Happy New Year 2012 from the Miller Family

Happy New Year 2012 from the Miller Family

 

May the bright spots of the old year 2011;

Be but flickers in the dark,

When compared with what the new year 2012

Will enkindle with it's spark.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,

Ring out the wrong, ring in the true.

 

All is well with the Millers, we survived 2011

 

Marianne, Matthew, Russell, Delores, Keith and Robin.  Missing from the pictures is the Massachusetts Richard Miller. 

 

Ratzburg - Real Or Repro - Ask The Experts!

 by Harold Ratzburg

Last spring, at the Military Vehicle Rally in Aberdeen Maryland, I was wandering through the vendor stands to see what goodies I could find.  Aberdeen is basically a vehicle show but other vendors connected to the military hobby also come to sell.

    I came to a table of a vendor who was strictly a vehicle parts guy, but in the middle of his table was one of those plastic heads that you see and on it was a beautiful  M-1943, Einheitsfeldmütze  (ie, Field Cap) of the German Schutzstaffel----SS----troops of Nazi Germany.

    The SS was a vicious Nazi outfit, which started out to be Hitler's very own bodyguard and ended up as a large enough unit to have full fledged combat divisions.  They were also the troops that controlled and guarded the concentration and extermination camps that the Nazis created.  Since it was such an elite and nasty branch of the German military forces, anything connected to the notorious SS is very collectible.

The cap looked to be in excellent condition with the correct BEVO insignia on the front and left side.  It had the makers name stamped on the inside, dated 1944, and size 57.  Its age seemed evident by the corrosion on the copper or metal air ventilation grommets on each side

    The vendor told me that he had bought it at a garage sale and didn't really know the value of it, and asked me to make an offer on it.  I really hate getting into a deal without a price tag to start with, but I did make an offer (low ball of course) and finally walked away with my purchase and what I figured was a really good deal.

    OK, so there I was----a picker like you see on the American Pickers TV show on Monday nights----so now it is up to me to research and establish a resale value for my purchase.

    I showed it around to friends who also collect and every darned one of them saw the cap as an original.  The collectors I talked to were not the beginner collectors of Nazi stuff but at least three of them were advanced collectors.  One of them is a well-known author of a book on how to detect fakes and repros of German military memorabilia, and all of them allowed as how they felt the cap was original.

    Then of course, I hit the reference books on the subject.

    The first book, "Head Gear of Hitlers Germany" by Smith and Saris, with Otto Spronk, has an exact picture of my cap and close ups of the insignia on it, and if that isn't the same cap, by golly, I will eat it----as the saying goes.  One small exception is that my cap has a vent hole at the top on each side.  Other books show similar caps as well, though not exact like the "Head Gear" book does.

    So I thought I would check out the cap maker's name that was stamped inside my cap.  Using Google, I found that the maker, a man named Otto Schlientz, Uniformmützen maker of Straubing, Germany, was listed as being one of 40 or 50 recognized manufacturers of the cloth visored field caps for the German military.

    The cap is in excellent condition which in collecting can be good or bad.  If a cap is moth eaten and sweated up through hard use, I suppose the tendency is to think----OK, this cap has been there and survived and collected its very own DNA sweat samples, therefore it has got to be the real thing.

    On the other hand, my brother-in-law, who was in Germany at the end of the war, tells me of garage rooms stacked to the ceiling with German uniforms, helmets and equipment that was confiscated from the German military when prisoners were taken and the piles were stacked there for American GIs to help themselves to souvenirs to send home.  He helped himself to two helmets, two visor less field caps, a bayonet and other odds and ends.

I figure that caps in new condition could also have been stacked there or in similar piles all over Germany, and caps in new condition would have been the first to be picked up by a scrounging GI.

    It is also a given, that if you were a military cap maker in Germany when the fighting stopped, you had a problem deciding what you could manufacture that would keep bread on the table in very desperate times. Your inventory of supplies to make military caps may have been all that you had, and if you noticed that the swaggering and rich and well-fed US GIs were collecting old Nazi stuff to send home, then maybe you could produce more of the stuff to provide some income.  It did happen I am sure.

