Mauser P38 pistol found buried in the Kampinos Forest near Warsaw

Metal remains of a German Mauser P38 pistol found buried in the Kampinos Forest near Warsaw, Poland. The P38 was originally developed by Carl Walther in 1938, and in 1942 production was contracted out to two additional firms, Mauser and Spreewerk. Before shipment to the German army, firearms had to be inspected and stamped with a code (called a Waffenamt) unique to the inspector. The original stamp for P38 pistols produced by Mauser depicted an eagle over the numbers 135. The stamp was changed at the end of 1943 to include letters. Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939 and entered the city of Warsaw on September 29. From December 1939 to July 1941, the German army carried out mass executions near the village of Palmiry, in the Kampinos Forest to the northwest of the city. The forest also served as a base for the Polish Home Army, a Polish underground military movement that resisted the German occupation and provided aid to the Jewish resistance groups leading up to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in April 1943. The Home Army organized and fought their own Warsaw Uprising in August 1944. The “Grupa Kampinos” of the Home Army fought in 47 battles and skirmishes against the Germans until they were defeated on September 29, 1944. Soviet troops liberated the city of Warsaw on January 17, 1945.