Well, it would not be surprising if someone in the employ of the Simsons were to take advantage of the Nazi policy of expropriating Jews. How much you want to bet Mr. Reif did that sort of thing? He'd probably have been hailed by the then-government as something of a national-racial hero for doing it. Mr. Reif seems a bunter Hund at best and more likely a real rogue. No wonder they ran him out of town.
As to the guns sent back to Mother Russia pictured here, I have to say they look a little too bourgeois for any Real Soviet officer to risk having made. Too nice, too foreign. Something the NKVD would be on the lookout for, particularly during the late days of Stalin.
The second picture from the top shows the words "Holland - Holland" in the top rim of the sidelock, just above the dogs and in gold. What gives?
This is another one of those posts where I'm brought to remember and regret the departure of Geno. I'm sure he would have had some good info to add to the discussion. I'm hoping our other Russian friends do....
