Nazi Regalia

by E.W.W. Fowler

Almost fifty years after the collapse of Hitler's Third Reich, collectors, historians, and amateur military scholars will be intrigued by this compilation of Third Reich memorabilia, including regalia, decorations, uniforms, weapons, and much more.

Genres: History

158 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[Joe visiting · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ever since man has been going off to war, he has been coming home with trophies, or his tail between his legs. Among some of the most prized possessions that troops brought back from World War II were items liberated off of dead Nazis. Well, they weren't always dead. As the war turned against them, many fair weather Nazis simply threw away the arm bands and headed west to be conquered by, hopefully, the Americans, and not the revenge seeking Russians. It seemed that to the average American, whether he be a dirty dogface infantryman or a sailor on an LST, liberated German items seem to have a premium on them verses say, Italian Fascist, or Vichy French stuff. There is a Willy and Joe wartime cartoon where they are being told to quit bartering captured German weapons with guys behind the lines because they were scaring the hell out of the replacements! There was a lot of true to this for when the war was over, there were so many guys, and gals, coming home that not only uniforms, flags and medals came back but weapons as well. Now I am getting off track here a bit, but it is for a reason.

From the very start the Nazis, as well as other organizations, had their flags and uniforms. I won't go into the Nazi rise to power for that can be found elsewhere. What I will say is that the Nazis made a better use of insignia, uniforms, flags, armbands, posters, and just about everything else to project their might and resolution to world domination. Everything you came across in Nazi Germany eventually had a swastika on it. My uncle brought back a sugar bowl that sat on my Grandma's kitchen table for half a century and I don't think anybody realized there was a swastika on the bottom for the Labor Ministry. Even today many an item can still be found in old footlockers in Grandma's attic that contains who knows what. Hitler's personal copy of "Mein Kampf" was found in one.

To get a visual idea of all this regalia, try checking out this book. Examples of uniforms, both political and military are shown. There are more badges and medals than you can shake a stick at. Many are quit colorful and some were made of gold and silver; some even had diamonds in them. In spite of all this, many were worn into combat. Imagine some Marine slogging it out in the jungles of Guadalcanal wearing the Congressional Medal of Honor around his neck! Yea, he's nuts! But the Germans did it, and at times I am sure that female Russian sniper was glad he did.

Yes, this book has a lot of color pictures of uniforms in such pristine condition that you would swear them just came from the tailor. Medals and badges are also displayed and explanations are given as to what they were.

For some reason there still is a certain appeal to collectors for this stuff, so I am going to add a bit more information. If you come across some stuff in grandma's attic, it is best to get it appraised. An easy example is to go to a gun show or two and ask a couple of guys what they will give you for it. Beware of those poker faces! A friend found a Civil War belt buckle in his grandpa's yard that was worth a lot of money. Also, watch out for the appraiser who offers to buy it off of you. I remember reading a Wall Street Journal article where the guy from that TV antique show appraised and bought General Pickett's uniform for $60,000 and turned around and sold it to a museum for $600,000! Unfortunately you can't offer such stuff on ebay, although the rich guys who run ebay can go to private auctions and bid on Goering's yacht, Hitler's armored Mercedes, or maybe some famous paining stolen from some Jewish person who died in a concentration camp.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

In her essay, "Fascinating Fascism," Susan Sontag discussed the very similar book "SS Regalia," and mused on the ongoing erotic attraction of National Socialism in the post-war world. Like this, that volume served little or no legitimate historical function, but was built on the promise of lurid images of the Forbidden (which were, she acknowledged, actually for the most part rather banal photographs). "Precisely the innocuousness of practically all of the photographs testifies to the power of the image: one is handling the breviary of a sexual fantasy." This book may be slightly less powerful for its broader focus (Sontag predicted that there would never be an "SA Regalia, but the Sturm Abteilung does get several pages of coverage here), but it also reflects the broader demonification of fascism that has taken place since her generation. Demonification inevitably leads to sexual fantasy. That which is hated inevitably becomes lusted-after.
If this book serves any purpose beyond mere eroticism, it is as a reference-guide for filmmakers and re-enactors who want to get the details right. The ways in which such endeavors are also implicit celebrations of forbidden sexuality can remain unexplored for now. One final note: of the various "coffee table books" I have put out when visitors came over, this one has gotten by far the most attention.