6850th INTERNAL SECURITY DETACHMENT INTERNATIONAL MILITARY TRIBUNAL NURNBERG, GERMANY APO 124-A, U. S. ARMY 24 January 1946 – An official document detailing the design of the special emblem of the Internal Security Detachment that operated במסגרת the International Military Tribunal (International Military Tribunal) 6850th at the Nuremberg Trials. The document describes and explains the significance of every element selected in the emblem’s design, at the request of the U.S. Chief of Counsel at the Nuremberg Trials. Signed in print by the unit commander, Burton C. Andrus.
At the head of the document appears the unit emblem. Title of the document: “Data on the heraldic design for the U.S. Chief of Counsel.” The document details the form of the emblem selected and specially designed for the guard units במסגרת the Nuremberg Trials, describing what each of its elements symbolizes: 1. Heraldic description – a specification of the emblem’s features according to the rules of nobility/official insignia.
Here it details what appears in the emblem:
Blue background (symbolizing truth)
Red flames (symbolizing the “abyss of wrath”)
Black border (solemnity/mourning)
Key – security
Scales – justice
Broken Nuremberg eagle (symbol of defeated Germany)
As well as an important note: Nazi elements were incorporated into the key as a symbol that the war criminals are “imprisoned in their own prison.”
It was further determined that this design was adopted as a shoulder patch by the 6850th Internal Security Unit. It was reproduced in metal to be worn by soldiers serving the Office of the Chief of Counsel on the shoulder loop, in the manner of regimental heraldic devices. Civilians may wear it as a lapel pin, if they wish. The emblem will also be used as a design on books, records, and files. Signed in print, Colonel B.C. ANDRUS.
The signatory of the document (in print), Colonel Burton Curtis Andrus [1892–1977], was an officer in the United States Army who served in World War II. His most prominent role was as the commandant of Nuremberg Prison, where the defendants were incarcerated during the Nuremberg Trials following the end of World War II in Europe. He served as commander of the 6850th Internal Security Detachment and was effectively responsible for the detention facility in which the Nazi war criminals were held during the trials. In his role, he was responsible for guarding senior members of the Nazi regime, supervising their conditions of imprisonment, preventing escapes and suicides, and escorting the prisoners to and from the courtroom. He was known as a strict disciplinarian with a कठोर and uncompromising approach toward the prisoners. Burton spent long hours with his staff planning every detail of the prisoners’ lives. After the suicide of Robert Ley, Andrus organized suicide-proof cells in which even the tables were designed to collapse under a person’s weight. He stationed guards 24 hours a day outside each cell and insisted that the prisoners sleep with their hands outside the blankets. He required prisoners to take exercise periods during which their cells were searched, and personally designed the meeting cells in which prisoners and visitors could speak with one another without being able to touch hands.
[1] leaf. 27×21 cm. Remnants of adhesive tape at the corners. Very good condition.
