Edwin W. Polk and Howard Mowen N.S.D.A.P. Collection
Photograph taken by a Wehrmacht soldier in Russia during World War II. The stuffed bear was made into a signpost designating the direction and distance to Berlin and St. Petersburg (Leningrad). This was as far as the German troops ever got to St. Petersburg, holding their position for over two years before finally being driven out by the Russians.
The N.S.D.A.P. (National Sozialistische Deutsche Arbeiter Partei) Collection
consists of two separate collections: The Edwin W. Polk Collection and the Howard
Mowen Collection which have been integrated to form a single collection of Nazi
German and Allies publications, photographs, and ephemera.
The Edwin W. Polk Collection contains a wide range of World War II German
publications. Mr. Polk's own war experiences as a skipper of a PT boat in the
South Pacific prompted his interest in collecting these publications while serving
overseas. Mr. Polk was an Alumnus of Western State Teachers College (1937), now
Western Michigan University. He was also a teacher in the Detroit Public Schools
for 40 years and continued to remain active in several military oriented associations
and groups.
This extensive collection includes military books, a run of sequential newspapers
spanning several years, and many magazines; all which were strongly influenced
by the German military. One of the most unique aspects of this collection is
that some of the propaganda-filled newspapers are in English, having been printed
in the Jersey Islands in the English Channel.
The collection also contains pamphlets
dropped by the Axis and Allies to intimidate each other's troops, black and white
photographs taken by German soldiers in World Wars I and II, cigarette trading
cards with artist's depictions of the German military recovery after WWI and
the rise of the Nazi party.
The Howard Mowen N.S.D.A.P. (National Sozialistische Deutsche Arbeiter Partei)
Collection consists of some 50 newspaper titles, photographs, books, and contemporary
currency for the period of 1933-1945 in Germany. The collection was donated by
Professor Emeritus of History, Howard Mowen (WMU faculty, retired 1982). Certain
items in this collection are nearly unique, as much of this material was destroyed
after the War during the Denazification programs or has ended up with collectors
rather than libraries.
An example of the material in this collection includes: The Evening Press
, a newspaper published from 1940 to 1945 in the Channel Islands (Guernsey and
Jersey), the only part of Great Britain occupied by Nazi troops.
This set contains
a newspaper announcing the death of Adolf Hitler on May 2, 1945. The collection
also includes European currency, postage stamps, and German inflation currency
during the inter-war years. Another key point of interest in this collection
is the 379 candid battlefront photographs taken by German soldiers during World
War I and World War II. Scenes include German soldiers traveling through Russia,
Russian POW's, and other battlefield photographs.
Many of these materials are extremely rare because most Nazi propaganda was
burned during the Denazification Movement during Germany's Post-War Reconstruction.
Finding Aid: N.S.D.A.P. Collection
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