/
Text
ROBIN LUMSDEN
The SS m alt of its many guise* one qI |h« key
pofilical-mifitgry studurcs o! flit- Thud Reich. It grew
from a small, lanalical troop of 200 men who were
Hiller's personal bodyguard, to an organization of hun-
dreds of thousands of personnel who were involved in
every aspect Of German society during the war. Qn the
battlefield S3 forces were renowned far their superb
comtol skills, they were also Synonymous with the
bruLiliitee of the сопсепишюп camps
The SS were Hitler's tdeotogica troops and Uhcm cHrle
status is nowtiere more apparent than m mtw uni-
forms. Himmler, Reichsfahrer of Iha &S regarded his
forces as a modem incarnation Of the chwakic orders
and tock a personal interest m their uniforms and
accouterments. The lightning runes and Ino Death’s
Head badge are frrmty assoc^led with (hem, but Ihcsc
are only two aspects of a wide range of insignia, uni-
forms weapons and awards wbeh were unique to the
SS
Right from the early days, troops of tne бсаЬвшкйа
were set apart by their Ыаск kepi hats The introduction
of the black uniform in 1932 was an inspired decision,
setting me SS apart from other troops and lending an
air ol bah elegance and menace to a band ol men
once sniffmgly dismissed as asphalt soldiers/ Black
utadualty gave way to ihe fieto gray of tho other forces
of the Retch from 1938, altering the political imago ol
the SS Ю a more military one,
Acco.iteimerits were largely similar to those issued to
the army, but certain items were distinguished by spe-
cial insignia unique to the SS, Edged weapons, for
exarr^pte, were engraved wrth me motto Moira? Fibre
Htwssf Trthje, and the liekt gray uniform worn by me
Waited-SS sported distinctive SS rank and unit
insignia. Similarly, although the SS were otlgiNo lor an
tho usual political and rmntary awards of the Third
Reich, there was also m a number unique lo them
such as the Anti-Partisan badge and the highly pnzed
Tofankept ring presented to tne glue few
SS Regalia provides a unique record of the uniforms
and regalia of the SS With an authoritative text and
over 200 photographs, талу spedailycommissioned.
it will be a valuable addition lo the shelves of anyone
interested m mdnary history
Graduate of №« University of S1 An Frfc police-
man Fhjoin Lumsden has wnften a number of books
on ihe history uniforms ana insignna of inc Thrra
Raish, A keen collector of mUtaria, he currently Ilves
near EamDurgn. Scotland
Lflnc of England earn itaria consultant spectsfainq Ш
rtraearfi on the Third Reich. He publishes a sale cal'
alog of Thrd Ft&iJi mihlaria tw.ce a. year
I-Muz bJijETI
FrUhdsLerg
finrsJ Wessel
Waking
14 15.
JICiMif О*йГ
Hermann von Saiz
Norge
1 Ciffl «тпЬлгбь йГ’О<1manic* SS dfiwixu
2 TN* SS Artti PailnJin L,.dqt>
3 55 .Timham
й iSM up Tacr*.^
5 1934 tip
। 6 55 spwls vest *вчрт
7 Black NCO «ком- urt+trf-r*
e. NSOAP Сг>И*л Party Ы-Х
9 Ss-Fokie» Qtnerai s ь*ичв мци
W 5S lewffj t»-dfno6d
11 WAtlM-SS volL*ikor TiitHb'L’ r.hiHd^
12 SoMDuun 6F tuldh..r Г TMenkOpI О'л-.лл
13 «« pd1l«h Summer hiige dr*tarp
14 f 523-29 «ip» T«rrr*O|:J
15 nxcnkopl ( All by Hitndw
1S Alq»*nr<i!-55 оГ№*'* Ыр
BAa HWI iecftjrir*q taster
A Ih-kCNriin ail
H(H»k SALKS. INC.
Ill Sl-HMIlIJ Ai (mil.
killHdll ! <nii. l
lib.in NJ tlHita
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WAFFEN-H
EINTRITT NAOI VOUENDETEM 17. LEBENS3AH1
!?e
rB0
ггв
И REGALIA
ROBIN LUMSDEN
Wi1h photographs from the collection of
Ulric of England
CHARTWELL
BOOKS. INC
Published by
BOOK SALES, INC-
114 NpfihFtefcl Avenue
Raritan Cwner
Edison. N.J. oeeifi
Produced by
Rromp'lCn Book a, Cwp.
1 & SFwrwood Place
EkeWiwiCft. СТ 06*30
Cqpyngtil © 1Й65 Вгдапрщп Book*. Ce«p.
All rights reserved. No pan o< this publicalion may be reproduced,
stored In a retrieval system or transmuted >n any form by arty
means, electronic. mechaftcaL photocopying or olhemnSB. wehoul
lirsfl obtao ng рте written permission ol the copyright owner.
ISBN 07&5ДО233-2
Printed ei China
₽»« 1 $$ troops on-duty.
MOI ?: $$ irpw? parade at NkjrwnbiXd. 1933
д*си 3: inxignia 1tx an SS-OtMfsiunnftfv«r *i S£‘LAH
p*ar *-5: Fantare Vumpeten Of the Lo4KlDndnrtCH$S 'JWoir Hrtter', 19И.
CONTBUTS
F
Origin? of the SS 6
The Allgemeine-SS 20
The Waffen-SS 64
The Germanic-SS 144
Index and Acknowledgments 158
ORIGINS OF THE SS
After the defeat of Germany at the end of World War I in
Npi'ember 1918. the jpveiTimenl collapsed, revolution
swept the country arid politics became a dangerous
business, with all sides employing strong-arm tactics.
Nationalist groups sprang up мН over Germany, with
the aim uf ridding the land иГthe ‘November Traitors'
who hud brought the disgrace uf the diet tiled peace, and
uf the Communists and SpartakisLs whose first loyalty
was Lu Bolshevik Russia. Nationalists came from every
level of society, and at the lower end of the Munich
social scale was Anton Dretlcr'a tiny German Workers’
Party, one of whose meetings Adolf Hitler attended as a
military observer in September 1919. He subsequently
joined the party and, through his powers of oratory, vir-
tually took it over from the outset, changing its name to
the National Socialist German Workers' Parly
tNationalsozinlistischp Deutsche Arbeitcrparlei, or
NSDAPi.
The Htewur dn for t he feu nd i ng meet i ng of t he NSDAP
on 24 Fetmmry 1920 were a squad of Zeirfitiii'itiigwi, or
temporary' vol unteem, firmed with pistols anti chid in
the field-gray uf the Munich Heifhxtrehr tn which they
we re at tuchcd. 11 itier'd spccc hes soon found л loud echo
in the ranks of the ЛгиДглгум, the hastily-formed units
of demobilized right-wing treaps who had bunded to-
gether on an ad hoc basis to smash riots, keep order in
the streets and prevent- Germany from becoming a Bol-
shevik regime. Such armed supporters might well have
been sympathetic, but they certainly had no undying
loyalty to the new movement. So, towards the end of
1920. a permanent and regular Nazi formation called
the Soo/scftr^j. or Hall Guard, was set up to protect
speakers at NSDAP meetings. In November 1921, the
various Sanlwhuts! groups throughout Bavaria wore
consolidated by the Freikorps leader Ernst Rohm and
renamed Sf г/гшоА/сгМ еден, or SA. after the elite Ger-
man Army assault detachments of World War I. In re-
turn fur securing the organizing abilities ol Rohm end
other military sponsors. Hitler had to fot his, “party
WitvK-js f*gls: Hit of
rrtw 55 bntaliDn flag» aUho
NiXhtMru Petj Цоку *1 ЧВД.
. Ernal ACtim.-StabwIiH nl
th* SA whMo tagsuzrfianal dull
Wped frita? pdovbte it Her * «w
to tK№«<r
ufrr Hii-nnMe*, (lit wearing
□ЪчтушрреН|’и1'тет пмдпш,
mpelimj oNitm shorty
X* th» N-JH 01 it» Long
KniHiJ* Ho 4 КЯИрЛМ bv Кал
IWqrtH, Rentwd and Hans
PruUmarin.
.uovr nt&xr: Frflilwrps troops
mnraiing an nrrrvN*d <*> ,n
spmfl 1919. The амт » head,
1олг*П|и used trr *"p*hkl раомг
until, war, acto[jl*tl Ру в ojrriber Of
frt- aorps iDHTUlJOhS.
и шит: fre-rwrr von Mnnlwrff*! end
flWft tfl Ns BaJbc FfoikQTDs tn Higa
Ap*»t 1MB Such Tmops wu/d Lil er
DfGuridf eaosr тЫигимп tor itw
55
A9SM MfUiS &п гпйгсч in 1922
wdf tM earty 1U44 wf|h sfaiit'
s*mMlbs Many SA tAWi-duniffl
tHi4 PIH-Ml limply iel*4d№r
Worn.-, hjd wikri durirtp ihu
1914-19 w*r, $tiQH44t m&gnta
xm *ith in «KMtonof мм&ма
arm band я
u ft hMlnr and Prihm rftsn*f.fi if)
r.ais^d rank* < Sf^rnatl^kj.igi^,
Ntrnibonj, S*plrm$wr 1ЧЗЭ. Tlw
rowdy SA was by lien 441 limes 1tw
Eiit the German Дату
abcm пьиг Ju lui ScbrBckL
kfllw4 tmaAiMujr. u an SS
5иГиИ1Ле|Ч1*1гег Ui 1Ш. Schreck
wa> trt-fbundw cl the Slr»stnipp
AooJ HiEter, and wd! mver Глг kon
in* Fuhrirr'a bd£ ltiM bis tfcalh
frWi iWtWiliXliM In 1M8.
