Overview
- Brief Narrative
- SS cap badge with an eagle and oak wreath owned by Hans Hirschfeld, who left Germany at age twenty in 1939 for the US and later served in the US Army. From 1936 to 1945, this type of cap badge was worn by the SS-Ordnungspolizei, or order police, the regular uniformed police force in Germany, which included municipal and rural police, firemen, and the coast guard. When Hitler came to power in January 1933, Hans and his parents, Alfred and Maria, lived in Breslau, Germany, where Alfred was Director of the Chamber of Commerce. Maria was Protestant and Alfred was Jewish and Hans identified himself as Jewish. Under the Nazi government, Jews were persecuted and increasingly banned from areas of German society. In December 1937, Hans was fired from his job because he was Jewish. He lost another job six months later when the Jewish firm where he worked was Aryanized. He spent a year obtaining the permits needed to leave Germany and emigrated to Havana, Cuba, in March 1939, and then to Louisiana that October where he had a paternal aunt. He was drafted into the US Army in 1941 and served as a translator and interrogator of German prisoners of war in the US. Because Maria was not Jewish, she and Alfred were able to stay in Breslau, although they were placed in a local internment camp for several months. Alfred and Maria left Germany for America in 1947.
- Date
-
issue:
1936-1945
emigration: 1939 March
- Geography
-
issue:
Germany
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Karen Hirschfeld Hendley
- Contributor
-
Subject:
Hans H. Hirschfeld
- Biography
-
Hans Horst Hirschfeld was born on July 26, 1919, in Breslau, Germany (Wroclaw, Poland), to Dr. Alfred and Maria Kraushaar Hirschfeld. Alfred, who was Jewish, was born on April 20, 1894, in Gross Leistenau, West Prussia (Lisnowo, Poland). He was the son of Naumann (1859-1895) and Johanna Hirsch Hirschfeld, who was born in Gross Leistenau, West Prussia, on September 11, 1859. Alfred moved to Breslau in 1915 and served in the German Army in World War I (1914-1918). He was later significantly disabled, due to war injuries. Alfred was a noted economist who got his PhD from the University of Breslau in 1923 and eventually became Director of the Chamber of Commerce of Breslau. Maria, who was Protestant, was born on August 3, 1893, in Stossweier, Colmar, France. The couple married on February 8, 1919. Hans was raised Jewish and participated in Jewish organizations.
In January 1933, Hitler came to power and, by summer, Germany was ruled by a Nazi dictatorship. Anti-Jewish policies were enacted. On September 15, 1935, the Nuremberg Laws were passed, which defined anyone with three or four Jewish grandparents as a Jew. Hans had only two Jewish grandparents from his father’s side, and he was not initially persecuted due to this law. He had an active social life and in 1935 joined the Breslauer Touren-Ruder-Club of the Jewish Water Sports Committee. In April 1936, Hans began an apprentice at Albert Schaffer Company, but was fired in December 1937, because he was Jewish. He lost another job six months later when the Jewish firm, Felix Jacobowitz Co., where he worked was Aryanized.
Hans began making preparations to leave Germany. The US had a very strict immigration quota system so Hans obtained a Cuban visa. He had a paternal great- aunt, Ernestine Schwartzburg, who had immigrated from Berlin to Shreveport, Louisiana, prior to World War I. With her daughters, Amanda and Jennie, and son Alter, she owned a Girls and Ladies Wear Company. Ernestine sponsored his immigration visas. Hans also was accepted into Centenary College in Shreveport. On March 29, 1939, Hans left for Havana, Cuba, on the MS Orinoco. After six months, he sailed on the SS Florida to Miami, where he arrived on October 13, 1939. Hans then joined his great-aunt in Louisiana and began attending college. His relationship with Ernestine became strained because he did not believe she was doing enough to support her sister, and his grandmother, Johanna. Johanna had been sent from Breslau to Kitno, and then to the Warsaw Ghetto in German occupied Poland and was ill and suffering from starvation. He moved out and boarded with a friend. Hans quit school to work at Ben Phelps Shoes and then Remington Rand. On September 22, 1941, he enlisted in the US Army. He was naturalized on November 12, 1942. He was a corporal in Company B of the 2nd Infantry Training Battalion at Camp Wheeler, Georgia. Camp Wheeler was a training camp for infantry replacements as well as a prisoner of war camp for German and Italian combatants. Hans became a technical sergeant and participated in interrogation of POWs and acted as a translator. Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945. Hans was discharged to the Reserve Corps in December. At that time, he was in Camp Somerset, Maryland, which was a German prisoner of war camp from August 1944 to June 1946.
