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1939 Allenstein Kreis Party Day Badge

Bronze plated stamped steel, 34x25 mm, soldered steel pin, seldom seen, very light wear.

Price ... $65 SOLD, Ed L
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East Prussian plebiscite memorial in Allenstein: Shortly after the outbreak of World War I, troops of the Russian Empire captured Allenstein in 1914, but it was recovered by the Imperial German Army in the Battle of Tannenberg. Germany convincingly won the war on its eastern front in 1917. But it lost the war on the western front in 1918. The punitive Versailles Treaty imposed huge war reparations on Germany and redrew its borders. It also forced a plebiscite on the counties of East Prussia to vote whether they wanted to be citizens of Germany or Poland. During the East Prussian plebiscite, Allenstein voted to remain in German East Prussia instead of becoming part of the Second Polish Republic. The plebiscite was held on July 11 1920, and produced 362,209 votes (97.8 %) for East Prussia and 7,980 votes (2.2 %) for Poland. This patriotic monument was erected in 1920 to celebrate the eleven Kreise in East Prussia that voted to stay in Germany.

However, much formerly German land was awarded to Poland which cut off Danzig and other lands from Germany. Hitler wanted a corridor through this lost territory to restore trade and communication via roads, rail lines, air traffic, electric cables, etc. England, France, and Poland wanted to prevent this from happening.

After taking over Czechoslovakia and Austria the year before, the overconfident Hitler, with his 1939 Soviet non-aggression pact in hand, decided to settle the Polish question by force. This is what started WW2. It can all be traced back to the humiliating dismemberment of Germany in East Prussia after it lost WW1.

Allenstein was plundered and burned by the invading Soviet Red Army on January 22 1945 as the Eastern Front reached the city. Allenstein's German population evacuated the region or were subsequently expelled. On August 2 1945 the city was placed under Polish administration by the Soviets (according to the Potsdam Agreement) and officially renamed Olsztyn. In October 1945 the German population of Allenstein was expelled by Order of City Commanders Olsztyn to assemble on October 18 at Karl Roensch Street barracks camp for voluntary transfer to Germany. Any Germans who did not depart were put in punishment camps.