Discussing the relationship between artifacts and conflict, historian Tara Zahra argues that “material culture offers a particularly rich and unique form of access to the emotional and social dimensions of war.”[1] Sievers’ belongings, pictured below, testify to what was important for him to preserve and what he remained proud of even after Germany’s defeat. Seen in this light, they offer a window into the mindset of German veterans after the war.
[1] Leora Auslander and Tara Zahra, Objects of War: The Material Culture of Conflict and Displacement (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2018), 248.