(C) Mourning the Ancient

[Above: Ferocious Luftwaffe unit mascot! Note the painting of the duck with a British helmet and cigar.]

[Above: Hauptmann Franz von Werra, Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 53. This Luftwaffe ace was credited with 21 victories. His pet lion's name is Simba.]

[Above: Hauptmann Franz von Werra and Simba.]

[Above: Hauptmann Franz von Werra and Simba on the cover of a magazine.]

[Above: This postcard says:

'In Leipzig ist der Löwe los,
Das einz'ge Mal im Jahr,
Und meine Stimmung ist ganz groß,
Ist das nicht wundervar.'

(In Leipzig, the lion is loose,
The only time of the year,
And my spirits are high,
Isn't that wonderful.)

Further down it says:

'Leipziger Stadtfest
"In Leipzig ist der Löwe los!"'

(Leipzig City Festival
"In Leipzig the lion is loose!")]

[Above: The back of the postcard has a special postmark, from May 13, 1939, seen here.]

[Above: Courtesy of the Bundesarchiv.]

[Above: German paratroopers in Crete.]

[Above: This picture shows (from left to right) Max Wünsche, Theodor Wisch, Gunter d'Alquen (chief editor of the weekly Das Schwarze Korps (The Black Corps), the official newspaper of the SS), Sepp Dietrich and Bulgarian officers.]

[Above: The coolest picture ever!]

[Above: This is Wilhelm Herget.]

[Above: This is Oberst (Colonel) Karl Gottfried Nordmann (November 22, 1915 – July 22, 1982) holding a unit mascot. Nordmann was an ace pilot credited with 78 enemy aircraft shot down and over 800 combat missions. After the war he went on to become the president of Mercedes-Benz in North America.]

[Above: German soldiers prepare messenger pigeons]

[Above: Hmm... it would appear that a goose infestation is underway!]

[Above: A goat on the high seas?! Awesome...]

[Above: Croatian Kriegsmarine sailors enjoying the company of the cloven kind!]

[Above: Okay, so this isn't a living, breathing cloven hoofed creature, but I think you'll agree that it qualifies! This picture shows young Estonian SS men receiving gifts and food from friends and family before leaving for the front.]

[Above: Okay, so this isn't a living, breathing cloven hoofed creature, but I think you'll agree that it qualifies! This picture also shows young Estonian SS men receiving gifts and food from friends and family before leaving for the front.]

[Above: In case you were wondering, that goat laid those eggs. Mmmmm... goat eggs.]

[Above: German 1930s postcard.]

[Above: A Hitler Youth boy rides a bull.]

[Above: Two German soldiers play a game of joust on the backs of oxen somewhere in Russia, September 1942. Note the guy on the left has his helmet on backwards!]

[Above: Men from the SS-Polizei Division during the battle with France, 1940.]

[Above: A girl from the BDM during rural duty in Saxony. Young girls and boys of the BDM and Hitler Youth were sent to help farmers throughout the Reich.]

[Above: A girl from the BDM during rural duty.]

[Above: A girl during the 1939 Munich Nutritional Exposition, 1939.]

[Above: This says: 'Ein Zeichen der Zeit als Naturwunder! geb. 22.10.33 zu Wrist in Holstein beim Landmann Max Granzow.' (A sign of the times as a natural wonder! Born 22.10.33 at Wrist in Holstein to the farmer Max Granzow). You'll note that this cow has a (incomplete) swastika on its head!]