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[Above: The top of an early German winter equinox festival postcard from Schererverlag, publisher of indigenous European religious-themed postcards.
Note the pentagram, maligned and misused by New Age garbage, heavy metal and rebellious teenagers, in truth it is an ancient symbol of truth, sometimes equated with the Aryan race.]

[Above: A very interesting postcard from Volksdeutsche Gemeinschaft, Göttingen, Germany. On the right is a translation. Click to enlarge and see the reverse of the postcard.]

[Above: This is a Feldpost card, that is also a pop-up card. I'm not sure why this is called a 'pentagram', but in modern times we call it a 'pentacle'. First let's look at what it says:

'Das Pentagramm (Der Drudenfuß) dessen Schnittpunkte im Goldenen Schnitt liegen. Aus 10 Dreiechen als Fenster herzustellen.'

(The Pentagram (The Druid's Foot) whose intersections lie in the golden section. To be made of 10 triangles as a window.)

It's very interesting that they would call this the 'Druid's Foot'! Way back in the day when we were looking for a symbol to represent Mourning the Ancient we found out that the pentagram represented truth in ancient cultures. That it didn't represent 'the devil' as popular culture depicted. But so many pagan symbols were perverted by early Christianity into something evil. But anyway, back to the Druid's Foot. Way back in the late nineties I remember one of the guys from ...the Soil Bleeds Black (a superb band of ambient music) told me after we were discussing the true meaning of the pentagram that in ancient times the druids would draw the pentagram on the soles of their feet, thus they would be 'walking with truth'. I never heard about that from anyone else, nor have I ever read about it, but I trusted the source, and always remembered it. Well, here it comes full circle, all these years later, on a soldier's postcard from the 3rd Reich.]

     Page twenty-two. ...

[Above: Here is a black man serving in the Imperial German army. He was a member of Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 25.]

[Above: Here is the full portrait with the above man with WWI era German comrades.]

[Above: Studio portrait of black officer and comrades.]

[Above: Black officer in parade regalia.]

[Above & below: Elo Sambo, kettle drummer of the German Leib Garde Hussars. Elo was originally from the German colony of Kamerun (Cameroon).]

[Above: German newspaper illustration showing Cameroon Africans serving the German military in Europe. Circa 1886.]

[Above: Gustav Sabac el Cher (March 10, 1868 - October 4, 1934) was a Prussian military musician from the 'Musikkorps des 1. (Ostpreußischen) Grenadier-Regiments Nr. 1 'Kronprinz''.]

[Above: Gustav Sabac el Cher (center, front).]

[Above: Gustav Sabac el Cher as a student at the Königlichen Hochschule für Musik, Berlin, 1894.]

[Above: Africans weren't the only race to serve with the German military. This is a picture of Lt. Tep from Siam (Thailand).]

[Above: This photo was taken by Heinrich Hoffmann (whom would later become Hitler's official photographer) in May 1919. It is of 'Mohamed Husen' in Munich. Husen was a highly decorated officer who served in East Africa with the Germans and later with a Freikorps unit. The inscription on the photo reads in part 'To the battles: Munich. A loyal East African fighter.' Mohamed Husen is shown here while working with the 'Lettow-Vorbeck Freikorps' acting as a chauffeur. He is what is called an 'askari' (An askari was a local soldier from Africa serving in the armies of the European colonial powers, particularly in East Africa, Northeast Africa, and Central Africa. The word was not only used by the Germans, but also the French, English, Italian, Urdu and Portuguese).]

Mohamed Husen (birth name Majub) was born in Tanzania (German East Africa) in 1905. At the age of nine Husen volunteered to fight with Germany against his country's invaders in WWI. After the war he was given combat pay by Germany for his deceased father who was killed in action during the war.

Sometime later he found a job as a steward in a German ship. This job enabled him to travel to Germany, first to Hamburg and later to Berlin.

