NSKOV membership pin with rifles aged WWII German

NSKOV membership pin with rifles WWII German, marked on back with RZM M1/52.

The National Socialist War Victim’s Care (Nationalsozialistische Kriegsopferversorgung, NSKOV) was a social welfare organization for seriously wounded veterans as well as front line fighters of World War I. The NSKOV was established in 1934 and was affiliated to the Nazi Party.

After Nazi Germany’s defeat in World War II, the American military government issued a special law outlawing the Nazi Party and all of its branches. Known as Law number five, this denazification decree disbanded the NSKOV as with all organizations linked to the Nazi Party. The organizations taking care of the welfare for World War I veterans had to be established anew during the postwar reconstruction of both West and East Germany.