Guide to the German/Nazi Artifact Collection MSS.3400
German/Nazi Artifact Collection
- Publication:
W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library, The University of Alabama
Mary Harmon Bryant Hall
May 2011
500 Hackberry Lane
Box 870266
Tuscaloosa, Alabama, 35487-0266
205.348.0500
archives@ua.edu
- Creation:
This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2011-05-19T15:39-0500
- Language Usage:
English
- Description Rules:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
German/Nazi Artifact Collection
- Unit ID:
MSS.3400
- Repository:
W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library, The University of Alabama
- Quantity:
0.8 Linear feet (ring, belt buckle, medal, armband)
- Dates:
between 1914 and 1944
- Abstract:
A collection of German military artifacts from 1914 to 1944, including a World War I Iron Cross ring and World War II Marine belt buckle, Nazi SS long service medal, and concentration camp armband.
- Access Restrictions:
Conditions Governing Access note
None
- Acquisition Information:
Provenance
Gift of Wade Hall, 2005
- Preferred Citation:
Preferred Citation note
German/Nazi Artifact Collection, W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library, The University of Alabama
Scope and Contents note
The collection consists of a World War I German Iron Cross ring, a World War II German Marine belt buckle, a Nazi SS long service medal, and a concentration camp armband.
The Iron Cross ring is a signet-style ring of unknown metal featuring the German Iron Cross with "1914" on one side and "1916" on the other. Other Iron Cross rings of this time usually have oak leaf clusters and this phrase, "Dem Alten Vaterland Die Treue zu beweisen Gab Ich in schwerer Zeit Ihm Gold fur dieses Eisen," which loosely translates into English as, "For the old fatherland, Loyalty to Show, Gave I in difficult time To him, gold for this iron." There is no evidence that this phrase or the oak leaf clusters were ever on this ring.
The World War II German Marine belt buckle (die-struck steel) shows a variation on the breast eagle with the swastika in its talons encircled by a wreath featuring oak leaf clusters and the words "Gott Mit Uns" which translates to the English, "God with us."
The armband was worn by either a guard or prisoner in a German KZ Lager (konzentrationslager, or concentration camp) during World War II. It is a blue triangle sewn onto a white or tan cotton armband, measuring approximately 17 inches in length and 4.75 inches in width. A camp identification stamp, partially on the blue fabric, is too blurred to read, but the eagle with the wreathed swastika is recognizable.
- Processing Information:
Processed by
Martha Bace, 2011
World War I German Iron Cross Ring Artifact number 0509 Box 3400.001
World War II German Marine Belt Buckle Artifact number 0510 Box 3400.001
World War II Nazi SS Medal Artifact number 0511 Box 3400.001
World War II German Concentration Camp Armband Artifact number 0512 Box 3400.001