During this tumultuous time he joined the revolutionary 'Lettow-Vorbeck Freikorps' acting as a chauffeur. Sometime during this time he earned German citizenship and later got a job in a circus as an entertainer. In his spare time he also taught Swahili to German government civil servants and diplomats, who would later use these language skills in Africa.

[Above: Mohamed Husen]

After Adolf Hitler came to power Husen began appearing in German films and proved to be a popular actor. He appeared in eleven films from 1934 to 1941.

A London Guardian news article reported about him:

'...by the mid-1930s, he was dressing up in military gear and appearing at rallies in front of National Socialist banners.'

Not much is known further about Husen. It is reported that he had a wife while in Germany and later children. Reports say that at least one of his children died in Allied Terror Bombings and possible his wife as well.

One thing is clear: Husen's story is another piece of proof that the National Socialists were not the racists their enemies teach that they were.

[Above: Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck (March 20, 1870 – March 9, 1964). Circa 1913. Courtesy of the Bundesarchiv.]

• In WWI the askari were led by their most beloved German leader Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck. Lettow-Vorbeck was a general in the Imperial German Army and the commander of its forces in German East Africa. For four long years, with a force that never exceeded 14,000 (3,000 Germans and 11,000 Africans), he held in check a much larger force of 300,000 British, Belgian, and Portuguese troops. His loyal troops and he endured hunger, malaria and the elements in what has been described by Edwin Palmer Hoyt as 'the greatest single guerrilla operation in history, and the most successful.'

Lettow-Vorbeck's force was undefeated in the field. His fluency in the Swahili language earned the respect and admiration of his African soldiers. He appointed black officers, proclaiming to his men what he believed in his heart:
'we are all Africans here'.

[Above: Poster bearing the image of General Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck on horseback leading African soldiers. Text at top reads 'Colonial War Funds Donation'.]

• The historian Charles Miller stated 'It is probable that no white commander of the era had so keen an appreciation of the African's worth not only as a fighting man but as a man.'

After the armistice of WWI Lettow-Vorbeck's army surrendered to the British. The British repatriated the white German soldiers but confined the askaris in filthy concentration camps. General von Lettow-Vorbeck refused to leave until he had won promises of decent treatment and early release for his black troops.

General von Lettow-Vorbeck brought back some of his askari soldiers to Germany where they served in his brand of Freikorps.

[Above: Postcard with the picture of General Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck and Governor Dr. Heinrich Schnee.]

• 'In 1953 in Dar Es Salam (Tanzania-ed.) I wanted to greet my old Askari. At mid-day I arrived at the local market place and I was surrounded by over 400 Askari, they had tears in their eyes and covered my hands in kisses. Around open campfires the Askari talked all through the night and they said that I had shaken the hand of every one of them, they said it is something that the English never did'.
-Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, from his 1957 book Mein Leben (My Life)

• Click here to see more pictures of the Freikorps

-Radio Wehrwolf, 1945.

[Above: Post WWI Freikorps era postcard with skull and crossbones and 'Wehrwolf' theme. This is based on a 1910 novel that took place during the 30 Years War which used themes of heroic resistance.
'Wehrwolf sein, heißt Deutschland befrei'n!' = 'To be a werewolf is to free Germany! Later, in the final days of WWII, the Wehrwolf movement of resistance fighters was formed, with the intention of fighting the Allied occupiers after the war.]

[Above: Postcard from 1924 showing a memorial in Webicht of National Socialist martyr and hero Albert Leo Schlageter, who was executed May 26, 1923. Schlageter was an underground freedom fighter during the French occupation and one of the Third Reich's first martyrs. This postcard was released by the Weimar Wehrwolf resistance organization.]

[Above: Graphic on the back of the above postcard.]

[Above: Wehrwolf postcard 'The Wehrwolf Calls'. Circa 1930.]

[Above: Book cover of Der Wehrwolf by Hermann Löns, (c)1920.]

