UBB.threads Forums Thread Like Summary - How strict Was The Law!

I get a lot of flak sometimes about the 1933 law about not selling 'kitsch'. Cheapie items with NSDAP military, paramilitary emblems. Some just say 'bullshit' you don't know what your talking about..

I was saving this for my project, but it needs to be seen now.. Yes, after 1933 you were not supposed to sell them. Most of the time if they had a big stock they were allowed to sell them until gone but no reorders. this of course got stretched a bit ,,,but you will see WestWall rings, Skulls, and some semiofficial rings sold thru out the war for as long as they could..

But this article is very interesting. It has no date.. but it still using the old 'print'. Not exactly sure right now what the year was but they didn't even want that type of print used anymore!

So,,this is from one of the 'Trade guild' magazines, 'Watchmaker-Skill'...


Roughly it says: A jewelry shop in Hanover a Suprise raid was conducted to confiscate 'illegal' items... They took Skull rings!! - Reason, they looked too much like the official Death heads SS ring! The HR!!

Some maker made the skull ring that had runes on it and was a tiny bit [?] similar to the HR.. It goes on to say the German military have been buying skull rings for the last 50 years! And they are right. So this pattern must have been pretty close to the HR.. In the end it says steps are being made to get the rings back. . I'd bet it never happened, or they went back all cut up , destroyed somehow so the jeweler at least didn't lose their precious silver.

Since my German is nonexistent IF anyone sees a mistake I made or something else please don't hesitate to come on and correct and/or add to.. Much thanks and enjoy....,G.

That law was a long time coming.

From the mid 1920's, what we call "Nazi Kitsch" began appearing in Germany. It ran from simple items with a swastika to stormtrooper dolls to Horst Wessel music boxes to Elastolin soldiers ... you name it. The Nazis objected to most of it but there was little they could do.

If you look closer, some of it was in really poor taste and most of it traded on the what the NSDAP thought was THEIR property .. and they were not being paid for its use. I've always thought that not being paid royalties was the real reason behind the laws. Or, at least the most important reason.

I am also convinced that the birth of the RZM, which controlled much of the Party's uniforms, daggers, hangers, etc, is tied to the desire of the Party to not only control what was produced but to get fat royalties in the process.