RARE OUTSTANDING MASSIVE Nuremberg Desk Eagle on Base Presentation Trophy To Erich Koch Certified By The Gettysburg Museum Of History

RARE OUTSTANDING MASSIVE Nuremberg Desk Eagle on Base Presentation Trophy To Erich Koch Certified. Impressively large Nuremburg Eagle desk top presentation trophy to Erich Koch. Exact purpose of this presentation piece is unknown, but showing reference to the 1938 Reichsparty Day on its name plate. A typically styled Nuremburg Eagle 5.4 in. tall,mounted atop a 1.75 in. square silver washed cross member 9 in. wide, which is elevated and supported by three large silver washed metal columns each 1.75 in. square, all secured and attached to a marble base in a blended green/black color. Overall height of the piece is 21.75 in., with the marble base being 9.5 in wide x 4.75 in. deep x 2 in. high. To front of marble base is mounted a large engraved and silver washed name plate, secured to the marble with nails. The presentation plaque reads: ‘SA – Gruppenfuhrer Erich Koch Parteitag 1938’. This rare oversized eagle presentation piece is in overall good condition, with the metal columns being fixed by a master metal worker after it came to us having been repaired by someone unskilled. The eagle is attached to the pillars with the original bolt, a bit loose but completely and originally attached. A rare and unusual piece. ERICH KOCH (1896-196) was Gauleiter of East Prussia and Reichskommissar of the Ukraine with control of the Gestapo and the uniformed police. His domain extended from the Baltic to the Black Sea; it comprised ethnic German, Polish, Belarus and Ukrainian areas. Koch worked together with Fritz Sauckel in providing the Reich with forced labor. He was also involved in the persecution and mass-murder of Polish and Ukrainian Jews. After various escapes between January and May of 1945, his whereabouts remained unknown until he was arrested in Hamburg in 1949 and turned over to the Poles in whose hands he remained until the start of his trial in 1958. Convicted of war crimes in 1959, he was sentenced to die, but ultimately received a commuted life sentence which left him in Barczewo prison in Poland until his death in 1986. More on Koch: Erich Koch, Regarded as One of Cruelest of Hitler’s SS Men (19 June 1896 – 12 November 1986) was a Gauleiter of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in East Prussia from 1928 until 1945. Between 1941 and 1945 he was the Chief of Civil Administration (Chef der Zivilverwaltung) of Bezirk Bialystok. During this period, he was also the Reichskommissar in Reichskommissariat Ukraine from 1941 until 1943. Regarded as one of the cruelest of Hitler’s Nazi administrators, Koch was sentenced to death by a Polish court on March 9, 1959, for killing 72,000 Poles and sending about 200,000 others to labor camps. In the Soviet Union, Koch was alleged to have been responsible for the deaths of 4 million Russians and Jews and sending 2 million people into forced labor. Koch’s cruelty was matched by that of his wife, Ilsa, the notorious “Bitch of Buchenwald,” the concentration camp that was for a time commanded by her husband. She was feared for her sadistic treatment of prisoners and for having selected camp inmates murdered so that lamp shades could be made from their tattooed skin. An unrepentant Nazi to the last, Koch spent his last 27 years in a book-lined solitary cell in the village of Barczewo in northeastern Poland, the territory he once controlled. He was described as being keenly interested in politics and economics, reading in both German and English, and also was said to speak good Polish. People who saw Koch in prison said he exercised and described him as having gray hair combed flat to one side and a small mustache similar to Hitler’s. Koch joined the NSDAP in 1922 {member # 90}. From 1922 he worked in various party positions in the NSDAP-Gau Ruhr. During the Occupation of the Ruhr, he was a member of Albert Leo Schlageter’s group and was imprisoned several times by the French authorities. In 1927 he became Bezirksführer of the NSDAP in Essen and later the deputy Gauleiter of Gau Ruhr. Koch belonged to the left wing of the party and was a supporter of the faction led by Gregor Strasser. During the final months of the war, Koch organized chaotic sea evacuations for refugees fleeing East Prussia across the Baltic Sea. His administration of the region—and clashes with U-boat commanders like Karl-Friedrich Merten—is well-documented . However, his personal escape attempt relied on the icebreaker Ostpreußen from the port of Pillau rather than a submarine.After reaching Flensburg and unsuccessfully attempting to secure a U-boat for a South American escape, he remained in hiding until his arrest. Extradited to Poland, he was sentenced to death in 1959 for war crimes, though this was later commuted to life imprisonment. He died of natural causes in Barczewo prison, Poland, in 1986.  A very rare variant eagle. Very fine condition. Nuremburg desk eagles were often given as prizes for competitions held at the Nuremberg rallies, and also as presentations to members of the political elite.  Very fine condition. This is a “one looker” as we say! Some wear from use otherwise.  100% guaranteed to be authentic. Gettysburg Museum Certified (COA) provided. Please see our other items on our web site. DON’T MISS THIS! One of the truly desirable Third Reich Artifacts!  VERY HEAVY! Get this nice one while you can the prices on these keep soaring!  OUTSTANDING EXAMPLE! When Size AND History matters!