WW2 British Army Auschwitz E715 POW Art & German Canteen Ring Group

For sale is a Rare WW2 British Army Auschwitz E715 POW Art & German Canteen Ring Group From Kenneth Jack Coffin. 

Kenneth Jack Coffin was born on the 16th of September 1918. He enlisted into the British army and served under the service number 2593460 with the royal signals. His pay book is a replacement and is written in red ink on the inside front cover “To replace original 9.8.1945.” His religious denomination was Church of England, and his approved society was hearts of oak. The Hearts of Oak Benefit Society was a major British friendly society established in 1842 to provide mutual insurance, pensions, and sickness benefits to working-class members. He is described as 5ft 3/8 inches, weight 136 3/4 lbs, black hair and hazel eyes with a faint birth mark back of left side. In his soldiers service pay book it states that he was a Repat prisoner of war from the 29th of May 1945 until the 6th of September 1945. His trade on enlistment was a garage mechanic. And that his next of kin was Mr Albert Coffin of Sherborne, Dorset. 

This lot includes his replacement pay book, a piece of carved art glass from Auschwitz, and a ww2 German 800 marked and maker marked German SS canteen ring. 

The Auschwitz piece of art glass is engraved “From Ken To Doris, with love, Auschwitz, Polen 1944.” This piece measures 6.7cm length x 8.8cm height. This is either a section of glass or a tile. And is believed to have been made at Auschwitz during the war. 

The WW2 German 800 Silver marked German SS Canteen ring is in fair condition, some damage to the skull (which can be seen in the photos for more details). This is a nice typical example of a private purchase German canteen ring with the original makers mark. 

Hundreds of British prisoners of war (POWs) were held near Auschwitz in a dedicated camp designated as E715, located next to the Auschwitz III-Monowitz synthetic rubber and oil factory (IG Farben).

One of the groups of eyewitnesses to the crimes perpetrated at the concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz were British prisoners of war, who were forced to work on the construction of the IG Farbenindustrie factory. The building site was located in the immediate vicinity of the Auschwitz-III Monowitz camp and a few kilometers from the Auschwitz I main camp. British prisoners of war were also employed the mines in Libiąż and Jaworzno, where later Auschwitz sub-camps were established. 

British prisoners of war (POWs) imprisoned near Auschwitz (specifically at Auschwitz III-Monowitz and the IG Farben industrial complex) were treated significantly better than the camp's Jewish and slave laborers, though they still faced brutal conditions, forced labor, and the constant threat of violence. 

This grouping would benefit from further research, and is a lesser known piece of history from Auschwitz. 

This will be sent via special delivery and dispatched within two working days.