Overview
- Brief Narrative
- Lapel pin offered to members of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) who received certificates commemorating their service in World War II.
- Date
-
issue:
1945
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Lucian W. Kempner
- Contributor
-
Subject:
Robert M. W. (Max Wasili) Kempner
- Biography
-
Robert Max Wasilii Kempner (1899-1993) was born in Freiburg, Germany, studied law and political science and other subjects at the universities of Berlin, Breslau and Freiburg. He became the senior legal adviser to the police in Prussia, and he opposed Nazism. After Hitler came to power, Hermann Göring accused Kempner of anti-Nazi activities and fired him, and he was held for two months in a concentration camp. Wilhelm Frick revoked Kempner’s German citizenship on the basis of his Jewish background. Kempner was expelled from Germany and settled in the United States. He returned to Germany after the war and served as assistant U.S. chief counsel during the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, heading the Defense Rebuttal Section. His knowledge of the German legal system helped him anticipate the defendants’ defense strategies of prepare for cross-examinations. He also served as counsel at the 1947-1948 trial of the German Foreign Office. After Nuremberg, Kempner split his time between the United States and Germany where he represented Jewish clients in restitution cases against Germany. He also appeared as an expert witness at the trial of Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem in 1961.
Physical Details
- Language
- German
- Classification
-
Military Insignia
- Category
-
Badges
- Object Type
-
Lapel pins (aat)
- Physical Description
- Lapel pin; round gold-colored metal with vertical straight pin back; front is red with the letters "USS" in white, with white line under letters; back of pin has raised letters: "A. E. CO./UTICA/NY" on right side and "PAT/2055963" on raised center section.
- Dimensions
- overall: Height: 0.300 inches (0.762 cm) | Diameter: 0.500 inches (1.27 cm)
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- No restrictions on access
- Conditions on Use
- No restrictions on use
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The lapel pin was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2001 by Lucian W. Kempner, Lorraine H. Kempner, Hans Kempner, and Therese Kempner, the son, the daughter-in-law, and grandchildren of Robert M. W. Kempner.
- Record last modified:
- 2025-01-02 11:17:22
- This page:
- http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn37178
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Also in Robert M.W. Kempner collection
The collection consists of artifacts, correspondence, and documents relating to the experiences of Robert M.W. Kempner.
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