Hans had been able to correspond regularly with his parents, Alfred and Maria, for a few years after immigrating but had heard nothing since 1941. He received a Red Cross telegram from his mother in 1945. Because Maria was not Jewish, she and Alfred were able to stay in Breslau for the duration of the war, although they had to move to a transit camp. Alfred and Maria immigrated to the United States in October 1947. Johanna had died in the Warsaw Ghetto on December 13, 1941. Hans began a career with American Airlines. On June 27, 1952, Hans married Jane Lake Winning (1921-1969), in Houston, Texas and they had a daughter. Alfred, age 59, died on June 7, 1953, in Dallas; Maria, age 74, died on January 25, 1968, in Dallas. Hans, age 50, died on September 16, 1969, in Houston.
Physical Details
- Classification
-
Military Insignia
- Category
-
Badges
- Object Type
-
Cap badges (military badges) (aat)
- Physical Description
- Gray colored, pressed aluminum cap badge in the shape of an oak leaved wreath with acorns with a spread winged Imperial eagle across the center. The left facing eagle has textured feathers and grasps in its talons an oak leaved wreath with a swastika on the solid center. The eagle's wings extend beyond the wreath border and overlay the wreath surface. The area above the eagle's head and below its wings are open cutouts. Two copper colored straight pins are soldered on the back.
- Dimensions
- overall: Height: 1.875 inches (4.763 cm) | Width: 2.250 inches (5.715 cm) | Depth: 0.125 inches (0.318 cm)
- Materials
- overall : aluminum
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- No restrictions on access
- Conditions on Use
- No restrictions on use
Keywords & Subjects
- Topical Term
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Germany--Breslau--Personal narratives. Jewish refugees--United States--Biography. Jewish soldiers--United States--Biography. Jewish families--Germany--Breslau--Biography. Jews--Persecution--Germany--Breslau--Biography. Soldiers--United States--Biography. World War, 1939-1945--Refugees--Personal narratives.
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The pin was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2012 by Karen Hirschfeld Hendley, the daughter of Hans Hirschfeld.
- Record last modified:
- 2023-08-31 10:44:52
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn78326
Also in Alfred Hirschfeld family collection
The collection consists of five German cap badges, correspondence, documents, and a photograph album relating to the pre-war, wartime, and post-war experiences of Alfred, Maria, and Hans Hirschfeld, originally of Breslau, Germany.
Date: 1920-1955
Hirschfeld family papers
Document
The Hirschfeld family papers document the pre-war, wartime, and post-war experiences of Alfred, Maria, and Hans Hirschfeld of Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland). The collection contains biographical materials, correspondence, immigration papers, financial records, restitution claims, and photographs. The papers document Hans Hirschfeld’s pre-war life in Breslau, his experiences immigrating to Cuba and the United States in 1939, and his service in the United States Army during World War II. They also document Alfred and Maria’s wartime experience in Breslau, their difficulties immigrating to the United States after the war, and attempts to reclaim property in Poland. The biographical material includes birth and marriage certificates, employment papers, school records, and Hans Hirschfeld’s United States Army papers. The correspondence chiefly belongs to Alfred and Hans. Alfred’s correspondence includes letters from friends written during and after the war. There are also letters from a correspondence book organized alphabetically that are personal, professional, and financial in nature. Hans’s correspondence includes letters exchanged with friends who also fled Germany in 1939, as well as those who were still there. There is a large amount of correspondence with his parents from 1939-1947, but there are no letters from 1942-1944. There are also letters from his relatives Amanda and Ernestine Schwartzberg in Shreveport, Louisiana whom assisted him with immigrating to the United States. Additionally, there are letters from Alfred’s mother, Johanna, to Hans and Alfred from 1939-1940 before she died in the Warsaw ghetto in 1941. The emigration and immigration papers include naturalization papers and correspondence. Much of correspondence is from Hans regarding his efforts to locate his parents after the war, and to assist them in their efforts to immigrate to the United States. Other papers regard his experiences immigrating to Cuba and the United States in 1939. The financial records of Alfred Hirschberg primarily contain tax, income, business, and property bills and records. The financial records used for assessing contributions owed to the Breslau synagogue contain similar types of material, as well as letters and documents from the synagogue. The restitution claims are for attempts by the Hirschfelds to reclaim property in Poland after the war. The photograph album consists of pre-war photographs of Hans and his friends in Germany. The printed material includes clippings and copies of Reichsgesetzblatt and Reichssteuerblatt from 1942.
