NSDAP membership badge found by Zaro Calabrese

Object | Accession Number: 1995.124.1

Overview

Brief Narrative: Nazi Party membership pin (Parteiabzeichen) obtained during Zaro Calabrese's service in Europe in WWII (1939-1945). All members of the Nazi Party wore these pins. They were typically worn on the lapels of their civilian clothing and some uniforms.
Date: acquired: 1944-1945
manufacture: 1933-1945
Geography: acquired: Germany
Credit Line: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Zaro Calabrese
Markings: front, within red ring, metal, embossed : NATIONAL-SOZIALISTISCHE / -D.A.P.- [National-Sozialistische Deutsche Arbeiter-Partei, National-socialist German Workers' Party]
Contributor: Subject: Zaro Calabrese
Biography: Rosario "Zaro" Calabrese served as a member of the 3rd US Cavalry Group, which was attached to the 4th Armored Division of the US Army. The 4th Division landed at Utah Beach in Normandy on July 11, 1944 and entered combat in France. They played a significant role in the breakout from the Normandy beachhead and the liberation of France in 1944, and then fought their way through Germany. On April 4, 1945, they liberated Ohrdruf concentration camp, a subcamp of Buchenwald, the first concentration camp to be liberated by American troops. General Eisenhower visited the camp on April 12. When Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945, the Division was in Czechoslovakia. The 4th was placed on occupation duty until inactivated on April 26, 1946. Zaro settled in New Jersey.

Physical Details

Language: German
Classification: Identifying Artifacts
Category: Badges
Object Type: Lapel pins (aat)
Genre/Form: Badges.
Physical Description: Circular, silver-colored metal and enamel pin with a red outer ring and a circular, white center. A canted, black swastika is set in the center, and metal German text fills the outer ring.
Dimensions: overall: | Depth: 0.250 inches (0.635 cm) | Diameter: 1.000 inches (2.54 cm)
Materials: overall : metal, enamel

Rights & Restrictions

Conditions on Access: No restrictions on access
Conditions on Use: No restrictions on use

Keywords & Subjects

Topical Term: World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps--Liberation--Personal narratives.
Geographic Name: Germany
Corporate Name: Nazi Party United States. Army. Armored Division, 4th Ohrdruf (Concentration camp)

Administrative Notes

Legal Status: Permanent Collection
Provenance: The lapel pin was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by Zaro Calabrese in 1995.

Record last modified:: 2023-11-16 11:20:35
This page:: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn9006

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The collection consists of Nazi pins and badges acquired by Zaro Calabrese during his military service in Europe during World War II (1939- 1945).

Date: 1936-1945

NSDAP membership badge found by Zaro Calabrese

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Iron Cross medal, World War I

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Commemorative pin for Martin Luther's Anniversary Day 1933

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German civilian war service medallion

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