Wooden Donation HJ Diamond

Product Description: An impressive Wooden Donation HJ Diamond in excellent condition. This Wooden Donation HJ Diamond is an article that we are excited to have the opportunity to offer on the market. Very few of these Wooden Donation HJ Diamond’s survived the period of the Third Reich, and even fewer in the immediate decade afterwards. These Wooden Donation HJ Diamond’s were used by the Hitler Youth during the pre-war years both as a means of propaganda, as well as to generate revenue for their specific unit or “Bann”. To entice the public to donate, members of the Hitler Youth would allow the donator to tack on one braid after giving a donation to the unit. The goal of the Hitler Youth members was to collect enough donations to fill the diamond. The competitive nature of the Hitler Youth during the time would have most likely seen competitions between the smaller units within the Bann to see who could fill the Wooden Donation HJ Diamond first. This would be have been a very effective means for the Hitler Youth to generate revenue and promote their organization.

The diamond is made of plywood with a thin wooden brace around the perimeter of the reverse. The obverse of the Wooden Donation HJ Diamond was painted with the red, black, and white national colors. The paint shows areas crazing and flaking from age. The small braids are made of steel, and exhibit an old dark patina from age. It appears that this Hitler Youth group succeeded in filling this diamond, and none of the steel braids are missing! The reverse of the diamond has a small locking hinge made of steel for hanging the diamond on the wall. Scratched in the reverse of the diamond is most likely the unit which it belonged. The unit looks like it might be “3/III/137”, which would be a unit out of Westfalen. A very small area at the bottom of the diamond has chipped away, most likely from being dropped long ago. The diamond measures 24 inches tall, and 13 inches in width. This is truly a unique, and rare piece which is sure to display nicely in any collection!

Historical Description: Military, political, civil and paramilitary organizations during the Third Reich created a wide variety of non-portable awards, mostly in the form of award plaques and table medals, but also including decorative plates, various kinds of trophies, and usable gift items. These awards were generally presented in cases where a medal or award to be worn on the uniform would not be appropriate. Non-portable awards were given to winners of various types of sport contests, as well as to recognize distinguished service to military or civilian organizations, and even private companies. The table medals were typically originally awarded inside special custom fitted cases, similar to those used for some military awards. They could be made of metal, or in some cases porcelain, and were generally finely struck, and of high quality. The wall plaques were typically made of metal, often mounted to a wood base. They could feature Hitler, organizational emblems, or other military or patriotic themed decoration. There was a vast range of non-portable awards made and used during the Third Reich. Some were unique, custom works of art. There were also factories that issued catalogs filled with all kinds of different mass-produced items. After the war, most of these items that bore images of the swastika or Hitler were destroyed to comply with Allied denazification policy.

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