тан»: H тглЦ», Не», Greger
Sl«Hl* *jW Frbni wen Salomon
ti/rotA-.d Hittec л Eh* Fteiuhs Ралу
№y in N(antM+e. Aiuchi 192? Tho
k*fh4 41 Himmler And H№
прлЛ г» mrmtx'r Q1 Hie 55
1гдпрн' slip undei the negianf lh₽ Froiknrpa and Reichs-
wehr. By the time it paraded at the first nation aS rally of
the N$DAP in January 1923, the SA numbered fcOLilJ
men in lour regiments. In an effort better 1» control the
rapidty grooving organization, Hitler uppuinltid the
former air ace, Hermann Goring, to lead it, but Goring
was naturally- 1агу and self-indulgent and the driving
fence behind the SA remained Rhbm. Frustrated by
Rahm's ambition and independence, which were upheld
by the military. Hitler was compelled to set up yet an-
other body of mtn, from outside thc-йА, which would be
entirely devoted tn him. Thus theSS was born
In March 1923 Hitler orderv-cl the form alien of a
Munich’based bodyguard known as the SfataicffeAt?.
whose members swore an oath of loyally to him
personally Two months later, to avoid confusion with
other SA umts of the same name, the Stabswache was
integrated into a new, ЗО^тап ?-quad called the Stoss-
trnpfi Adolf Hitler, led by Julius Schreck and Josef
Berchlrtd. The Stossirupp parlicipitpd щ the ill-fated
Munich Pufach on 9 November 19^3, when Hitler’s
attempt Ей seize power in Bavaria by force ended in dis-
aster During the episode, Stjosslnipp member Ulrich
□raf saved Hiller's life and whs severely wounded in
the process. His bravery that day left a lasting im-
pression on the Nazi Fuhrer.
Following the Ptilsth, the NSDAF Whs banned and
tin? SA dissolved. On his relea&c from prison in Decem-
ber 1924 f Hi tier began to rebuild his shattered party. In
February 19Й5 the NSbAP was reconstituted and the
SA reactivated in an unarmed form. However, there
was still no national SA, which remained at that stage
little more than a social club lor young roughnecks, in
March.cn the adv ice ofSchrock. Hitler recorn mended to
I wnl party leaders the netting up of small guard details
Id be known as Schui&rtaffeht, or protection squads, a
new terra subject tn none of the governmental prohlhi-
done and not idenliSud with the old Fnokorps Lradi-
liens. The SeA u tgtdaffel der JVSjDAF, soon abbreviated
Lu SS, wjjs to comprise JO-man squads selected from the
most reliable party members. Their role purpose would
be to protect Hitler and other Naii leaders during their
political campaigning throughout Germany On 9
November 1925 the existence of the SS was officially
prod aimed in a ceremony at the Munich Feldherm-
h,i II e.
During the spring of 19^H, 75 Schutzstaffeln were
farmed right across the country A new SS-OAenJer/artg
was created and headed by Berrhtnld, with the self-
styled tit leaf Reichsfuhrer der SS. However, ha rapidly
lost interest and in March 1927 relinquished hiaoffice to
his deputy. Erhard Heiden IDespi te the extension of its
numbers and theoretical prestige, the SS remained a
limited organization subordinated io the SA. The latter
kept a jealous eye on SS expansion and local SA com-
manders consistently used the SS under their contrul
for the most demea ni n g tasks, surh as d isl ri buti ng pro-
paganda leafletszind recruiting.subseri burs to the party
newspaper, the Votkischer Beubaehier. By the end of
192 B. moral у in the SS was. at an all-time low und mem-
bership plummeted.. Photographs dating from that
period rarely show as many as 10 SS men together
The watershed in the development of the SS can be
traced lo a single day - 6 January 1929 On that fateful
date, Heinrich Himmler took command of theorganiza-
tion at a time when the SA was becoming increasingly
cebe lituus. In April, the new Reichsfuhrer obtained
approval for a recruiting pl an designed tucreoteatruly
elite body out ofthe SS. und by it hud grown to a
force of 2000 men. with its own officer corps. When the
SA in nunhem Germany rebelled against Gauleiter
Josef Goebbels and his LourgeuiH NSDAF hierarchy in
Berlin, only the local SS under Oberfuhrur Kurt
Daluege remiiined loyal to Hitler The revolt collapsed
and Himmler was rewarded with his appointment as
security chief of the NSDAP headquarters in Munich
In effect, he wus macle head of the parly police.
The SS grew steadily during 1931-32 within the
mat rise of a ra pid Ly estpandi ng SA and NSD A P member-
ship Himmler kept busy changing and rechanging his
1С*т: Д мКЛА rq W iurms <;4
ftaism, C. tf H. АлчЛ Ih-r '.лл!
nijrnt4-f\ gr ВПЧСГ1 1-ыее SS
irwn дгг Wrrrd up of the he*d ol
H№ fjir.nde The saedi cl SS th'istn
h xf Шгс-дйу bcm sown
hjlcw, lift SS men ргВДОгб In sei
Гив to a соДесЬчи-, cd plactudS and
Глаз setzM Irt-irri kwntl
Ccthi unnls. Mitch №33. The eArty
bktrt Kii*a<rnS Itsalure SiigM
diflerencen in I he cut And pOMiMi
ol S jtlutiS. Sl>_ jhjt'r s»rjpa Fhht
rol ytfl been InlrbrfjtAd, aAd one
SS mtn tirt wears a kipl.
ItCit IihJuT Л 41 лгр Cd
чфе Freikurps
(be №ччп¥№
Mirtr>try .-fl p Krwf m&ftf 1ЙЗ- f ri?m
UK to ngbt *i |t4 hjr^arwnti иг»:
Wn>ckert, Killinger. Ннтчтем |w£Ei
imperial w[ir llngl ^id,4
th'tl marieh find ЙОЕнтг
w cluT. Dufl-.q 1h'i Г '.J' iment Jty
е пс1|смтези EtM КиТТГЧЧ йГ1И2,
Itw №паР i mergKl га опа □! Ihfr
vrr.^itjr il ptrlhs. Hrllrr Itosttd □
сьг' traloTy gallwnng for his
ncwdsE Reiensug nhtmMrt in
Berlin's Ho1<h KjiiorHil. ard
jATtnq UraSh prtSME wwe ¥Of
Uinch. Hewiei. HrW4At. RAW
Ера л nd Я ohm
unit designations tn keep up with the elaWtite сэЫёй of
crganiz&lion being constructed by IRnhir and his KLatT
By the summer of 1832, the SS numbt-red 450 officers
and 25,000 men, with adminiEimive units kr.iwn us
()herf£ihKr-Ab--ictirt>f(tr iiiterp^ed betwaen about 40
regiments and the ReichiTuhrer-SS. During that year.
the pnlitical struggle i.n. Germany rapidly touk un the
Гетт сГн civil war. The Cummunistb and Socialists set
unarmed mi Lili ак and the SA and SS responded. Ten SS
num were killed and several hundred wounded during
running street battles with the Red Front. The whole
scenario was lapped up by the SS Old Guard, and their
catch-phrase. Die Kampfaeit war die beste Ze it’ (’The
Fighting days were the best’) was frequently repeated as
a form oFboa»t to young SS men years later during the
Third Reich
As the c rucia 11933 elect ions approached, it sui led the
Nazis to create the i mpression that Germany wan un the
verge of anarchy and that they had all iht- soLn'inna. It
was perhaps not surprising that they won a great elec-
toral victory., and nn 30 January the old Field Marahnl
Paul von Hindenburg, President of the Reich and a sort
of 'Ersatz Kaiser’ (subatituto emperor i, entrusted
Hiller with the post of Chancellor and the rcsponeibi-
Ifty of forming a government. Loss than a mouth later,
the Reichel ag building «as burned to the ground and
the Communists wore blamed. Hitler immediately gave
police power? to 35,0W SA and I&.OQQ SS men, and left-
w mgnpporontK of the new regime began to he arrested
in large numbers and herded into makeshift prison*
and camps.. While the 58 waa consolidating its situation
and cnntrollmg iLk memberthsp find recruitment by a
constant purging process, the SA began Ln throw its.
weight about miibily. .Denied a position .in the Nazi stale
to which it fell entitled, the SA talked of u 'Second Revo-
lution’ which would sweep Away both the bourgeois uf
the parly and the reactionaries of the Reichswehr On
30 Juno 1934, the 'N ight of the Long К n ives, Roh m u nd
the SA leadership were eliminated in operations
carried out by the SSand the army.
On SO July 1934. Hitler declared the 200,000-strong
85 an independent formation of the ftSDAP and re-
moved it completely from SA control. Its position of
ascendancy was now a^ured and it entered a period of
ranHohdalion; * new command structure and organize.-
linn waa developed under Himmler, whose rank as
Rei chafe hrer-SS For the ftr^i и me actually meant what
it implied and made him directly subordinate to Hitler.
Under the SS High Command, or Kpic/is/мйruИ£-.Ч.Ь',
the following eight main departments, от Haitptdmftf,
ultimately evolved Гог the purpose of carrying out the
day-to-day work of directing and administering the
organization.
The Ha upturn t i'trsftnliehcr Stab RfSS
iPcrs. Slab RfSS»
Himmler's person о I Steiff, comprising specialist offi-
cials, advisers, honorary officers and udministratn-e
per Mjnn.pl
The SS Hauptomt 185-HA l
The SS Central Office, responsible for recruitment and
the mnintenance of records crj ппц-commiWLOHed SS
men
The SS Ffthningshnuptaml 133-ГИА)
SS Operatiunul Headquarters, which СО-ord mated
training, tliL' pavnii'nt uf wages, the supply uf equip-
ment, arms, ammunition and vehicles, and the mam-
tenance and repair of stocks.
омщяте *ми., юр kEPi: 1В35,
Himmltr Mri tlWi «*П1> 55
^Idatshjp. d Ir* or *hom Ui J
АфГО tTlD fWOrtiff',-frrt Д/id кл₽1
rH4WV.,IT FM3I, BOTTOM Ilin
йв*ог»в ®1 a B*O₽d .
awardiM 1n Munidi Pu!»cii
.rlrrjr.L ..id peilL«,'H) thr
Ге<1ГитНм r mtxr.TT^rl тпоп
iSrnni I лре I-button hole veraond
ihe Golden PmFj влоде
ahw4i ejuit. тип: Hiirtrrtldr Md
4t4im п Дичл; 1ИЗ.
