German DVG Westmark (Lothr) Deutscher Volksgenossen Bund Member Badge W.Redo

The D.V.G., “Deutscher Volksgenossen Bund” (German Fellow-countrymen League), was comprised of ethnic Germans from the Alsace-Lorraine & Luxemburg region who sought unification with Germany. Silvered Tombac and enamel, marked W.REDO SAARLAUTERN. Measures 23mm in diameter.

Volksgemeinschaft is a German expression meaning “people’s community”, “folk community”, “national community”, or “racial community”, depending on the translation of its component term Volk (cognate with the English word “folk”). People who belonged to the Volksgemeinschaft were known as Volksgenossen (fellow members). This expression originally became popular during World War I as Germans rallied in support of the war, and many experienced “relief that at one fell swoop all social and political divisions could be solved in the great national equation”. The idea of a Volksgemeinschaft was rooted in the notion of uniting people across class divides to achieve a national purpose, and the hope that national unity would “obliterate all conflicts – between employers and employees, town and countryside, producers and consumers, industry and craft”.