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1935 PHOTO BOOK ‘DAY OF THE GERMAN ARMED FORCES’ AT THE NAZI PARTY DAYS

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Der Tag der Wehrmacht (Day of the Armed Forces) is a Heinrich Hoffmann style photo book showcasing the new and improved Nazi Wehrmacht during the Reichsparteitag der Freiheit, the Nazi Party Days of Freedom held in Nuremberg from 10-16 September 1935. It has only six pages of text, followed by fifty glossy pages of photos a huge variety of German military equipment, Nazi troops and dignitaries.

This 1935 Nazi photo book has a 2-page introduction by State War Minister General Werner von Blomberg in which he explains that the reintroduction of the mandatory military service would safeguard Germany and honor fallen soldiers of World War I. It would also ensure a peaceful and stable Europe. General von Blomberg ends by saying that the world will have to get used to the fact that the country of Germany did not die when it lost World War I, and that it will once again “occupy the same, equal position amongst great nations”.

There are photos of Adolf Hitler, Hermann Göring, General Werner Freiherr von Fritsch, Admiral Erich Raeder and Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess during military reviews at the Zeppelinwiese, Nazi tanks driving through downtown Nuremberg and in action at the Nazi Party Day Grounds, the guarded Standarten tent, huge artillery guns, cavalry troops in the medieval part of town, civilians admiring and saluting marching infantry soldiers, Luftwaffe soldiers and airplanes, etc.

Another rare picture shows Hitler surrounded by tank crews wearing their black Panzer wraps and hats. There is also a great photo of Nazi dignitaries in the grandstand, including General Gerd von Rundstedt, Franz Ritter von Epp, Reichsminister Dr. Wilhelm Frick, Graf Schwerin von Krosigk and Minister Franz Seldte. Foreign military attachés were also present and are pictured, and the last photo in the book shows General der Flieger Goering with his entourage surrounded by Luftwaffe troops enjoying a bonfire, the evening of the last day of the Nazi Party Days of Freedom.

This is followed by a 4-page foreword by Major Edgar Röhricht of the General Staff at the Nazi War Ministry (during World War II Röhricht commanded the LIX Korps and received a Knights Cross in 1944). He applaudes the great day, 15 March 1935, on which the Wehrpflicht was reintroduced (the "Military Service Law of 1935" applied to all Aryan men between 18 and 45, a big step in Nazi Germany's rearmament process and its defiance of the post-WW1 restrictions on the German military).  As a result of these changes it was decided that the Wehrmacht would be highlighted and shown off at the September 1935 Reichsparteitag or Party Days in Nuremberg. This book records those events.

The photo section of Der Tag der Wehrmacht was put together by Hauptmann W. von Borstell of the Nazi War Ministry, Franz Winninger designed the dust jacket and the book was published by Karl Siegismund of Berlin in 1935.

This rare example of first Tag der Wehrmacht at a 1935 Reichsparteitag is in nice used condition with its original dust jacket which shows wear. The 90 year old photo book has a tight spine and no odor.