[Above: Inside graphic of Der Wehrwolf by journalist Hermann Löns, (c)1920 (first published in 1910). Click to see more pictures!]

[Above: Showing off a beloved, ragged copy of Der Wehrwolf]

• Special thanks to mein Wehrwolf Marco R.!

'The Wehrwolf movement represents a minority. Only the best of our people belong to it.
It is more worthwhile and more promising of success to fight with a hundred determined men and women than to have a thousand [nominal] members.'
-Radio Wehrwolf, April 7, 1945.

Hermann Löns was a life long nature and animal lover who found immortality through his beloved Der Wehrwolf novel. Although he wrote a handful of other books, none are so well known and loved as Der Wehrwolf. To this day over seven million books by Löns have been printed. He was also a beloved poet, in 1911 he released a collection of poems. One of these poems, the 'Matrosenlied' (Sailors' Song) has the chorus 'Denn wir fahren gegen Engelland' (For we are sailing against England), was put to music by Herms Niel and was one of the most-sung German military songs of World War II!

But Hermann Löns would never see the fame and wealth that largely escaped him during his tumultuous life. At the age of 48, after first being rejected for ill health, he managed to join the German Army and fight in WWI. On the dark day of September 26, 1914 the great patriot and naturalist fell. Löns died just three weeks after enlisting on September 3. Of the 120 brave men in his unit only about two dozen survived an assault on a French position at Loivre near Reims in France.

[Above: Hermann Löns (August 29, 1866 – September 26, 1914)]

[Above: Third Reich era copy of Der Wehrwolf. By 1945 the Wehrmacht alone sold more than 865,000 copies of the book! This made him one of the most successful authors in Germany at the time. Click on the image to learn more and see inside this edition of Der Wehrwolf.]

• Löns was a poet whose poems often dealt with the natural world. He was a pioneer of nature conservationism. In fact, he was co-initiator of the Heideschutzpark at Wilseder Berg which later grew into the famous Naturpark Lüneburger Heide (Lüneburg Heath Nature Park), which was the first nature reserve in Germany.

[Above: This copy of Der Wehrwolf was printed with proceeds going to help needy soldiers in the Wehrmacht (left). On the right is one of the many editions for soldiers to read at the front.]

• Löns was buried on the battlefield where he fell. In 1934 his remains were located and reburied in Germany. Today there are some 113 memorials to Löns in Germany, plus another eight in Austria and 19 in other countries. There are also 247 streets and roads in Germany which have been named after him. Twelve schools also bear his name and even a stadium.

[Above: 'Here rests Hermann Löns'. The grave marker near Walsrode where the body of Hermann Löns was reburied in 1935. Click to see more!]

[Above: Pin from The Reichskolonialbund (Reich Colonial League).]

• The Reichskolonialbund was a collective body that absorbed all German colonial organizations during the time of the Third Reich. It was led by Franz Ritter von Epp.]

[Above: Card from German East Africa showing a traditional African warrior carrying the German Imperial flag.]

[Above: Franz Xaver Ritter von Epp (October 16, 1868 – December 31, 1946) was an army officer in the Imperial German Army in the early 20th century. He eventually rose to the office of Reichsstatthalter of Bavaria. After the war he was arrested and sent to an Allied death camp in Munich where he was murdered in detention on December 31, 1946.]

[Above: Membership book from The Reichskolonialbund (Reich Colonial League). Circa 1939.]

[Above: German colonial exhibition.]

[Above: Here is a postage stamp from colonial German East Africa. Circa 1901. This shows an illustration of the Kaiser's yacht.]

[Above: Here is a picture of a black East African German colonial soldier, or askari. Unlike other European nation's colonies around the world, Germany didn't take any of her colonies by force.]

[Above: Askari soldier of German General Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeckin posing for history.]

[Above: German East African gold coin from 1916.]

[Above: Askari men of German General Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeckin relax in camp. Courtesy of the Bundesarchiv.]

