1854–1933
In 1854 the brothers Löb and Moses Simson bought one third of a steelhammer works in Suhl (Germany). The production of carbon steel began and the firm Simson & Co. was founded in 1856. The factory produced guns and gun barrels in the years following.
1934–48
Hitler's government forced the Jewish family Simson to flee the country in 1936. Under the dispossession of Jewish industrialists a trustee took control of the firm, and so by merger with other factories the Berlin Suhler Waffen- und Fahrzeugwerke (BSW) was formed. Critics of the Nazi government suggested a different meaning for the
BSW initials: Bis Simson Wiederkommt ("until Simson returns").
Code 337 mod.1939 / Berlin-Suhler-Waffenwerke or (Simson)
http://www.ycgg.org/pdfpages/ww2/gustloff.pdf