Hitler’s Golden Party Badges. Debunking the Myth and Russian Disinformation.

What Happened to Hitler’s Badges?

With the help of Anny Winter and Heinz Linge, historians have been able to verify the existence of 3 Golden Party Badges (also referred to as pins) which belonged to Hitler during the Third Reich. All have been verified as being stamped with the number seven.

The Winter Large And Small Golden Party Badges

Anny Winter was Hitler’s housekeeper in Munich from 1929-1945. After World War II, a few years after the war ended, Winter was arrested and imprisoned by Bavarian State authorities and accused of the theft of Hitler artifacts from his home. Winter stated that all artifacts were given to her by Hitler, and she disputed the theft charge in court.

The court battle over ownership of the papers and badges lasted over 3 years. Anny Winter eventually emerged victorious. Listed in a signed 1953 attestation of items in her possession were Hitler’s large and small party badges described as numbered 7.

The Linge .750 Fine Gold Party Badge

One of the closest people to Hitler was Heinz Linge. He was an SS officer and served as Hitler’s chief valet and was the head of his personal service staff. Linge was one of, if not the last, person to see Hitler alive in his Berlin bunker; He was also the first person to discover Hitler’s body after he committed suicide.

In 1973 Heinz Linge and Heinrich Hoffman Jr., son of Heinrich Hoffmann, Hitler’s personal photographer and close friend, signed a declaration and swore an oath regarding Hitler’s gold party badge. They both declared that Hitler’s hallmarked, .750 fine gold party badge, was numbered 7, and was made for him sometime around 1937. The attestation also noted that Adolf Hitler regularly wore this badge until his death in 1945.

Russian History, Disinformation, Facts and Theory

As WWII was ending the Russians were looking to exact revenge and imprison Hitler. SMERSH was the umbrella term for three independent counter-intelligence agencies serving the Russian Red Army and they were the Russian intelligence organization assigned the task of capturing the Fuhrer alive or recovering the remains of Adolf Hitler.  

When Russian soldiers eventually reached the Fuhrer’s bunker in Berlin, soldiers reported that they had found Hitler’s partially burned corpse in a shell crater. The SMERSH detachment, comprised of 9 Russian Intelligence Officers and the Russian 79th Infantry Corps Medical staff with their Corp physician, went to work gathering evidence to be reported to the Russian leader, Joseph Stalin.

On May 3rd, 1945, the SMERSH agents submitted this official report and signed declarations identifying the burned corpses of Joseph Goebbels and Magda Goebbels along with belongings found on or near their bodies. During a thorough examination of Magda’s burned remains, they found a NSDAP uniform jacket and a gold party badge. Also, found was a partially burned gold cigarette case. On the inside of the case was the monogram of Adolf Hitler and the date 29-10-34 (October 10^th, 1934).

During questioning, Vice-Admiral Voss, to whom Hitler first confessed his plan to commit suicide, provided an additional declaration regarding the burned bodies of Joseph and Magda Goebbels and the gold NSDAP badge found on her person.

On the same day, an almost identical ‘Top Secret’ report was sent to Joseph Stalin by G,K. Zhukov, Marshal of the Soviet Union & K F Telegin Lieutenant General. It included the statement that the very same prisoner, Voss, confirmed that Hitler gave Magda his party badge three days prior to his suicide. This statement matches those of other witnesses and this act was also referenced in the last letter Magda wrote to her son. Also mentioned in Zhukov’s report to Stalin was the burned cigarette case bearing Hitler’s monogram.

The Russian report contained photos of both the inside and outside of the case. Unfortunately, however, there was no mention, photo, nor any description of the serial number stamped on the reverse of the Party Badge. It is unlikely that any stamped number on the badge would have escaped the attention of the investigators. If the badge were marked, it most assuredly would have been mentioned in Zhukov’s report.

Only in later years was it reported, by the Russian Security Service (FSB), that the badge found on Magda’s body was stamped serial number “1.” However, photographs in the Russian archives only show the front of the partially burned party badge, which seemed to be the smaller version of the pin. It is interesting to note that photos exist of both the inside and outside of the cigarette case, but no photos have ever been made public from Russian archives of the back side of the party badge in question.