чк1ит: Fioririi Mid hiS Mitf *1 t&M.
Лч ortf-ered '.'ikto Li/ue. on
Fttrti’i l&H. of ei >dcd Over Ita
much wesJier SA Vom 193* unW
1"H3
BfCQMT Tlw SloOdOdirr. Ehfjwn
Гшп? dfrttl Щ tise Ирг
rwr. ntjtr nod fn^ Ac Pll/tv
HaqlflQ wflfe Bprtgts C № Hail
Gfd Gija-d.
lefi. DfKLHHinls bgn'd br
Hitter. № aCjfJf jnl Wdrif-, sod
Неухтс" in displaced Ьн-df a
№e BMhaKibrtr'i oHicMri
htjturti глицинк j'iH a Year
tfl/j lion Wsif Hflier.
M!MT Thfi Si J**iW5|MP*r Pai
Зеллам корч nto<4siSf со0*з
ol B>* Fjgniiiw 1w
$£ pqtfljfl rruvrtx** ЛПЙ SrftJn S£
№* pentKd^iMol В» G»rrnanit-$S
in Bin NI"Ih'4 Mid*
Midur. Ал S£ ti^ppRTi<ff. iucti
tnactuiQ^, wi№ rur^ kpyt, мпря
inlrpckvoBd duing I*k Inal luiirot
i dlfi 4r Jae- in S3 nNic«l
The Rpirhssicherhi'itshuaptamt i RSHA
The Reich's Cent nil Security Office, eont rolling the
security police u-'f the Third Keich, including I he Kripor
Gustupo and SD. It whs also responsible fur both foreign
and domestic intelligence operations, espionage and
wuntcr-espionagu, and combating political and com'
rcioji'luw crime.
The SS Wirtachaftar imd Verwaltung^hauptamt
tSS-WVHAl
The SS Economic and Administrative Department,
which oversaw я large number of SS? industrial emd
agricultural undertakings., administered the f'mances
of the SS л nd ra r. the conren trot ion ea mpe.
The Hasse- Und Siedlung^huuptumt tRuSHA)
The Ran? and Suttk-mcnt Depart men Г looked after the
nteial purity of al I SS members and was responsible for
enecuting the policy of settling SS men in the eastern,
territories.
The Hau pin mt SS-Gcrlcht, iHA SS-Gerichti
The SS Legal Department administered the disciplin-
ary side of the special code of laws to which mem bars of
the SS were subject
The SS P«rso nnlhau ptamt i Pore HA*
The SS Personnel Department dealt with pcrwnncl
matters and kept records on all SS officers,
Immediately below the Hauplamter were the SS Obi--
mbm'hnittt iRegiwwi and AtoeAarM’ (Districts!,. the
bases of th₽ SS temiorial organisation.
From 1933-34. the SS split into Lwo distinct groups
the trndiLhinn.1 A/ftferrm’nc-RiJ. which wjjs twisiculiy
part-time .ittiiJ fulfil led u pnlico function; and ihr full-
time military Scuaffrjelc-SS.ar armed SS. Each hud its
own distinctive series of uni Torens and regalia. Both
branches shared, however, total loyalty iind commit-
ment to Hitler, relishing the obedience requtr-?d of them
ns l he FUhrer's bodyguard.
Lf< i SS tmiiw rrwtwrs, n*o
Or FM, тч
tfdinary шипи who thjw'J
тЧдетпл^ЕЧ l-> f4hy JTiirt Wj
S3 к*ч!<, in rdlu#*1
tor HiirimWj pfpiwlHjii ineHect
Н1Г* fM <^grwilM|kjn Ь*Ч-#ТЧ 4 WXl
e3 'hazi Ггтмчимпгну Ihmuq^i
ih members cbirMd secure
err pl Dumont. Ь4.г.,гинлрглА uthJ
p'Tmol a-i. When erveriled,
рй'лт wa± pnw> "leo * rih з
mcmbcrsTiip booh nna Inpei Ibdagp,
jrra ас* ajC □ иЬьспрЩип Ca l!hr
Г^+ Zd' ISChHfT. TM p IjtrC-U Д'
tl 'he гпЛдлЬтв feotures acpwir
pfMtograph cl the ccjc-i.lnan SS
tJber3lurmfuhrftr Gi-nEber Гетте
jrta1 he rkmrt hMrdland', r«o-il
im or the 6trim Divfflprti.
-m и' The 5D alhiKteCl талу
nti1*1*ctuaH Ho it» rookft The+e
rOnnty 04GIXW514. IBklltr <0 Ch
Ufli wmw who ^*rv«11’.’ih l*e
Snourrty PqiKt м Ин-Лайт Tw
Сатир iwnani disk be пул lyiw*
1hc bearer лг£#гч1е<1 pl
ассиз arid nrrol
Live lev
irt trt'Ai*1’ tn
"‘“ГИ1"« >,«.
• VlJf>J‘B . ' *
Й^НТ-*«" л .4*
SM^sfiRrt п7йй1
j^Ld^l i1?'.E I Ъ<« J^jii brf 4*’
S8S^«—‘'s“”‘'?.u*5J ,
,Ле.з"о^}-'п л *“ ।J.;, tygffifair
The first and foremast duly of the Entire SS organiza-
tion was always the protection ofAdoif Hi tier. After the
advent of the LeibstJindartc, however, whose members
worked full time to a rota system and accompanied
Hiller on his journeys throughout the Heich, the part-
time SS men who had originally been recruited on л
|пея I hasis to prut ect th-н Fu hrer d u ri ng h is t rips a mu nd
Germany found that aspect of their work effectively
inken from them. Consequently, i| was decided (hat as
оГГ934 Ihe main duy-tu-day function ofthese highly dis-
nplined Allgenn-ine-SS volunteers wuuld ho to support
thu pul ice in maintaining publtc order The Nazi posi-
tion in 19Я4-36 was fur fnun secure, mid the Allgv-
meine-SS rapidly expanded with the format iun of many
new units trained and equipped to combat any counter-
revolution The typical SS infantry regiment. or Нгяя-
Slatnittrli\ comprised 2000 men organised into active
and reserve battalions rSrufwdioowt'L companies
platoons tTrttpptn), sections iSrJhimiJ and
files i RoTA'hi These were supported by a vast array of
specialists, including cavalry regiments ।
<farteH\ signals battalions (MwftricAfefla^Mrvji&cirtfleJ,
engineer hat ifd ions ijfbbnfeofirwrmibpflflt'), medical com-
pnnies tSanitHtsstiirme), я. flying company i Filler-
siumit and a fiupplwnic-ntjry rewrve i.SfurnnrnftJ'pd-
lunfit. It was planned that, in chi? event of any interna L
uprising, the Allgemuine-SS would Luke over the oper-
ation of the pout office, national radio network h public
utilities and public transport^ ns well aaacting as pol ice
reinforcements. However^ the anticipated civil unrest
never came about, and so the duties of the Allge-
mcine-SS before the outbreak of war in 1939 were
Fravw*j>r>r;rs; НГктт
Hay. 10 May 193® Iha nhcmjifirD'i
* ja 'liken&i Mur»tfl иalien.
rtOrt: Hi|*f JrfmOJ il Tertlpdhft'
»ПЧ ip B«rWi dr* L.itxjf О ay, I May
1AJ4, чоГа lh* diNwtncee <i oj[ ol
thn 35 tuniM. ч1*си ilw
stii not bw*i iu у stands***Jfrd
t«-D yun P*tw thrtr
irlrprtJrhcir
пгт. miw fcippvis hscjap^
rinmiw ionf-ra Kwi V>trnwirwi on
fbr Lidwi twir^ay .n inj4.
wN4o inspocling n.Lii’iisliiTCInztr
с.,—jd c‘ hr-си
hkihi khlicr Jdcl*4,s>4i а cd
One niiliitm sLIhc-lEmpciltHil
dima, 14Щ. Hia Ltibsfaidrirte
!»4>{]hM)rd dHIarftwwnl way
«MunorldM by SS-
HdljprliMUmlijnrtfl* 'Л'*Аг* MWr*o,
1c+<4e*) who W&a Id fcl'-eve
гч(рп*гу whet* tw wSwed ® t*e
ШЦ1КЧ pfiswerv
<4-M4>r n 1МЛ
Ltf Нйй» greets 'dw Trtu*
НаппсЬ" oi Fifre*
Chi 1 DctOOfr 18J3.
etiiltr Mfrl^i Borruv^i in the
bKhQiC4*MJ Hnnmlbr spodf 1h5
р>ад- dbspfw EUNtyfl in GuVj wdh
DidпкнчК. vihich r>ai а риьг^л
am ^тгтп bpnnq
вщ'А' UiiablP*! «итлсепПвп
compct 4 do Iho gotrcs < >Яо
cuing IhrircrirwalHtfehCB, 2A
VoTCh 1^ 12. 1 ITT ’ПОГ CH EtH' Г4JT1I
I'fcM £S spcwti hil, w4h Sn^
Rimer on [be real.
huht: A svn'dio" d&cunvnlt
*iMidii4 AnO«*№ir4-S-5 Oftenify
tiJs. c \Va1fftft-SS 3<4dbLK h. AOd.
ъп FM iTra-nCw*t*"p boo* The i*o
'deoih шчЛ' *1 i&rt* r*aht
ьстлчпкнлв 55 тел K*wlln
Ьлп n. .-J»d ^.prwdulntnjtLKf by 1КЮ1Г
r mom io ihe-idi.
geniiriilly restricted Lu overseeing crowd control nt
parly rallies und other celeb ra'L ions, including national
holidays and statu v isiLs аГ foreign dignitaries.
