AEG 28W radio receiver for long wave and broadcast signals
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 10.750 inches (27.305 cm) | Width: 21.375 inches (54.293 cm) | Depth: 9.000 inches (22.86 cm)
Creator(s)
- Allgemeine Elektricita?ts-Gesellschaft (Germany) (Manufacturer)
Archival History
The radio was acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1990.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection
Funding Note: The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
Scope and Content
AEG 28W tabletop radio manufactured by the German company AEG (Allgemeine Elektricitaˆts-Gesellschaft), a pioneer in electrical power engineering and a worldwide supplier of electrical equipment and systems. AEG factories were essential to the production of aircraft, automobiles, and railways. In 1933, AEG provided financial support for the newly formed Nazi government. The company initially resisted the antisemitic racial policies of the Nuremberg Laws of 1935 and retained Jewish employees, including members of the managing board. But in 1936-37, facing financial difficulties, the company complied with Nazi policy. By 1943, AEG was an integral part of the war economy. It was a major consumer of slave labor from the ghettos and camps, locating factories near sites such as Riga, Latvia, and Auschwitz III with ample labor supplies. The company voluntarily made reparation payments in 1960.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Large radio in a rectangular, wooden case covered in dark brown wood veneer with rounded front edges. The front has 2 rectangular openings between raised, horizontal bands. Textured brown cloth is stretched across the left opening and a rectangular glass dial with a dark brown background is set into the right. The dial has 3 clear, narrow horizontal windows with white painted labels: a 1500 – 500 kHz frequency line across the top, a 400 – 150 kHz frequency line across the lower middle, and 11 European city names around the bottom window in a section labelled II. In the center, labelled I, are 39 small clear windows beside city names arranged in staggered columns. A thin red vertical tuning needle is visible in several windows at once. There are 3 brown plastic knobs below the window: 1 with an attached black knob flanked by 2 with an engraved arrow. On the bottom, there are 2 bolts and 4 rectangular feet. The mechanical workings are largely intact and accessible through the open back, which has a removable panel, now missing. A 120 inch long, cloth covered cord with a 2 prong plug is attached to the back.
Corporate Bodies
- Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft (Germany)
Subjects
- Radio broadcasting, German.
- Germany--Social life and customs.
- Radio in politics--Germany--History--20th century.
- Popular culture--Germany--History--20th century.
- Forced labor.
Genre
- Object
- Audiovisual and Photographic Materials