Additionally, Vice-Admiral Voss, after making his escape from the bunker, a few days later, was brought back to view the Goebbel’s bodies. It is highly unlikely that Voss had seen the party badge on the burned body, as the clothing was mostly burned off, and any decorations or jewelry were likely removed by Russian authorities.

 

Photo of Goebbels alleged Party Badge and cigarette case

Reference: Hitler’s Death
Russia’s Last great Secret from the files of the KGB
by V.K. Vinogradov, J.F Pogonny & N.V Teptzov
PG 77-78

A 1995 catalog, published by the Russian Federal Security Service, listed in their possession Hitler’s Golden Party Badge. It lists that the badge was marked with the number “1”. A poor-quality photo showed the obverse of a typical, larger version Golden Party badge along with the fragmented remains of what was reported to be Hitler’s jaw and teeth. No photos were shown of the reverse of the badge.

Spiegel Photo

In 2003, an archived photo of the badge in question and remains of Hitler’s jaw and teeth were displayed in a special exhibition with other German military bounty. This exhibition commemorated the 60th Anniversary of the founding of Soviet military intelligence. Once again, however, no photos were provided that showed the reverse of the badge in their possession.

In 2005, the badge and other Nazi artifacts were to be displayed in the State Archive of the Russian Federation Museum. This exhibit was set to mark the 60th Anniversary of the end of the Second World War. The badge, however, disappeared under suspicious circumstances before it went on public display.

A news article from “The Times in London” is printed below in its entirety.

Trophy Hunter Steals Hitler Badge
Russian security is embarrassed as exhibition loses the
Nazi leaders No 1 party membership badge
By Jeremy Page and Luba Vinogradova

November 19, 2005

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It was, until recently, one of the most sinister and valuable trophies in the archives of the Russian agency that succeeded the KGB. For five decades Adolf Hitler’s gold Nazi party membership badge lay in a special room in the depths of the Lubyanka, the headquarters of the Federal Security Service (FSB), along with other trophies from the Third Reich. Only this year did the FSB put it on display for the first time at a special exhibition to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. But, to its enormous embarrassment, the badge was stolen from the exhibition, The Times has learnt.

Investigators say that they have little hope of retrieving the trophy, whose theft, they believe, was commissioned by a wealthy collector, possibly a neo-Nazi. They say that the burglar was clearly a professional, who cased the exhibition and used climbing equipment to lower himself from the roof and in through a window after removing the glass. “It could have been smuggled abroad or could still be in the country,” an investigator, who declined to be identified, said.

The FSB insists that the badge was a copy and of no value. But many Russian experts believe that it was the original and could be worth up to €3 million (£2.1 million). “Only after it was stolen did people start saying it wasn’t the original,” said a source at the State Archive of the Russian Federation, where the exhibition was held.

One theory is that the theft, on June30, may have been ordered by one of Russia’s neo-Nazi groups, which have become increasingly active in the past 5 years, with a string of deadly attacks on foreigners and non-Slavic Russians. The FSB, which inherited the KGB archives after the collapse of the Soviet Union, revealed that it possessed the badge in a catalog published in 1996.

The catalogue listed several items taken from the bunker where Soviet troops found the bodies of Hitler, Eva Braun and Joseph and Magda Goebbels — all of whom committed suicide — in 1945. They included documents, personal belongings, uniforms and the jawbones of Hitler and Eva Braun. But the prize trophies were Hitler’s and Goebbels’ party membership badges — among 10,000 issued to its first members in 1934. Hitlers was marked “1” on the reverse side. Many historians believe that Hitler gave the badge to Magda Goebbels as a token of thanks just before killing himself on April 30, 1945. Goebbels and his wife had refused to leave Berlin and moved into Hitler’s bunker on April 22, 1945. They committed suicide on May 1 after killing their six children.

Soviet military intelligence officers sent the items to Moscow in 1948. In 1954 Ivan Serov, the KGB chief, handed them to the KGB archive, where they were stored in a special room for the next 51 years.

The public caught its first glimpse of the badge in 2003 in a photograph at an exhibition to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of Soviet military intelligence. But it was not put on display until this year.

A notice announcing the exhibition read: “Among the exhibits will be such rare items as the scorched map from Hitler’s bunker and his personal NSDAP membership badge.” Closed-circuit television footage showed that the burglar was a man of slight build acting alone. He triggered sensors as he scaled the 3m (10ft) wall around the museum, but guards thought that it was a cat. He also set off an alarm when sensors detected him entering the exhibition hall. But he quickly smashed the window of the display cabinet with a hammer and snatched the badge, along with eight other items, before climbing out of the window using a rope.

