Demyansk Shield

The Demyansk sleeve shield is a military award from the Second World War . It was donated on April 25, 1943 and awarded to around 100,000 German participants in the Demyansk Kessel Battle .

Foundation, endowment

Foundation decree Demjanskschild ( Reichsgesetzblatt 1943 Part 1 No. 64 page 369)

The foundation of the award one year after the battle was part of a campaign by Joseph Goebbels in which Nazi propaganda staged the fighting for Demyansk as a “mythical heroic epic” to distract attention from the German defeat in Stalingrad .

Award practice

The Demyansk shield could be awarded to all members of the Wehrmacht and persons subordinate to the Wehrmacht who took part in the fighting in the Demyansk pocket. It was awarded to soldiers who had been deployed in the boiler for at least 2 months or who were awarded the wound badge for injuries there. Pilots who had made at least 50 flights into the boiler were also awarded the shield. The shields were awarded under the leadership of the commander of the Demyansk group and general of the infantry , Count von Brockdorff-Ahlefeld .

Appearance and wearing style

Demyansk shield in the 57 version with 16 mm pin

The Demjansk Shield consists of a shield with a raised border, which is dominated by two long swords crossed below. Behind the blades in the upper triangle is a single-engine aircraft, the wings of which are towered over horizontally by the sword blades. The year 1942 is written below the sword hilt . Above the shield there is an elongated, square shield with a raised edge, inside the word DEMJANSK . Above the lettering there is a stylized wooden bunker on the left and right edge, each with an arrow slit. In the space formed there is a wreath of oak leaves tied at the bottom, in which a swastika placed on top can be seen. The sovereign eagle sits on it, clapping its claws in the wreath.

The size of the shield that was worn on the left sleeve is 51 × 92 mm.

Others

According to the law on titles, medals and decorations of July 26, 1957, wearing the award in the Federal Republic of Germany is only permitted without National Socialist emblems.

literature

Hans-Ulrich Krantz: Orders and decorations of the Federal Republic of Germany. Maximilian-Verlag, Cologne et al. 1958.

Individual evidence

↑ Niels Weise: Eicke. An SS career between a mental hospital, concentration camp system and Waffen-SS. Schöningh, Paderborn 2013, ISBN 978-3-506-77705-8 , p. 314 f.

[1] Niels Weise: Eicke. An SS career between a mental hospital, concentration camp system and Waffen-SS. Schöningh, Paderborn 2013, ISBN 978-3-506-77705-8 , p. 314 f.