    It is also true, that when you look through the militaria catalogs today, you find that just about everything from the Third Reich,--- flags, uniforms, weapons, daggers, etc, etc, etc,--- is being reproduced and offered for sale.

    But, dang it, my cap just looks so real and old and of the correct period, that I can't believe it is a repro. (after all, the difference in price between a repro, at $50.00, and an original, at $1000.00, is a very tidy sum) So, I figured, I will go to a militaria show and ask the "Experts" there who deal in the Nazi stuff!!!!!!!!

    Right off, the first Expert there says it's a repro.  When I ask him how he knows, he says that the color of the lining is wrong and it is definitely a reproduction.  The color of the lining is wrong!?  Germans were using any kind of material they could get their hands on that even came close.  They even used material imported from Italy.

    The next vendor says it is wrong because the SS never had the manufacturers name stamped in the inside and the stitching and tread color was not correct.  He didn't even attempt to prove any of what he said.

    But, the Expert that really corked me off, tells me from a distance of six feet, without even looking close at the cap, "That's a repro!!!!"  When I asked him how he knew, he tells me,  "Listen, I have been dealing in Nazi stuff for over fifty years now and I can tell at a glance if it is real or repro."  YEAH-RIGHT!!!!!!!!!  What a bunch of BS!!!!!!

    When you think about it however, can you really expect a straight answer from a dealer at a show?  They don't know if you are there to maybe sell it, and they would certainly rather buy it from you at the price of a repro worth fifty bucks than pay you for a cap that might be worth a thousand.

    As long as I am picking on Experts at the shows, let me tell you about what happened to a friend (a really sharp lady in the German militaria field) at a big show in Monroeville PA where the really big guys in the hobby come together.

    She was walking down an aisle and noticed a plaque on a table that was engraved with an inscription of the SS Unit that was the personal bodyguard of Adolf Hitler----the Leibstandarte.  She made a comment to her companion walking with her that the engraving was certainly intended to increase the value of the plaque but that it certainly was not correct.  The dealer at the table, who was a very highly respected vendor of very expensive Nazi militaria overheard the comments and got quite incensed over them, and kind of followed them down the aisle, berating her as to what did she know about Nazi artifacts compared to himself, the dealer, who had been in the business for years?

    What the issue was, was a little detail in the spelling of the engraving of the word Leibstandarte which was spelled 'LIEbstandarte'  instead of the correct 'LEIbstandarte'.  In the German language, lieb is a word associated with love and sweetness, which the Leibstandarte tried very hard NOT to follow.  They were a very nasty group of people under Hitler's command, in fact they started their rise to power as Hitler's very own personal body guard unit.

    The prefix leib however, is associated with “life” and Leibstandarte is the rough German equivalent of the elite Roman Praetorian or Life Guards – a very select group of big, able men who took the obligation to the guard the life of the Emperor.  Hitler’s Leibstandarte or Life Guard was even equipped with flags and poles that bear a close resemblance to those of ancient Roman guard units.

     After the dealer shot off his mouth for a while, my friend very quietly pointed out the obvious problem with the spelling on the plaque, and she also pointed out that Germans are some of the most precise people in the world and most certainly would never make an error like that on an important SS Nazi item.  In those circles, such an error could have meant a direct transfer to the Russian Front.

    What it all goes to show is that even this “expert” didn't know everything he thought he did but that didn't stop him from making a fool of himself with my friend.  He simply turned and walked away----no apology came from him.

    And, the question remains, who had the engraving done on the plaque and who was responsible for the incorrect spelling.  I wonder if the dealer took the thing off his table as an 'original' and lowered the price to the cost of a repro.  I'm sure that not one in a hundred would notice the error in spelling, so I'll bet it is still there on the dealers table as 'original' or maybe hanging on some collectors wall as his prize piece.

    Such is life in the collecting field of Nazi memorabilia.

Miller - August and Minnie Polzin and the Spanish Influenza

By Delores Miller

One of the aftermaths of the First World War was the Spanish Influenza Pandemic or commonly known as 'La Grippe'.  Legend says this was a disease brought home from the overseas  by returning soldiers.  This malady  killed more people  than the WWI bullets.  Young  adults were victims.  Healthy today, sick tomorrow, died, and was buried.  75 million people perished world wide,  This was the deadliest natural disaster ever.  High infection rate, death was from pneumonia, demise was swift, sometimes within hours.  Patients experienced fatigue, muscle aches, sneezing, coughing, lung fever.    In those days, no antibiotics were available.  Dr. Mulvaney recommended whiskey, brandy, aspirin and quinine.  Homes were quarantined and isolated and after patients recovered  or expired the home was aired out, and washed down with bleach and disinfectant.

