japanese swords-German generals...

[Chris Boonzaier]

Just found the following.... I wonder where they are today....

During World War II, Japanese Emperor Hirohito honored three Germans by awarding them fine samurai swords. What is interesting about these awards is who received them.

One sword went to Reichsmarshal Herman Goring. This would seem appropriate. After all, Goring was the head of the German Air Force, not to mention the fact that he had been Hitler’s right-hand-man for many years.

A second sword went to Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. Once again, certainly a approriate award. After all, Rommel was one of the most distinguished field commanders in the war, with many spectacular victories to his credit.

The third sword went to Bernhard Rogge. Who was Bernhard Rogge? Well, he was the skipper of the famous surface raider Atlantis, which terrorised the shipping lanes for some time early in the war. A distinguished enough record. Still, what had he done to deserve such personal recognition from the Japanese emperor? The short answer is, that he had greatly facilitated the capture of Singapore.

It seems that on November 11, 1940, Rogge’s Atlantis catpured the Blue Funnel Liner Automedon, near the Nicobar Islands, in the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Bound from Britain to Singapore, the ship carried a varied cargo. It also carried some interesting documents.

Captured aboard Automedon were the minutes of a meeting of the British War Cabinet held on August 8, 1940, plus an 87-page secret report by the Chief of the Imperial General Staff. Both documents dealt with British defensive arrangements for Malaya and Singapore.

Recognizing the enormous importance of these documents, Rogge passed them on to his superiors. And they very thoughtfully passed them on to Japanese intelligence, who found them of graet interest. Thus, Rogge contributed materially to the Japanese capture of Malaya and Singapore, which they overran in only about 60 days in Decemebr and January of 1941-1942. And thus did Rogge merit his samurai sword.

[Hauptmann]

I too have wondered for many years where these swords ended up. HG's perhaps was destroyed in one of the bombing raids as was his original Grand Cross of the Iron Cross. If it wasn't then I'd have been surprised if he'd not had it stored away with his art collection, his other swords, daggers, weapons, etc. He was a great lover of edged weapons. I'd think Rommel's sword must still be out there since so many of his possessions were preserved either by his family or in museums in Germany. As far as Rogge's no idea. But if anyone has any idea where any of these are I for one would love to know and perhaps see pics if any exist. I'm sure they were truly works of art.

Dan

[Lion101]

I too have wondered for many years where these swords ended up. HG's perhaps was destroyed in one of the bombing raids as was his original Grand Cross of the Iron Cross. If it wasn't then I'd have been surprised if he'd not had it stored away with his art collection, his other swords, daggers, weapons, etc. He was a great lover of edged weapons. I'd think Rommel's sword must still be out there since so many of his possessions were preserved either by his family or in museums in Germany. As far as Rogge's no idea. But if anyone has any idea where any of these are I for one would love to know and perhaps see pics if any exist. I'm sure they were truly works of art.

Dan

Rommel's sword is in a museum, but I do not know which one.

[Hauptmann]

I'd absolutely love to see photos... but so far I've not been able to find any on the web. I have however found a couple of references to other prominent Germans at the time being giving swords by the Japanese but not the Emperor specifically.

Generaloberst Eduard Dietl received the 1 Schwert des japanischen nationalen Verbandes Shochoku Seishin Shinkokai on 18 June 1943.

SOURCE: Thomas, Franz & Wegmann, Günter. Die Ritterkreuzträger der Gebirgstruppe, Band 1: A-K. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück, Germany, 1993.

And:

"(Himmler's mysticism) was beginning to assume far-fetched pseudo-religious forms. Goebbels, with Hitler, took the lead in ridiculing these dreams of obsessiveness. When, for example, the Japanese presented him with a samurai sword, he at once discovered kinships between Japanese and Teutonic cults and called upon scientists to help him trace these similarities to a common racial denominator."

Albert Speer - Inside the Third Reich: A Memoir (original 1970 edition, Macmillan), page 122:

If this is true and either or both still exist would also love to see those. I was lucky enough to see a presentation set of swords (Katana, Wakizashi plus extra tsubas, etc., all framed with presentation document in the mid 80's. It was actually offered to my father in trade for his silk on silk tapestry which had belonged to Madame Chiang Kai-Shek (now in my collection since my dad's passing). My father was sorely tempted... and part of me had a cheering section going off in my head but I was torn as I felt the connection to history of the tapestry far outweighed that of the sword set. But being a lover of Japanese swords there was a pretty big temptation to see him go for it. Oh it was beautiful! I can only imagine how much moreso were the swords presented to these high ranking Germans.

Dan

[Kryptos]

Oh my goodness. If these swords still exist with a solid paper trail they would be something indeed!