Bidspirit auction | Set of Third Reich Medals

Set of Third Reich Medals - A mixed set of German commemorative and service awards, including a Sudetenland Commemorative Medal inscribed ”Zur Erinnerung an den 1. Oktober 1938,” a War Merit Cross medal (Kriegsverdienstmedaille) with swastika on a cross of rays and reverse inscribed ”Fur Kriegsverdienst, ” a Wehrmacht Long Service Award (Dienstauszeichnung) medal with eagle and swastika and text reading ”...Treue Dienste in der Wehrmacht, ” and a 25 Year Faithful Service Medal with an enameled swastika at center and reverse inscribed ”Fur Treue Dienste.” These decorations were awarded to German military and civilian personnel during the Third Reich period, recognizing service duration and specific commemorated events such as the annexation of the Sudetenland. Together they represent a small cross-section of the state's tiered system of service and merit recognition current in the late 1930s and wartime years. The Sudetenland Medal commemorated Germany's annexation of the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia in October 1938, following the Munich Agreement, and was awarded to military personnel and civilians involved in the occupation. The Kriegsverdienstmedaille (War Merit Medal) was instituted in 1939 to recognize wartime service by those not eligible for combat decorations, typically home-front or non-combatant contributions. The Wehrmacht long-service awards formed part of a graduated series introduced in 1936 to recognize years of military service, while faithful service medals of this type were awarded across state and party institutions for extended loyal employment, mirroring similar civil service awards used since the Weimar era.