[Above: This strange and spectacular photo is of a tribal chief from Cameroon wearing a German helmet, armor, and uniform during a funeral.]

[Above: Men from Germany's lost colonies, which were blatantly stolen from her after WWI by the Versailles treaty. Note what is obviously a swastika armband on the black African.]

[Above: This is a donation stamp to the Reichskolonialbund (RKB). Click on the image to see more stamps from the set.]

[Above: Postcard that says: 'Germany your colonies!'.]

[Above: A beautiful Reichskolonialbund lottery ticket from 1939 for 125,000 Reichsmarks.]

[Above: German BDM girls on a trip to East Africa in the 1930s.]

[Above: German BDM girls celebrating May Day in Africa.]

[Above: March 1916 provisional stamps. These relatively rare postage stamps were never issued. The condition of the majority of these stamps is poor due to the fact that they were buried in wet soil and later dug up (in August 1921)! Only a small part of the issues were salvageable, and after being returned to Germany from East Africa, they were put up for auction in May 1922. How odd is that?]

[Above: This is a medal bar containing German medals from WW2 and a German-African medal on the far right.]

[Above: Here is a close-up.]

• Click here to see other pictures of German-Askari soldiers

• Click here to see pictures of art and postal related items

• Athena is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, law and justice, strategic warfare, mathematics, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, and skill.
Most interesting in this context, Athena is a devoted companion of heroes and is the patron goddess of heroic endeavor. She was called 'Minerva' by the Romans and Athena by the Greeks.

Here is a quote from the 1930s book 'Die Kunst im Dritten Reich':

'Athena is the goddess of war and art. She personifies the strong, fresh spiritual strength of the human being. She stands freely, upright. She recognizes, measures, and uses the strength of all things in the victorious battle with the enemy and in the conquest of nature for the creation of art. The picture of the goddess is the fitting expression of the heroic character of the Führer and the National Socialist movement and, in the deepest sense, of the art the Führer wants. An art form for which the artist has to fight in a serious and concentrated working procedure so that he may receive a blessing from it.'

[Above: The mighty and wise Athena meets the Bolshevik armies head on! This says 'Europe - Defending its 3000 year old culture against Bolshevism']

[Above: An Eastern European version of the Athena poster above.]

[Above: This poster, showing Athena and a communist, is from a Greek newspaper from March 15, 1943. It says: '3000 years of culture are in danger!']

[Above: The above poster shown in the 'Illustrierte Zeitung' (number 31, August 5, 1943).
The bottom says:

'3000 Jahre Kultur sind in Gefahr!
Die griechische Regierung ließ dieses Plakat
anschlagen und es ist von allen Kundgebungen
die populärste. Sein Text bedeuet:
3000 Jahre lang kämpften die Griechen gegen
die Eindringlinge aus den Steppen des Ostens!'

(3000 years of culture are in danger!
The Greek government had this poster
and it is the most popular in all the rallies.
Its text means:
For 3000 years the Greeks fought against
the invaders from the steppes of the East!)]

[Above: Adolf Hitler's spectacular desk in The New Reich Chancellery (Die Neue Reichskanzlei). Of special note are the three panels on the desk (from left to right):
Athena/Minerva, Ares/Mars (Athena's brother) and Medusa (whose head was given to Athena by the hero Perseus and was then added to the magnificent Aegis armor. This beautiful work was done by Hermann Kaspar (April 19, 1904 - August 2, 1986). Kaspar was a respected German designer, painter, university professor and also a close friend of Albert Speer. He also designed the mosaics, frescoes, floors, friezes and wood inlays for the New Reich Chancellery. In 1969 Speer wrote in his 'Memoirs' that Adolf Hitler was very pleased with the desk inlay...]

[Above: Close-up of the desk panels.]

[Above: Here is a view of the desk from the other side.]

