The Social Welfare Decoration (or “Ehrenzeichen für deutsche Volkspflege” in German) was created by Adolf Hitler as a civil award for services in the social sector on 1 May 1939.
The decoration was issued in three classes and was awarded for a wide variety of service to the German statsuch as Winterhilfswerk, National Socialist People’s Welfare, medical and rescue work, or care of foreign and ethnic Germans.
The medal was a replacement for the German Red Cross Decoration. The main requirement for the award was that the service rendered should be to the benefit of the civil population. Reinhard Heydrich was awarded the decoration for his running of the Gestapo in the 1930s and for providing “security” to the German people. The infamous Doctor Josef Mengele was also awarded the decoration in 1941, for providing medical services to wounded soldiers and civilians alike on the battlefields of the Eastern Front.
It was conferred in four classes consisting of a white-enameled gold Balkenkreuz with Reich eagle and swastika. A “Medal of Social Welfare” was also issued for lesser degrees of service, not warranting the higher presentation of a class award.
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