It's cool that he managed to hold on to his awards. Many highly decorated German vet's weren't so lucky. I'm hoping his RK with Eichenlaub is the original. Many hard earned awards were eagerly snatched up by "trophy" hungry G.I.'s. Many of these German vet's would be later rewarded with the post WW2 Federal Republic of Germany official denazified "1957" awards. Production of these awards was ended in 1986. The swastika was replaced by either oak leaves or the Balkan Kreuz, and the original beautiful workmanship was sadly lacking. These awards have become fairly collectible in their own right and run the gamut of most WW1 and WW2 higher end awards.
I believe it was Hans Ulrich Rudel, who landed at an U.S. airfield to surrender. Upon landing and opening his canopy a G.I. jumped on the wing and made a grab for his RK. Rudel immediately slammed the canopy shut and locked it. The G.I. threatened him with his firearm but Rudel held fast. Finally, an Officer arrived and allowed Rudel to exit and retain his awards.
My Uncle Raywald, served as a MP towards the end of hostilities. He was at a large POW camp processing German's into it. I distinctly remember him telling my Father and me that if a soldier had anything on him that you wanted, you just took it. If he resisted he got the butt of his Thompson to the head and that ended that. Sounds harsh and unjust, but I guess that was the norm back then?!
Regards,
Eric.