11 Präsentationsdolch für Armeegeneral Hoffmann

Presentation dagger to Army General Heinz Hoffmann presented by the staff of the Ministry of National Defense on the occasion of his 67th birthday. The handle and the guard in fine gilding. Also the pommel decorated with the national emblem of the GDR. Ivory colored plastic grip with gilded wire wrapping. Double-edged blade with double fullers. Burnished iron scabbard with gilded fittings. On two suspension rings. GDR coat of arms and oak branch in relief on the upper fitting. Length: 40 cm. Comes with a general's harness made of gilded metal threads on a red cloth base and gilded light metal hooks and clasp. In a magnificent and elaborately crafted presentation case made of red leather with GDR state emblem in gold embossing. Interior with blue velvet inlay and gilt presentation plaque with engraving: "presented by the College of the Ministry of National Defense November 28, 1977". Box: 49 x 22 x 7 cm. It is the type of the so-called "Marshall - Dagger", the only known example of which is illustrated in Kurt Glemser, "A Guide to Military Dress Daggers" , Volume IV (1991). Likewise, Barth / Max in their book: Militärische Blankwaffen in der DDR, Lichtenau 2009, p.166 ff, treat the subject of this and other presentation daggers in detail. Heinz Hoffmann (* 28 November 1910 in Mannheim; † 2 December 1985 in Strausberg, actually Karl-Heinz Hoffmann) was an army general, member of the Council of Ministers of the GDR, Minister of National Defense, member of the National Defense Council and deputy of the People's Chamber of the GDR. He had been a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED since October 2, 1973. Hoffmann came from a working-class family. After attending school in Mannheim, he completed an apprenticeship as an engine fitter at Motoren-Werke Mannheim from 1925 to 1930. From 1926 to 1930 he was a member of the Communist Youth League of Germany, then of the KPD. During this time Hoffmann served several short prison sentences for participation in demonstrations and fisticuffs. Emigration In 1933 he went into hiding after the NSDAP came to power, emigrating first to Switzerland in 1935, but in the same year he went to the Soviet Union, where he attended the International Lenin School in Moscow. In 1936 and 1937 he was trained as an officer at the Officers' School in Ryazan and was made a lieutenant. In 1937 and 1938 he fought in the 11th International Brigade in the Spanish Civil War. There he served as political commissar and battery commissar of the Hans Beimler Battalion under the code name "Heinz Roth." After being wounded, Hoffmann was initially sent to a Madrid military hospital before spending several months in the Eaux-Bonnes internment camp in France in 1938 and 1939. From April 1939 until November 1940, he was in a convalescent home in the Soviet Union. Hoffmann attended a special Comintern course in Pushkino near Moscow from March 1941. To this day, it is still disputed what exact educational purpose this course served. In addition to an extensive social science education, military subjects were also taught. It is assumed that the graduates were intended to be deployed in the European territories already occupied by Germany at that time. At the same time, he was an employee of the NKVD until 1944. From 1942 to 1944, Hoffmann was a teacher at an antifa school, first in the Gorky region and later in Krasnogorsk. He also joined the NKFD there. In 1945, Hoffmann headed Party School No. 12 near Moscow. Party functionary in the SBZ and the GDR In January 1946 Hoffmann returned to Berlin and became first a personal assistant to Wilhelm Pieck, later to Walter Ulbricht. From 1950 until his death, he was a member of the People's Chamber, a member of the SED Central Committee from 1952, and a member of the SED Politburo from 1973. From Head of the Main Training Administration to Army General of the NVA Hoffmann in September 1969 Graduates of the NVA Military Academy greet Erich Honecker and Heinz Hoffmann on October 27, 1980 From 1949, Hoffmann was entrusted with building up armed forces in the GDR. He was initially vice president of the German Administration of the Interior and head of the Main Department of Political Culture with the rank of Inspector General. In 1950, Hoffmann was appointed head of the Main Training Administration and thus also became Deputy Minister of the Interior. During the buildup of the barracks-based People's Police (KVP), he became its chief on July 1, 1952, and was promoted to lieutenant general on October 1, 1952. From 1955 to 1957, Hoffmann studied at the General Staff Academy of the USSR. After returning from the Soviet Union, he served as first deputy to the Minister of National Defense from 1957 to 1960 and additionally as Chief of the Main Staff from 1958 to 1960. In 1959 he was promoted to Colonel General and in 1961 to Army General, succeeding Willi Stoph as Minister of National Defense of the GDR. When he took over as Minister, he also became a member of the National Defense Council. Shooting order Since October 6, 1961, there has been an order by the then GDR Minister of Defense, Army General Hoffmann, which obligated the border troops of the GDR to immediately use the firearm in an armed manner after a shout and a warning shot if fugitives could not be apprehended in any other way. In a speech captured on film, Hoffmann said,[1] "Whoever does not respect our border will feel the bullet." - Heinz Hoffmann Significant and unique gift dagger of the greatest rarity.

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