Here is a collection of news items about Nazi related subjects. They make for some interesting reading...
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Three Lions on the (Black)Shirt: Rare Nazi badge with striking resemblance to England squad logo discoveredBy Daily Mail Reporter
A rare Nazi badge which bears an unsettling similarity to the three lions on the English football shirt is to be auctioned.
At first glance, the patch of embroidered white thread on a dark background, looks like it could be straight from a merchandise stall promoting the feats of David Beckham and Wayne Rooney. But the 2nd badge, to be sold later this month, belonged on the tunic of soldiers in the British SS Freikorps Brigade, a little-known elite unit in Hitler's army
There would have only been 30 of the
patches made and this one comes from a uniform which has since been destroyed. The Nazi unit who wore them, which is shrouded in mystery, is thought to have been formed in January 1944.
Members had been recruited from a variety of sources and were formally accepted into the Waffen-SS when it was named the British Free Corps. The
Waffen-SS was the armed part of the Nazi Party's SS and fought throughout World War II alongside the regular army, the Wehrmacht.
Those in the brigade were given German uniforms bearing the Union Flag shield and the badge bearing the famous three lions.
The Nazis even appropriated the swastika symbol, called the Hakenkreuz (hooked cross), the name of which originates from the Swastika which means 'good to be'.
Because of its associations with this period it is now rarely used and is outlawed in Germany however it is still widely used in modern-day India.
The World War II patch goes under the hammer on June 25 at a Mullocks auction at Ludlow racecourse, Shropshire. It is expected to fetch £1,000.
The rare Nazi badge displays a startling similarity to the Three Lions emblem worn by the England football team.
Historical documents expert Richard Westwood-Brookes said it was the rarest item he had ever sold, adding: 'The unit these badges would be part of was apparently never larger than a platoon, and its final fate and operation is shrouded in total mystery.
'Some claim that it never operated as a combat unit, and was only formed as a propaganda exercise. 'Others suggest that it was involved in the final conflict in Berlin and fought against the Russian advance. 'Today it seems unbelievable that British men would be part of Hitler's evil SS.
'But it must always be remembered that while not all Germans were Nazis, many British people were.' The University of Salford's war studies expert Professor Eric Groves said most of the group that would have been recruited from prisoners of war. He said: 'Most of them were from prisoner of war camps but they did manage to a get a small number straight from this country.
'The three lions imagery was used because even back then it was seen as a symbol for England.
'People would have been recruited from lots of different countries, but there wasn't an amazing response from Britain, I must say.
British men who had signed up for the British Free Corps in 1944. The British flag can be seen on left arm of the soldier, centre.
'The Nazis went round these POW camps trying to create this group, or as it was called back then, a Legion of St George. 'These Brits would be offered freedom in return for fighting for the Germans. 'Those that took part would be very anti-communist so it would not be that they preferred Nazi over British ideologies - more that they were totally anti-Soviet.
'They wouldn't have necessarily have fought against British troops, but they would have been asked to take on the Russians.
'One or two of them would have been killed trying to protect Berlin though, but it is a very little-reported part of history.'
The unusual badge is being auctioned together with an equally bizarre letter addressed to the late Olive Hudson, from Preston, Lancashire. Why she was writing to Hitler or came into possession of the badge remains a mystery.
Both items were sold by a member of Mrs Hudson's family to the current owner, a collector who wants to remain anonymous. The typewritten letter was signed by Albert Bormann, brother of Hitler's Deputy Martin Bormann, and head of Hitler's private office. The document, dated October 26, 1936, is a reply to a note sent by Olive to the Nazi leader, seemingly requesting his autograph. But the reply may well have left her disappointed as Bormann turns her down, saying Hitler was too busy. He writes: 'Dear Olive, Your lines addressed to the Fuhrer gave him much joy. Let me express his most cordial thanks.' A leaflet praising Hitler and signed by the dictator will also go up for sale at the auction. The 1932 edition of Adolf Hitler's Goals and Personality was signed by the dictator two years later. More than 700,000 copies had already been published when he put his mark on it, but despite this the rare autographed copy is expected to fetch £1,500.
History of the British Free Corps
The unit was the brainchild of John Amery, seen here at a party in war-time Paris.
The German Waffen-SS 'British Free Corps' was the brainchild of John Amery, son of Conservative Cabinet minister Leo Amery. The company was never deployed in action but was rather more used as a propaganda machine by the Nazis. He was a staunch anti-Communist who admired the National Socialist doctrines of Nazi Germany.
