Gang fight badge

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Gang fight badge
Badge of the self-protection of Upper Silesia

The gang fight badge was a National Socialist bravery award given during World War II . It was awarded in recognition of probation in the fight against gangs (so the National Socialist diction) to people who had actively acted against resistance fighters and partisans . Partisans were considered "gangs" in the parlance of the National Socialists (see also the collective retaliation by members of the Wehrmacht ).

Visually, the gang fight badge was based on the badge of the self-protection Oberschlesien from around 1920, which was worn either on the arm or on the left side of the chest.

receiver

The badge was donated by Adolf Hitler on January 29, 1944 and was valid retrospectively from January 1, 1943. The award was to be given to leaders, subordinates and teams of all units used in the fight against partisans and was in three stages ( bronze , silver , gold ) intended. However, it could also be awarded to non-German leaders, subordinate leaders and teams of all associations used in gang fighting, if they were sworn in on Hitler .

Award terms

All levels of the gang war badge, on the far right the 57 version

Army, Waffen-SS, Navy

  • for the first stage (bronze) - 20 days of fighting
  • for the second tier (silver) - 50 days of fighting
  • for the third tier (gold) - 100 days of fighting

air force

  • for the first stage (bronze) - 30 days of fighting
  • for the second tier (silver) - 75 days of fighting
  • for the third tier (gold) - 150 days of fighting

Definition fight day

  • a) For the members of all infantry units: All days on which the members of the units had the opportunity to come into close combat contact (man to man) with the enemy were counted as combat days. This could be given during attacks and defensive battles, when scouting troops were deployed, reporting or when defending against an enemy scouting company.
"Gang Fight" in Bosnia (December 1943)
  • b) For members of heavy weapons: All days on which members of these units (gun operation etc.) got into direct combat (close combat) with bandits counted as combat days. For members of the anti-aircraft weapons used in gang warfare, apart from the days on which the gun operators etc. got into direct combat with bandits, also those days on which enemy aircraft were shot down by the gun operators.
  • c) For the crews of the individual aircraft or flying units used in gang warfare: All days on which the aircraft crews were able to successfully carry out an order under enemy fire were counted as fighting days. Each confirmed enemy aircraft kill counted as 3 days of combat.

Extended group of people

Since October 5, 1944, the group of people who could receive the award was no longer limited to members of the Wehrmacht , the Waffen-SS , the Ordnungspolizei or the Einsatzgruppen of the Security Police and the SD : everyone who is actively involved in the so-called "Fighting gangs" had involved, could now receive this.

The badge could even be awarded posthumously to the fallen and fatally injured , provided that they had met the conditions before death or on the day of their death. In this case, the bereaved should be sent the award with a deed of ownership as a souvenir.

Himmler reserved the right to hand over the gang war badge in gold . At the end of 1944 the Reichsführer SS ordered 10 to 20 gang combat badges from the Juncker company in Berlin . These consisted of gold-plated silver and were set with diamonds . The award of those badges has not been proven; their whereabouts are unclear.

Award numbers

The exact number of awards is not known. On February 21, 1945, four members of the Waffen-SS for their combat operations in the Adriatic Coastal Operation Zone of Himmler with the III. Level awarded in gold.

Carrying rules after 1945

The "gang fight badge", issued until 1945, belongs to the National Socialist medals whose use in Germany is not permitted under the 1957 law on titles, medals and decorations . An exception are the gang war badges that were "cleared" of the swastika and skull from 1958 . These were produced according to a design template from the Federal Ministry of the Interior, which was published in the supplement to the Federal Gazette No. 41 of February 28, 1958.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ In autumn 1942, Himmler issued the language regulation that the expression “gangs” should be used instead of “partisans”.
  2. ↑ Cross-section of the month uniforms market , ZDB -ID 331317-7 , year 1943, issue 4 p. 11
  3. ↑ Federal Archives Koblenz, R 58 No. 219, NO-2830