Der Stahlhelm Mitgliedsbuch – Erich Hauck – WW1 Veteran – With Photo – Somme Battles! (Sold)

An incredible little ID, the first of its sort to arrive with us. 

It shows a picture of Erich Hauck, a former member of:

Reserve Infanterie Batl 104 – Minenwerfer 

He fought on the Somme, Weichsel and Champagne

He was wounded four times and as a result was disabled, up to 50% . 

Der Stahlhelm was formed on 25 December 1918 in Magdeburg, Germany, by the factory owner and first World War-disabled reserve officer Franz Seldte. After the 11 November armistice, the Army had been split up and the newly established German Reichswehr according to the Treaty of Versailles was to be confined to no more than 100,000 men. Similar to the numerous Freikorps, which upon the Revolution of 1918–1919 were temporarily backed by the Council of the People’s Deputies under Chancellor Friedrich Ebert (Ebert–Groener pact), Der Stahlhelm ex-servicemen’s organization was meant to form a paramilitary organization.

The league was a rallying point for revanchist and nationalistic forces from the beginning. Within the organization a worldview oriented toward the prior Imperial regime and the Hohenzollern monarchy predominated, many of its members promoting the Dolchstosslegende (“Stab-in-the-back legend”) and the “November Criminals” bias against the Weimar Coalition government. Its journal, Der Stahlhelm, was edited by Count Hans-Jürgen von Blumenthal, later hanged for his part in the 20 July plot. Financing was provided by the Deutscher Herrenklub, an association of German industrialists and business magnates with elements of the East Elbian landed gentry (Junker). Jewish veterans were denied admission and formed a separate Reichsbund jüdischer Frontsoldaten.