The "other" Blue Division Medal

[Dave Danner]

Not the Spanish-issued one, but the Erinnerungsmedaille für die Spanischen Freiwilligen im Kampf gegen den Bolschewismus ("Commemorative Medal for Spanish Volunteers in the Struggle against Bolshevism"):



Does anyone know anything about these? I must confess I don't recall ever seeing one before, but I hadn't been looking.

A partner in my office came by today with some medals (Anschluss, KVK2 and one of these) that his father had gotten from a German POW as a gift after he had gotten him some extra rations. His example had lost all of the bronze wash but was a clean zinc example with a long length of original ribbon. He wasn't interested in getting rid of them, but was curious what they were. I pulled up what was on the main site for him, but now I'm curious as well. Are these rare? Were they awarded to German personnel who served with the division (these were German POWs)? etc.

Thanks

[brian c]

Dave,
I have one of these also in zink. I am not entirely sure on the numbers of these., but I do remember reading that they were given to the Spanish "volunteers" for service on the Russian front. I think there were only about four divisions that served. I'm sure they are not as common as the German eastern front medal. I don't see a whole lot of them at the shows. Hopefully someone else can tell you more about them.
Brian

[Sebastian Bianchi]

Dave,
I have one of these also in zink. I am not entirely sure on the numbers of these., but I do remember reading that they were given to the Spanish "volunteers" for service on the Russian front. I think there were only about four divisions that served. I'm sure they are not as common as the German eastern front medal. I don't see a whole lot of them at the shows. Hopefully someone else can tell you more about them.
Brian

It was actually just one Division, the Spanish Blue Division. There are two or more types because some were also made in Spain during/after the war, so it's hard to tell. As I understand it the ones with a zinc finish are the ones made in Germany, the type you see here (mine) was made in Spain.

[Darrell]

Dave,

I have a zinc one I posted a while back. Check the ribbon ring. Most have a "1" maker mark.

[Sebastian Bianchi]

The one posted above, as I understand from reliable sources, is the one made in Germany. The differences are very obvious and start with the ball loop.

[Frank Heukemes]

Seba is right, the above pictured one is of Spanish manufacture. This one below is a typical German made one, sometimes these are marked with 1 for Deschler in the ring.

[Frank Heukemes]

reverse, I just realized I posted one minute after you guys!

[Sebastian Bianchi]

... and one more "reliable source" confirms it!

And may I add that while rare, they are not that expensive. There was one at Union for about a year (show after show) for about $90.00.

[Frank Heukemes]

As Seba points out, one of the most underestimated awards and terribly hard to find in any condition!

[Dave Danner]

Thanks for all your help!

I looked in my old (2001/02) Nimmergut, which had them at DM250 or 128 euros.

This one was German-made. Besides the provenance, the ball suspension on your Spanish one was the first difference I noticed. His had the German style ring as in Frank's and h009291's examples. (h009291 - got a first name? )

KVK2, Anschluss and this one is an odd combination for a German soldier. I wonder if the POW was horse-trading with other POWs himself, and then currying favor with the Amis.

[Darrell]

(h009291 - got a first name? )

Yep .....
:
:
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v

[James Clark]

It is certainly an odd combination for a German - as the name shows, it was an award for Spanish volunteers. I'm not aware that it was awarded to Germans, but the Spaniards could also be awarded the Ostmedaille

James

Thanks for all your help!

I looked in my old (2001/02) Nimmergut, which had them at DM250 or 128 euros.

This one was German-made. Besides the provenance, the ball suspension on your Spanish one was the first difference I noticed. His had the German style ring as in Frank's and h009291's examples. (h009291 - got a first name? )

KVK2, Anschluss and this one is an odd combination for a German soldier. I wonder if the POW was horse-trading with other POWs himself, and then currying favor with the Amis.

[copiloto]

German Award for spaniards

Hi.
This award was made by the German government for the Spanish volunteers once they had all returned to Spain, so it´s very strange that a German soldier could keep it.
By the way I´ve only seen one of them in Barcelona and the price is 300 € .
There´s a different award made by the Spanish government and it´s one of the more beautiful awards I´ve ever seen.
Best regards
Jordi Caballero Pérez