Original WWII German DRK RED CROSS HEWER. (DAGGER) (Seitengewehr mit Seitengewehrtasche) Brought Home By A U.S. Veteran Certified

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Original WWII German DRK RED CROSS HEWER. (DAGGER) (Seitengewehr mit Seitengewehrtasche) Brought Home By A U.S. Veteran Certified. The DRK, “Deutsches Rotes Kreuz” (German Red Cross), a voluntary civil assistance organization originally instituted in 1864, was officially acknowledged by the Geneva Convention in 1929, and in December of 1937 it was legally recognized by the NSDAP, becoming controlled by them a year later under the auspices of the Ministry of the Interior’s Social Welfare Organization. Due to its non-combatant status, it had to conform to the international Geneva Convention, which directed that its members not to carry any weapons, including edged weapons. As a result, the DRK Subordinate’s hewer, introduced in 1938, was designed with a squared tip to preclude its classification as a weapon, allowing its wear in the field. It was worn by the ranks of “DRK-Anwärter” to “DRK-Haupthelfer. The hewer features a roughly, 10 1/2″, (26.6 cm), long, broad, squared, blunt tipped, nickel/silver plated, drop forged, steel construction blade with deep, wide, fullers, a staggered, saw-toothed, edge, a large, flat, ricasso and a full length, including the hilt, of roughly, 15 5/8”, (39.6 cm). The blade is in superb, clean condition (there is a coat of protective grease on it, should clean off fine). The brown leather washer is still intact. The cast alloy construction, cross guard, languets, and pommel all have a matte, nickel/silver plated finish. The obverse, vertically oval, languet has a raised, smooth, outer edge encompassing an embossed first pattern, Gesh Gesch marked, DRK style national eagle with down-swept wings, a highly embossed swastika to its breast, and a traditional Greek style cross in its talons, on a slightly recessed, pebbled, field. The reverse, vertically oval, languet also has the raised, smooth, outer edge encompassing a slightly recessed, smooth field. The short, horizontally extended, cross guard features two, evenly spaced, deeply recessed, horizontal, lines near both the top and bottom edges. The unique shaped, horizontally oval, integral, plain pommel is intact. The hewer has molded, black, bakelite grips held in place by two, countersunk screws. The obverse grip features a repeating, diamond grooved pattern and the reverse grip is plain this one has some loss to the bottom (see photo) . The hewer comes with its original, black painted magnetic sheet metal scabbard with matte, nickel/silver plated top and bottom fittings. Both the top and bottom fittings are secured to the scabbard by two, small, dome headed screws. Complete with original  frog. Nice. Brought back by a U.S. Solider. Good condition with some  wear and storage age and expected issues. 100% Guaranteed to be authentic Complete Museum documentation (COA) Provided. Certified by The Gettysburg Museum of History.   Please see our other items.   Also note when browsing our web site there are several pages of items, at the bottom of the list look for other page numbers.  Do Not Miss This One!