Amery was also a fantasist who pretended to have joined Franco's Nationalists during the Spanish Civil War in 1936 and claimed to have been awarded a medal of honour while serving as an military intelligence officer with Italian volunteer forces.
However, in 1942 Amery, who was working for the Vichy French, made his way to Germany with the hope of creating an elite British unit to help fight the Soviets. The men were to be selected from POW camps.
A unit was later formed under the name the British SS Freikorps Brigade, and at the height of it's powers boasted up 50 members. Amery was tried for high treason and hanged in Wandsworth Prison on December 19, 1945.
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Stamps, Coins and Artifacts: Haunting items from the Nazi era grow in price - even camp uniforms
Peter Rexford writes for Creators Syndicate
Published: Saturday, Apr. 4, 2009
"If you forget the past, you're doomed to repeat it," or some variation thereof, is a quote that's been recited ad infinitum for any number of reasons. I thought about that when I visited France and Germany a few years ago.
In both countries, I attended various coin and collectible shows. At each one, dealers offered a variety of historic relics from the 1940s – clearly a significant era for that part of the world. What were most curious were the coins, currency and relics from the Nazis. On most every one a small colored paper dot covered some portion of the item. When I inquired, the dealers revealed that the dot covered any swastikas imprinted on the objects.
Because both France and Germany were so decimated by the Nazi regime and campaign, neither wishes to relive the era and has banned the swastika from being displayed in any form. That includes historic items or artifacts.
Those restrictions are a far cry from those we have here in the United States. In the 1960s, the trade in Nazi memorabilia was prolific. Actual daggers, medals, helmets, etc., changed hands for very little money. American soldiers had brought many of those items back. Salvers shipped others to the states from Germany hoping to make a few bucks.
Today, German World War II artifacts are substantially more valuable. David Kols is certainly aware of that. He is president of Regency Superior Auctions. Though specializing for years in rare stamps, Kols has expanded his offerings to include space and aeronautic collectibles, sports memorabilia and "militaria," focusing primarily on genuine items from the Nazi era.
In an auction being held April 16-17 in Beverly Hills, many such items will cross the block. Included in the catalog are pages of items from a variety of branches of the German armed forces. From the Luftwaffe to the SS and even Hitler Youth, the offerings include medals, badges, books, armbands and propaganda posters.
Some of the most telling reflect the horror of the concentration camps. Several postcards are being sold that were sent into and out of Camp Dora – replete with the censor markings. Naturally, the Germans were careful to prohibit any information concerning the conditions the prisoners were forced to endure. A chilling reminder of that is in another lot in the sale. The item is a prisoner's metal tag from the infamous Dachau camp. The imprint suggests it was for prisoner No. 785, housed in Block 5.
Along with the tag is an artifact from one of the perpetrators. It is an SS collar patch once belonging to Obersturmbanfurer Altena – recognized as "one of the worst war criminals in the SS." Kols is one of the leading sellers of this type of military memorabilia and the largest auction house offering the most haunting types of artifacts – those of actual Holocaust victims and survivors. A Jew himself, Kols has a special interest in making these items available. In part it may be because he's committed to people never forgetting.
In previous auctions, he has sold items with "Jude" imprinted on them that Jews were forced to display and Star of David insignias from prison camps.
Some of the rarest and most valuable items are the actual uniforms worn by prisoners. Their substantial value is because so few who survived wanted to keep what they were forced to wear. The vast majority of those uniforms were burned or buried just after the war.
The few surviving and authenticated uniforms can sell for over $10,000 apiece. Clearly, there are more such pieces still stored away, especially in Europe.
"The primary buyers of that type of item are Holocaust museums," said Kols. "It's important that they be able to exhibit actual items and artifacts to make sure the story is told."
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Naz-eBay: Holocaust denier David Irving tries to sell Hitler's hair and bones on website
By Ryan Kisiel
Last updated at 1:04 AM on 07th March 2009
Controversial historian David Irving has set up a website selling Nazi memorabilia which he claims includes a piece of Hitler's bone and strands of his hair.
Dubbed 'Naz-eBay' by Holocaust groups, the site also offers a walking stick used by the German dictator and a christening present given by SS leader Heinrich Himmler to Luftwaffe commander Hermann Goering's daughter.