“If only our policemen on guard hadn’t been tying up the laces on their boots,” the investigator said, “he would have been caught on the spot.”

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Again, the above article is quoted in its entirety as reported by “The Times,” a British daily national newspaper based in London, England.

After reading the article, it is quite difficult to imagine that one burglar stole the badge from the highly secured Federation Museum in Moscow (which houses Russian documents from the highest authorities). For the theft to then be written off as a blunder by the guards is also surprising. And why would it have been reported that the FSB later insisted that the stolen badge was a fake and of no value? Who were those Russian experts that had seen the badge and believed it to be genuine? Why would investigators report that this theft may have been ordered by neo-Nazi groups, commissioned by a wealthy collector, and that there was little hope of retrieving the badge? Why was The Times the only news source reporting on this theft? Why are there still no known photos published of the reverse of the badge that was stolen?

These questions remain unanswered. And one can only conclude that a fabricated report was given to “The Times” by Russian authorities. Could also the motive of disinformation have been to discredit any authentic number 7 Hitler Party Badge in existence? Unfortunately the article written on the matter is cited erroneously by a few militaria websites, to declare that Hitler’s party badge was number ‘1’.

State Archives of the Russian Federation Building

Hitler’s Official Party Badge at Auction

Hitler’s actual party badge was auctioned by a prominent German Auction house one year prior to the theft and the publication of this article. The winning bid converted at that time in U.S. dollars reached nearly $100,000!

With the sale of one of Hitler’s actual Party Badges, numbered “7,” the theory is that it is very likely that the Russian FSB fabricated the report of the theft since they knew that the party badge formerly in their possession was not Hitler’s. This knowledge also may have prompted the Russians to somehow make the badge “disappear,” thus ending the controversy and the potential discovery of the disinformation campaign propagated for half a century by the FSB.

Details of Hitler’s Official Party Badge

His personal Party Badge is a special version made of .750 (18K) gold and enamel. Additionally, Hitler’s badge secured to the lapel with a small, toothed, threaded disk. There is also a pictured certificate of August 9/10, 1973, with handwritten declarations of authenticity by the aforementioned Heinz Linge and Heinrich Hoffmann. Once again, the reader should note that they both swore under on oath that this was the party insignia pin that “was made for Hitler sometime around 1937, and which he wore until 1945.”

Literature: Klaus D. Patzwall “Das Goldene Parteiabzeichen “, (the Golden Party Badge) Norderstedt 2004, page 51 f. According to the testimony of those present, Magda Goebbels received this party badge as a personal gift in the evening of 27 April 1945, (three days before Hitler’s suicide). 32088 -End of the Catalog Description-

The Linge Badge Issue

The Golden Party Badge purchased at the auction had one major issue. Several collectors and historians noted that “The swastika was misaligned.” The problem was that the point of the swastika in the inscription circle was not placed exactly above the knot of the oak leaf wreath as issued.

The question was then asked by others, “Was this badge a counterfeit?”

 

Photo of badge as described in Auction Catalog

The misalignment of the wreath can easily be explained by the fact that the party badges were always constructed in two parts. The outer ring was made from 18K gold with a wreath completely encircling the badge. The inner section was the enameled portion. The medallion in the center of the badge must have come off at one point and was not properly aligned during the repair. The point of the swastika was originally above the “A” of D.A.P. in the inscription circle and was placed exactly above the knot of the oak leaf wreath.

After the purchase of the badge at auction, this issue was corrected. Following the direction of Hermann Historica and the buyer, the enameled medallion was carefully removed from the gold base using heat. Both surfaces were cleaned and were soldered together with the medallion correctly aligned with the gold base and in the correct position.

The repair was amazingly accomplished (documented) by a 94-year-old former employee of the company that originally produced the party badges. He and his Father, both apprenticed under Fuess, that made the original tooling for the badges. 

Documentation and Corrected Badge.

