very interesting situation.
Cheers,
Eric.