Hitler Youth jacket with insignia and armband found by a US soldier
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 17.500 inches (44.45 cm) | Width: 15.000 inches (38.1 cm)
Creator(s)
- Arthur R. Myers (Subject)
Biographical History
Arthur Roy Myers was born on August 13, 1920, in Manhattan, New York, to Arthur J. and Margaret Dowg Myers. He had a brother Russell and a sister Florence. In December 1941, the United States entered World War II. Myers entered the US Army. He landed in Normandy, France, during the D-Day invasion launched on June 6, 1944. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge (December 16, 1944 - January 25, 1945.) He was on the outskirts of Berlin as it fell to the Soviets in late April 1945. The war ended with Germany's surrender on May 7. Myers returned to New York. He also served in the Army during the Korean War (1950-1953.) He married Clare Ann Furnaro (d. 2004.) The couple settled in Ossining, where he was a corrections officer at Sing Sing Prison. He was active in his local American Legion Post 506 and the Moose Lodge. Myers, 93, passed away on October 8, 2013.
Archival History
The jacket was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2013 by Robert Palmer, the nephew of Arthur R. Myers.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Robert Palmer
Funding Note: The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
Scope and Content
Hitler Youth uniform jacket with a South Franken insignia, armband, and shoulder boards brought back from the war by Arthur R. Myers. Myers was an American soldier who entered combat during the D-Day invasion in June 1944. He fought through the Battle of the Bulge and continued until reaching the outskirts of Berlin in April 1945. The war ended with Germany's surrender on May 7.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Boy’s long-sleeved, waist length, brown denim jacket with a pointed collar and French cuffs. The front placket has 5 finished buttonholes and 5 textured, brown plastic shank buttons with metal rings attached inside. There are 2 large bellows breast pockets with angled corners and a top flap with 1 dark brown plastic shank button. There is a belt loop in the back and the sides are split at the waistband, which has 5 textured, gold colored metal belt hooks are inserted along the bottom to keep the shirt in place. The waistband and upper back are lined with offwhite cloth. The armhole seams have offwhite cloth binding and a small cloth loop inserted on the upper back of the shirt. Black cloth epaulets handstitched to the shoulders and fastened with circular beaded silver colored metal buttons. Two Hitler Youth cloth patches and a Hitler Youth armband are handstitched to the left sleeve: a dark brown triangle with Süd Franken and a yellow thread stitched border, a red and white armband with a mobile black swastika on a canted white square, and a youth vehicle operator patch, a pink circle with an 8 spoked wheel satin stitched in silver colored thread.
shoulder epaulets, embroidered, pink thread : 713 upper left arm, triangular patch, embroidered, yellow thread : Süd / Franken [South Franconia]
Corporate Bodies
- Hitler Youth
Subjects
- Souvenirs (Keepsakes)--Soldiers--United States--Biography.
- Germany
- Soldiers--United States--Biography.
- World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American.
- World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Western Front--Personal narratives, American.
Genre
- Uniforms
- Clothing and Dress
- Object