Nazi National War naval ensign acquired by a US soldier

Object | Accession Number: 2013.292.1

Overview

Brief Narrative: National War naval ensign with a swastika and a cross on a red field, obtained by an American soldier during his service in Germany in 1945. This type of flag was used aboard German warships from November 7, 1935 - May 8, 1945. The US soldier who brought the flag home landed at Utah Beach during the D-Day invasion in June 1944, and helped liberate and secure the city of Paris, France in late August. He fought with General Patton's Third Army in the Siege of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge in December. While searching for German soldiers on a farm in Germany, he was struck by a barn door which broke a vertebra. After recovering in a London hospital, he returned to combat and had advanced with his unit into Czechoslovakia when the war ended in May 1945.
Date: found: 1945
manufacture: after 1938 February
Geography: manufacture: Berlin (Germany)
Credit Line: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Julie Stewart
Markings: back, on channel, left edge, stamped, black ink : [eagle clutching swastika symbol] / M [ Reichsadler / Kriegsmarine]
back, on channel, left edge, stamped, black ink : Reichskriegsflg. 150 x 250 [National War Flag]
back, on channel, left edge, stamped, inside rectangle, black ink : Berliner Fahnenfabrik / e & Co Berlin [Berlin Flag Factory]
Contributor: Manufacturer: Geitel & Co. Berlin
Issuer: Kriegsmarine

Language: German
Classification: Identifying Artifacts
Category: Flags
Object Type: Flags (lcsh)
Genre/Form: Flags.
Physical Description: Large, rectangular, machine woven wool flag with a red field bearing a black-and-white, second pattern designs. Just left of center is a canted, black swastika in a white circle with a black border, centered on a black Nordic Cross. The cross arms have a border of three alternating stripes, white-black-white, on each side that continue to form the border around the circle. A black Iron Cross is in the canton or top left quadrant. The cross and swastika are bordered by narrow black and white bands. The corners of the hoist are reinforced on the back with red cloth. A thick, white, cloth channel with an attached rope halyard is sewn along the hoist end. The halyard has a looped top end and a loose bottom length and is secured by cross stitching at both ends. The design is visible on both sides. On the back of the channel there is a black ink stamp containing German manufacturing information and a Reichsadler with an M stamped below. The cloth is stained and soiled overall.
Dimensions: overall: Height: 57.250 inches (145.415 cm) | Width: 93.500 inches (237.49 cm)
Materials: overall : wool, cloth, ink, rope, thread

Topical Term: Soldiers--United States--Biography. Standards, Military--Germany. World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American.
Geographic Name: Berlin (Germany)
Corporate Name: Germany. Kriegsmarine

Legal Status: Permanent Collection
Provenance: The flag was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2013 by Julie Stewart.
Funding Note: The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.