Doppelfernrohr Carl Zeiss, Deviator 4x20, Luftstreitkräfte, 1915

Doppelfernrohr Deviator 4x20, made by Carl Zeiss in 1915 for the Luftstreitkräfte, known before October 1916 as Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches (in Italian Air Troops of the German Kaiser's Empire) or simply Die Fliegertruppen which was the air component of the Deutsches Heer i.e. the army of the German Empire during the First World War (1914-1918).

This special version of military binoculars mod. Deviator 4x20, probably produced in a number of 50 examples considered between the serial numbers 473850 to 473900, was designed to be used on board the first aircraft of "Die Fliegertruppen": this explains the use of special eyepieces which allowed the pilot to use it even with glasses, thus avoiding damaging or scratching the lenses of the glasses. Furthermore, two tubes with transparent glasses were applied in front of the objective lenses and could be easily cleaned without the risk of scratching the lenses of the binoculars themselves (at that time the cockpits of airplanes were open).

These binoculars, due to their designation, are very rare and appear to be the only example currently known.

It is present in the book by Dr. Hans T. Seeger, Vol.I Zeiss Binocular Monograph on page 607, proof of the existence of this "Deviator" model reported on a small part of an internal document of the Zeiss Company.

This information above was provided by Dr. HANS T. SEEGER who confirms that it is the first specimen he has ever seen.

There is, applied under the case, a piece of paper referable to a postal address to which the TODT Organization belonged: it is therefore plausible to consider that the same had been, after the First World War and starting from 1938, in use or owned by this paramilitary organization of the Nazi State headed by Fritz Todt and later Albert Speer.

The Todt Organization (OT) was a paramilitary construction force in the Nazi state that bore the name of its leader Fritz Todt (1891-1942). Founded in 1938, the organization passed under him from March 1940 as Reich Minister of Armaments and Munitions (RMfBM) and later to Minister Albert Speer.

After the start of the Second World War it was mainly used for construction work in the German-occupied areas. He became known for the expansion of the Western Wall or "der Westwall" also known by the name of Siegfried-Linie, for the construction of submarine bases on the French coast and the "Atlantic Wall" coastal defense positions among the most important of the Second War world.

From 1943 it built the launch platforms for the V1 and V2 Rockets. This was followed in the summer of 1943 by the expansion of the air-raid shelters for the civilian population (Erweitertes LS-Führerprogrammo) and the underground relocation of industrial facilities in the Reich area. From the beginning of the war, forced laborers, prisoners of war and concentration camp inmates were often employed in the organization.