Pressed aluminum cap badge with Nazi insignia acquired by a German Jewish refugee and US soldier
Object
SS cap badge with an eagle and oak wreath owned by Hans Hirschfeld, who left Germany at age twenty in 1939 for the US and later served in the US Army. From 1936 to 1945, this type of cap badge was worn by the SS-Ordnungspolizei, or order police, the regular uniformed police force in Germany, which included municipal and rural police, firemen, and the coast guard. When Hitler came to power in January 1933, Hans and his parents, Alfred and Maria, lived in Breslau, Germany, where Alfred was Director of the Chamber of Commerce. Maria was Protestant and Alfred was Jewish and Hans identified himself as Jewish. Under the Nazi government, Jews were persecuted and increasingly banned from areas of German society. In December 1937, Hans was fired from his job because he was Jewish. He lost another job six months later when the Jewish firm where he worked was Aryanized. He spent a year obtaining the permits needed to leave Germany and emigrated to Havana, Cuba, in March 1939, and then to Louisiana that October where he had a paternal aunt. He was drafted into the US Army in 1941 and served as a translator and interrogator of German prisoners of war in the US. Because Maria was not Jewish, she and Alfred were able to stay in Breslau, although they were placed in a local internment camp for several months. Alfred and Maria left Germany for America in 1947.
Pressed aluminum cap badge with Nazi insignia acquired by a German Jewish refugee and US soldier
Object
SS cap badge with an eagle and oak wreath owned by Hans Hirschfeld, who left Germany at age twenty in 1939 for the US and later served in the US Army. From 1936 to 1945, this type of cap badge was worn by the SS-Ordnungspolizei, or order police, the regular uniformed police force in Germany, which included municipal and rural police, firemen, and the coast guard. When Hitler came to power in January 1933, Hans and his parents, Alfred and Maria, lived in Breslau, Germany, where Alfred was Director of the Chamber of Commerce. Maria was Protestant and Alfred was Jewish and Hans identified himself as Jewish. Under the Nazi government, Jews were persecuted and increasingly banned from areas of German society. In December 1937, Hans was fired from his job because he was Jewish. He lost another job six months later when the Jewish firm where he worked was Aryanized. He spent a year obtaining the permits needed to leave Germany and emigrated to Havana, Cuba, in March 1939, and then to Louisiana that October where he had a paternal aunt. He was drafted into the US Army in 1941 and served as a translator and interrogator of German prisoners of war in the US. Because Maria was not Jewish, she and Alfred were able to stay in Breslau, although they were placed in a local internment camp for several months. Alfred and Maria left Germany for America in 1947.
Pressed aluminum cap badge with Nazi insignia acquired by a German Jewish refugee and US soldier
Object
SS cap badge with an eagle and oak wreath owned by Hans Hirschfeld, who left Germany at age twenty in 1939 for the US and, from 1941-1945, served in the US Army. From 1936 to 1945, this type of cap badge was worn by the SS-Ordnungspolizei, or order police, the regular uniformed police force in Germany, which included municipal and rural police, firemen, and the coast guard. When Hitler came to power in January 1933, Hans and his parents, Alfred and Maria, lived in Breslau, Germany, where Alfred was Director of the Chamber of Commerce. Maria was Protestant and Alfred was Jewish and Hans identified himself as Jewish. Under the Nazi government, Jews were persecuted and banned from areas of German society. In December 1937, Hans was fired from his job because he was Jewish. He lost another job six months later when the Jewish firm where he worked was Aryanized. He spent a year obtaining the permits needed to leave Germany and sailed to Havana, Cuba, in March 1939, and then to Louisiana that October where he had a paternal great-aunt. He was drafted into the US Army in 1941 and served as a translator and interrogator of German prisoners of war in the US. Because Maria was not Jewish, she and Alfred were able to stay in Breslau, although they were placed in a local internment camp. Alfred and Maria left Germany for America in 1947.
Pressed aluminum cap badge with Nazi insignia acquired by a German Jewish refugee and US soldier
Object
SS cap badge with an eagle and oak wreath owned by Hans Hirschfeld, who left Germany at age twenty in 1939 for the US and later served in the US Army. From 1936 to 1945, this type of cap badge was worn by the SS-Ordnungspolizei, or order police, the regular uniformed police force in Germany, which included municipal and rural police, firemen, and the coast guard. When Hitler came to power in January 1933, Hans and his parents, Alfred and Maria, lived in Breslau, Germany, where Alfred was Director of the Chamber of Commerce. Maria was Protestant and Alfred was Jewish and Hans identified himself as Jewish. Under the Nazi government, Jews were persecuted and increasingly banned from areas of German society. In December 1937, Hans was fired from his job because he was Jewish. He lost another job six months later when the Jewish firm where he worked was Aryanized. He spent a year obtaining the permits needed to leave Germany and emigrated to Havana, Cuba, in March 1939, and then to Louisiana that October where he had a paternal aunt. He was drafted into the US Army in 1941 and served as a translator and interrogator of German prisoners of war in the US. Because Maria was not Jewish, she and Alfred were able to stay in Breslau, although they were placed in a local internment camp for several months. Alfred and Maria left Germany for America in 1947.
