Emil Maurice Grouping

[Gary B]

Hi,

First off I just wanted to reiterate what has been stated throughout this thread...this is an absolutely beautiful and historic group and I, too, thank you for sharing it.

I agree with what has been stated in this thread about donating to a museum....beware. About 2 decades ago my father and I looked at donating his painted A-2 jacket to THE AF museum in Dayton, OH. Lucky for us the deal never when through. Some time later I read an article about the curator of the museum being arrested for selling items out of the museuem for his own personal gain (he was not selling small items either....he was selling vehicles, which is how he got caught).

Gary B

[Todd Gylsen]

Bob,

You truly have an absolutely stunning, amazing and historical grouping. Thanks for sharing!!

[Chris Boonzaier]

To The Best Of My Knowledge, Maurice Lived Out The Balance Of His Life Quietly In Munich. This Grouping Came Out Of The Family After Much Inner Fighting. I Understand One Of His Sons Is A Practicing Orthodox Jew And Wanted The Nazi Items From His Father's Past Sold. That Is Why They Reside With Me Instead Of In Munich.

This is a great, great, great set...

But jeez... how morally bankrupt is that family??

Pop has tea cakes and smiles with men who he knows are killing his fellow jews.

The son is disgusted by pops actions and decides to get rid of his stuff. Not into the fire or donate to a museum... but to make a buck.

[Jonathan M]

This thread is by far and away (without demeaning none of the other wonderful things we see in the WAF) the most historically important thread in the Forum.

I thank you very much Bob for sharing these things with us

Jonathan

[Bob Coleman]

This is a great, great, great set...

But jeez... how morally bankrupt is that family??

Pop has tea cakes and smiles with men who he knows are killing his fellow jews.

The son is disgusted by pops actions and decides to get rid of his stuff. Not into the fire or donate to a museum... but to make a buck.

CHRIS-
IT WOULD BE VERY INTERESTING IF A GERMAN DOCUMENTARY MAKER COULD INTERVIEW EMIL'S FAMILY TO GAIN SOME HISTORICAL INSIGHT IN TO HIS MIND PROCESS AT THE TIME. IN RETROSPECT, HE MUST BE CONSIDERED ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING MEMBERS OF THE 3RD REICH HEIRARCHY
I BELIEVE THE ITEMS WERE SOLD DUE TO CONFLICT WITHIN THE IMMEDIATE FAMILY AS TO WHAT SHOULD BECOME OF THESE ITEMS.
POSSIBLY, THE SON WHO IS A PRACTICING ORTHODOX JEW DID NOT TAKE ANY OF THE RECEIPTS FROM THIS GROUPING OF ITEMS.

[Rich Moran]

Things happen for reasons unknown to many.

The best news is that in this instance the items remain together as a grouping and we have gotten to see them.

Thanks Bob!

[Eric JB]

Hitler never tried to distance Maurice from the NSDAP. Quite the reverse.

In the spring of 1935 Emil Maurice became the subject of a dispute between Hitler and Himmler. Before Maurice could marry on 11 May 1935, he had to submit to the SS-Race and Settlement Head Office proof of his bride’s as well as of his own pure ‘German—blood descent.’ When Himmler found out that Maurice was part-Jewish, he demanded his expulsion from the SS, but Hitler wouldn’t hear of it, so Himmler was forced to put the Führer’s decision in writing:

The Reichsführer SS, Münich, 31 August 1935

Official Minute

1. SS-Standartenführer Emil Maurice is, without doubt, according to his family tree, not of Aryan descent.

2. On the occasion of SS-Standartenführer Maurice’s marriage when he had to submit the family tree, I reported to the Führer my position to the effect that Maurice must be removed from the ranks of the SS.

3. The Führer has decided that in this one and only exceptional case Maurice as well as his brothers could remain in the SS, because Maurice had been his very first companion, and because his brothers and the entire family Maurice had served the Movement with rare bravery and loyalty in the first and most difficult months and years.

4. I decree that Maurice must not be entered in the SS Clan Book, and that none of the descendants of the Maurice family may be admitted into the SS.

5. The Chief of the Race and Settlement Head Office receives a copy of this Minute with the request for its most strictly confidential treatment; only the Chief of the Clan Office is to be informed of the decision.

6. For myself and for all successors as Reichsführer SS, I state that only Adolf Hitler himself had and has the right to decree such an exception with regard to blood. No Reichsführer SS has, or will have for all future time, the right to allow exceptions from the requirements of the SS regarding blood.

7. I oblige all my successors to maintain most strictly the position laid down in point 6.


1. Two copies to the Chief of the Race and Settlement Head Office
a. one closed and sealed for Maurice’s marriage file.
b. one for the information of the Chief of the Clan Office.



Maurice remained banned from the inner circle around Hitler, but he enjoyed Hitler's personal protection to the very end of the Nazi era. No disciplinary action was taken against him when he knocked down an old man in September 1935, who had unwittingly blocked the road for Maurice’s car with his bicycle. For Christmas of the same year, Himmler sent Maurice a present regarded as an honour in the SS (an SS Julleuchter). Maurice was promoted on 30 January 1939 to SS-Oberführer; he operated a watch store; he was a member of the Reichstag; he was vice-president of regional chambers of commerce and trade; from January 1940 to October 1942 he served in the Luftwaffe as an officer. After the war, he got off relatively easily, considering the atmosphere of revenge that was prevalent; a de-Nazification court sentenced him to only four years hard labour.

Robin,
Thank you for such great information on the man Maurice.

yours
Eric-Jan

[all1knew]

Hello there,

I just wanted to bring this back up to the top as I still visit this thread to view this fantastic historical grouping.

William Kramer

[Jeff Clark]

Thanks William, it is a great thread!

[wewelsburg]

This should be tacked really,or brought back up once ayear.

[Jeff Clark]

done

[ErichS]

I took another look at this great thread but I have a problem with the GPB pictured. The photo is not clear but from what I can see it does not have the traits of an original 24mm Deschler. Anyone else have any thoughts on it?

[ErichS]

Here's an original to compare. Notice the differences in the lettering and Swaz.

[sjl]

I agree with Erich - I don't like that "Maurice" 24mm Gold Party Badge either. It doesn't conform to any original small Deschler GPBs I've seen. I've never seen a "variation" small Deschler badge. All originals have been as Erich shows in his post above. Odd, because the other items appear beyond question.

It wouldn't be the first time a relative has tried to slip a fake into other personal items belonging to III Reich personalities. I have seen several "personality" Gold Party Badges that came from family of the original owner that have been fake, including a famous fake GPB of Hitler's sold by his half-sister's family.

The inevitable reply will be that this is "an early" small Deschler GPB, and so "you can't expect it to look like later ones...", except I have seen others with lower numbers that conform completely to the standard version shown.

[sjl]

Here's a little comparison I did of the Maurice GBP and the standard 24 mm Deschler GPB. The differences become obvious side by side. Particularly note the too-wide white outer ring on the "Maurice" and the skinny swastika. The letters are generally too thin and regular on the Maurice example (look at the "S"s, "O"s and "P").