The cluse relationship between the rfS .and polite
grew apace all и г Hi in ni кт was uppomlcd Chef de г
beultichtii Poli sei in June 1&36. The Reichsfuhrer
pl an ised Lu i пегие I he tw u budies i nLo a si ng Le Slate Pro-
teclion ("огра cr S'/mt/McTra/z^ur/js, which was to br
achieved lirat by reorganization and then by the absorp-
tion of police personnel into the Al Igen'iei ne-SS.
Thrcnighoul the remainder of the Third Reich, a large
number of politically reliable and racially suitable
policemen were granted SS memberahip. being Intern
into the SiHmmufatc-ilung with SS ranks equivalent to
their police status, fJ minder ultimately succeeded in
achieving control of all conventional German police
forces, the fire brigade, railway and post office guards,
rescue and emergency services, intelligence agencies
and even night watchmen. Moreover, all the corres-
ponding domestic police forces in the conquered
countries, including the British Constabulary serving
on the Channel Islands, came under his authority.
Through their direction of these agencies, with their
vast resources and intimate local knowledge, the Allge-
meine-SS hierarchy exercized a power and influence
more widespread and effective than anything contem-
plated by their fighting comrades in the Waffen-SS
during World War II.
Allgemyinp-SS members who were engaged in re-
served occupations which prevented their eall-up in
I9S9 look an iiclive rule in the war effort al home. In
many cities, special SS IVochfecwrpoHi'e si nd Alarm-
stiirmt- were detailed Lp pnitecl factories, bridges, reads
and other strategic points and assist the Lliftschut-i or
Civil Dr frites? during air raids. Some SS men worked яа
auxiliaries with the Customs Service while others,
helped with the harvest, supervised foreign laborers
and engaged in welfare work. During 19+1-45, the
cadres of the Allgemeine-SS. spread throughout Ger-
many. co-ordinated the organization of the Vcdkssiurni,
or flume Guard, w hich come under Himmler's control
Conditions of service in the Allgcmeinei-SS high-
lighted the ёШе nature of the organization. Recruiting
wfis always strictly control led. even during the war,
with must young S3 men ranung directly frem the
ranks of the Hitler Ynuth The latter worked ha nd-in-
glove with the SS, and adopted many of its uniform
accouterments and rituals. Selection was based on
itn: 1ИЭ-59 kkizi саьтво: wwn
married in auftass-sCrvttc wbtfi
too» pl л» if Iho Cbiirc*1 oF Lozurui
Hl£pS*n.
BtLUiV Lt F ЙП S-S nrtnytfH pemMt
FHtd thrrt SSbdckplam П» SS
Ei-fl J4-rnmi лпа Mornes Thde*.
twit W31. dictated inat -Ш
пч.тЬсп «a dm 53 had io obtain.
Harw№ t Cleft дотают ID
пццту, <vhci! C-C.ild t-H-Ffil.iM.’^CW.
ГЭС41 Df pitywnl qrftircn
гыичг An wk ca*cp| cnnied wlh
Sq Adrwn, i iwostAn, a Ндлг. I
rtjrvi, cjklr ivnb end псоть. il was
uutd as a CDiiantw <w 1hn
preue-'iljliui sapei ui HTtn/i Клдрг
which m. ту wwty'mamed thl
received.
Ыны: An SS Ghnsle'iirfl1'
cerCmtfiy b-o"q ecbdiiCLed by *i
□ Flreal с' Йч Reuse u*id
Stecajngshaup'LaniL m 1S3tk ТЬь
child is mapped m а иная1 oi
ивдуео wdc- efrofcudenw wttti
oahiecrv*!-. гцячо
racial purity, gntwi heslth and л disciplined character,
and iroining was curriEd out fiver ri thrtw-ypjir period,
with statutory brr.ik^. Гог obligatory service in the
armed forces nr Iti’irfratiritt'itKdii'r^il ТЬе> confirmed S5
man n?mjnni.'d in Lhu active Al Ig'vnitiine-SS until he was
35 yearn old. Lifter which he could transfer to une of Lliu
S5 rvMjrviF ueiiLs. Prarnotinii wan awarded нп шсtil, and
и strict SS legal a Rd diKciplinary code governed the he-
huvior uf every SS member. Ultimaleh SS men wore
answerable only to sptcial SS and police courts for any
crimes and offenses they committed, and were in effect
put.above the normal jurisdiction oflhe civil courts The-
same racial qualities looked for in theSS man were also
required of his wife, and Christian weddings were re-
placed by neo-pagan ceremonies for Lhe Ailgemeine-SS.
with couplet expected to raise at least Four children.
Thti AllgcmcinE-SS eventually outgrew its police
function .ind came to have a wide-ranging eiTet'L on all
aspects of life l hruughou L Nazi Germany. The rue nil
policies of the Third Reich were pul into operation
ihruugh SS agencies, primarily the
rini fiir die pfftigung dt-я deiituvhirt Vidir^iuvus or
RKFDV, the Reich Commission fur the Consolidation uf
Germ an ismb w h i ch о rga mzed t he j'c^ett loment ofraci al
Да ЗЬЛя»
Ax « wwfo*j v Chlfl-
iTi^rrwhj MWfjnhQftf in ISJF Th#
ГЛЛьЛП-рлд-ч rl-AJ. pl Hw
Aliyjrrflinfl-5$ *4*-r irgt#
Com pip м .11 tlx- II' rd Hn.rfi
EHKHjramtHl, and dr- <|u-d la
агъ inuo Iha myiliqirr ar 4imr,ilrr i
В зек UTdtr
СГОСПП1 ГИ11.ПХ1Л ЛЫМ.
hmmic ana Ha is. «paying л рле
tit Ebe oniranca- to Dicttki
c one an й л han carp m »fiJ5
САРПЗГЪ PMI.BILIH* LtF- WKIimi?
Ги-rtfy-wrtn,.
ОТ-СПгЬ fMJ*. JtLVH МнП
L#be4borri homo «*♦ r-ri.»-,< fij
b* ranrlnby1iC44 fnorr, 55c*fi«trt,
ir.d tn# FM og Viuoibcn
Fudwi in# SS ’nd Iha fliwirun
pr ca * ira trrtrndW Eg bg mat gad
я! the oaltiiE Ело» trlr oppcxldrly,
and tn ubrqiHlaiu Sig fturwa
Г*п1итч1 сл th" bj latns jrd
rc#3d^jM>: al tool#i стгнитгдЬспз.
German гер 1L г in ten in the occupied eastern territoriet.
Another SS group the Vaikudcuischc Mitlci/thdic W
VO.VII, played a significant. part in paving the? way for
th-в Nazi occupation и Г Austria and Czechoslovakia. In
an effort to prove the racial hypotheses of National
Socialism by scientific means» Himmler set up Ahnon-
erbe, .a body Гог the rewareh of ancestral heritage, The
SS duly carried nut archaeological excavations
throughout Europe in the search far the origins of the
Nordic race, a study which ultimately resulted in
human experimentation using concentration camp in-
mates.
The concentration camp system al.so guv? the SS
access to an unlimited supply of cheap expendable
labor, which led to n thriving SS economy. Various
Tnanufhctur.ing emterprisefl were set up in the camps,
and workers leased uut to private firms Cm sub-contract.
The acquisition of large fertile territories, during the
wur greatly enlarged the scope of these activities.
Farming und stock breed ing in Poland, and lumbering,
mining und fishing in Russta all enter cd the field ofSS
economics» and between 1941 and 1944 the exploited
the wealth, гездигсеа and population of the conquered
East on a там-i ve чэ Ie. H imtn!<?r evenlual ly control led
over 500 factories, producing 75 per cent of Germany's
soft drinks and 95 per cwi of the country я furniture.
Most of thr- uni forms and equipment used by the SS nnd
police were manufactured in the camps, whoa? inmates
s.lso baked bread, precessed meat, made munitions and
repaired leather guod,-.. The SS run quarries, brick-
works. cement factories, food research laboratories, и
publishing house, uswund smithy and oven a porcelain
works. The money which flowed into SS coffers as u re-
sult was vast,and helped to strengthen Himmlers posi-
tion and maintain the financial autonomy of his
organization
Through its industrial ronneclinns, the »А11рт-
moinp^.SS cultivated and recruited hundreds of com-
pany directors, businessmen and landowners, Others
became SS p^ifran members, making retail л г donations
tn SS funds in return fur Himmler's favor and prniec-
lion. l!y means of a thonuigh policy of infiltration, the
SScluly ригпшаЫч] right through every branch nf EifTi-
cialand semi-official German life. By Muy 1944, no less
th tin 25 pur rent of the leading personalities in Ger-
many were members of the Allgerncine-SS. some being
rugulare Etnd. others so-called 'Ь'Л.Гегг/йЛп'г'ог honorary
olfirers They included almost nil of Hitler’s immediate
entourage, men in key party and government poet*, top
civil servants, members of the military aristocracy, doc
tors, scientists, university prefeesors and thore promi-
nent in the fields of culture and charitable works. After
i he tailed plot to assassinate Hit lor m July 1944, Lhe SS
finally overcame that last bastion of the old tradili rural
Gormany, thp army, with SS generals taking oi'er the
military administration and secret weapons program
Ry l-he end nf 1944, the AIEgemeine-SS had seised
almnsl total political, military and economic power in
Germany.
The uniforms и nd regalia uf the Allgirmcine-SS de-
vclupud us theorgunizaliun expundt-d, and will now be
covered Hi some detail.
MJOrt LEF Л Ghftl'IfflK. irwfirXJS.
tn rd «mi Uy Himmtor *1 ihe frtd of
1&44
*niVk Г>н; I? йч ftwIbertim'M
Julie 1сЛ1*1' гллп *йигь
wfrttr dulriljvtnd ami 11 у to
вл1гк1*л SS rrwi •‘Л H* <И*1*fue*i
□ I tha-winiFf
le n: The Sii po<velnm irtd
nerjrnri F-rclrvy nl Д" wh пл»
Wu"’<lt. ivii pjrl о1 Сгч Li.ichij.