Because so many people were sick, there was a shortage of health care workers, medical supplies, coffins, grave diggers and morticians.  28% of all Americans were affected, but only 3% died.

Gauze masks had to be worn in public.  Closed all stores, churches and schools in Marion.  Rules and laws were instigated, funerals could not last more than 15 minutes.  Fines were issued.

The disease ran rampant from June 1918 until December 20, 1920 and vanished for no apparent reason.

Thirty people died in the Marion area including August and Minnie Polzin.  According to the History of Marion, the following people also passed away from the flu:  Mrs John Krueger, Hugo Schlender, Mrs William Woller, Oscar Brockhaus, the first Mrs Paul Knaack, Walter Poppendorf, Harvey Lutzewitz, August Hartwig, the cigar maker, Leo Poppendorf, Paul Schlender, Mrs Harry McCulloch, Mrs Emil Liskow, Mrs August Hartwig, Jesse Rodgers, Mrs Jesse Rodgers, William Garry, Mrs Emil (Annie Schmidt), Winter and others.

Memories are a gift from God

To those left behind

They bring comfort, joy and laughter

And they enable us to live forever

In the hearts of those we love.

Wilhelminia Klatt (January 15, 1858-February 3, 1934) and Gustav Polzin (April 9, 1853- August 23, 1937) were married in 1878.  They came to the USA and Dupont in 1881.  They purchased the Nohr farm, near the south branch of  the Pigeon River.  Nohrs had a saw mill which burned.  Wilhelminia and Gustav  had the following children:  Henry Polzin of Seattle, Washington, Otto Polzin of Symco, Amelia, Mrs Ed Kussman (1883-1966) of Dupont, Emil Polzin (1885-1966) of Dupont, Hilda, Mrs Francis Hoezle (1888) of St. Paul, Minnesota, Otilla, Mrs Louis Brockhaus ((1893-1978)  of Caroline, Ida, Mrs Ernest Nelson (1895-1991) of St. Paul, Edward Polzin (1899-1984) of Elderon, Albert  (1891-1918)of Dupont, and August Polzin (1881-1918) of Dupont.

August Polzin (September 10, 1881-December 9, 1918)  and a neighbor girl with red hair, Minnie Zillmer (January 4, 1890-December 13, 1918) were married December 31, 1907.   Little did they know, when they married with such high hopes, that in eleven years both would be dead.    In those days of horse and buggy or sleigh, courting was done amongst the neighboring families.    Minnie was a tall big boned, buxom woman, healthy and willing to work hard.   Two children, a daughter Lillian (January 15, 1909-March 13, 1909) and Leonard (April 9, 1910-June 7, 1938).  August was born with wandering feet,  and although a mason by trade, did travel to the state of Washington and did live there for a time.  He purchased land in 1911 in Pearce County, south of Tacoma.

Minnie as she was called, although her real name was Wilhelminia was the oldest of the eight children of John Albert  (1869-1936) and Fredericka  Lembke Zillmer (1873-1939).  Siblings were:  John Zillmer (1892-1961), Ella Knaack (1894-1952, William Zillmer (1896-1981), [Delores'  Father], Alma Pruess (1900-1969), Edwin Zillmer (1905-1977), Adeline Ratzburg (1910-1993), {and Mother to the famous author, writer, military history bluff Harold Ratzburg of New Jersey},  and Fern Ratzburg (1913-1999) who was born on her Mother's 40th birthday.

Minnie urged a family studio portrait be taken, because her brother John was due to be drafted in World War One Army and she was worried he was going to be killed in the trenches in Germany.  Little did they know at that time that John never got further than training horses  and mules in Alabama and August and Minnie would be dead in less than six months.  Doom and gloom.

