It’s a Buyer’s Market for Spoils of War These Days

Dominic J. Mercurio clearly remembers the year 1945, standing in a field outside Frankfurt, Germany, as dozens of Nazi soldiers surrendered.

“They just laid down their rifles,” recalls Mercurio, now 74 and living in east Boston. “They were so tired of fighting.”

Like many other GIs that day, Mercurio took one of the weapons, a 1934 Browning pistol. For more than 50 years, he held on to it as a memento of proud service with the Army’s 66th Infantry Division.

But in July, at a Boston-area sale of World War II military memorabilia, Mercurio sold it. Military Antiques, a company based in Lindsey, Ohio, paid him $175.

“I’ve showed it to my grandson, but I don’t need to keep it around anymore,” Mercurio told company owner Jason Burmeister. “It’s been a long time.”

Mercurio was one of scores of veterans and kin who came to a Woburn hotel to sell spoils of war, from German and Japanese forces that surrendered military gear to U.S. soldiers.

Some, like 76-year-old Bill Marshall of Revere, Mass., sold a German dagger because its importance had faded.

“You only value them if you went through it,” says Marshall, who transported German war criminals to the Nuremberg trials during an Army stint. “There’s no value if you didn’t.”

A half-century after the war, souvenirs are surfacing in flea markets and private sales around the country--a signal of passing interest and passing generations.

“The children don’t want to hurt their feelings, but they just don’t care,” says Brian Maerderer, owner of Military Collectibles of Churchville, Pa. And that spurs veterans to act. “They’re afraid their kids are going to throw them away or sell them for nothing. They would rather sell it themselves.”

Burmeister and Maerderer are among a handful of private collectors specializing in rare or well-cared-for military memorabilia of World War II. It’s a niche market that’s getting a boost from such high-profile films as “Saving Private Ryan.”

Advertising in local newspapers, newsletters and on the Internet, collectors search for German firearms, Japanese samurai swords, medals, uniforms and other memorabilia.

The collectors, Burmeister says, profit by resale to a loose national network of up to 7,000 serious private collectors, as well as tens of thousands of hobbyists.

Reselling occurs largely by mail, with dealers offering detailed descriptions to customers seeking specific pieces.

The market for World War II memorabilia is not nearly as large or lucrative as that for the Revolutionary and Civil wars. Though millions died in the world’s deadliest war, millions also survived-- and carried souvenirs from the front lines. An estimated 1 million samurai swords came from occupied Japan, their very numbers diminishing their value for museums or historians.

The large supply of European memorabilia in the United States keeps profit margins relatively small, with dealers reselling at about a 30% markup. Firearms and other weapons in good condition are generally bought and resold for less than $1,000.

“It’s not a real moneymaker most of the time,” says Burmeister. And he’s selective, rejecting as much as 90% of what veterans offer, due to oversupply or poor quality.

World War II is also a tough sell because so many items bear swastikas and other reminders of the Holocaust.

Many customers buy surreptitiously. “There is a great stigma still associated with the Nazi era,” says Maerderer. “But I don’t sell politics; I sell history.”

Both he and Burmeister focus on collectors with a legitimate interest in history, avoiding extremists who attach Nazi symbols to far-right political agendas. “It’s upsetting when people ask us if we are neo-Nazis,” says Burmeister. “But what I do is no different than Confederate or Napoleonic-era collectibles. It’s part of history.”

In the Boston area, Burmeister bought several dozen Japanese swords for $250 to $500 each. He paid $800 for a German officer’s dagger with Nazi emblems and a blade engraved “All For Germany.” Two 1939 naval plotting instruments in mint condition and still bearing notes scribbled in German cost him $550.

Although most souvenirs sell for modest prices, Burmeister says a few items--especially those linked to Hitler or his inner circle--can command more. One Midwest collector paid $2,000 for a silver teapot and creamer. Silver votive candleholders drew $1,000.

More often, the glut of common World War II items undermines deals.

Al Ciano, 78, of Everett, Mass., is a veteran of the Battle of the Bulge. He left the sale having failed to unload German military pins and tattered armbands with Nazi swastikas.

“I don’t know what I’ll do with them,” he said. “They’re worth something sentimentally to me.”