Images(4)

Badge, Cap

Object number2017.116.15

Date1939-1945

OriginGermany

MediumMetal

Credit LineIn memory of Edward Ruglovsky

DescriptionSilver metal German Army cap badge. Badge is comprised of an elliptical oak leaf wreath dotted with acorns. Reverse has two bent posts at top and a double-ended brad-type fastener bent horizontally across the bottom.DimensionsHeight x Width x Depth: 1.688 x 2.688 x 0.313 in. (4.3 x 6.8 x 0.8 cm)
Historical NotesPart of a collection of items documenting Edward Ruglovsky’s WWII service in the 10th Infantry Regiment and his industrial career at U. S. Steel. Ed Ruglovsky won this object in a card game with foreign soldiers. Ed Ruglovksy was with 10th as a combat infantryman from January 1944 through the war’s end, and through the campaigns to take Western Europe – Rhineland, Ardennes, Battle of the Bulge, etc. Ruglovsky said it was “the worst place to be” and that he spent a “year being absolutely terrified.” Some of these things he acquired by trading Russian soldiers for them at the end of the war, which fits with the reality that combat infantryman – while in active combat – were not able to collect and save much, so acquiring items from another soldier at war’s end fits with Ruglovsky’s history of service.

Previous owner Edward Ruglovsky

Related institution United States Steel Corporation

Related institution 10th Infantry Regiment

Related institution Nazi Party

Related institution Wehrmacht (German, 1935 - 1945)

Subjects