From the 1977 verbal history of William Zillmer he states:  August and Minnie got sick, they had a house in Clintonville.  Because of the fear of epidemics and contagion, no one was left to nurse them, except himself and his mother.  August died on December 9, 1918 and the funeral was planned to be held from the house.  But on the day of the funeral, Minnie died on December 13, 1918.  There was nothing we could do, we just watched her die.  Leonard, their son at the age of 8 was an orphan.  Hauled the caskets and remains to Dupont's Roseland Cemetery with horse and sleigh.  A large ostentatious tombstone marks their grave.  The family always talked about Minnie and August as though they were just gone away for a little while.

Leonard was made an parentless child, went to live with his maternal grandparents and John Albert Zillmer was made his legal guardian. 

After their catastrophe demises the estate had to be probated and followed a paper trail of lawyer and court documents disposing of the Washington land.  An inventory  of personal items was performed by Ed Kussman and William Rosnow for the appraisal of the estate.  A Ford second hand automobile was valued at $125.  Other items were mason and carpenter tools, cords of wood, bushels of potatoes, stoves, cooking apparatus, tables, sewing machine, chiffonier, wood heaters, davenport, chairs, oilstove, beds and a land contract for $375.

Leonard had a happy life with the extended Zillmer and Polzin families.  Attended Sunrise School, where the commencement exercises were held on Friday May 18, 1923.  Graduates included Dora Schwan, Leonard Polzin, Linda Keup, Harold Brown, Leonard Laux and Arthur Brown.   Miss Breed was the teacher.   The diplomas were presented by his Grandfather John Albert Zillmer who was school board clerk.  Other school board members were: Gust Mielke, Director and John E. Nohr, Treasurer.  Leonard gave the Salutatory address to the Under Graduates.

Leonard married Helen  on October 6, 1932 and had two children. 

On June 6, 1938 Leonard died of a heart attack  at  28, the same age his Mother Minnie was when she died of the Spanish Influenza.

Thus ends the saga of the Spanish Influenza and August, Minnie and Leonard Polzin.

Information furnished by the Polzin Family Archives, verbal history, Mary Rahr, Genealogist and World Book Encyclopedia.

Miller - World War One and The Local Boys

By Delores Miller

On June 28, 1914 the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Serbia and his wife were assassinated.  Little did the local folks know what a long-lasting effect this was going to have on this area.  War began over there with Germany  and Kaiser Wilhelm II conquering all Europe.  President Woodrow Wilson promised in campaign speeches in 1916  to keep America out of the war,  and remain neutral, but in April 1917 declared war on Germany.  This was to be 'The War to End all Wars, The Great War, The war to make the World safe for Democracy', all names given to World War One.    Another embellished and gaudy  name was 'La Guerre du Droit' or the War for Justice.   (Little did they know what the future held for more wars.)   Liberty Bonds were sold to provide financing for the war. 

Local boys were required to register for the draft.  Pressured by propaganda, publicity, proselytism, ballyhoo and enthusiasm  to become soldiers, mercenaries, and sharpshooters. They  left  by train in high spirits.   They returned home two years later, broken and bent in vitality  but when they left, were    sent  off with  the high school bands from the train station.    Most of the population were only one generation removed from immigrating from Germany.  The food sauerkraut was changed to Liberty Cabbage.  People named Schmidt changed their names to Smith to disassociate themselves from German roots.  Some  Dupont young men were straight off the farm and never been further than Marion, too busy milking cows.

One young man from Marion, William Bertram (1890--1918)  was the son of Charles Bertram (1856-1940) and his wife Louisa Rigby (1866-1943).   His draft registration lists his birthdate as December 5, 1892 in South Dakota and his employment as a painter.    William was a Private in Company H, 127th Infantry, 32nd Division and  lost his life in battle  at the age of 28 on August 27, 1918 and is resting for all eternity at Roseland Cemetery.  94 years ago he died.  A life cut too short by a terrible and needless war.

 Dr. Frank Mulvaney, a Marion physician was in the Spanish American War in 1898, in the Panama Zone where he contracted malaria and could not serve in World War One.

