Overview
- Brief Narrative
- Very large Deutsches Rotes Kreuz [DRK; German Red Cross] flag with a Reichsadler, a black Imperial eagle, with a white Swastika on its chest and a red cross in its talons, displayed upon a white field. After Hitler's appointment as Chancellor in January 1933, the Nazi Party began to reshape the private charity sector. By July 1933, the DRK was one of only four non-state aid organizations left in Germany. Its new president was a Nazi Party official, Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. In December 1937, the DRK became a unit of the Nazi Party and, the next year, it became a Social Work Organization within the Ministry of the Interior. It had no relationship with the International Red Cross during this time. It was an active aid organization, helping German soldiers in the field and operating recovery hospitals. The DRK was disbanded after the war in 1945 pursuant to denazification decrees. Charles Edward was imprisoned, his estates were confiscated, and he was bankrupted by the steep denazification fines.
- Date
-
use:
approximately 1938-1945
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of the New York State Military Museum
- Contributor
-
Issuer:
Deutsches Rotes Kreuz
Physical Details
- Classification
-
Identifying Artifacts
- Category
-
Flags
- Object Type
-
Flags (lcsh)
- Genre/Form
- Flags
- Physical Description
- Very large, rectangular white wool flag made from 2 pieces of cloth sewn together horizontally on the long sides. In the center is a large, black, dexter facing eagle with a white swastika on its chest and a red cross in its talons. The hoist side is on a short end and has a narrow reinforced channel for a rope to suspend the flag lengthwise. The eagle would display sideways as the head and feet are on the long edges. The hoist side corners are reinforced on the reverse with a square patch of cloth; the opposite edge is hemmed and has 5 diagonally stitched lines on each corner. The long edges are selvage.
- Dimensions
- overall: Height: 95.500 inches (242.57 cm) | Width: 159.000 inches (403.86 cm)
- Materials
- overall : wool, cloth
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- No restrictions on access
- Conditions on Use
- No restrictions on use
Keywords & Subjects
- Geographic Name
- Germany--History--1933-1945.
- Corporate Name
- International Committee of the Red Cross
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The German Red Cross flag was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2004 by the New York State Military Museum.
- Funding Note
- The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
- Record last modified:
- 2023-12-18 10:20:24
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn521597
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