German/Nazi Artifact Collection

The collection consists of a World War I German Iron Cross ring, a World War II German Marine belt buckle, a Nazi SS long service medal, and a concentration camp armband.

The Iron Cross ring is a signet-style ring of unknown metal featuring the German Iron Cross with "1914" on one side and "1916" on the other. Other Iron Cross rings of this time usually have oak leaf clusters and this phrase, "Dem Alten Vaterland Die Treue zu beweisen Gab Ich in schwerer Zeit Ihm Gold fur dieses Eisen," which loosely translates into English as, "For the old fatherland, Loyalty to Show, Gave I in difficult time To him, gold for this iron." There is no evidence that this phrase or the oak leaf clusters were ever on this ring.

The World War II German Marine belt buckle (die-struck steel) shows a variation on the breast eagle with the swastika in its talons encircled by a wreath featuring oak leaf clusters and the words "Gott Mit Uns" which translates to the English, "God with us."

The armband was worn by either a guard or prisoner in a German KZ Lager (konzentrationslager, or concentration camp) during World War II. It is a blue triangle sewn onto a white or tan cotton armband, measuring approximately 17 inches in length and 4.75 inches in width. A camp identification stamp, partially on the blue fabric, is too blurred to read, but the eagle with the wreathed swastika is recognizable.