Irving, who was jailed in Austria for Holocaust denial, 'authenticates' the relics and displays them on his website run from his home in Windsor. He profits from the site by taking a 15 per cent commission fee on all items sold.
Last night, Dr Shimon Samuels, director of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre which searches for Nazi war criminals, called for a UK ban on the selling of Third Reich items.
It is illegal to trade in Nazi memorabilia in Germany, France, Austria and Poland.
In Germany, the maximum penalty for dealing in Nazi items is a three-year prison sentence.
Dr Samuels said: 'This Naz-eBay is extremely distasteful to the point of sick.
'There's a market out there for Nazi memorabilia. If this is done to glorify Hitler, as I imagine it is, then it is unacceptable.'
Irving, 70, has turned to selling Nazi relics after he was forced into bankruptcy in 2002 following a failed libel action.
He says he is currently checking the bones of Hitler and his mistress Eva Braun for an American seller living in Pennsylvania, who claims they were bought by a relative from a KGB agent in the 1980s.
The fragments are labelled as being from Hitler's rib and Braun's spine. Strands of Hitler's hair, which were allegedly collected by his barber by using a piece of sticky tape attached to the bottom of his shoe, are expected to go on sale at up to $180,000 (£130,000).
Irving is selling the scorched wooden walking stick at £7,000 for a widow who lives in Ealing, west London.
Her late husband bought the stick, one of several used by the tyrant, from Hitler's country estate manager in 1993.
Mark Gardner of the anti-Semitism charity, Community Security Trust, said: 'These claims are very disturbing, and show how legislation has trouble coping with new global communications.
'Nazism is not dead, and decent lessons of World War Two are not forgotten with the passing of time.'
Tory MP Ann Widdecombe said: 'It is extremely disturbing that this trade exists, particularly when it is run from the UK.'
Irving said: 'I sell authentic items and when people come to my website and see the name David Irving, they know they are buying an authentic item. I have a living to make and this is how I make my money.
There are some very wealthy people, mainly in the U.S., and I know how much they will pay for these items.'
Last week Irving offered sanctuary to Roman Catholic Bishop Richard Williamson, who caused worldwide outrage after saying that no Jews died in Nazi gas chambers.
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Treasure hunters come to Keokuk
By Steve Dunn/Gate City Managing Editor
Published: Friday, January 23, 2009
Tri-State Area residents brought jewelry, a plate and Nazi memorabilia from World War II and other items to the Treasure Hunters Roadshow at the Holiday Inn Express in Keokuk Thursday in hopes of finding a treasure.
“The number (of locals) has been a little slower than we'd like to see, but things are picking up,” said Manager Kristie Stoneking as Treasure Hunters Roadshow staff members looked over a variety of items.
The event continues until 6 p.m. today and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
On average, 100 to 150 people attend the Treasure Hunters Roadshow a day and wait 15 to 30 minutes to have their coins, toys, dolls, gold and silver jewelry, costume jewelry, musical instruments, war memorabilia, swords, knives, daggers and other items appraised by antique and collectible experts.
Joe Kraus's 1945 Nazi flag received favorable comments from The Treasure Hunters Roadshow's Patty Jayne. Kraus of Keokuk got the flag in Cologne, Germany, in 1945 while serving in the U.S. Army. Since then, the flag has been kept in a wooden box.
Jayne and Stoneking agreed the flag could be worth up to $200 because it's in relatively good condition. Kraus's collection also included a shoulder pin, a World War I Iron Cross and two German Third Reich coins from 1941.
On the other side of the room, Erica Todd and Carla Johnson, both of Hamilton, Ill., conferred with Scott Neff of the Treasure Hunters Road Show as he examined a plate and some rings.
“I'm excited. I've seen it (the show) on TV,” said Johnson.
After studying the plate for awhile, Neff told the Hamilton women, “The plate has a little bit of age on it. We suggest you hold onto it for awhile to see if the market goes up.”
Then Neff found two small diamonds on one of the rings.
Sometimes a little research is needed to identify an item.
“We had a puzzle box yesterday, but the tools were missing,” Stoneking said. “So we had to identify what it belonged to. We found out it belonged to a Singer sewing machine. We also found a 1904 bread maker that was a gold medal winner from the 1904 St. Louis Exposition.”
Any slight chip or flaw devalues a lot of stuff, especially glassware and pottery, according to Stoneking.