MrtCTMr-efitkn-camp Lorn p lex and
priM-jted fne 4jai.4y pioc« Its
tfiderr+3* wM two rttrHiMiiied Sig-
Pif>CiS Tnie ftgure jH Alhene
WHimenwrai w ihe D^y tri Geman
M in 19И
«jhi Thrj. вяриплкек firmed
poncrtam bi^wi-hourd puppy was
(1 popvllir ALKh ptodudl. and n
shr» i ow<KKJtifij a rriPdii 53
man m tT,n0diflniU lit-jrin Д
ol loy l'?ld,nn, pr tFiir type Wftfe
manb'rl-at jr.lJ by 1tW 411ПЧ ГЛ
ELuAldhn and Lintral far Iha tibiae
ггы-йг1 thirin-g 'hr Ulis
The Death's Head
Ufa LI S3 uniform trappings arid иссоп Lvrmtrtts, the one
Hinbliem which endured throughout the history of the
organization and been me firmly associated with it w^n
the death'h head, or T(ttvnkt>pf\ an eerie тпоИГ com-
pnsittR a skull and. crossod bones. it. has often been
assumed that thi? death's head was adopted simply to
Strike terrar LrtlO the hearts of those who saw it. How-
ever, thui was not so. Il was chosen as a direct and emo-
Eiori4.il link with the past, and in particular with the
elite military units of the Imperia] Reich.
Medieval German literature ,.nd romuntir poemn
were filled with references Lu dark iort&fi aflif the
symbols of death and destruction. In 1740, a large right-
fac i n g jaw less deal h ч head with the bones ly ing beh in d
the skull, embroidered in silver bullion^ adorned the
black fun era I trappi ngs of t he Pru ssiu п К i ng. Frederick
William I. In his memory, the Lcih-Husamn Regiments
Nos 1 aud 2, elite Prussian royal bodyguard units
which were formed the fol lowing year, rook black as the
color of thei r u ni form & and wore a th assi w Toten kopf nf
similar design on their Pelsmiitwn or busbies The
State of Brunswick followed suit m 1НЮ when the
death's head was adopted by its Hussar Regiment No.
17 and I he third Kuta han. of Infantry Regiment No 92
The Brunswick Tntenkopf differed slightly in design
from the Prussian One, with the skull faring forward
and situaLtrd directly above the crossed hones During
World War 1 the d eat h's head was chosen as a form al i on
sign by a number of crack German army units, particu-
larly the storm troops, flamethrower detach men. Is and
Lank balta lions. After 19lrt the death’s head surfaced
again on the streets ofGerrnany, thtw time painted on
the helmets and vehicles nf certain Freiknrp.4. Recnuse
(jf its anscciatinn w yl h these farmntions, the Tnlunknpf
became symbolic not only of wartime during and self-
sacrifice hul also <if postwar Lradi liana] ism. anti-
Libpralism find anli-Rnlnhevism
Ji is not surprising, therefore, that memhen» of the
Stosstrupp Adolf Hliter uaj^rly took Lhe Tntoiikopf Us
their distinctive emblem in 1923. initially acquiring a
small stuck of appropriate army surplus cap badges.
Their successors in I hi- SS thereafter contracted the
firm of Deschler in Munich in restrike large quantities
of the Prussian-sly Ie jawloss death's head which they
used rm their headgear for the near 11 years In 193-i,
w hen the Prussian Tutenkopf began En he worn ян an
pliL? badge by I he new army panzer units the SS de-
vised il4 own unique pattern of grinning death’s head,
with lower jaw, which it uned thereafter until the SB's
demine in 1945
The 1ОД4-pattern SS TnLenkOpP ultimately Look
various farms, right-faring, left-fiicing utid front-
facing, and appeared on the cloth headgear of all SS
members. It was the centerpiece of theSS Death's Head
R i ng a nd eou I d be seen on dagger and gorget suspension
chains, mess jackets. Bags, standards, drum coversand
trumpet banners Himmler wanted his men to be proud
iif their heritage and there is nn doubt that the histor-
ical associations of the death's head were well used to
that end
THE ALL-G±MEIhE-SS
left: SS cj? nurjr.j г/оЬм
liaadity Ье^мй liiS^id IMS.
ТЬн 4WH> t&ckxM ga-* v-iy Ю I'l&
inOl М5&ДР fra£jlu during the Lill
Of 1919. Md ifl 193* Ihe Ptl>i jr
TOIOfWLfipd w№ rLpkiJtd by TTrt
diHir*Ct4* SS WHc*" wlh kwbr
|dw. The SS <dgki (in. I
appMrfd * IK'S. 4nd vi« Iba-
jrirtfiil*) drtuSV4 baiid.Tfcia >»lll*allf
rt'jnuratiiu'ed *1 **pnp*ata-d
T&ittMhtirMe, №vn«lirrtirtu>di «М
Ьл*Пу ifli-lM.wd-OHiW
ХЛйуТ &И111 L Itfpd! WfrHt npl
irtfT ДОЫу Ьу It™ Si dlrnng 1Гн.‘
Thrd fln-fh TtiF< Ргииип an
1Гл i*tt лал med bT the _lh
c.iva^V roprTwrfl,№•
(Drifjr-idttfEigl Drunamc* pilltm,
nC)M- * Ji Hiortcd by rwrfrrfs di
Ihi >7Пип?вп1гу regtrnenl. Panrer
ur-da. 1 hi flivjJ KuslcnsmLU
CanzHj ала Pie- Lkirtv<al/BLa
SEb-fpp^Lpe- * ar-d
KurnpfqrLMHi 5* n* ctdae №e<
Тойбер» ал lbw diai'FClrrt
etntei*i
FiHJhI; fiA ^vMivib 1916-|M1t*fn
slroi beimal ^ihtiind-pa-ntsd
ieatti'iiMjfd. as w^m iy
J-mb огр я Formal i gn> q. 20.
The Runes
Alongside the Totenkopf. the SS runes represented the
olid sir, and brotherly conimdesh I p of the orgHnizution.
and were consciously elevated. tn an almost holy status.
They derived, from th? ehsroctenj which formed the
Alphabets used by l he Germ an ir tribes rtf pre-Christian
Europe, find partifultiriy appealed tn Himmler's vision
of the SS as я chii'alnr order, and tn his fascination fur
cryptic codes and hidden messages.
All pre. 1939 ALlnememe-SS men were instructed in
runic symbolism as part oftheir prnbjНигшгу training.
By 1945,14 main varieties of rune were in use by theSS,
and those are described from A Lo N below and shown in
the acLumpanying illustrations. The finer points of
those runes wore never generally appreciated by the
majority of men who wore them, and instruction in
their meanings ceased around 1940.
u.*r: а зМнин» or S? m*jt
[HtCtWI. ти* w, hOHI i*tt ro
nghL top lo bottom
|.| Kj.’ic patch ляуп in^iaty fry
the UK41 ’LlpLtrt& fi/xj1ГНН1, From
19flD, by a 1 СЬнтпял .'.rid O^rrsr-j;
irfiiticl 1b 1 WnflM’&S oat
aJkic jrted Dihrr palchM. Die
BJumpAo-13. hand-errbruJered in
BilvBr BuBeO tar aflitwi. wfch lh»
p . пч 'cmnvEd in IieU ust.
|II| Al J (.“.'Г У. E-Jl маг»™ АС.Л’Г' Fl
Biker ihttbid tar ottKeri.
pili Ав. «Ьс.ч, Out rna^hinr
embrMn«d tar осГ-s' 4flA±.
pvl 4* ab<.¥-. LuC rtV»tN ri-FrtivrHi
for aihw nwiks
h; np<4i-*4ttxai<t»f nd pflen *»ern
by a mpmlMr Of ftif 6M FuM-
sr.iiwfirha (TLb.r-rfjom qi iho
WJcpmr^iF-SS E*r1y ajjmpjn,
fciyr Dltcm mMlf tuithnul ₽<р>гч] al
bti^ ?ort.
рл| As oJtKive, tM tar Iha 1st Fuss.
Stnndartr Juliin. SchrncK
iMurFch-J. dhd with olhor । jr чв
pip-ng.
I* if Pjhch rrtrt trt anо№ссггУ lie
mill FuBi-Slikdanb IKAlrBth),
baaed яГййВир-nd Poland.
Lviiil Patch fat tvi о Hit er im the BUfl
tri SSObwataalwiH Obi.
Л Thu Ники л к г с
Тки Hukerikreuz or swastika was the pagan Germanic
siyci of Donner (or Tliorl, the Thunder God A very ei mb
lur symbol was roininon lit Hindu culture, although the
hooks faced to the left Hindu legend stated that re-
versing the avaslika would bfinp hod luck let this in-
stigator. During the nineteenth century it came to be
regarded ns symbolic of nationalism, and in the
post-19!S period was adapted by the Ehrhardt Brigade
and other Freikorps units. As the senior badge of the
Kazi party and state, it inevitably featured on many SS
accriulermerits, either static (i.e. standi nj* Hall or
mobile i.i.e standing cm one point Lu give the appear-
ance of an advancing movement l.
В Thu Sonhenrud
The Sonnenrad or sunwheeI swastika was the old Norse
representation of the sun.
C The Sig-Rune
The Sig-Rune (also known ля the Siegrunel was
symbolic of victory. Around 1932 SS man Walter Huck,
a graphic designer employ cd by the budge manufao
iuringiirm of Ferdinand HolFetiitLer in Bunn, drew- two
Sig-Hunes side by side and thus created, the ubiquitous
'SS-Rynen used ihL'neaftur by all brunt hee uf the
organization. The SS pa id him 2.50 Reichsmarks for the
rights to his design!
D The Ger-Rune
The Ger-Rune was symbelie of com munol. npirit.
E Thu Wolfsiirtgcl
The Wolfsangel or Wulf Huok. was originally a pagan
device which supposedly possessed the magical power
to ward off wolves. It was adopted as an emblem by leas
superstitious fifteenth-century peasants in their revolt
against the mercenaries of the German princes, and
was thereafter regarded as representing liberty and in-
dependence.
