Last night at a small auction house in N.Y. Fritz Sauckel’s Gold Party Badge was Auctioned. Included in the auction was also his Golden DAF Honor pin and a SA sports leaders armband.
The Auction was well attended by locals, but only one person in attendence was bidding....my buddy Mike Peters. When I discovered he an I were bidding on the same item, I backed off to allow a friend a chance to own this piece of history. In the end it didn't matter the auction lot sold for more money than he or I had.
The lot sold to an unknown bidder from the UK.
The Golden Party badge was the large type with the typical Deschler die flaws. Numbered to reverse 1395. Which matches with the number listing to Ernst Friedrich Christoph "Fritz" Sauckel.
Here's some information concerning Sauckel.
Ernst Friedrich Christoph "Fritz" Sauckel (27 October 1894 – 16 October 1946) was a Nazi war criminal, who organized the systematic enslavement of millions from lands occupied by Nazi Germany. During World War II he was Reich defence commissioner for the Kassel district (Reichsverteidigungskommissar Wehrkreis IX) before being appointed General Plenipotentiary for Labour Deployment (Generalbevollmächtigter für den Arbeitseinsatz) on 21 March 1942, on the recommendation of Martin Bormann. He worked directly under Hitler through the Four-Year Plan Office, directing and controlling German labor. In response to increased demands, he met the requirement for manpower with people from the occupied territories. Voluntary numbers were insufficient and forced recruitment was introduced within a few months. Of the 5 million foreign workers brought to Germany, around 200,000 came voluntarily. The majority of the acquired workers originated from the Eastern territories, where the methods used to gain workers were reportedly very harsh.
He was a defendant at the Nuremberg trials accused of conspiracy to commit crimes against peace; planning, initiating and waging wars of aggression; war crimes and crimes against humanity. He defended the Arbeitseinsatz as "nothing to do with exploitation. It is an economic process for supplying labor". He denied that it was slave labor or that it was common to deliberately work people to death (extermination by labor) or to mistreat them.
Sauckel was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and was hanged on 16 October 1946. His last words were recorded as "Ich sterbe unschuldig, mein Urteil ist ungerecht. Gott beschütze Deutschland!" (I die an innocent man, my sentence is unjust. God protect Germany!) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Sauckel
Thanks to Mike Peters for providing me with better quality photos. As the auction house did not provide many high quality photos or the badges.
The Auction was well attended by locals, but only one person in attendence was bidding....my buddy Mike Peters. When I discovered he an I were bidding on the same item, I backed off to allow a friend a chance to own this piece of history. In the end it didn't matter the auction lot sold for more money than he or I had.
The lot sold to an unknown bidder from the UK.
The Golden Party badge was the large type with the typical Deschler die flaws. Numbered to reverse 1395. Which matches with the number listing to Ernst Friedrich Christoph "Fritz" Sauckel.
Here's some information concerning Sauckel.
Ernst Friedrich Christoph "Fritz" Sauckel (27 October 1894 – 16 October 1946) was a Nazi war criminal, who organized the systematic enslavement of millions from lands occupied by Nazi Germany. During World War II he was Reich defence commissioner for the Kassel district (Reichsverteidigungskommissar Wehrkreis IX) before being appointed General Plenipotentiary for Labour Deployment (Generalbevollmächtigter für den Arbeitseinsatz) on 21 March 1942, on the recommendation of Martin Bormann. He worked directly under Hitler through the Four-Year Plan Office, directing and controlling German labor. In response to increased demands, he met the requirement for manpower with people from the occupied territories. Voluntary numbers were insufficient and forced recruitment was introduced within a few months. Of the 5 million foreign workers brought to Germany, around 200,000 came voluntarily. The majority of the acquired workers originated from the Eastern territories, where the methods used to gain workers were reportedly very harsh.
He was a defendant at the Nuremberg trials accused of conspiracy to commit crimes against peace; planning, initiating and waging wars of aggression; war crimes and crimes against humanity. He defended the Arbeitseinsatz as "nothing to do with exploitation. It is an economic process for supplying labor". He denied that it was slave labor or that it was common to deliberately work people to death (extermination by labor) or to mistreat them.
Sauckel was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and was hanged on 16 October 1946. His last words were recorded as "Ich sterbe unschuldig, mein Urteil ist ungerecht. Gott beschütze Deutschland!" (I die an innocent man, my sentence is unjust. God protect Germany!) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Sauckel
Thanks to Mike Peters for providing me with better quality photos. As the auction house did not provide many high quality photos or the badges.
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