Need help with German coin from WWII I was given

[Suzy Mouse]

I have some sort of coin with German writing on it along with a soldier's helmet that has a swastika on it.

I think my grandfather got it during WWII. Weird thing....we're jewish. I have no idea why he would have this coin.

If there is anyone out there that can read German and perhaps help me translate it I would appreciate it so much.

 

[monkeyboy]

Did you look up EBAy to see if you could find something similar?

 

[JoNo]

What's it say? I can speak a little and might be able to help ya out!

 

[Suzy Mouse]

I can't use Ebay from work.

On the top of the coin it says...
"DEM ARBEITER ZUR EHR"

Bottom...

"DER HEIMAT ZUR WEHR"

 

[JoNo]

the worker to the honor....

the homeland to the defense....

very stoic as it was made in a time of war I guess...

 

[disneyluvers]

I'm rusty, but..

Something like,
The Workers to Honor
Their Homes to Defend... hope this helps.

 

[Suzy Mouse]

Thank you so much. Just one more question. Who would get this? A German soldier during the war?

 

[Suzy Mouse]

Interesting...I just foind the translator at the bottom of the page. When I typed in what the coin said it came out...

"The worker to honour the homeland to the resistance"

I'm just curious to see how my grandfather got it.

 

[disneyluvers]

Interesting. I can see using -zur Wehr- as "to resist" but "resistance" is a noun as in "the resistance" so I see -Wehr- as part of the verb along with -zur- as "to defend".

German is one of those languages where the context means as much as the words itself. I don't see the Third Reich talking about resistance unless this was a coin that was used as a campaign tool before Hitler came into power. Is there a bust of Hitler on it? He was notorious for putting his face on everything he could when he was in power.

Boy oh Boy I wish my old German Prof was still around. Frau would be able to explain this to me.

 

[Suzy Mouse]

In the center of the coin is a soldier's helmet with the swastika on it. Behind the helmet is a pick ax and a shovel.

I just looked at the back for the first time (It's in a special box). It has the year 1938 printed on it.

 

[monkeyboy]

I think there was a German Home Defense group.
it sounds like this was from them

They were young and old used to defend germany as the allies poured in

 

[AirForceRocks]

Originally posted by Suzy Mouse
Thank you so much. Just one more question. Who would get this? A German soldier during the war?

Was your grandfather in the military during WWII? Or did he have friends that were that might have given it to him? There are probably a number of ways.

I have a Nazi passport cover that was given to my grandfather by a German POW during WWII. My grandfather was a bus driver that transported German POWs from port to a POW camp in Ohio.

 

[Blondie]

A few years ago my son showed me a Nazi coin that was among his collection. We have no idea where it came from, he didn't remember finding it. It just kind of showed up one day!

Anyway, we looked it up on the net (just type in nazi coins, or german coins--you'll get lots of sites) and it seems to be worth more if it's made of a certain kind of metal, for example copper vs. zinc (just an example, I can't remember which is worth more!)

Our coin was only worth a few dollars, so we are holding on to it.

 

[Suzy Mouse]

I believe he was a cook in a kitchen. I'll have to get more info there.