F The Wulfsangf-11variant!
Л squat version of the Walfsjinge] with houkud arms
was worn ;is nn early hcjdgu of the ЫЯПАР, and was
Liter udoptv>d by ihy Dutch SS.
G Thu Opfer-Rune
The Opfur-Kunu symbolized self-sacrifice, and com-
memorated the Nazi martyrs of the 1923 Munich
Putsch.
Lt The Elf-Rune
The Eif-Rune represented seal and enthusiasm. It wu
the early insignia of specially-selected SS adjutants
assigned personally to J hller and, as huch, was worn by
Rudolf Неяч in 1929.
] The Leben.-Rune
Thu Leben-Rune or Life Rune symbolized life and. was
adopted by the SS lx?bensborn Society, which ran
maternity homes. It likewise featured on SS document?,
and graven to show date of birth.
J The Totem-Rune
The Toten-Rune or Death Rune represented death, and
wag used on documenta and graves to show date of
cleat b.
К The Tyr-Rune
The Tyr-Elunt, also known ns Ihu KampF-Runeur Battle
Rune, waa the pagan Germanic sign uf Туг. the God of
War. and was symbolic of leadership in battle, ill was
commonly used by the SS as a grave marker, replacing
!hu Christian cross, and a Tyr Rune worn on the upper
left arm indicated graduation from the SA
Reichsfuhrerschulc, which trained SS officers until
1934 It was lai er the specialist badge of I he SS re-
cruiting and training department
1, The Heilszciehc'n
The lleilszuichen or Prosperity Symbols rupresenLed
i-.uccejr's and good fortune, and appeared on the SS
Duath'if I lead Hing
M The HagaH-Rune
The Hagall-Rune stood for the unshakable faith fin
Nazi philosophy! which was expected of all SS mem-
bers. it featured on numerous ceremonial avenuter-
ments. particularly those uned nt weddinga.
N The Odal-Rune
Th о Qdal-Rune eymbolizpd kinship und family and Lhe
bringing together иГptciplu of Bimilar blood. 11 was the
budge ufthu SS Huce and Settlement Department.
The Traditional Uniform
The earliest Nans wore ncnnal civilian clothing and
were disl infill u-hed only by their Crudely hand-made
Kampfbintle, or ewauLita armbands, worn on the left
upper arm. With the advent of the paramilitary SA m
1921, howeverit became- necessary to evolve a uniform
specifically for its members At first., their dress locked
any consittency and was characteristically Freikorps in
style, genera I к ta к lug t he form of field-gray a rmy sur-
plus double breasted windcheater jackets, waist belta
with cross-straps, gray troo^rs. trench bunts,
mountain caps and eteel helmet?. Manx SA men simply
retained the uniformrtthey hud worn during World War
I, nlrippad of budges. The swastika пгт bund Wiu» the
only constant feature, ийгПгИтса bcuririj; u uletal
numeral or emblem La indicate unit identity, and а
meLn] "pip" or cloth stripes to denote rank. In 1923, mem
Ьсгв of the Stubswache and Stu&sirupp Adolf Hiller
wore similar garb with the addition of a Prussian-
pattern death's head on the cap, usually surmounted by
the rtrirtatotonif, a circular in eta I cockade in the Im-
perial colors of black, white and red. After the failure of
the Munich Putsch and the banning of the SA and
Stosslrupp. the men continued to wear their old uni-
forms of the clandestine Trontbnnne’, adding a steel
helmet badge to the center of I he swastika arm bund.
At the end of 1924, Gerhard Rohsburh, a former SA
officer, acquired a bargain lot uf surplus Germa и Army
tropical brown shirts in Austria. These items were, in
reality, nut shirts st all but blouses with collars and
ц#т: UnilQtr-i ptllui Slasslrupp
Ad cd I Hitkr, 1421. It к Ьги*са l-r
RtuchitHMn- in rtiaraclrr, wilii ,1
3№aiI4ul j’Tbd^i arc AliIi,±ti-
Army-pjltcrr- c*p. Aflhoutft1 Ihr
SfOlylrupp had na 'cr-r zii'rrd rtnb
BhutluH, j while Mxul&rtflil tbit»
Vktwqh th* CMHSr dt 1hu Jirrrtblind
J&i-i э1«1llw r'c general
otiow ktrn th* lugn-ai.jfl &5
дгтодпй w4H tJlack
berd**» Out nd 'r<vr 5 PS 5, [Md *W
Ujimolffly pr«!uceU « Я i« Wty Pl
slips nrul qvo'rt,« Гст wp.ii on the
5t1 -1, |Lin'C hnd irealDQpl t.y
and olher ranks Du,inp ihr
spnhg of 1433 it was irted in
tan tunc I -on wHh а «йе<1ч>п oF
XiltMuli^i ErfissatisD? ire
15,MO SS moi iwtrr, h1 SA &unili*>y
peAc&tneh 1&чочП4 w« tvn*4 ar
*4 R*nshitej.
toHl AyiriOh Ijrtivdi** irtd
quasl-mliir-siy
w«c« ihOrft by th* :5S n B^krner-i
*«thf< fcjrthfl >42^-3? By tnij
tme, dbi' tiLx.k 5$ hej* hvd tnsd*
,11. зррлдглпс*, .-Md a ringn or
№DAH JDd SA EM41 ЙиСя ki was
a sc be nq prtxiJ cod
pockfts which were worn over lin ordinary Ео11аг1ек5
shirt. When the NSUAP and SA weru neconstitulyd
during the spring of 1925. Hitler kilted his men nut with
these readily available shirts and had ties, breeches
and kepis made in match. So by chance circumstances
hither than design. brown became the adopted color of
the SA anti the Nazi party in general.
When the SS was formed in April of the sameyear, its
members too were issued with brown shirts, To dis-
tinguish them from the SA, however, they retained
their death's heads und wore black kepis, block lies,
black breeches and black borders to the swastika arm-
band. By the end of 1925 the brown shirt with black
accouterments was firmly established as the so-called
'traditional uniform' of the SS. The vast majority of SS
men who were al-w members of t he NSDAP wore the
Nazi party badge on their Нея,
On 9 November 1926. the rapidly expanding SA in-
t reduced collar patches or to indicate
unit and rank, replacing the hadgen and stripes former-
ly worn on the armband. The right patch bore unit
numerals and the IlTI patch a system of rank pips, bars
and oakleaves, in August 1929. Iha SS followed suit
with a simplified series of black and silver patches. Un-
like their complex and mulli-edlured SA couniurpurts,
S3 unit patches did not indicate Slurmbann or Sturm
identity, which was instead show'll on narrow black
bands known, as cuff tit les worn on the lower left sleeve,
ut*F. A 1513 &ljAcUvtij-riruhtfrf'5
IXllfonri. NIjiri (Гк* IrtllL/ptfrCW»
wdh piping, ЧЬс ngwly
trtlruduc«d shouldnr sJmpr .ind Iha
Tyf .Rurw or Ihe upper Ie4t steeve.
□r.nslinp <jri*Cij;t1ic-r Irt-'p Ihe SA
Re tc П я hi hrenc h ide.
ml aw left: A Le<bA1WdAr№
bdlliirOrt 0*Л1И past H<Vw ОЛ frt
*‘?lh brrtMiy. 20 ft₽ril HKM,
4№t:"Pl4 UfMQue tun_; 4
piFf»d«J to have bwn wcm in
1W8 by Frnni Xave* Sttwan,
Tressler oJ tn* 45dap, iixr ух'аля
ShHi>«i the 1п4ч4ис1>«л <d »• Wee*
5$ wnnije 1лЛ|Гпггп А ¥*1одл c*
th* Mi>uca FHitacA, Sctvwm was
fllirs?' 1o Himmkif wtHj irmck'
twn Iha tuglwtt ranking G+ncirnl in
th* SS. WW*K1 PF у 1g the
Reichshihrer. in felum. Schwan
ensurod th al the AHgemcinc-SS
recerred nil the ' mnwl bucking и
requiiad, ohwiii ibieejpisriMi ol
a Bier Port у brunches, hta Ihd SA
k>d N3FK
aumt; ^iDdk se*w» onrlwiH as
worn by ап SS CtcifiOwhitw m
:№ IZtnSiunri, 3rd 51илпЬш¥1.
&ath55 FirW-Standarta iBromanf.
tflSK Т1ч'swallow's nasi s'el IM
ПюиЧеп donoi» пч рояыяп м a
rnamtMC <i| «he uM'SKMum corps,
and tn? dacwiborq, гкмьпд и»
Tirtlsh War star, imAcalit
ostiiMreo World War 1 shvkd.
мш
Within every Fuss-Standarte, each Sturmbann was
assigned a cnlor which bordered the upper and lower
edges of the cuff title. The prescribed Sturm han П colors
were:
Sturm han п I - Green
Sturmbann 11 - Dark Blue
Sturmbann 111 — Red
Sturinbunn IV i Reserve) - Light Blue
'['he number and, if appropriate, honor name of the
wearers Sturm appeared embroidered in gray or silver
thread on the title - Thus a memberijrt.hu 2nd Sturm„ lit
Sturmhann. -list SS FuEH-Standartc would wear a
green-bordered, cuff title hearing the numeral b2' in erm-
junction with the number'4 Г on his right coll Я г patch.
A man in the 11th Sturm 'Adolf Hdh'. 3rd Sturmbann.,
30th SS Fucis-Standarttt would sport a red-edged cuff
title with the legend 41 Adolf Hob", and regimental
numeral “ЗСГ on the right collar patch. AU members of
Allgemcine-SS cavalry units had yellow-edged cuff
titles while those of signals and pioneer formations had
their tit Its bordered in brown and black, respectively, A
relatively small number of cuff titles bore Roman
numerals or designations relating to staff or specialist
o.ppointmcntR.
