Item Description
Original Item: Only One Available. These are so rare that we've only had one other example. This is a purpose built glass bottle with screw cap, wood insert while holds in place a German grenade BZ ignition fuze. The BZ fuses was typically found in multiple different grenades.
There are no visible markings which would typically be on the screw cap but due to age and wear the markings are not visible. Most theorize that these were very late war production for the Volkssturm and were reused blood transfusion bottles. The bottle measures 10 inches tall with a 4 inch diameter. Its been filled with black sand for display purposes.
The name "Molotov cocktail" was coined by the Finns during the Winter War, called in Finnish: polttopullo or Molotovin koktaili. The name was an insulting reference to Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov, who was one of the architects of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact signed in late August 1939. The pact with NSDAP Germany was widely mocked by the Finns, as was much of the propaganda Molotov produced to accompany the pact, including his declaration on Soviet state radio that bombing missions over Finland were actually airborne humanitarian food deliveries for their starving neighbors. The Finns sarcastically dubbed the Soviet cluster bombs "Molotov bread baskets" in reference to Molotov's propaganda broadcasts. When the hand-held bottle firebomb was developed to attack Soviet tanks, the Finns called it the "Molotov cocktail", as "a drink to go with the food".
The Volkssturm (people's storm) was a national militia established by NSDAP Germany during the last months of World War II. It was not set up by the German Army, the ground component of the combined German Wehrmacht armed forces, but by the NSDAP Party on the orders of Adolf AH and its existence was only officially announced on 16 October 1944. It was staffed by conscripting males between the ages of 16 and 60 years who were not already serving in some military unit. The Volkssturm comprised one of the final components of the Total War promulgated by Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, part of a NSDAP endeavor to overcome their enemies' military strength through force of will.
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- This item is completely legal within the USA. International Military Antiques, Inc observes all Federal, State and Local laws. Everything for sale on ima-usa.com is completely legal to own, trade, transport and sell within the United States of America. This display launcher has been engineered to be inoperable according to guidelines provided by the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATF).
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