Measuring 31.5 x 38.9 cm. Date of items: 1937. Condition: very good, signs of aging.
A framed 1937 “Ehrenbrief” (honour letter) to Richard Justus and his family from Saarbrücken-Scheidt for helping out the freiwillige Altstoff-Sammelwerk (voluntary second hand material collection organization), or sponsoring the five Kyffhäuser orphanages respectively. The document was awarded by the “German Warrior Fencing Academy of the German Reich Warrior League (Kyffhäuser League)” and is signed by an SS-Gruppenführer and retired Colonel. The Kyffhäuser League was and still is an umbrella organisation for German war veteran’s associations. Underneath the signature is the symbol of the Kyffhäuser League, the Kyffhäuser memorial, with the founding year of the parent organisation of the Kyffhäuser League as well as the current year, making it 151 continuous years of war veteran associations.On the left, underneath a Nazi flag are the words “Im Frontgeist vorwärts!”, meaning “Forward in the spirit of the front!”. Under these words is a drawing of the Kyffhäuser orphanage in Kanth, Silesia, est. 1893. The top third of the Ehrenbrief shows the map outlines of the German Reich with the words “Aus Wertlosem Wertvolles”, meaning “(Making something) valuable from useless (things)”. In a ring around this are the words “Not economy saves a nation – a nation must save its economy!”. A frame around the letter shows the words “No second hand materials into the garbage bins! Don’t squander, destroy, burn, throw out, leave the smallest thing! He who saves in times of need, who still regularly saves in times of improvement helps the German economy, helps the welfare of the German nation!”