Original Item: One of a Kind Set. This is a fantastic German WWII Red Cross grouping, consisting of various different insignia and other items related to the DRK. The centerpieces however are definitely the named DRK Personal-Ausweis (ID Card) and Erkennungsmark (Dog Tag). These contain details about the service of the owner, and the ID card indicates it was issued to Lernschwester (Student Nurse) Gertraud Nieke. It gives personal information such as her date and location of birth, where she was stationed, and has all the proper stamps and signatures.

The Dog Tag bears a "Red Cross" symbol, and indicates it is for Freiwillige Krankenpflege Wehrkreis III No 11452 (Voluntary Nursing Military District III No 11452). There are no real records that could be used to link this to Nieke, but we assume that this was her dog tag.

This fantastic set also includes:

• One very good condition German DRK Red Cross Brooch. It is marked with Deutsches Rotes Kreuz Schwesternschaft ("German Red Cross Nurses League)" around the outside.
• One Very good condition German WWII DRK Red Cross fabric armband. The armband is the correct white cotton canvas, with a red heavily embroidered red cross and black script that reads; Deutsches Rotes Kreuz (German Red Cross). It measures about 15" x 5", and is sewn not together in the back.
• One Pair of DRK Kragenpatten (Collar Flap or Tabs) with enamel "Red Cross" badges.
• One DRK Eagle Cap Badge Insignia.
• Two DRK Donation Tinnies marked HELFT UNS HELFEN! (Help us Help).
• Four CECHY & MORAVA marked DRK Postage Stamps
• One period photograph, which looks to have Gertraud Nieke sitting in the front row.
• One Triangular patch marked Dinslaken 1, most likely for a field hospital or station in the German town of Dinslaken.

This is a fantastic named set with some great items in it, some of which we have never had before! Offered together as a group, ready for research and display!

History of the German Red Cross (DRK)
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. In December 1937 it gained status as a legally recognized organization by the NSDAP. As with other essential services in Third Reich Germany, it came under control of the NSDAP in late 1938 under the auspices of the Ministry of the Interior's Social Welfare Organization.

History of the "Red Cross" Symbol
It was important to clearly identify Medical personnel in the field. One of the early documents, such as the Amelioration of the Conditions of the Wounded in Armies in the Field signed August 22, 1864, by a number of Governments, already instructed that Flag and Arm Badges worn by Medical personnel would bear a Red Cross on a White Field. Both symbols when used on Hospitals, Ambulances, Evacuation and Aid Centers, were to be proof of their neutral status! These signs provided for neutrality of military and civilian protected personnel (it gave them non-belligerent status) exclusively engaged in removal, transportation, and treatment of wounded and sick, or the administration of sanitary formations and establishments, and entitled them to respect and protection from their enemies. The 1929 Geneva Convention which superseded the former agreement, was signed on July 27, 1929 by forty-seven countries (including the Axis countries, Germany, Italy, and Japan) and comprised numerous articles, among which Articles 9 and 21, recognizing that bearers of special identification cards and civilian protected personnel identified by armbands, and vehicles, and installations wearing Geneva Convention markings and markers, were all exclusively engaged in medical care activities, and consequently protected and respected by the Geneva Convention.