The "Ręce Boga" or "Hands of God" funerary urn

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4thskorpion
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The "Ręce Boga" or "Hands of God" funerary urn

#1

Post by 4thskorpion » 18 Jun 2015, 15:07

I am trying to find period information in German propaganda materials about the interesting artifact known as the "Ręce Boga" funerary urn discovered in 1936 at Biała near Łodz, Poland. I have only found two images of the funerary urn.
Rece_Boga.png
The "Ręce Boga" funerary urn discovered in 1936.
The limited background information below I have compiled and translated from various Polish sources:

A Germanic funerary urn dating to Przeworsk culture of the III-IV century AD discovered in 1936 year at an archaeological site in Biała near Łodz, Poland (or Litzmannstadt as it was known under the German occupation) on which the so-called "Ręce Boga" or “Hands of God” symbol is scribed into the body of the vessel.
330px-ReceBogaSwargi.svg.png
"Ręce Boga" or "Hands of God" symbol.
330px-ReceBogaSwargi.svg.png (3.34 KiB) Viewed 720 times
On April 1, 1940 the city of Łodz was renamed Litzmannstadt by the German occupation authorities and a double armed swastika design found on the "Ręce Boga" urn was used in new the German coat-of-arms of Litzmannstadt as part of their plan to destroy all Polish national symbols.
Litzmannstadt_swastika-coat-of-arms.jpg
Litzmannstadt coat-of-arms
Litzmannstadt_swastika-coat-of-arms.jpg (11.68 KiB) Viewed 720 times
The "Ręce Boga" funerary urn was decorated with white-outlined geometric figures, images of people, riders, animals and symbolic characters in the shape of a swastika. This last element aroused greatest interest in the German propagandists who decided to use the "Ręce Boga" swastika symbology as affirmation of the Germanic history of the region. The swastika is a symbol that appears among many cultures from prehistoric times to the present day and to the Slavs the swastika is a symbol of fire and heat.

The "Ręce Boga" vessel was apparently popularised extensively with photos and drawings along with commentary in daily newspapers such as "Litzmannstadter Zeitung", scientific journals, postcards, posters and fundraising stamps in order to primarily confirm the origin of the Germanic lands incorporated into the Third Reich.
Medallion_Urnenfund_bei_Litzmannstadt.png
German medallion featuring the "Ręce Boga" funerary urn
Medallion_Urnenfund_bei_Litzmannstadt.png (111.8 KiB) Viewed 720 times
At the behest of municipal authorities in early 1945 a new mayoral chain was commissioned and consisted of a number of medallions, in which there were portraits of Adolf Hitler and General Litzmann, the coat of arms of the Third Reich, the Litzmann family crest and Brzezin coat of arms with the date 1914 to commemorate the Battle of Brzeziny, in which gen. Litzmann participated during World War I. The last design element of the chain was a navy blue and gold coat-of-arms featuring the swastika design with double arms. This mayoral chain is on display at the Museum of City History.

It is not known what happened to the historic "Ręce Boga" funerary urn after the German occupation administration evacuated Litzmannstadt - only a plaster copy exists today in Łódź museum.

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4thskorpion
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Re: The "Ręce Boga" or "Hands of God" funerary urn

#2

Post by 4thskorpion » 16 Jul 2015, 13:24

Further images sourced from:

https://bialczynski.wordpress.com/slowi ... graficzne/
ideogramy-z-biac-Rece Boga.jpg
ideogramy-z-biac-Rece Boga.jpg (113.89 KiB) Viewed 477 times
Rece_Boga.jpg
Rece_Boga.jpg (179.6 KiB) Viewed 477 times


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