WW2 German Collectibles and Black Flag from Civil War

[ArchaicAntiques]

Hello Everyone! Great to be on this site. I recently inherited some items and I wanted to see what you guys thought. Two of the items are original ballots from Hitler's election and one is called a Quantrell Flag? Most I could find is that it is from the Civil War and is not even supposed to exist because nobody has ever actually found one. Are these items rare?

 

[Xraywolf]

Only way to validate an item like this would be comparison to a known example. Since the dawn of photography, that is another form of valification of historic military items, possible but not good odds of finding a period photo with this included [I believe there are a scant few of some of the raiders themselves].
Short of that, confirmed interviews with men known to have "been there" might offer a glimpse of insight, but not necessarily proof one way or the other.

We all would like to believe a good story, but harsh realism rules in the collecting market. Most of us have been there on both sides, but especially a rumored one off handmade item like this will forever be impossible to validate - And you will get replies like this no matter where you go, try a civil war memorabilia forum and you'll likely get it 10x worse than here .

 

[Wildcat1750]

Interesting post and responses...

 

[ToddsPoint]

I'm not sure what those German ballots are for, but Hitler was not elected. He was appointed Chancellor by Paul von Hindenburg after the Nazi party won a majority in the Reichstag in 1933. After he was appointed and Hindenburg died, he declared himself President as well as Chancellor. Gary

 

[Red-Coat]

I'm not sure what those German ballots are for, but Hitler was not elected. He was appointed Chancellor by Paul von Hindenburg after the Nazi party won a majority in the Reichstag in 1933. After he was appointed and Hindenburg died, he declared himself President as well as Chancellor. Gary

Not exactly. After von Hindenburg appointed Hitler as Chancellor, he immediately urged the dissolution of the Reichstag and called for an election, which took place in March 1933. There was a low turnout and the Nationalist Socialist Party (ie Nazis) were well short of a majority. They achieved a slim working majority in the Reichstag only by coalition with the National People’s Party.

That was the last contested election in Germany until after the War because Hitler then became de facto dictator and banned all opposition parties. Elections still took place, but with voting slips (like the one shown) offering only one choice… Hitler’s Nazi Party. The results were in any case rigged, with Jews, Poles and other ethnic minorities now excluded from voting, intimidation of those who could vote, and the statistics showing improbably high turnouts with overwhelming support for the Nazis. Thereafter the Reichstag was populated only by Nazis and pro-Nazi 'guests', acting as little more than a rubber-stamp mechanism for Nazi policies.

 

[ToddsPoint]

Not exactly. After von Hindenburg appointed Hitler as Chancellor, he immediately urged the dissolution of the Reichstag and called for an election, which took place in March 1933. There was a low turnout and the Nationalist Socialist Party (ie Nazis) were well short of a majority. They achieved a slim working majority in the Reichstag only by coalition with the National People’s Party.

That was the last contested election in Germany until after the War because Hitler then became de facto dictator and banned all opposition parties. Elections still took place, but with voting slips (like the one shown) offering only one choice… Hitler’s Nazi Party. The results were in any case rigged, with Jews, Poles and other ethnic minorities now excluded from voting, intimidation of those who could vote, and the statistics showing improbably high turnouts with overwhelming support for the Nazis. Thereafter the Reichstag was populated only by Nazis and pro-Nazi 'guests', acting as little more than a rubber-stamp mechanism for Nazi policies.

Thanks for the clarification Red-Coat. I knew the first part of the story, just not the last part. Gary

 

[Xraywolf]

Yes there were multiple elections leading up to dictatorship.
Germany's constitution was actually much more liberal than most western nations, Hitler quickly got around this by simply suspending the constitution, banning any and all opposition, and ruling by emergency decree which was declared after the Reichstag fire [which itself is widely believed to have been a false flag started by the Nazis themselves, precisely to enable them to have a plausible excuse to declare an emergency]. This state of emergency was set to be reviewed on a yearly basis and gotten rid of ASAP, but of course Nazis themselves did the reviewing and always opted to renew the emergency powers.
They went on with this farce until the war years when even they decided it was a waste of time.

 

[Red-Coat]

Yes there were multiple elections leading up to dictatorship....

I was referring to elections after dictatorship. Those happened too, but with ballot papers listing only one candidate and so were a sham.

 

[ArchaicAntiques]

 

[ArchaicAntiques]

 

[ArchaicAntiques]

Here are some more pictures if anyone is interested. I will also attach more pictures of the flag.

 

[ArchaicAntiques]

Not the greatest camera quality, but the letters are faded red on the flag, to more of a rusty color.

 

[Xraywolf]

I was referring to elections after dictatorship. Those happened too, but with ballot papers listing only one candidate and so were a sham.

Yes, tis a very complex topic so was just meandering with some basic thoughts about elections in Germany during the Nazi era, and some of the dynamics which led to dictatorship and 1 party rule.
Instructive to keep in mind as we see similar trends afoot this very day, but we won't [can't] get into that here.

 

[Doubter in MD]

Cool stuff. I don't know whether any of it is authentic or not. As for the flag, I'd say the burden of proof/provenance is on you to authenticate it as it is not believed to have existed.

 

[diggummup]

I knew a guy once...
He spent over $100k on his WW2 German collection in the 80s- early 90's. Flash forward 20 years and 80% of his collection has been certified fake, reproduction, etc.. Many a collector were fooled before the sharing of information on a global level became commonplace, regardless of economic status. Loads of money in a bank account does not an expert make. I have to agree with the general consensus of this thread and the reasons brought forth that drew this conclusion.
I would join and post the German items on the Wehrmacht Awards forum for authentication.