[Above: This postcard is from 1934 and done by Richard Klein.]

[Above: 'Absolvia - Damenstift 1937'. This is a school student organization graduation postcard.]

[Above: This is a 1935 catalogue of artists works celebrated on the 'Day of German Art'.]

[Above: This is a 1936 catalogue of artists works celebrated on the 'Day of German Art'.]

[Above: This postcard is from 1937 celebrating the 'Day of German Art'. Click on the image to see the stamp and cancel commemorating the event.]

[Above: This postcard is from 1938 celebrating the 'Day of German Art'.]

[Above: This is the poster version from 1938 celebrating the 'Day of German Art'.]

[Above: This postcard commemorates a 1939 summer rally in Munich. The artist is Gottfried Klein.]

[Above: 1937 poster celebrating the opening of the 'Akademie für Angewandte Kunst' (Academy of Applied Arts).]

[Above: Day of German Culture machine cancel on envelope from July 1937.]

[Above: Day of German Culture cancel on envelope from July 8-10, 1938.]

[Above: Day of German Culture cancel on envelope from July 14-16, 1939.]

[Above: A rare round cancel variation for the Day of German Culture from July 16-18, 1937.]

[Above: Postal cancel honoring the Day of German Art showing Athena from July 16, 1939.]

[Above: Zinc tinnie from 1939 using the same design as the cancel above.]

[Above: This 1937 Athena cancel is from Tawern (a municipality in the Trier-Saarburg district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.) It says 'Die alte Römerherberge' (The old Roman hostel).]

[Above: This is a 1939 House of German Art folio containing a variety of beautiful German art. Paintings, sculptures and drawings, all very high quality and ready to frame.]

[Above: This is a 1943 House of German Art folio containing a variety of beautiful German art. Paintings, sculptures and drawings, all very high quality and ready to frame.]

[Above: The 1941 edition of the book being presented to Heinrich Himmler.]

• Click here to see other issues and a few examples of the featured art

[Above: House of German Art exhibition catalogs from 1941 and 1943.]

[Above: Advertisement found in the back of the 1941 catalog above. It says:
'Die Kunst im Deutschen Reich
Die führende Kunstzeitschrift
Diese repräsentative Monatsschrift in Großformat gibt Aufschluß über das nationalsozialistische Kunstwollen,
pflegt gute deutsche und artverwandte Tradition und bringt Kunstwerke von höchstem Wert'

(The Art of the German Reich
The leading art magazine
This representative monthly magazine in large format provides information on the National Socialist art movement,
cultivates good German and related tradition, and presents works of art of the highest value).]

[Above: Two tinnies from 1933 & 1937.]

[Above: 1939 House of German Art advertising brochure. Click to see more.]

[Above: House of German Art book.]

[Above: House of German Art silverware. From the top we see a dinner fork, an ice cream spoon and a dessert fork. These were used in the two restaurants within the House of German Art. Click to see more.]

[Above: House of German Art silverware. Close-up.]

[Above: House of German Art restaurant. It says:
'Die Gaststätten des Hauses der Deutschen Kunst - Das vornehm-behagliche Restaurant mit Freiterrasse - Das Bierstüberl im Untergeschoß'
(The restaurants of the House of German Art - The cozy restaurant with outdoor terrace - Bierstüberl {like a beer garden or bar} in the basement).]

[Above: Here is a map of the House of German Art from the House of German Art exhibition catalog from 1941. This is the first floor (it shows the guide line and exhibit numbers. These numbers were written above the doorways of the rooms - see example below).]

[Above: Second floor.]

[Above: Note the number '8' above the door.]

[Above: This book celebrates 2000 years of German culture. It basically says: 'Pageant on the Day of German Culture in Munich 1939']

[Above: This picture, from the book above, shows Athena's head, carried in a parade procession on the Day of German Art in Munich.]

[Above: Photograph showing Athena's head, very similar to the illustration above, carried in a parade procession on the Day of German Art in Munich, 1939.]

