German Leadership

"I swear by this Blood Banner ..."

Unknown author/?Bundesarchiv.

Hitler with Jakob Grimminger, official bearer of the "sacred" Blutfahne at a NSDAP rally, 1929. Grimminger. Grimminger wears the insignia of SS-Oberscharfuhrer, and the Star of the Turkish War Medal ("Iron Crescent") on his left breast. Note Hitler's grasp on the Banner. As his dedication to "Mein Kampf" indicates, Hitler retained a strong impression from the failed "Beer Hall Putsch", of which the Blood Banner (stained with blood of its martyr(s)), was promoted by him as a powerful symbolic representation of the small number of Nazis who fell in Munich that day. This "first class relic" was subsequently used to consecrate innumerable Nazi banners and flags over the following period. Best regards, JR.