BACKGROUND: The DRK, "Deutsches Rotes Kreuz" (German Red Cross), a voluntary civil assistance organization originally instituted in 1864, was officially acknowledged by the Geneva Convention in 1929, and in December of 1937 it was legally recognized by the NSDAP, becoming controlled by them a year later under the auspices of the Ministry of the Interior's Social Welfare Organization. Due to its non-combatant status, it had to conform to the international Geneva Convention, which directed that its members not carry any weapons, including edged weapons. As a result, the DRK Subordinate's hewer, introduced in 1938, was designed with a squared tip to preclude its classification as a weapon, allowing its wear in the field. It was worn by the ranks of "DRK-Anwärter" to "DRK-Haupthelfer."

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: A hewer with a 10 1/2" long, nickel-silver plated blade, in its original scabbard. Its flattened oval pommel, grip and stepped cross guard are all cast alloy, finished with dull nickel-silver plating, which exhibits light lifting bubbles. Its two black bakelite grip plates, cross-hatched to the obverse and plain to the reverse, are held in place by two screws. An oval langet is to either side of the cross guard, plain to the reverse but with the embossed, second pattern (1938) DRK logo of a stylized eagle with down-swept wings, clutching a Balkan cross in its talons and with a mobile swastika to its breast, to the obverse. A blackened leather washer may be seen where the cross guard meets the blade. The drop forged steel blade itself, which is 1 7/16" wide along most of its length, is double-edged, one sawback, the other straight, and features wide fullers and a squared tip. The unmarked blade is still quite clean and bright, with minor surface scratching and spotting, and its original cross-graining is still visible. Its 11", sheet steel scabbard, with a raised frog lug to its obverse, is finished in black enamel, and has nickel-silver plated metal fittings to its top and bottom, each held in place by two screws. Whereas the upper fitting has only dulled with age, its lower fitting exhibits moderate pitting and surface spotting, particularly to its reverse. The enamel to the scabbard body is also moderately worn and pitted, most noticeably along its edges, although at least 80% of it has been retained.

GRADE ***3/4                             PRICE $ SOLD