“We see a lot of men's pocket watches,” she added. “Very often they are kept in pristine condition.”
However, usually those type of watches have more sentimental value than monetary value, she said.
“We see a lot of Lincoln memorabilia,” Stoneking said. “I'm sure Mr. (President Barack) Obama will have his day in the collector's world.”
Recent finds at Treasure Hunters Roadshows include an Abraham Lincoln hand-written thank you letter, expressing gratitude for a night's stay while traveling to Chicago.
The Treasure Hunters Roadshow has 5,000 to 6,000 collectors in its database who are contacted when treasures are found at events like the one in Keokuk this week.
“Our treasure hunters make offers based on what our collectors are willing to pay,” says a news release from the Athens, Ill.-based company. “Then when someone decides to sell, they get paid on the spot and our treasure hunters send the item to the collector at their expense.”
“Most of our collectors are antique-oriented,” Stoneking said. “It's a good time to get rid of gold and silver.
“Glassware and pottery has been affected quite a bit by the economy,” she added. “There is an oversupply because a lot of the stuff is put on eBay.”
In fact, online auction services are driving the market now, she believes. With an oversupply of many items, the prices are being driven down in many cases.
“But it's a good time for buyers because items are less expensive,” Stoneking said.
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Published: November 15, 2008
History buffs show off military memorabilia
Sarah Moses
Cumberland Times-News
“My mom’s dad served in the Philippines,” Timothy Lease of Hyndman, Pa., said, showing off a rifle his father-in-law brought back to America. “My dad’s uncle was killed in Germany in 1945. All the Nazi stuff was his that he’d taken off an officer... I’m a history buff. This is my family.”
Lease attended the Allegany Museum’s Military Memorabilia Antiques Road Show. He said he was surprised to learn that a Nazi officer’s dagger he had was worth $2,500 in its current condition, or $4,000 to $5,000 if it had the straps attached to it.
Charles McVeigh, a Cumberland resident, was doing appraisals of the memorabilia based on his own experience with the items. He said he has a substantial collection, but does not call himself an expert.
“I have just been in it for a long time,” he said. “I am a World War II veteran myself. Military artifacts have been one of my greatest passions in my life, but I’ve been a collector all my life.”
McVeigh was stumped by a print of the first trip on the German Autobahn, brought in by Cumberland resident Chris Himler. The large print had been discovered in an estate find. McVeigh said he could not give a definite price for the piece.
McVeigh suggested it could be worth as little as several hundred dollars or as much as several thousand dollars as Himler said he had heard from other collectors who had no idea the print was even in existence.
Others who brought their items were not so lucky as they found out they were not worth very much.
Francis Bridges of Barrelville found out his war magazine and two newspapers were not worth much money, but he didn’t plan to sell them anyway. He hopes they will be able to go into a museum.
He said one of the newspapers features a photograph taken by his former neighbor, and that was one reason he’d like to see it in a local museum.
Finding out about artifacts was not the only reason some people came to town. Others were attending a presentation by Marsha L. Fuller, a certified genealogist, on how to find their ancestor’s military records.
The presentation focused on how to request service records and step by step guides on how to use the local libraries’ computer databases to find out more information without making a trip to the national archives.
Also as a bit of nostalgia, the Abbott and Costello Tribute Show, with actors Bill Riley, Joe Ziegler and Jason Crutchley performing, presented the classic “Who’s on First” skit made famous by the comedy team.
At the Allegany Arts Council, Joe Balkoski, author and World War II historian, led a discussion on D-Day — June 6, 1944, the day the Allies invaded Europe in World War II — and held a book signing.
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Nazi memorabilia secures auction best sale in five years
A rare collection of Nazi memorabilia, including a death head ring owned by Nazi SS leader Heinrich Himmler, has helped an auction house to secure its best sale in five years.
By Charlotte Bailey
27 October, 2008
Jonathan Humbert, of Northamptonshire-based J.P.Humbert Auctioneers, said his three-day sale which included the controversial items, raised a total of £90,000.
The death head ring itself sold for £2,200 and a selection of Nazi daggers and swords fetched hammer prices of £200 to £800. A Nazi pin badge made as much as £180.
Mr Humbert said they also sold an original 8ft by 4ft Nazi war ensign from Second World War German pocket battleship The Admiral Graf Spee, for £550.
He said that Nazi items had poured into the auction house following a recent sale which included a range of Nazi goods recovered from a council house clearance.
