Ten years ago, Scott Nelson, a painter of World War II aircraft who has had work on display at the Heritage Center, attended a traveling Anne Frank exhibit at the Bismarck Civic Center.

He perused some of the Nazi paraphernalia and was surprised when he looked at a Nazi uniform on display at a Heritage Center booth. He discovered it was donated by his uncle, Axel Nelson of Oakes.

"I guess they're pretty rare," Scott Nelson said. "It's not a military uniform; it's a party uniform."

On Thursday afternoon, Nelson's extended and nuclear family, met at the Heritage Center with Axel Nelson to view the items he donated in 1958. He gave a flag and some other small items along with the uniform.

Scott Nelson recounted the story his uncle told him.

The war was coming to an end in the spring of 1945, and many of the soldiers and leaders were taking off their uniforms and to keep a low profile.

Staff Sgt. Axel Nelson was traveling through Germany with his division when they came across a Nazi politician in Ortsgruppenleiter uniform who was "showing obvious contempt" for the American soldiers passing by.

Sgt. Nelson, who spoke German, pulled his jeep over and told the man to remove his uniform. When the Nazi refused, Nelson pointed his weapon at the man's head and repeated his demand. Nelson then left the man standing in his underwear.

Mark Halvorson, curator of collections at the Heritage Center, said the uniform belonged to a political officer, not a soldier.

He said the official would have been in charge of more than 3,000 loyal party members and kept detailed files on as many as 5,000 or 6,000 citizens.

"He had to be a good Nazi to have risen this high," he said. "This isn't someone who joined the party to keep their job or stay alive; this is somebody that was a firm believer."

Halverson said this kind of paraphernalia is valuable to collectors but can shock people who have never seen it before.

"People are very disturbed by it," he said.

Halvorson said often families don't realize the historical significance of the veteran elders. He said visits like the Nelson family's provide a bridging point to get the conversation going about their stories.

"When people see things," he said, "it brings back memories and family stories."

(Reach reporter Chris Rosacker at 250-8254 or at chris.rosacker@bismarcktribune.com.)