Coal

[Jamesvtx]

My grandfather recently passed and in his possesion i found 2 bricks of comemorative coal given to a coal mine by the nazi party. There are swastikas stamped in them then overlayed in gold. Does anyone have any information on these? Are they common? Ive been searching the web and can't find anything. They are from the wachtberg mine in 1941 and 42. Thanks in advance.

[Desert Rat]

Hello James,

 

Welcome to MCN...we hope you enjoy this superb military website.

Please can you add some images to your find...then we may be able to assist you.

Best to you...Desert Rat

[Richard Auld]

Try this firm?

https://www.rheinische-industriekultur.com/seiten/objekte/orte/frechen/objekte/brikettfabrik_carl.html

Best

Rich

[Jamesvtx]

Here is a picture of one of them

[Richard Auld]

Yes, I see, a novelty item to celebrate the new year of 1942, things were still quite rosy back then, at least for the general public. Hard to research these items and to be honest not that valuable , therefore not that well documented. Still nice to have something your grandad brought back and they obviously tickled him at the time? Is there perhaps a coal mining link in the family that drew him to them?

Rich

[Jamesvtx]

No coal mining link. When the war was coming to an end he was the go between for the army and this mine because he was german and spoke german fluently. They gave him these as a gift. Not really worried about value just some more history.

[Richard Auld]

Sure, I did not mean to sound offish about the value but the problem is these more obscure items don't attract the attention they deserve as they are not that valuable. Historically they are probably quite rare as the hard times that followed for Germany would have meant that any surviving in the area would have had more value as fuel and would have probably been burned to stay warm. I hope you can peruse the link further and it gives you some answers. As an LO it makes sense that he got these from the firm and his work was no doubt vital in kick starting these firms back into production post war. It states on the brickett 'Cheers' Newyear 1942. The then patriotic use of the symbol of the Iron Cross and swastika would have been just that, patriotic. No link to the party and these would have been no doubt sold as nick knacks for charity or Winter Hilfes Werk (WHW). You could explore that avenue too but be warned there are millions of WHW categories. Good Luck!

Rich

Edited December 20, 2020 by Richard Auld

[Jamesvtx]

Oh i did not take any offense. I appreciate the link and have looked through most of it. I've emailed the company also with a picture to see if they have some records. I figured the lack of them like you said is due to the hardships of the people during and after the war. The brick from 41 doesnt have the swastikas on it but crossed hammers

[Richard Auld]

The 41 brick would probably be your best approach to the firm as there is naturally a degree of sensitivity over here about the Swastika'?

The crossed hammers has always been a traditional emblem of miners here and that was only superseded with the propaganda requirements of the 3rd Reich, indeed you can find a lot of stuff post war with the crossed hammers again.

Rich