During the autumn &Г 1929, a small sharp-winged
eagle and swtiBlikii badge, or //ciAeffSO&JPiCJ’tf’n. was in-
troduced for wear oil the SA and SS kepi in place of the
Rcichakukafde. SS bandsmen",1! uniforms were further
modi lied fay the addition of black-and-white military-
style Swallow’s nests' worn at the shoulder.
At the end of 1931. the SS adopted the muttu, 'Maine
Eh re heisst Truuc" I'My Honor is Loyalty"! folk wing a
well-publicized open letter from Hitler to Kurt Daluege
after t he co 11 apse of t he northern SA revel t, dccla ri ng in
his praise: 'SS Mann, deine Ehre hoisst Treuc’ Almost
immediately, a belt buckle incorporating the motto into
its design was com missioned and produced by the Over-
hofT firm of Ludenscheid to replace the SA buckle hith-
erto worn by all members of the SS. The new belt buckle
was circular for officers and rectangular for other
ranks, and continued in wear unchanged until 1945.
In May 1933, shoulder sirups or A rhafixttre ke were de-
vised. for wear on the right shoulder only. Those straps
were adornments to he used in conjunction with the col-
lar insignm already in exu-ilence and indicated rank
level ii.e. enlisted man or NCO. junior officer or inter-
mediate officer etc.} rather than actual rank
In Fefaru ary 19341 ft si I ver Hon о r C hevron for t he Old
Guard (EhrmtviHkel flir A!te KcirHpfcr} was authorized
for wear on the upper right arm by all members of the
SS who had joined the SSh NSDAP or any of the other
parly-affiliated organizations prior to 30 January 1933.
The Honor Chevron came to be regarded as the badge of
the 'die-hard' Nazi even although an 18-year-old SS re-
cruit in 1939 would have been entitled to wear it had he
been a 10-year-old Hitler Youth in 1931. Qualification
was later extended even further to include former mem-
bers of the police or armed forces who fulfilled certain
conditions and transferred into theSS
The traditional brown shirt uniform of the SS there-
fore developed almost continually over It уеягн and in-
corporated many add it ions or alterations at specific
times. These can be of great assistance in dating period
photographs. With th? advent of the black uniform, the
traditional uniform was gradually phased -out and it
was not generally worn after 1934. except on special
ceremonial occasions by members of the SS Old Guard
ut»t‘ Sennw tixiicoi a
9Л Hi* Atari ar We
₽<rffiWAniin SA. TNj cull iitie gn
|h* i gni gif**?. лЬо*е 1h? SA
M*ViC» strip**, was introduced «1
?5 Mt у 1'3>S * a cornmemoaiti»*
jwnrrj № Iha SO or за wLwnrra Ol
Iht Slosstrupp Adolf Hitler. 'Oki
Guard' Mui ri rrin*t<eed by the
Шс-cd Order nbbo* and GtMon
Party Badge.
гчкиет: Th* Honor СЮТГОО Ol tb*
Ctd Guvd was. produced w-th
bacb.grjy-ijrtiw *M wHltfl
border a Irx wear on SS. pobco «nd
su-now* urvronnt. n W«fl prtXKlIJI
Ьгиоа Ort frrtry рФмЫа occjuton
htf №04* «niltl»d ID IA4 il, and *-u
P«*Mntad -ngnltnef wdh n
coriin<LHit
Itn А11[упгт1фГ11»-55 швГ|'ч
ScturmmyU*. с. 1505
ni,лй. Л jrtwlion .71 г*и Thow-ла
the tiovr'tojxTW rrt of SS ЬлгнГдмг
ГroT etf ’D nght АлГ^лл JVrry
pallnrn кйр< 'Ijlnq from liM;
ula.A S3 kipi nKodu№d л i$ati,
Гытлкk*pi utrd 'irtun 1929;
fxtort tip <7. TIGC
RfiMl ftr, 1 duWKMWi wi.nl ЧП
aekrw*w4Mje SpeeiafrM «к** 010
1п}П1\ rtitrtfttr; Jup ©Г MHHted S3
ditpjrlrrr-nH, rriyn >14 Io figtit, top
I» tKJttocn 1rjumped HQQ, -I4C-UaJ
иЛмГу, Г.пггрм. bu frbjs.
.rinwirstrjlix. KjrTWiistritvfi
orf^jiw cavalryman, H*yi ar.|
$0*М*нчи1 orntf. FtocrvUing jrxi
T*a“*ng з'гпса<ч NC0
iHjcaier.
The Black Uniform
A major change to SS uniform was made in 1932, m re-
sponse tn a government demand that the SA and SS
should adupt a more 'respectable’ outfit an u condition uf
the lifting uf a han on pulitical uniforms. On " July u
black tunic and peeked cup, harking back Id the garb uf
the Imperial Leih-Hiisaren, were introduced fur the SS,
replacing the brown shirt and kepi. These items were
made available first lu officers, then Idwfir ranks, and
were worn sidu-by-aidc with the traditional uniform
during 1933 while all members were being kitted out.
The new SS uniform waadesigned by SS-Oberfuhrer
Prof, Dr, Karl Diebitsch. Thr tunic comprised a
standard four-pocket military-style jacket, the lower
two pockets being o-Гth c si an ted 'slash' type. wi t h a four-
button front,. There were two belt hooks a t the sides und
two false buttons al the rear to support Lhe leather
Нги ist be! i Insign i a was lhe м me as th al devised for the
traditional uniform, and the tunic was worn over a
plum brown shirt. The new !$S peaked caps were again
military in appearance, silver-piped fol generals and
white-pip^d for others, with velvet bands a nd silver cap
cards for officers, and cloth hands and leather chin
straps for lower ranks. As with the kepi, a 1929-pattern
edgle wuu worn above a Prusbnin-sly Ie death 5 head on
the cap. Several minor variants rif t he black uniform
were produced during 1933, but the whole outfit wras
formalized by mid-1934 when the new SS-style Tnten-
kopf with lower jaw was introduced
Item
Price in Keichsmarks
During the rental nede r of the 1930s. ihe black syrvici?
uniform was developed мн the S3 organ izut ion
expanded. GrealcwLs were produced and u series uf
spccia list nun dia monds or Arme/ra «te dev i sed for wear
un the lower left sleeve. On 21 June 1936. a new and
larger 33 Tnelal cap eagle replaced the uld 1929 pattern,
and while shirts were authorized for wear under the
black tunic on ceremunial occasions. For evening func-
tion s Huch. as parties, dances and №un there were black
mess jackets Гог officers and white “monkey suite' for
waiters, nil sporting fuII SS insignia. Finally. as from
27 June 193S. officers were provided with an all-while
version of the service uniform for walking out during
the summer period, officially defined unr.ing from 1
April to JO September each year.
Full-time SS men were regularly issued with items of
uniform and equipment. So for ач part-time™wort con-
cerned. how'evgr, all uniform articles had to be pur-
chased by lh? SS mi-mljerF, themaelvES at their uwn ex-
pense. The followLTig .чела 11 selection of prices is taken
from the extensive Allgemcine-SS Price List of January
1938, and gives a general idea of the cost of Items:
Black service tunic 34 ,80
Block breeches 18,00
Black overcoat 45,40
Pea ked cap for low 'er ranks 4.00
Peaked cap for officers 7.50
Peaked cap for generah 7 SO
Blown shirt 5.50
Pniiг marching boots 23.70
ЮЗЗ-рсЩсгп dogger 7.10
1036 chained dagger 12.15
Belt buckle for lower ranks 0.50
Bell buckle for officers 1.25
Shou Ider strap 0.33
Collar patch (l.fil)
Swart ik u urm bun d 0.80
Cuff title 0.75
Honor Chevron of t he Old Guard 9.10
Eagle for peaked cap D-25
Death's head for peaked cap 0.10
Vehicle ppnn an r 1.20
The gradual mtr^duction of the gray service uniform,
corn hinted with the sudden reduction in the number of
active part-time Alig«mein«-SS men because of en-
hineedeonstrLptiun nt the o utbreak of war, led to a sur-
plus of black uniforms building up in SS stores after
1939. Most of these were ultimately stripped of insignia
and shipped out for use by native police auxiliaries in
the east and the GermanioSS in the west. Conse-
quently , very few black Allgemeine-SS tunics survived
the war with their original German innignia intact
niwi Lt*i Mlle- qrw' "4 SS-
C4*«*(pr,>W<-L*uef HtcNifd
-‘J.nt hi, pt,n0. СПИ FjShA H
TM
above : Block h<v>c« O4-4J *JU
ItlarWl 1bf СГ-ИКЯКгПЦ. 1Д4 LH-t
the DL-ltKDOk or war IhK1 ^ticnr
ctoCu.*1 be ! J-fiU екичЛ
otguilmflex m xnovtn 1c. q.iod
rr<h_l on Pim, □ruler. nr *:tr. by
Jr OoorsUunnkihrar <И the SS VT
Sli’iantr Orr F jfircr' in IS j-S.
lEE!: HrtJSr’1 minim Гог Ure Day qI
G**',-.n Art pjr-dde n */jr ch ut
fPM Hi! KklDM Dy rtlftftn
т<*гЦм* 1 0< IM S&fril S5
ЯП'тт*Ь1е'Л!по tMtOQuiShed by
IMtr ?ifew-qrny CiA.i patch»
йринтг ток H4y0irt;hi'f
W n fl efi'SS fl jar J ®. nt Рттцчш
Caslle, spr *iq 1442.
мант WaHert-SS fiC* 4
pjlHirn hbd C«k. тли И Iha iWtl
BEvC" 'гс/гп ini.-рил
The Gray Uniform
In 193& the Allgtmeine-SS introduced a very elegant
pale gray uniform far its full-time staff, thus bringing
the whole SS organisation into line with the general
war fooling of the other uniformed services The new
outfit was identical in style to the black uniform, hut
bore an SS-putlern shoulder strap on the left uhouldtir
as well as one on the right a nd replaced the swastika
armband with a cloth version и Г the SS eagle. The id.ua
wus Lp give the appearance иГи military rather Ilium
po!itiL’Eil итГигт, thus holding sumv authority tu per-
manent Allgcmeinc-SS officers whu were, by the nature
uf their employment. exempt from service in the Wehr-
macht
The gray uniform was issued first to headquarters
personnel and thereafter to others qualified to wear it.