On the outdated militaria website, http://www.interlog.com/~sjl/GPB/hitlerbadge.htm, “A Site for Collectors and Historians,” the author commented on the auction sale of the “number 7” badge. He noted that the misalignment of the Golden Party Badge was “the most glaring error, and that Hitler never had party number “7” – he was No. “1.” The author points out that his reissue in the NSDAP membership book shows his membership number as “1” and that the German style of writing a “1” looks like ”7” to North American eyes. The author also claims that several genuine examples in private collections exist, bearing the number “1.” He sadly, however, cannot produce any photos of the mentioned examples. He also references the article in “The Times” as his proof that Hitler’s Party badge was numbered “1.”

The author of the site also mentions that it is hard to understand why Hitler’s facsimile signature would appear on his own badge. He also believes that “The odd screw back attachment would make it very hard to keep attached” to clothing.

The historian of military medals should be aware that Hitler has his facsimile signature on other significant presentation pieces such as “The Mother’s Cross” and the “German Order of the NSDAP” which was the most important award that the Nazi Party could bestow on an individual for “duties of the highest order to the State and Party.”

His argument that the screw attachment would make it more difficult to stay attached to a piece of clothing is clearly incorrect. Through examination and study, the unique screw attachment on the heavier, Special 18K Gold Party Badge made it more secure and easier to apply to a garment through a stitched pin hole/grommet. The more common soldered pin back would certainly have made this more difficult and less secure. The disputing author also contradicts himself on another link to the website, http://www.interlog.com/~sjl/GPB/genuinelarge.html. He argues that most pin type attachments were attached with an irregular, roughly rectangular pin plate with rounded ends, and that they were notoriously fragile. This leads only to believe that the author has formed his own opinions and theories, and that he and many others were duped by “The Times” article and Russian disinformation.

 

The Known Party Membership Facts

Hitler’s actual party membership was “555” and was issued in January of 1920. Note that memberships started with the number 500 to make the party appear larger. Hitler, however, contradicted the truth and referred to himself as ‘Party Member #7’ in his autobiographical book “Mein Kampf,” written during his stint in Landsberg prison (cell #7) in 1925  .

Hitlers first membership card Numbered 555

The Winter Badges

In 1953, a Hitler membership card with the number 1 relinquished to the Bavarian state court, by Hitler’s housekeeper, Anny Winter. Remember that she was arrested and imprisoned for attempting to sell Hitler artifacts and documents. Also note that Winter was victorious in having numerous confiscated items returned, except for some of his political documents and Hitler’s membership card. Of the items returned, she listed Hitler’s small and large, regular issued versions of the Gold Party Badge, both described as having been stamped with the number “7” on the reverse. Fortunately for Winter, the state did not consider the Party Badges of historical importance. Having been returned to her possession, she later was able to sell them and provide further proof of their authenticity.

Hitler’s Golden Party badges from the Munich apartment. Pre 1937 Pin Back Type

Declared items in possession by Winter Dated September 2, 1953
Which includes Hitlers Party badges with serial Number 7 (Item Number 34)

Hitler’s .750 Golden Party Badge Was Numbered “7”

The most important factor is that the auctioned Hitler “number 7” party badge was accompanied by testimonials of Heinz Linge and Heinrich Hoffmann Jr. Who would have better known this than Linge, as he was the valet personally in charge of placing Hitler’s Party Badge and decorations on his clothing.

Testimonials by Linge & Hoffmann Jr

 

Klaus Patzwall is an internationally known German historian and editor and publisher of numerous publications and books on the Awards of the German Reich. He notes the following in his book “The Golden Party Badges,” page 45:

Authentic Golden Party Badge 750/1000 with engraved “7” (Hitler’s NSDAP Nr.) and his signature. This decoration was in 1970 offered in the trade as the badge, which Magda Goebbels (11.11 1901-1.5.1945) said, “Last night the Fuhrer took of his golden Party badge and pinned it on me” Note the screw cap.

Conclusion

Hitler’s Party badge was stamped with the number “7” and not the number “1.”

The badges recovered by the Russians were the small version of the award worn by Goebbels and not Hitler’s personal party badge, as falsely claimed and subsequently pictured in their archival photos.

Although it has never been documented or known to have been acknowledged by Linge, it’s reasonable to believe that Magda Goebbels took off Hitler’s party badge prior to her suicide and returned it to Linge. She likely replaced it with her own badge because, as a fanatical Nazi, she did not want to dishonor Hitler and die with his personal badge on her clothing. And she certainly did not want it to fall into Russian hands.

 

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