Is That Legal?

eric - that is absolutely wonderful. mazel tov!

Wow. Excellent news.

Outstanding! I think it is fitting that you have been able to tell this story to so many that would never have known of such things.

Very touching.

It is refreshing to the spirit to hear of such a kind human touch in these days of cold government bureaucracy. Congratulations to you and bless the people of the Staatsarchiv Würzburg for their attention to the matter.

Congratulations. (And praise to the archivists for doing the right thing.)

Having gone through a somewhat similar quest, I found the hair on the back on my neck standing up for a moment. It truly is a remarkable thing for you to have those medals back.

thank you for the informative post, but even more for your generosity in sharing this act of kindness that transcends space and time into yet another era of tragedy to remind us that we are all capable of the best traits of character and should never cast that aside in haste or without deliberate contemplation of the consequences. thank you

Another wow. It's so nice to hear a bit of good news. Your great-uncle would be very proud, I would think.

Congratulations on retrieving the medals. That is wonderful news.

I will remember the story of your great-uncle Leopold. He was a good and brave man who was cut down by evil men.

A good Yom Hashoah to you, sir.

(Here via Pandagon)

Thanks for sharing this. I read your other posts about your great-uncle. I'm so glad you got his medals returned to his surviving family.

Eric:

Your efforts here are very inspiring.

Do you know the details behind the valor for which your uncle received these medals? Such as where, when, what is the name of the medal?

Thanks for this site and your research.

Eric,

This is outstanding news. I fully expected the archives to grant your request, ultimately, but having some experience of German bureaucracy and its "Rechthaberischkeit" I also fully expected them to make you jump through a few paperwork hoops.

We can't really say that justice was done, in the light of the terrible injustice done to Uncle Leo; but we can say that the right thing was done by Dr Wagenhöfer.

I don't know what your plans are for the returned awards, but many of us display military awards in shadowboxes, which are available from stores that sell stuff to military people, like Ranger Joe's and the US Cavalry Store. I may be presuming too much in thinking that a historian who's led a life of peaceful research wouldn't know of these resources, but if you dont, Google 'em up.

Like other commenters have said, thank you for sharing this very personal experience with us.

As for poor Leo, may his soul be at rest.

cheers

-=K=-

Great story.

I might change the last paragraph though, since before I went back and read the original post, it sounded as if the medals represented the "enormous crime" and that maybe your great uncle was involved in the holocaust. You could say that the theft of the medals is one representation of the holocaust, but I would think that the medals themselves should stand for Leopold's earlier bravery and sacrifice.

ELM: TarGator, thanks. I made a small change to the language.

Well done,

As you know I had a similar experience when Quebec police refused to return the contents of my sister's wallet, sitting in a file for 26 years.

It took some time, but I finally got them: her library card, a picture of her boyfriend, a lifesavers gum wrapper, her McDonald's ID card...

I keep them in my desk drawer in an a police envelope marked, "Papiers personnels de Theresa Allore", not on display. Not displayed, because I feel it would appear odd. But I take them out every once and a while. It bothers me they were kept from the family for so long. It's very personal, as I'm sure are Leo's medals.

Your friend,

Eric,

This is a wonderful development -- thank you for sharing it, and for the very moving tribute to Uncle Leo that your work on him continues to be. I'm giving a Yom Ha'Shoah lecture, about the Nuremberg trial and the Holocaust, tonight at a New York synagogue. If, in Q&A, I get asked about Germany and Germans today, I plan to share this heartening story.

Mazel tov,

JQB

The medal is known as the König Ludwig Kreuz, or King Ludwig Cross. It was founded on January 7, 1916 by King Ludwig III of Bavaria to recognize wartime merit through official or voluntary activities in the homeland in the service of the Army or the general welfare of the Kingdom ("... als Zeichen ehrender und dankbarer Anerkennung für solche Person, die sich während dieses Krieges durch dienstliche oder freiwillige Tätigkeit in der Heimat besondere Verdienste um das Heer oder um die allgemeine Wohlfahrt des Landes erworben haben."). I don't know if you have a copy of your great-uncle's Militärpaß, but that might indicate when it was awarded. It was not usually awarded to serving military personnel - it was for merit on the homefront - so it might indicate that he was invalided out of active service after the injuries to which you referred in the original post, but continued to serve the community, perhaps in the care of other wounded soldiers.

Eric,

This is such a gratifying result. As I tell my kids, it never hurts to ask. What a great thing you have done for your family! I have been checking your blog for updates - I was sure you would at least have to produce documents to prove the relationship, etc. As I have told you, I think you should try to tell this story more widely. With this outcome, it's even better.
TFW

Congrats... Curious about one thing (having recently been the victim of a stolen credit card number) - did they verify your identify and/or family relationship in any way? If not, they seem to be open to a lot of fraud from unscrupulous collectors or dealers.