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Pressed aluminum cap badge with Nazi insignia acquired by a German Jewish refugee and US soldier

Object | Accession Number: 2012.337.5

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.

Date
issue:  1945
emigration: 
Geography
found: Germany
Classification
Military Insignia
Category
Badges
Object Type
Cap badges (military badges) (aat)
Credit Line
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Karen Hirschfeld Hendley
Expand all

About This Object

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. On the back are 2 circular marks where fastening pins would be attached; one circle has a pin stub.
Dimensions
overall : 1.875 x 2.250 x 0.125 in. (4.763 x 5.715 x 0.318 cm.)
Materials
overall : aluminum
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.

Keywords and Subjects

Administrative History

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.

Rights and Restrictions

Conditions on Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions on Use
No restrictions on use
 
Record last modified: 2019-05-03 13:23:35
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn78328

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.

Hirschfeld family papers

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.

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 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.

View All 6 Items in the Collection