The history of the German helmet used by the Wehrmacht began in 1916 during the First World War. Over the next 30 years, there will be many modifications of the protective helmet. During the war years, Germany will follow the path of constant simplification and reduction in the cost of helmets for economic reasons. At the same time, steel helmets will be produced in millions of copies. What fate will befall all this "good" that did not fall into the damp cold earth after the war?
1. Scrap metal
Metal was highly valued both during the war years and immediately after it. Therefore, a significant part of metal things, including steel helmets, were simply disposed of and melted down into something more useful for the army and the national economy. During the war years, the population and trophy brigades of the Red Army collected 447,741 tons of scrap metal in the amount of 1.38 billion rubles. Of course, not all of these were helmets. First of all, the skeletons of the destroyed equipment were collected. Nevertheless, for the helmets brought for scrap, the population was paid 3-5 rubles each.
2. Military application
After the Third Reich was defeated and in Germany occupied by the Allies and the USSR, denazification procedure, the occupation administrations began to create new power structures from the Germans. And since the cold war between the former allies began very quickly, the armed forces of the two new Germanys had to be recruited from the Germans. In the west, the Bundeswehr was created in 1955. In the east, the National People's Army was established in 1956. And here the remaining helmets of the Wehrmacht came in handy.
3. Conversion
As the Bible says: “They will beat their swords into plowshares” (a weapon into an agricultural tool). In Germany itself, part of the Wehrmacht helmets was converted into useful household items for the population. They made everything from steel helmets: pots, bowls, colanders and even chamber pots for kindergartens and hospitals. By the way, the Soviet monumental sculptor Yevgeny Viktorovich Vuchetich in 1957 created a sculpture of a blacksmith forging a sword into a plowshare. The statue was donated by the UN and installed in front of the organization's headquarters in New York. A copy is in Moscow. What is it? Biblical references in art in the theomachic USSR? What a nightmare".
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4. Folk application
In fact, the same conversion of helmets into something useful, but not centralized at the factory, but by individual citizens. They carried out home conversion of steel helmets both in the Soviet Union and in Germany liberated from the Nazis. In a predictable and natural way, helmets were most often converted into some kind of container.
5. cultural application
A small part of the German helmets was donated to various cultural institutions: film studios, theaters, museums. Accordingly, the use of such helmets could be very different from props in creative productions. to an ordinary museum exhibit, reminiscent of the horrors of the bloodiest war in history humanity.
In continuation of the topic, read about how was the first battle of Soviet tanks KV-85 and German Ferdinands.
Source: https://novate.ru/blogs/281221/61689/