‘Toy’ gun left in museum warehouse for 12 years turns out to be rare historic weapon
A rare World War II rifle sat in storage at a museum in Poland for over a decade years after being mistaken for a “toy” gun. Photos show the simple, unique weapon.
A private collector donated two guns and several other WWII artifacts to the Coastal Defense Museum in Świnoujście about 12 years ago, Science in Poland said in an Oct. 16 news release.
One of the guns, a basic rifle, looked so unprofessional that museum staff assumed it was a toy air gun or a homemade weapon, Piotr Piwowarczyk, an employee with the museum, told Science in Poland.
Still, the museum registered the rifle and put it in warehouse storage — until recently.
A staff member took another look through the warehouse and recognized the gun as a rare Volkssturmgewehr rifle.
Volkssturmgewehr rifles were one of the last weapons produced by the Nazis in 1945, Piwowarczyk said. These guns were made of sheet metal and designed to be simple, cheap and easy to make. Several thousand Volkssturmgewehr guns of varying styles were produced for the so-called Volkssturm, a Nazi militia force formed to defend the regime in its final months.
Almost 80 years later, very few Volkssturmgewehr rifles, also known as VGs or “Volksgewehr” rifles, still exist, Piwowarczyk said. The rifle found in Świnoujście is likely the only one of its kind in Poland.
Photos show the slightly rusty weapon. On its side is the number 935 and a punch mark linking it to a Berlin factory, Piwowarczyk said.
The museum plans to eventually put the rifle on display.
Świnoujście is a coastal city in northwestern Poland, a roughly 400-mile drive northwest of Warsaw and along the border with Germany.
Google Translate was used to translate the news release from Science in Poland (PAP).