One such infantry training  facility was constructed, and called Camp Grant, and christened  and named after the Civil War General and later President Ulysses S. Grant.  Located near Rockford Illinois in Winnebago County.  Quarters were built for housing, drill grounds, rifle ranges for 43,000 men of this new National Army.  180 barracks each holding 200 men was ready for the reception of the first draftee  contingent of selected men.    61 buildings  comprised the base hospital unit.  A remount depot had a capacity of 5000 animals, mostly horses and mules and had to include a school for blacksmiths.    Classes were held in French and German.  Activities included boxing, wrestling, football and mandatory attendance at Chapel.  This was the 86th Black Hawk.

After a training period of several weeks, off they went by train and shipped to France, Belgium and Germany and into the sand-bagged trenches.  Often filled with 2 feet  water, which provided a gratuitous bath.  Hand to hand combat, warfare with grenades, poison mustard gas, masks.  New and improved weapons gave each side more efficient machines to kill the  enemy.   (how wasteful!)  Mechanized vehicles, tanks, trucks, automobiles, motorcycles and for the first time airplanes.  Submarines torpedoed merchant ships.  Stench of rotting flesh.  Soup kitchens and rations, all in the name of fighting the Huns.  Most infantry men were in the Army, although the Marines served among other places at Belleau Wood, on the Marne River, just outside Paris, France, Chateau-Thierrey.  Hard winter weather, and were forced when not in the fox holes to sleep in the snow.  Few had tents or other protection.  Came home shell-shocked and deaf.   Some received a small disability pension. This was a world war, with soldiers, sailors from many countries.  They still bled and died.

The muffled drum's sad roll has beat

The soldier's last tattoo!

No more on life's parade shall meet

The brave and fallen few.

Their silent tents are spread

And glory guards with solemn round

The Bivouac of the dead.

By the time the Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918 more than  three million Allied servicemen had died from wounds, disease and other causes.  Then came the Spanish Influenza which is another story for another time.

In 1919 the American Legion was formed in Marion.   A canon used in the war was brought to Marion and a park was built  near the plywood factory especially to house this historic artifact.   Wives, daughters and other interested females organized the Auxiliary which every year sell poppies in honor and tradition of the World Wars.

In Flanders fields, the red poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The birds, still bravely singing,  fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead.  Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow

Loved and were loved and now we lie dead

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

Remembrance Day November 11 and the poppies still grow in abundance and profusion, in the disturbed earth of battlefields and cemeteries where war casulities are buried.  In Marion, still the high school band marches down Main  Street with a program and ceremony.  A moment of silence  marking the end of the war, the 11th day of the 11th month at 11 a.m. in 1918.

And then the Veterans came back to Marion to live uneventful lives, seldom talking about their experiences in World War One. 

Old soldiers never die;

They just fade away.

Their memories remain.

Bibliography:  Zillmer, Lembke and Miller family archives, World Book Encyclopedia, the History of Marion, The Early Years.

