Description
Incredibly rare and very sought after identification disc for a worker at the Messerschmitt Tyrol (Tirol) aircraft factory in Austria. This disc was recently found with a handful of other amazing ID discs that were all brought home by a U.S. veteran. The disc is produced in zinc and shows the workers identification number ‘265’ as well as the name of the factory/location and their logo. The disc has some zinc pests that would easily clean up, but I will leave that to the future owner. I can not stress how rare these ID discs are, most are fake and when they reach the open market they do not last long, 100% original example to one of the most popular factory’s of the Third Reich period!
Note – Messerschmitt AG in Tyrol was a German share-ownership limited, aircraft manufacturing corporation named after its chief designer Willy Messerschmitt from mid-July 1938 onwards, most notably known primarily for its World War II fighter aircraft, in particular the Bf 109 and Me 262. This factory was one of the few who used slave labor, Mauthausen concentration camp. After heavy allied bombing damage to Messerschmitt factories in Innsbruck in December 1943, it was decided to move production into underground factories in region. By May 1944 plans had been made to build a 100,000 square foot underground factory southeast of the Messerschmitt factory in Kematen. Quarrying the tunnels began one month later under the code name Seelachs (‘Pollack’) and from November 1944 until April 1945 employed up to 400 workers, of whom at least 250 were conscripted forced laborers prisoners. It is estimated that altogether at least 2000 forced laborers and prisoners of war from throughout Europe and the Soviet Union were at various times in this forced labor camp.
