Published in the "Wisconsin State Journal" on July 15, 1945. Accompanying article:
Boxes of German souvenirs are arriving in Madison in increasing numbers these days, and one of the most varied collections came four days ago to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Theodore H. Soehle, 2209 Fox Ave. The assortment was sent by their son, Corp. Theodore Soehle, Jr., military policeman with a unit last reported in France. Most fascinating items to Mrs. Soehle are three six-thonged whips, which she handles with distaste wondering "if the Nazis used those on our boys."
There's a cream-colored salt shaker too, and a small metal box containing what appears to be periscope parts.
"I do wish Ted would hurry and write us about these things," his mother said. "I'm curious about where he got them and the story behind them."
Other articles in the collection include three bayonets, a helmet, an officer's cap, a three-part ammunition pouch, three belt buckles, a gas mask, a pruning knife, an oblong flashlight, two canteens, a miniature torture chamber from Nuremberg, and a variety of insignia ranging from the highly colored floral type to the more familiar Nazi swastika.
The torture chamber, apparently modeled after a medieval kind, is complete even to the spikes which bite into the victim's body when the doors are closed.
The souvenirs arrived in a wooden box which was so badly battered "that the mail man delivered it in a pouch," Mrs. Soehle said.
Corp. Soehle, of the 795th MP battalion, has served with the Ninth army most of the time. He was employed by Yellow Truck Lines, Inc. before entering the army on Nov. 28, 1942. |