Not really a coin but a German WWII Pin

[Moose59]

I acquired this Labor pin in a bag of coins. It is from WWII era. It reads TAG DER ARBEIT 1934.

[Figleaf]

A very interesting mix of symbols from the early days of the nazi tyranny. Labour day (1st May) 1934. The high point of the day in Germany was the new chancellor (prime minister) Adolf Hitler giving a May Day speech to a rally at Tempelhof Air Field in Berlin, telling Germany that his government would make every effort to reduce unemployment. "The German people are inspired", Hitler said, "from their venerable president down to the worker and peasant, with only one wish – to become happy through work."

The National Socialist party was apparently still sticking to its name and pretending to be an alternative for socialists and - in view of the symbolism on the pin - communists. German socialists did not play along and retreated into the opposition, as the rules of the democratic game prescribed. By abolishing democracy, Hitler easily outmanoeuvred them. He made a pact with the Soviets that kept the communists quiet. The conservatives, dominated by the army, supported him.

The promise of work provision was kept through an extensive programme of re-armament and infrastructure investments, notably in highways and the railway system, that would also serve to facilitate rapid military movements. In Hitler's speech, it figures as a way to make people happy. That should be understood as a reference to the period of hyperinflation after the first world war, but also as a short-term reaction on the great depression, raging primarily in the Anglo-Saxon world, causing massive unemployment there and spilling over to their trading partners.

Looking back, you can see from the background of this pin how Hitler is obliquely preparing for a war of revenge with the Soviet Union on his side against the UK, isolating the US. Due to widespread revulsion against war (Chamberlain was by far not alone in this), the warning signs would not be heeded.

Peter

[Moose59]

Great back ground thank you. I was also reading that a group or organization holding an event would normally produce a badge or lapel pin to commemorative the event. These badges/lapel pins would be worn by participants, or given away or sold to promote the event or raise funds as required.

[Figleaf]

All that and more, like letting the boys in the bar know you were one of them. You'd find the same sort of pins in other countries, with coins or coin imitations often being used to convey a royalist, nationalist or conservative message.

They were also worn on clothes to advertise political preferences. The irony is that we don't know if the wearer was a socialist who'd fallen for the nazi propaganda, a conservative who believed Hindenburg would keep this man Hitler under control (Hindenburg would die in August 1934) or a convinced national socialist who'd follow the party unquestioningly, no matter where it appeared, what it did, what it said, or who was leading it.

Peter

[chrisild]

He made a pact with the Soviets that kept the communists quiet.

The communist rulers in Moscow maybe. In Germany, many KPD (communist party) members were among the first who ended in prisons and early concentration camps. By the way, as you wrote, this is not exactly a WW2 medal but one that was issued several years earlier. Ironically, 1 May was not a legal holiday in Germany until the nazis made it one in 1933, celebrating the unity of the nation. (Nation as in what the nazis defined as such.)

[chrisild]

The pin or badge was designed by Richard Klein by the way (German Wikipedia, with a link to more languages). Europeana has three Labor Day badges designed by him: 1934, 1935 and 1936. Later ones – 1937, 1938, 1939 - may even be considered a little kitschy ...