Hausser uniformed SA toy soldier with swastika armband

SA [Sturmabteilung] uniformed toy soldier manufactured by O. & M. Hausser in Ludwigsburg, Germany, between 1930 and 1943. It was purchased by Hans Pauli in Nuremberg, Germany, at an unknown date before 1991. Hausser made realistic toy soldiers and figurines to scale from a trademarked mixture called Elastolin. During the 1930s, figurine sets accurately representing NSDAP (Nazi Party) leaders and organizations were popular collectibles. The SA was a Nazi Party paramilitary organization, also called Brownshirts, founded by Hitler in 1920, and led by Ernst Rohm. Stormtroopers were known for their brutality and violence and were potent instruments of street terror during Hitler's rise to power. By the early 1930s, SA membership reached three million, and outnumbered the German Army. After Hitler became Chancellor in 1933, the SA's demands for political power and the placement of fanatical Nazis in all key positions threatened Hitler's plans and he turned against them. Between June 30 and July 2, 1934, the SA leadership was purged to end the embarrassing conduct and political intrigues. The SA remained a popular and murderous wing of the Nazi Party, but it would no longer be an independent political force.