Greetings Sirs,
I've been working on a project that was recently finished and wanted to share the outcome.
I know that many collectors have little or no interest in De-Nazified items. However, I have always had a great liking for these pieces. While many consider them junk, I think that they represent the ultimate history and conundrum of the Third Reich.
Consider this, it is 1945 and you can no longer openly wear your Iron Cross that was earned with blood and sweat in battle. What do you do? We all know that many German soldiers, sailors, and airmen lost their decorations to souvenir hunters. Others traded theirs away. Still others discarded them in bogs, lakes, rivers, down wells, or simply into the road ditch. Some hid their awards away.
But there was a particular group of soldiers who were proud of their battlefield accomplishments and refused to be parted from the tangible evidence of their heroism. For these men, there was only one course of action, De-Nazify the award. Until the 1957 issue awards were introduced, this was the only way that a German soldier could openly retain and proudly wear his decorations.
And think about this. I've spoken personally with more than one German veteran who loathed the swastika that was emblazoned on virtually every article of military equipment produced from 1933-1945. One veteran told me that he, though a decorated combat veteran, felt that his army had been hijacked. He was proud of his awards because of what they represented but not of the swastika on each of those awards. And this feeling was magnified many fold after the war ended and the true extent of Nazism's crimes became known to the world at large.
To me, this sums of the complex issue of how Germany and Germans are still struggling to deal with 1933-1945. Can you honor the battlefield accomplishments and individual valor of Army, Air Force, Navy, and even Waffen SS men without simultaneously paying tribute to the abhorrent gang of thugs running the country for which they fought? I believe that you can and should.
So as much as we collectors are generally able to make a psychological separation between combat soldiers who fought for Nazi Germany yet retained their honor by repudiating much of what Nazism stood for; these crosses represent a literal separation between an historical and honorable decoration and the Nazi thugs who hijacked it.
Sorry if I ramble on a bit, but I wanted to put these pieces into context and hopefully give them some of the credit I believe they are due. I've been picking up De-Nazified Iron Crosses here and there over the years and with some recent purchases, I've finally undertaken the task of casing them for proper display.
Here is the result.
Enjoy,
Z
I've been working on a project that was recently finished and wanted to share the outcome.
I know that many collectors have little or no interest in De-Nazified items. However, I have always had a great liking for these pieces. While many consider them junk, I think that they represent the ultimate history and conundrum of the Third Reich.
Consider this, it is 1945 and you can no longer openly wear your Iron Cross that was earned with blood and sweat in battle. What do you do? We all know that many German soldiers, sailors, and airmen lost their decorations to souvenir hunters. Others traded theirs away. Still others discarded them in bogs, lakes, rivers, down wells, or simply into the road ditch. Some hid their awards away.
But there was a particular group of soldiers who were proud of their battlefield accomplishments and refused to be parted from the tangible evidence of their heroism. For these men, there was only one course of action, De-Nazify the award. Until the 1957 issue awards were introduced, this was the only way that a German soldier could openly retain and proudly wear his decorations.
And think about this. I've spoken personally with more than one German veteran who loathed the swastika that was emblazoned on virtually every article of military equipment produced from 1933-1945. One veteran told me that he, though a decorated combat veteran, felt that his army had been hijacked. He was proud of his awards because of what they represented but not of the swastika on each of those awards. And this feeling was magnified many fold after the war ended and the true extent of Nazism's crimes became known to the world at large.
To me, this sums of the complex issue of how Germany and Germans are still struggling to deal with 1933-1945. Can you honor the battlefield accomplishments and individual valor of Army, Air Force, Navy, and even Waffen SS men without simultaneously paying tribute to the abhorrent gang of thugs running the country for which they fought? I believe that you can and should.
So as much as we collectors are generally able to make a psychological separation between combat soldiers who fought for Nazi Germany yet retained their honor by repudiating much of what Nazism stood for; these crosses represent a literal separation between an historical and honorable decoration and the Nazi thugs who hijacked it.
Sorry if I ramble on a bit, but I wanted to put these pieces into context and hopefully give them some of the credit I believe they are due. I've been picking up De-Nazified Iron Crosses here and there over the years and with some recent purchases, I've finally undertaken the task of casing them for proper display.
Here is the result.
Enjoy,
Z
Very interesting to view and ponder. Thanks for sharing them as well as your thought-provoking commentary.
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