Ulrich Graf, the early years and Hitlers old fighters

[Robert H]

A clear photo of the Blutfahne and the LAH Standarte.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Is this a Toelz collar tab?
Wonder what the cuffband says?

I think it is the Sutterlin "SS Schule Toelz" variant.

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A clear photo of the Blutfahne and the LAH Standarte.

Very nice.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Yes; its an unofficial, Weimar-era award from the RKL, the Ring der Nationalen Kraftfahrt- u Luftfahrt-Bewegung [= Association of the National Motoring- and Aviation-Movement].

The one worn in this photograph is that organization's Sportadler [= Sports Eagle].

(Later photos of Schreck show him with a higher grade award, the Sportkranz [= Sports Wreath], which is the same basic eagle placed diagonally in a wreath modelled on the one found on Imperial-era aviation badges. That one can also bee seen on early photos of Göring and Hühnlein, by the way. Have a look here: Ailsby Collection: Honour Badge of the National Motor and Air Travel Circle )

The RKL's eagle badges came in the following classes:

• Dienstadler [Service Eagle] in Black and Bronze grades [= eagle]
• Ehrennadel [Honor Pin] in Bronze, Silver and Gold grades [= eagle in a diamond-shaped border]
• Sportadler [Sports Eagle] in Silver and Gold Grades [= eagle placed on wider wings]
• Sportkranz [Sports Wreath] in Silver and Gold Grades [= eagle placed on wider wings with a wreath]

Further proof, as if any were ever needed, that Andreas is among our most valuable, learned and civilized members. Bravo.

[Nigel Lesgate]

Further thanks for all the participation and contributions to this thread! I'll contribute what I feel is one of the 1st iconic tinnies that later became an official party badge...the 1929 Nurnberg Party Day. Maker marked on reverse Hoffstatter Bonn. Mine has lost alot of its thin silvering. This particular rally that year was one that brought the major factions together as a show of solidarity--SS, SA, NSKK, HJ, NSDAP. These are easy to spot on uniforms of the era.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Very nice.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

One notable feature of the SS, as well as the SA, were the badges to connote service prior to 1933, or even earlier. The Nazi manufactured their own instant history as well as tradition, doctrine and dogma, much of it recycled from the Catholic church and from the veterans organizations of the late 19th century.

The Alter Kaempfer Winkel is one of my favorite things, thereby.

[HPL2008]

On another note; Graf did prison time and died in 1950. Does anyone have info on what charges were brought against him? Was curious if he did die in prison.

During the de-Nazification proceedings, Graf had to face a Spruchkammer in 1948.

Established in Germany's Western occupied zones, the court-like Spruchkammern placed indicted German citizens into various categories dependent on their degree of involvement in the Nazi regime. The categories were:

• Hauptschuldige [main guilty parties]
• Belastete [guilt-laden persons] (consisting of Aktivisten, Militaristen and Nutznießer [= activists, militants, profiteers])
• Minderbelastete [persons of minor guilt] (i.e. the Bewährungsgruppe) [= probationary category])
• Mitläufer [followers]
• Entlastete [exonerated persons]

Among other possible sentences, the Spruchkammern could sentence those in the "top" two categories to hard labor; for Hauptschuldige, the sentences ranged from 2 to 10 years; Belastete could be sentenced to terms of up to 5 years. (A rough total of 1.4 % of the examined persons fell into these two categories; more than 50 % were found to be Mitläufer.)

Graf, one of the oldest fighters in the Nazi movement and actually one of the founding members of the DAP (i.e. the later NSDAP), holder of party-number 8 and SS-number 26, was found to be a Belasteter and classified as an Aktivist. (No doubt that he was just that, of course.)

Thus, in late September 1948, he received the highest possible sentence for his category, i.e. 5 years of hard labor. The proceedings were resumed in early 1950, when he was once more categorized as a Belasteter. Graf, however, died on 3 March 1950.

I do not know whether he was actually imprisoned for the full period of the roughly 1 1/2 years that passed between his first sentence and his death, or if he received a reprieve and/or was found unfit to serve his sentence on health grounds.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Well done.

There are some very good recent works on Munich in the III. Reich with collective biographies of these grandees done to a high standard of scholarship.

[Nigel Lesgate]

During the de-Nazification proceedings, Graf had to face a Spruchkammer in 1948.

Established in Germany's Western occupied zones, the court-like Spruchkammern placed indicted German citizens into various categories dependent on their degree of involvement in the Nazi regime. The categories were:

• Hauptschuldige [main guilty parties]
• Belastete [guilt-laden persons] (consisting of Aktivisten, Militaristen and Nutznießer [= activists, militants, profiteers])
• Minderbelastete [persons of minor guilt] (i.e. the Bewährungsgruppe) [= probationary category])
• Mitläufer [followers]
• Entlastete [exonerated persons]

Among other possible sentences, the Spruchkammern could sentence those in the "top" two categories to hard labor; for Hauptschuldige, the sentences ranged from 2 to 10 years; Belastete could be sentenced to terms of up to 5 years. (A rough total of 1.4 % of the examined persons fell into these two categories; more than 50 % were found to be Mitläufer.)

Graf, one of the oldest fighters in the Nazi movement and actually one of the founding members of the DAP (i.e. the later NSDAP), holder of party-number 8 and SS-number 26, was found to be a Belasteter and classified as an Aktivist. (No doubt that he was just that, of course.)

Thus, in late September 1948, he received the highest possible sentence for his category, i.e. 5 years of hard labor. The proceedings were resumed in early 1950, when he was once more categorized as a Belasteter. Graf, however, died on 3 March 1950.

I do not know whether he was actually imprisoned for the full period of the roughly 1 1/2 years that passed between his first sentence and his death, or if he received a reprieve and/or was found unfit to serve his sentence on health grounds.

Thanks for that info....exactly what I was wondering. The mindset and hostility that permeated those post war years created a broad umbrella of the 'guilt by association' factor no doubt. Whether or not Graf was a rabid Nazi or anti semite we may never know, only that he participated avidly as a caretaker or executor of an ideology. Even Leni Riefenstahl paid the price for her filmaking and could never shake the taint of having cooperated with the regime.

[d'alquen]

I believe you can see Graf in this 1936 photograph of members of the Stosstrupp Adolf Hitler. It certainly looks like him peering in at the back behind Fiehler's nose. The group are wearing their special commemorative uniforms.
d'Alquen