Deutscher Volkssturm Wehrmacht armband with an Imperial eagle seal taken by a US soldier

Deutscher Volkssturm Wehrmacht [German People’s Militia] brassard taken by 23 year old James Romberger, an American soldier, from a German officer in 1945. This militia was not part of the army, but was organized late in the war by the Nazi Party per Hitler's orders of September 25, 1944. It was composed of males who had been exempted from home guard and military service because of age or health. Romberger was a military policeman with the Third Army under General George S. Patton. He was deployed in Europe by July 1944 and fought with his unit through France and Germany. He participated in the liberation of Buchenwald concentration camp on April 11, 1945.