WOW, Raimey, your lack of knowledge of German history is puzzling sometimes! There is no known Suhl gunsmith or mechanic named Ernst Thalmann or Ernst Tiedemann. The "Ernst Thaelmann Werke" were named by the commies in honor of Ernst Thälmann, 1886 - 1944, from Hamburg. From 1923 on he was the leader of the KPD, the German Communist Party. Earlier on he certainly participated in some "shooting events". First he was a soldier in WW1, when he was wounded and earned a decoration. After the Great War he took part or led several commy uprisings. In 1920 an uncle of mine was shot by commies f.i. In 1933 the Nazis sent him to KZ Sachsenhausen, where they killed him in 1944. He was regarded as sort of a "Holy Marthyr" by the GDR.
