Would you hang this in your house?

It was 1937, so presumably during the Spanish Civil War - the Germans helped the Nationalists (Franco etc) but the UK was not (yet) at war with Germany. Sounds like she did a noble thing during a difficult time. I'd display it. Just cos it has Hitler's name on it doesn't imply any support from you, your husband or his ancestors. And it shows that wars are never simple A vs B affairs. Perhaps it also highlights how for some people fulfilling their role of helping those in distress transcends any political sensibilities (compare RNLI role right now)

Why not display the medal if you'd like and keep the certificate kept away? I think displaying the certificate may cause offence and misunderstanding to visitors (including trades people etc) as their likely to clock the name from a distance but nothing else about it.

Do we decorate our homes for ourselves or for our guests?

I typically love historical things of interest hanging in peoples homes but this feels a bit, I dunno, provocative? I would probably tuck it away safely in a drawer or only display it in a place that visitors wouldn’t typically go (home office etc)

I’d donate that to a museum or something. I wouldn’t have it in my house.

Lots of things are interesting, that doesn't mean it's necessarily appropriate to display them around guests.

Surprised so many people are saying no.

It’s an interesting piece of history. If I saw this hanging in someone’s house I would be intrigued and ask about it.

I wouldn’t immediately assume they were fans of Hitler.

Then I would put it in a box in the attic and try and forget about it.

If you do hang it on your walls, be prepared for people to be offended and to say as much.

Donate it to a relevant history society or museum of the Spanish Civil War. It is an historical artefact, treat it as such and get it out of the house! Take a pic of it for future generations maybe, but that's it.

I wouldn’t hang it up, but I’d definitely keep it for the historical value.

Not sure the downstairs loo is necessarily that discrete - it's one room that potentially any visitor to the house could ask to use.

Sounds like the beginning of a horror film

I wouldn’t hang anything bearing Hitler’s name in my home, no. I’m half Jewish so it would probably upset my relatives for one…

100% not in any circumstances. The name of one of the most evil people to have ever lived is not something I'd be comfortable seeing as a guest either.

No, but I find war stuff in general bloody depressing. Not something to be celebrated and hung on walls.

Give it to a museum.

100% you are right about the persecution of Jews, that had been happening for some years by then. My point was more that to a British army nurse Germans (nor Hitler) would not have been considered the enemy? I genuinely don't know. I know Chamberlain was trying appeasement but what was the view of the British public. Had public opinion turned against Germany?

I'd misread the date there as 39, my apologies. No Germany wasn't considered the UKs enemy in 37. They were a fascist state by that point and had past a whole sweep of legislation to persecute the groups of their society they targeted. The UK at that point feared the potential of another war with them. The government went with apeasement as a strategy to avoid war. A fair amount of people (Churchill notably) thought that was the wrong strategy and showed weakness that contributed to the start of the war.

If I saw that in your house OP, I wouldn’t be returning to your home and our friendship would cease. I wouldn’t remain friends with anyone who displayed Hitler’s signature in their home. I’d say it should be donated to a museum or kept in a drawer in your home.

Germany wasn’t a military enemy in 1937 (in the sense that Britain was not at war with them, I’m not saying it was a good regime!)

Maybe not the same incident, but a German ship bombed in Spain in 1937 was there enforcing an arms embargo fully supported by Britain, in relation to the Spanish civil war. I’d guess this is the incident OP’s medal refers to, as injured German soldiers were treated in Gibraltar.
(Germany was actively violating the embargo in other ways which were ignored due to appeasement, but still, this ship wasn’t viewed as enemy soldiers).

But to answer your question OP, no I wouldn’t display it. Partly because I wouldn’t display something like that without Hitler’s name on it. But even if I would, I’d feel like I had to explain it to everyone.

We were trying to appease Hitler from around 1936 because we didn’t want another war and we thought, in retrospect, Germany had been treated badly after WW1.
Germany were persecuting Jews in 1937, yes.

I wouldn’t hang it regardless of what guests might think. I prefer to look at peaceful things in my home.

No, I wouldn’t. My mother still has my father’s iron cross from the last war (which has a swastika on it). It’s in a drawer.

@SethTrek I agree with your sentiments and I too would display the item for its historic interest and celebration of my relatives actions. But just a question. It is dated 1937, were Germany considered the enemy then?

This