Original Items: One-of-a-kind grouping. This is a fantastic named Heer Grenadier award and document set, with two original BESITTZZEUGNIS "possession/award" certificates and the award for one of them, as well as an SA-Wehrmannschaft defense team training record. All are named to the same person, Josef Richter, who is listed as an Obergefreiten (Senior exempted) on the two award documents, equivalent to a U.S. Army Corporal.

The SA-Wehrmannschaft defense team Leiſtungsbuch (Performance Book) is marked Ausgabe: Oktober 1936 (Issue: October 1936) in the upper left corner, and gives some basic information on Richter, such as his birth day of 9. März 1911, so he was about 25 when the booklet was issued. From what we can see, he underwent the evaluation in 1939, and the booklet has all of his results recorded, as well as the dates. It has all the correct stamps and other records.

The two awards earned by this soldier in date received are the Eiserne Kreuz II. Klasse 1939 (Iron Cross 2nd Class 1939 - EKII) and Eiserne Kreuz I. Klasse 1939 (Iron Cross 1st Class 1939 - EKI), however only the EKII is included with the documents. It shows light wear and age, and is totally correct, except it is missing the original issue ribbon.

Both of the award documents measure approximately, 8" x 5.5", (20cm x 14cm), and are printed on heavy paper with black print and typed in particulars. Both documents are dated, with their correct stamps and signatures, and indicate Richter was a member of Stabskp. / G.R. 12, which is an abbreviation for Stabs-kompanie / Grenadier Regiment 12, or the "Staff Company, 12th Grenadier Regiment".

The first award document indicates that the Iron Cross 1939 2nd Class was awarded to Richter on 30. 8. 1943, and bears the stamp of the 31. Division, and as best we can tell was signed by Deputy Division Commander Oberst Kurt Möhring, who was in command for about two months after the previous commander was promoted.

The second award document indicates that the Iron Cross 1st Class was awarded on 8. 12. 1943, and also bears the stamp of the 31. Division. It bears the signature of Division Commander Generalmajor Willifrank Ochsner, who would later be promoted to Generalleutnant in June 1944. Ochsner would later be awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, on 18 January 1944 while the 31st Division Commander. It's very rare to have a period document signed by a Knight's cross recipient.

All documents are in good condition, with the expected wear and yellowing from age. They all show folding tearing, and some staining, consistent with being folded and unfolded numerous times. Please consult the pictures for condition specifics.

A really nice German document set, complete with one of the original awards, all named to the same soldier. Ready to research and display!

The Sturmabteilung-Wehrmannschaft (Storm Division Military Team) was the military training defense group of the SA and was formed in 1939. The purpose of this organization was to provide military training to SA members before and after their military service. This quickly expanded to all civilian males aged 18 to 65 years old, and by May, 1944, over 3 million Germans had participated in this program. The group also served as an internal defense unit.

There is no more iconic German military award than the Iron Cross (Eisernes Kreuz, abbreviated EK). The long history of this order began during the Napoleonic Wars. It was established by King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia in March 1813, backdated to the birthday of his late wife Queen Louise on 10 March 1813 (EK 1813), who was the first person to receive this decoration (posthumous). The award criteria changed somewhat with time, but generally speaking, Iron Crosses could be awarded for individual acts of bravery, or for leadership achievements on the battlefield. The design was created by a Karl Friedrich Schinkel, his choice of the black cross with silver outline was derived from the heraldic emblem of the Teutonic Knights.

There were a number of different type and grades of Iron Cross awards throughout its long history, but the basic details of the most widely awarded grades: The Iron Cross 1st Class and Iron Cross 2nd Class- remained the same. The first class award was a breast badge, with fittings on the reverse to allow it to be worn on the uniform. These fittings varied widely over time and from maker to maker, and could be a simple in and catch, a screw post and retaining disc, or more elaborate setups. The second class award was suspended from a ribbon, originally in the Prussian colors of black and white, later in the Reich colors of black, red and white.

On the original versions of these crosses, in 1813, the front of the iron core of each grade was bare, and only the second class award had ornamentation: a crown over the initials “FW” representing the King, a sprig of oak leaves, and the date 1813. The core was redesigned in 1870, when the cross was re-instituted during the Franco-Prussian War. The reverse ornamentation on the Iron Cross 2nd Class remained the same, but the front of the core on both grades now bore another crown, a “W” representing Kaiser Wilhelm, and the date 1870. This pattern repeated again when the cross was reinstituted for WWI- everything stayed the same, only the date 1870 was replaced with 1914.

The final reinstitution of the cross came in 1939. For this version, the front of the core for both grades bore a swas and the date 1939. The oak leaves, crown and royal initials were removed from the reverse, with only the date 1813 remaining as a reminder of the legacy of this award. In WWII, hundreds of thousands of Iron Cross First Class awards were bestowed, and four and a half million Iron Cross Second Class awards. Iron Crosses were made by a large number of authorized manufacturers. Some variants of these awards were mass produced in huge numbers. Others were made in very limited quantities.

The Iron Cross was normally a military decoration only, though there were instances of it being awarded to civilians for performing military functions. Two examples of this were civilian test pilots Hanna Reitsch who was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class and 1st Class and Melitta Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg, who was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class, for their actions as pilots during World War II.