Torf Einsatz 1943 badge ?

Joe B

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I have seen aprox 7 of these unusual badges in 35 years .

Some attribute these badges to HJ who voluntered to dig graves for service personal who were " lucky " enough to have died in a German military hospitals .
Other accounts have been for HJ who voluntered to dig mass graves for civilians who had been killed in bombing raids over German major industrial cities .
Can ANYONE out there give documented information about this badge .

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Hi Joe,

'Torf' is peat so grave-digging is out of the question as a possibility but perhaps this was given to those involved in a big drive to increase peat cutting/production in order to burn more peat instead of coal? I'll have a look through my stuff here but I don't remember reading anything on this badge or the 'Torf-Einsatz'.

Edit: Weitze has three of these badges for sale currently and describes them as being for HJ members who took part in peat cutting in the Weser-Ems area in 1943. He says however that that there is no conclusive evidence for this. Something like that must have made the local newspapers back then though so hopefully more will come to light.
 
Hi Joe,

'Torf' is peat so grave-digging is out of the question as a possibility but perhaps this was given to those involved in a big drive to increase peat cutting/production in order to burn more peat instead of coal? I'll have a look through my stuff here but I don't remember reading anything on this badge or the 'Torf-Einsatz'.

Edit: Weitze has three of these badges for sale currently and describes them as being for HJ members who took part in peat cutting in the Weser-Ems area in 1943. He says however that that there is no conclusive evidence for this. Something like that must have made the local newspapers back then though so hopefully more will come to light.

Gary , hope your lucky on finding some evidence as ive allways known these as mentioned for a drive to cut peat, good hunting.
 
Phil Bakers Book Vol 3 page 96 has it as the 1943 badge for volunteer peat workers
 
Bump... been a while and no more info?
Hiscoll has also just listed one for €300.- no doubt he has copied what Weitze writes, as well as the value that Weitze places on these.

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What the hell is it? a special badge for Hitler Youth who helped cut peat to use as firewood?
 

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If this is a "HJ" badge and if it was given out as part of a Torfeinsatz then the work will have come under the heading of "Kriegseinsatz der Hitler-Jugend", probably more specifically the sub-heading of "Einsatz für Partei und Gemeinde" and searching online you can find a few references where people talk about their childhood and cutting peat during the war although not specifically in support of the war effort. This was usually done in May incidentally. I also see a couple of references to peat-cutting being a RAD task.

So the HJ may have been involved in organised peat-cutting but if they were, would someone have considered, let alone have paid for, a badge to be given to those involved? I say "given to" because with tinnies it was usually the case that they acted as fundraisers but who in their right mind would pay to cut peat??

I think we'll need some proof in the form of a newspaper report from one of the north-German or perhaps Bavarian newspapers or some other evidence before these badges can be taken seriously. A micro-examination like the method shown in Jo's book would also be useful.

Edit: micro-examination subsequently carried out by Jo. See THIS post.
 
Looks more like a combat award with that wreath, that is really the senseless part, apart from the area and purpose (HJ,NSDStB etc..) missing.
 
Yep. I might get in touch with Weitze actually and ask whether he would be willing to share the source that led him to describe this as a "HJ" badge.
 
Looks more like a combat award with that wreath, that is really the senseless part, apart from the area and purpose (HJ,NSDStB etc..) missing.

that was my first thought also , a new one on me this badge, not very exciting either, and a badge made for people cutting peat? lol hope some more info can be found by those who know what their looking for
 
that was my first thought also , a new one on me this badge, not very exciting either, and a badge made for people cutting peat? lol hope some more info can be found by those who know what their looking for

Never cut peat myself, so maybe it is similar to a "fight" and just maybe there are more? Torf Gebietsmeister 1941, Torf Gaumeister 1941, Leistungsabzeichen in Torf ???? i want one!
 
A very interesting site that covers the Peat harvest in the area that Weitze claims this badge was for. Very interesting images and text indeed. I see "zwangsverpflichtet", i read "strafgefangene" i read "The RAD set up a special RAD Lager for this job" i dont read anything about the Hitler Youth, and nothing that would give the impression of a special, combat-like award for this job..... in fact everything i read on that page, that covers the peat harvesting in this area from WW1 to long after the war, points towards it being a "job" that there was surely never a medal for.

