MvR/Carisella Collection

[albatros]

I know I am opening up a "can of worms" by bringing this up, but it has been something that I 've been curious about for years. I made these notes on a notecard 12 years ago and stuck them in a book that I recently re-read. The contents of which I wanted to relate and ask the group about:
"In May 1993 I endeavored to call P.J. Carisella to ascertain if the easing of tensions between East and West had enabled him to locate the disposition of MvR's awards, decorations and souvenirs, and to see what became of the "lower torso" that he had found and handed over to the German government. (For those unfamiliar, please see "Who killed the Red Baron.")
Unfortunately, speaking with his brother, I found out he had passed away two years earlier. As far as P.J.'s brother knew, the remains were re-interred in Germany. The brother went on to say that P.J. didn't had over all the remains, that he kept a bone and brought it back. The brother remarked that they would joke about having MvR's bone.
The collection, though not extensive in quanity was still intact at the time of my writing (1993). Carisella willed it to a nephew who was 15 years old in 1993. Though numerous inquires were being made at the time to purchase the pieces, no direction had been made."
I realize this may have been dealt with extensively already on this forum, but the questions remain? Why would someone who professes such reverence for the Rittmeister feel that it was OK to take one of his bones? Were they even MvR's in the first place? Was Carisella a reputable author?
Haven't the pieces in the Carisella collection been auctioned?

Albatros

[FliegerJG1]

Hello Albatros,

The simplest way to answer your question is to refer you to the Forum Search. I just did a search for the terms, Carisella bones, and it brought up a list of many threads where this subject was discussed. You may find some clues amongst those threads. Be sure to use the advanced mode and select all forums to search.

The Memorabilia forum has some old threads from March and April that discuss the recent auction of the Carisella collection.

Hope this will offer some help to you.

VBR...FliegerJG1

Hello Albatros-
From the message previous to mine, you can see that the Carisella auction was discussed extensively. If you have interest in the items themselves, you can find quite a few of the prices realized discussed in the threads here as well. I received a complete prices realized list and would be happy to share it with you if you would like to see that. Let me know. As for the notion about Carisella and MvR's bone(s,) I read of those stories also and cannot say whether they have been debunked or not. There are some folks who regularly peruse The Forum, however, who know much more than I do. Maybe they can offer something more substantial with regard to that topic. History Fan

[albatros]

Yes. I should have checked the archives first. Thanks!