[Above: Parade for the Day of German Art, Munich, 1939.]

[Above: Day of German Culture parade, circa 1933.]

[Above: Kraft durch Freude (Strength through Joy) festival. Another Athena head.]

[Above: Kraft durch Freude (Strength through Joy) festival. Another Athena head.]

[Above: Kraft durch Freude (Strength through Joy) festival. Yet another Athena head.]

[Above: Illustration of Athena from a period German book.]

• Click here to see more images of National Socialist festivals

[Above: 1936 Olympic Games Commemorative Medal featuring the image of Athena. The front of the medal is the image of Athena.]

[Above: SS Allach porcelain book showing Athena figure.]

[Above: SS Allach porcelain Athena figure.]

[Above: German National Prize for Arts and Sciences, President's Neck Badge. A beautiful piece bearing the image of Athena. This is the front of the badge.]

[Above: This is the reverse of the badge. It says: 'Für Kunst und Wissenschaft' (For Art and Science)]

[Above: German National Prize for Arts and Sciences in gold and platinum and set with diamonds (dress copy). Another beautiful piece bearing the image of Athena.]

Many other medals and the like were inscribed with the holy image of Athena. Here's a description of one from the Academy of Art of Munich:

'The Academy of Art of Munich gave Hitler a golden medal. On the front was the head of Pallas Athena. The back featured Pegasus. The medal carried the following inscription: 'To the leader of the German people, Adolf Hitler, who has put national thought in the center of our spiritual life and who has rendered back to art it's old rights. His prophetic plans have given art its own task, to be the language of the people.'
-Art of the Third Reich, by Peter Adam, pg. 115, (c)1992

[Above: Music Festival, Munich 1937.]

[Above: A late-war 16mm German Red Cross film with the image of Athena.]

[Above: 1938 Munich magazine 'Jugend' (Youth).]

[Above: Preparing to raise the flag under the shadow of the Acropolis. Circa 1941.]

[Above: The flag of freedom raised under the shadow of the Acropolis in Greece, circa 1941.]

[Above: The flag of freedom raised under the shadow of the Acropolis in Greece, circa 1941.]

[Above: The flag of freedom raised under the shadow of the Acropolis in Greece, circa 1941.]

[Above: Athena statue seen over Brussel's city hall.]

• Click here to see more pictures of Germans in Greece

[Below: Although the next postcards are not from the Third Reich era, we thought we'd include them anyway because they bear Athena's image.]

[Above: Athena on a postage stamp for an event in Dresden, circa 1925.]

[Above: Athena is seen on this post card from Munich, circa 1901.]

[Above: Athena is shown here on a war exhibition postcard from Hamburg, WWI era.]

[Above: These are postal vignettes bearing Athena's image from a 1913 photography exhibition held in Frankfurt, Germany.]

[Above: This is a WWI era German postcard.]

[Above: An ancient image of Athena with her dress covered in swastikas.]

[Above: Merit badge of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society for the Advancement of Science. This class is bronze, there is also gold.]

[Above: 'Pallas Athena' on canvas, done in 1898 by Austrian/German artist Gustav Klimt (July 14, 1862 – February 6, 1918).]

[Above: 'Pallas Athena' on panel, also done in 1898, by German artist Franz von Stuck (February 23, 1863 – August 30, 1928).]

[Above: 'Pallas Athena, Venus and Juno' painted in 1593 by German artist Hans von Aachen (1552 – March 4, 1615).]

[Above: 'Götter' painted in 1901 by Franz Stassen.]

[Above: Beautiful original 1897 Athena lithograph 'Kunst-Ausstellung' by Franz Stuck. Click to see full image.]

[Above: I think this is some sort of table medal, or award. It has a gorgeous rendition of Athena. This was purchased from Italy, but who knows its origin? It must be pretty old, this new world could never produce something so beautiful.]