David Griffin's Story List

David Griffin’s  Story List

2007
1	Yellow Bird				062707
2	I Love A Parade				070107
3	Blanche				070407
4	The Good Shepherd				070607
5	Who Will Come For You				070907
6	Anthropology				071307
7	Talk, Talk, Talk				071507
8	Fly Fishing				072107
9	Mina				072307
10	Huh!				072607
11	Telling A story				080107
12	Flight 405				080307
13	Ex Libris				8/7
14	Virginia				8/8
15	Aul’Wan Sue				8/15
16	Cheated Out of Forever				8/29
17	Wit and Wisdom				9/1
18	God To Worry About				9/10
19	Vengeance				9/13
20	Lights Out on The Sea				9/27
21	Jack’s Family				9/28
22	Comparison				9/29
23	War Wounds				10/3/07
24	Irish Catholic Sex				10/4/07
25	Time To Go				10/10/07
26	Sr. Cliodhna’s House Warming				10/12
27	Getting Old				10/16
28	Dragon Breath				10/17
29	Russians are Coming				10/17
30	Evolution				10/23
31	Choosing a Mate				10/25
32	Do Not Call				11/1/07
33	Walesville				11/1
34	Remember Me				11/4
35	Real Writer				11/11
36	U.F.O.				11/15
2008
37	Forever				11/27
38	Theology				12/13
39	Baloney				1/20/08
40	Lion’s Den				1/28/08
41	Erebus				1/29/08
42	Shadows				1/30/08
43	Landing Zone				2/9/08
44	John Paul				4/11/08
45	Honesty				4/11/08
46	Lovely Friend				4/20/08
47	Saltpeter				5/xx/08
48	Drill Team				6/30/08
49	Click !				8/6/08
50	Mother Earth				8/6/08
51	Sally Pepper				8/6/08
52	Seeds				8/6/08
53	Mr. Fly				8/17/08
54	Talk To Me				8/28/08
55	Long Way Home				8/30/08
56	Forgiveness				8/31/08
57	Growler				9/5/08
58	Immigrants				9/5/08
59	Perfection				9/11/08
60	Fire Call				9/25/08
61	Abandoned				10/3/08
62	Walk Like A Man				10/6/08
63	Balloon				10/10/08
64	Storyteller				10/24/08
65	Martian				11/11/08
66	Thanksgiving (Pack Of Lies)				11/18/08
2009
67	Bathtub Bob				12/20/08
68	Art 102				1/22/09
69	Hero				3/9/09
70	Messenger				2/1/09
71	Feathers				2/2/09
72	Dancer				3/14/09
73	Knife				3/14/09
74	Nightingales				3/16/09
75	Lesson				3/19/09
76	Patron Saint				4/22/09
77	Checkin’ Out				5/6/09
78	A Dance				5/8/09
79	Exposure				5/23/09
80	RazMaTaz				6/7?/09
81	Destruction				6/7?/09
82	Partners				6/11/09
83	Child of God				6/27/09
84	Sleuth				8/26/09
85	Tree House				9/05/09
86	Good News				9/05/09
87	Inevitable				9/05/09
88	Old Shoes				9/08/09
89	Boys				9/24/09
90	Cowboy				9/27/09
91	Bended Knee				10/04/09
92	Fast Train				10/ xx/09
93	Labor				12/09/09
94.	South Pole				12/09/09
95.	Heaven				12/12/09
96.	Guardian				12/14./09
97.	B.Foley's Morning				12/20/09
2010
98.	Hot Air				12/26/09
99	Newsprint				1/5/10
100	Confidence				1/7/10
101	Smitten				1/10/10
102	Golden				2/07/10
103	Blindsided				2/xx/10
104	Trip to the Zoo				03/10/10
105	Wide Screen				3/2x/10
106	Tick Tock				3/30/10
107	Birth				4/19/10
108	Gunsmoke				5/30/10
109	Clocked				6/7/10
110	Reunion Jam				8/  /10
111	Trestle				9/10  /10
112	Voices				9/ 12 /10
113	Frypan				9/ 14 /10
114	Nowhere				9/14/10
115	Distracted				9/ 23 /10
116	Hope				10/4 /10
117	Carolyn				11/1 /10
2011-12
118	Loyalty				01/24/11
119	Easter Bunny				0421/11
120	Evil Dog				0421/11
121	Helpful				060211
122	Jump				060511
123	Power				0605
124	Love				060611
125	Blood				062711
126	Customer				072111
127	Advice				072411
128	Never Again				072511
129	Devilish				082511
130	Pride				082711
131	Directions				090111
132	Truth				090511
133	MyShortLifeAsAMusician				090411
134	Lucky				112211
135	Little Lie				01xx12
136	The Agent				121811
137	Junk				012212
138	Mom &US Const				020512
139	Big Thoughts				020512
140	Big Ideas				021712
141	Casting Off				022612
142	Bookstore				031012
143	How To Flirt				031012
144	Puzzle				030212
145	Jimmy Bean				031612
146	Writer				031612
147	Bad Connection				031612
148	Last Person				6/15/12
151	Reprieve				7/1/12
2012-13
149	Tailor				6/30/12
150	First Gig				7/1/12
152	Children's' War				7/21/12
153	Waiting For Me				8/15/12
154	Anger Problem				7/15/12
155	Test Pattern				8/15/12
156	Gentleman				9/15/12
157	Boots				9/15/12
158	Genius				10/15/12
159	Br Jesse's Cmas				12/5/12
160	Riddance				12/18/12
161	Escort				12/18/12
162	Trust				12/27/12
163	Out Of Gas				12/27/12
164	Guy Thing				1/8/13
165	Ever This Day				1/8/13