Origina German WWII Chemnitz Polizei Brass Knuckles Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This is an exceptionally rare set of “brass knuckles” constructed from iron and nickel plated. The are cast and the casting reads in bold lettering Chemnitz Polizei. A nearly identical style set without the letter is in the permanent collection at the United States Shoah Memorial Museum as seen at this link.

The knuckles show typical wear and use. Chemnitz suffered massive allied bombing that destroyed 41 per cent of the built-up area of city during the Second World War. Chemnitz contained factories that produced military hardware and a Flossenbürg forced labor subcamp (500 female inmates) for Astra-Werke AG. Chemnitz also housed Stalag IV-F which opened in February 1941, the camp held mainly French troops captured during the battle of France, and British captured in North Africa. The POWs were assigned to various Arbeitskommando (“Work detachments”) locally. The camp was liberated by American forces in March 1945.

Near Chemnitz was the Sachsenburg prison camp which was a NSDAP prison camp in eastern Germany, located in Frankenberg, Saxony. Along with Lichtenburg, it was among the first to be built by the NSDAPs, and operated by the SS from 1933 to 1937. The camp was an abandoned four-story textile mill which was renovated in May 1933 to serve as a “protective custody” facility for dissidents such as Jehovah’s Witnesses, who opposed the NSDAP regime.

The Chemnitz oil refinery was a target for bombers during the Oil Campaign of World War II, and Operation Thunderclap attacks included the following raids:

– 14/15 February 1945: The first major raid on Chemnitz used 717 RAF bombers, but due to cloud cover most bombs fell over open countryside.

– 2/3–5 March: USAAF bombers attacked the marshalling yards.

– 5 March: 760 RAF bombers attacked.

The headquarters of the auto manufacturer Auto Union were also based in Chemnitz since 1932 and its buildings were also badly damaged. At the end of the war, the company’s executives fled and relocated the company in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, where it evolved into Audi, now a brand within the Volkswagen group.

The World War II bombings left most of the city in ruins and post-war, the East German reconstruction included large low rise (and later high-rise Plattenbau) housing. Some tourist sites were reconstructed during the East German era and after German reunification. The city was occupied by Soviet troops on 8 May 1945.