He said that the popularity of the collection had surprised him.
"I was quite surprised, especially as some items sold to within the room. That's very rare, usually people bid over the phone for these kind of things.
"Some people say it's disgusting to sell this stuff, but my view is that they are all a part of our recent social history and they belong in museums.
"A lot of the people at our sales are private collectors interested in preserving the history and I don't see any harm in that."
Mr Humbert said the huge sale prices showed the value of investing in antiques or "chattels" rather than financial institutions.
He said: "For all the doom and gloom about the global economic meltdown and recession the money is still there and people are still buying.
"It also shows that people have got to look outside of the box when investing their money.
"If people have got money to invest why put £500 into the bank and have zip to show for it.
"Buying a genuine antique is probably a safer bet at the moment."
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01/23/2009
SPIEGEL
Magazine Faces Legal Action over Third Reich Reprints
A German magazine published Thursday featured reprints of a Nazi newspaper, including stories about the 1933 Reichstag fire and a column by Joseph Goebbels. Bavaria, which owns the copyright to the texts, is threatening criminal and civil proceedings to stop further reproductions.
Reprinting original Nazi texts is always controversial in Germany -- the original text of Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf," for example, cannot be printed here because its copyright is held by the state of Bavaria, which quickly gets litigious if anyone attempts to reproduce the work. Now a new magazine has run into trouble for reprinting Nazi newspapers.
The Bavarian Finance Ministry announced Thursday that it will file a complaint against the magazine Zeitungszeugen over its decision to reprint the Nazi newspaper Völkischer Beobachter in its second issue. The ministry also said that it would launch civil proceedings against the newspaper to stop it from further reprints.
The ministry owns the copyright to publications by the Nazi publishing house Eher-Verlag, which include National Socialist newspapers such as the Völkischer Beobachter and Der Angriff as well as "Mein Kampf," and has refused to allow reproduction of the titles. It justifies its decision by arguing that straightforward reprints without critical remarks could be used by neo-Nazis for propaganda purposes. Germany's influential Central Council of Jews has also condemned the republication of the Nazi papers by Zeitungszeugen.
Zeitungszeugen -- the name consists of the German words for "newspaper" and "witnesses" -- is a new magazine published in Germany by the British historian and publisher Peter McGee which plans to reprint newspapers from the years 1933-1945 in chronological order as a historical resource. The newspaper pages are included as separate facsimiles in the magazine, which also features historical analysis and expert commentary on the material. As well as the controversial Nazi newspapers, the magazines, whose first issue went to press on Jan. 7, is reprinting newspapers from all parts of the political spectrum, including communist and social democratic papers.
Zeitungszeugen's editor-in-chief Sandra Paweronschitz told the Associated Press that the magazine would press on with its plans and wait to see how the courts decide. "We will certainly not back down now," she said.
The Bavarian Finance Ministry and Zeitungszeugen have been at loggerheads for some time now. The ministry tried to get the newspaper's first issue, which included material from Der Angriff, withdrawn from sale and demanded that McGee's publishing house Albertas Limited commit itself to not publishing any more of the Nazi texts. The publisher refused to oblige, however, and disputed whether the Bavarian Finance Ministry actually holds the rights to the newspapers in question.
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Hitler Retreat Items to Be Sold at Auction
May 08, 2009
By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
The occasional relic from Adolf Hitler is nothing new for memorabilia auctions, but our friends at Alexander Autographs Inc. are planning what's arguably the most significant Hitler sale in decades, May 13-14. Yes, there will be the usual pictures and papers signed by the mass murderer and Third Reich leader. But their sale—live at alexautographs.com—also includes personal items from Hitler's wardrobe and Berghof retreat, most from the famed Lattimer collection. On the list: Hitler's matchbox cover; his silverware; the key to his "Eagle's Nest" office; his tea cup, saucer, and dessert plate; and his Treffen-Westfalen S.A. badge, which was worn next to the Iron Cross on his uniform.
There's also Eva Braun's gold locket and powder compact, each stamped with the "EB" butterfly monogram Nazi architect Albert Speer designed for her.
Tasteless? Alexander boss Bill Panagopulos says, "Relics have historical importance, whether their origin be good or evil. And just as some museums preserve relics of great artists, authors and scientists, others preserve relics of the Holocaust and Nazi Germany. They are proof that these events really transpired."
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