LINK.
 
lol

I have a raft of very detailed regulations here about the war service work carried out by the HJ/BdM: who can do what, for how long, where and for how much. These kids were protected from over-exertion for example and manual peat-cutting is/was very strenuous work. I see reports online about jewish adults and POWs being forced to do it. I see other reports about German POWs being forced to do it in Russia and as I mentioned the RAD did it. Peat-cutting isn't mentioned in the HJ war service (Kriegseinsatz) regulations and in 1943 everything was still working fairly well so I think we can assume that they were being adhered to. Anyway, if the HJ was involved in peat-cutting it would have been the young adults only and of course only in areas where peat was available. Energy needs in accordance with Göring's "Vierjahresplan" were very dependent on coal and so of course everything was geared towards that but where's the "Kohle-Einsatz 1943" badge or a "Heilkräuter-Sammeln-Einsatz" badge, a "Kartoffelernte" badge etc etc Why just one for peat? I can't see this being a HJ badge.

Edit: damn, you posted while I was still writing too :) The "lol" was for post #12. Anyway, totally agree with you.
 
I am looking only at the badge, void of "what it was for" - sure Torf and einsatz, i can also add them together and come up with the use, BUT... as my new sig says...... at the moment, i am tipping on a total fantasy creation to fool, and nothing else!
 
Yep, Torf + Einsatz = Torfeinsatz but the history is obviously a big part of finding an explanation for what this badge is/could be. That needs to be understood but we've done that to death now. I don't think that this is a HJ badge either but as I say, I'll ask Helmut W whether he has any info he can share. Perhaps that will help to decide whether this is a total fantasy as you say.
 
Yes Garry, we can add, but can Helmut Weitze? I believe he can as well...but is he using the same calculator as we are? yes, i use a calculator to add 2 and 2...
 
Garry already mentioned the "manual labor" evolved in this job, or the job that this badge was apparently for. Heavy work, that you & i probably wouldn't want to do today. So maybe good to focus on just that for the time being.
The following KZ memorial site, in the exact area this was supposed to have taken place by HJ (or whoever) and it notes:

Die Häftlinge - unter ihnen nach der Erweiterung besonders viele Homosexuelle - mussten je nach Jahreszeit zwischen 8 bis 10 Stunden täglich im Moor arbeiten (Entwässerung, Straßen- und Wegebau, Torfabbau)

The prisoners - including many homosexuals .....depending on the season, had to work 8-10 hours a day in the Moors. (Draining, keeping roads and paths in shape, peat harvesting)

Gedänkstätte Ersterwengen

Thats two independent and surely reliable sources, that mention the use of concentration camp prisoners as bauing the torf ab. (that was swing-lish) doing the torfabbau = torfeinsatz. We have as well the RAD.
Now if this was an RAD award, then something will be mentioned supporting it in the Schwerdt und Spaten announcements, surely.. in 1943........ although being unmarked, seems incredibly strange if it was RAD.
 
Would anyone be able to upload a scan of this page/book?

Philip Baker: Youth led by Youth, Vol. 3, page 95-96

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Text from: Ehrenspaten der HJ. Auf dem Spatenblatt sehr schön mit Schrift und Darstellung graviert "Torf-Eins

Ehrenspaten der HJ.

Auf dem Spatenblatt sehr schön mit Schrift und Darstellung graviert "Torf-Einsatz 1939", darunter "Arb.-Gau XIX" und HJ-Abzeichen. Auf dem Stiel Metallplakette mit HJ-Adler und Bezeichnung "B(ann) 191". Eisen, Holz, L. 100 cm. Sehr seltenes Objekt, das wohl dem HJ-Bann 191 überreicht worden ist. Aus der Literatur ist ebenfalls eine tragbare HJ-Auszeichnung "Torf-Einsatz 1943" mit ähnlicher Darstellung bekannt. Lit. hierzu liegt bei. Der Spaten selber wurde vor wenigen Monaten im Torf gefunden und ist daher in sehr schöner Erhaltung.
 
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