During the war. К was gradually .superseded by the
Waffen-SS field-gray version, particularly favored by
those stationed in rhe occupied territories. Thu 113,000
ОГ SO active part-time members of Lhe AlIgemeinu-SS,
who were almost exclusively engaged in reserve Occu-
pations, were never issued with gray outfits and so con-
tinued io wear the black uniform while on duty' in Ger*
many However. by 1945 that most impressive of nJ) SS
iiii i forms, which had been such a slat us symbol in the
prewar daysh had become an object of derision since its
wearers were increasingly thought of as shirking mili-
tary service.
и.1i: Ttns. .«ту plj.n and rxwi’
rptiulnffC'’' 'LiCewtm' Ilthc bunJoo
Lal и i лл jod Pa’ibh rtoi-qni, «*! !
^«orile or bS Oboryuppfiljhrer
Ch.irt.dld Pohl, who wzie II di miry
«СМчКЧ wM* 01,1 hi J
dtflieuS cW пГ Ifw WVHA. IHe
UFwrha ri a>» uncw" 10 Mve been
JSPfl nqr Ihf Rereh MVWHW o' Fm.
35 0Ы1гд*11рр*л1цД*е» неФеИ
»db*i r, Pohl s «еэиЫ№л рйк)-[вд
AI^'roou-i-M 141ГЧe?, wqh rK
sipgpnt гм aorj to*, d,st<Kii«e
Cirfr frllp 0i y. dapnirrTWirljl h#acl.
Pohl wnod « .VI *0nwii5trjtw
with ft» rtHpooti! nttiy tiuorq iVcdd
VVir I, .fid w*s Idler жтк11ЕЧ1Ьу
Himmler lo d™top 1ho ccor-omic
And admin dlr alivt tide йГ I ho SS
and police. Unlodur^loly. Iht
ulMiU№h публии rum л
Ibo UM 01 Ыm kjtor
яга ihe ipavtfl ei млее rural h>i-
иггз mrham lo >hdirMnal I ftp*,
№ which he was нхммэетгчнЗ io
OCUjIhflhtf tsnyMf л t«1
Ranks and Titles
Although I he SS became one of the- ma*L complex мГ all
rheNaai paramilitary organisations, its rank structure
reTTiaintd relatively stable and underwent few nuyoi'
alterations The definitiveSS rank system, dating from
April 1942 and Lasting until the end of the war, was as
fol Iowa:
МяппесKartell (Other HanksJ
S8-Hewerher - Candidate
SS-Arw la Tier - Cadet
SS-Mann iSS-Schiitze far Waffen-SSf - Private
SS-Oberschutze I Waffen-SS i - Private
rafter 6 munthk service)
SS-Sturmmann - Lance Corporal
SS-Rottenftihrer - Senior Lance Corporal
(Inter fiihrer (NCOs>
SS-Untersdiarflihrer - Corporal
SS-Scharfiihrer - Sergeant
SS-Ohprscharluhrer -StaLTSergeant
SS-HaupuschatRihrer - SergeanLM^jor
SS-Sturmscharfuhner (Wafien-SSi - Company
Sergeant-Major
lln the Waffen-SS, men holding any of the above five
UnterfUhriii* rinks could be appointed to serve as their
uni t's SS-StabsKharftlhrer or Duty NCOb who To [filled
various administrative, disciplinary and reporting
лпт-i igim llap irjic iland.vd
Дigc-T'. ne SS sFiaiAjer ilnpr,,
wntch de'Died nmt, Icvnl rather
:ha^ jcIujj rank Tr>™ w<“c won-1
Ьуг1гптп intlla nuht: anJtUed rtwv
NCOb, fur*ar о Fitter^ irNlcrmedato
dflicm, Snd MvuOr dH±ert.
n.rt Tb* SSotfiCW'l brweoe ber.
c*ht4d-evrrf wMh nOf_. ДМ
оаМе&лз. whs wwn rx1 cwe'njKuab
ocva«rf4. и r» thrjwn rw.nrfwih гм
55 Off car's bookls 'rBbevgl ДГЪЙ thp-
pfllcn ptfcer'» PvCLlq i1U*ilo*|.
«□Ove: Д snHchQ*1 Q Г tn sign л uern
by SS gprwsi -\di,ccr?
t,L-j4i. 1 ha о<щ1аг bell
jKHZk, Л Г1И ££ Qtr CW5 nnd №
ггс'пгпJia иск rT ffir nCDi л rd
и1 her iar*:
•narii: SS- ЙГandorlerliMtrar muto
ira*hi ;d rdcri^irr^ Ihu
OdklMvst to Ifrt <r4j|h'L t Ov4A
from tinier an H Jet^iary TM
affic*r miti»ce<itiw. OftoCiaiKMe,
WHS al₽r r^porrs-b* tar thAdirg
НЦргЧМу й»К Hi( Utujd*.
LLtt Ciinftg N'^j^Mhra i stnlowrirt
It? Bw* 1 in 1ЯМ, hia route *ал
hrod by b-ddirra o' the SS-V7
StaHda^a &rulsc*l<*nd,r rtontj
(4d-i>jy rmlwr duo Ывск
4JnT WWJv!* Hr ter urtffl, Mm
^*-n-n rtrix'i •‘q th'ld^cn, b i SS
вмгЛ лете ыл¥ ю fallow. Gn 14
ДОЛЯ 1ЯИ th* Нфгйг Mr№d
Through Berth's. Kinoef Pm/ *i the
c'xnprwij o< Rr,iHf|>. yon Fk'k*1.
mocWm' '. wrffi H mmiw. Aibgri
Н.'ГГТЗЛП iMj-liH'l th'ulhivt ,ir>?
Емлг, llAHJWliXi py fllllcaft ЛГЧ
тол at Iha Lo-JjMj'idJrtn
H1QW RtG-rr: Troops «Р ЙЧ SS
Яйгкйага впили rxfa Zassrn onyoying
fa twejk from l*i* ngcraus hnir-nq
и EsMAlaisan, ьиптсг rj»3 aji
wrw black 'AriticHnn1 "чНо cjpl
and rhe Jrey Mlwi-dnll Ijlguc
I -U' V.H
functions. The St n hsschfl rf« hrpr v™ nicknamed ‘tier
Spj'pjjf" or The нрряг', n truri it inn н I term daHing hark in
pikemen of the Middle Arps, unri wore two distinctive
bands of al uni i num Т'тме nniund the cuftk.l
Untero FGhrcr (JuniorfCcunpany Officers!
SH-Untersturmffihrer -2nd Lieutenant
SS’Obersturmfiihrer - Lieutenant
SS-Hnuptslurmfuhrer - Captain
Mittlere FOhrer (In termed in le^Field Officers!
SS-Sturmbannfuhrer - Mtyor
SS Obersturmbannfuhrer - Lieutenant-Colonel
SS-Sip nd» rtenffihrer - Colors I
SS-Oherfuhrer - Senior Culonel
Ifithere Fuhrer (Soni or/Gen era! Officers.!
SS-Bri^adefuhrer - Brigadier-General
SS-Gruppenftihrer - Major-General
SS-Obergruppenfilhrer - Lieutenant-Genera]
SS-ObersoGruppenfuhrer - General
► Ail Waffen-SS generals were awarded their corres-
ponding army rank titles in 1940, e.g. 'SS-Oborgrup-
pen fuhrer and General <fer Waffen-SS’- from 1543. u
p.irt of th? SS-Pt>|iw assimiintmn process, police
generals were allowed to 1пгагрога1е 'Waffen-SS' into
their titles, c.g. "SS-ObL-rgnippcnruhrer und General
dcr Waffen-SS und Palizef. The saino nil-embracing
tillea were extended in 1944 to the HSSPfs HPhere SS-
und PoH*eifuhrer». Himmler’s nominctst who. were
Lerhnirally responsible fnr nil AI Igoni e hl e-SS. WufTun-
SS и nd police formations based in iheir territories 1
Him nd pt relumed his overall authority HS Keichs-
ruhrer-SS. As with 'ihe SA, N'SKK, HJ and all other
NSDAP format ions, Hiller himself was ultimately
Ccmmande^in-Chief uf the SS Olid held the personal
title of Der OJierste Fuhrer derSchiitzidafter
Allgemcinc-SS ranks took precedence over those of
the Wnften-SSand police in uniciul SS correspondence,.
AlIgemein^^SS officers and NCOb who joined the Waf-
fen-SS during the war retained their Allgemeine-SS
ranks and had them automatkally upgraded if they
were promoted to higher levels in the Waffen-SS.
Waffen-SS officer candidates or Fuhrerbeworber । FBi
hud io we ns NCOw before being commissioned.
During an 18-mon th period, the officer cadet or Fuhrer-
a nw arter (FA I rose through the grades of SS~J linker,
SS-Standartcnjuuker and SS-Slandurfenuberjunker.
which equaled Lu SS-Unlerwharfijhrer, SS-Schar-
fuhrer and SS-Hauptscharruhrvr respectively, Reserve
jfficers who intended to serve only for the duration of
the war were known as EFE. RFA, SS-Junker cfer Re-
serve and so on. A similar scheme existed for potential
NCOs Ci vi Im n specie I i sis such as in c e rprelera a nd doc-
toTH employed by the Waffen-S8 were known asSundcr-
fuhrer or Fachfuhrer and were distinguished by (S) or
1 F) after their ranks.
Daggers
The 3S dagger nr4 JJrMtsfiitrfr-h , was i n r rod need with i is
SA counterpart on Ifi flpcember 1933 Black and silver
i г color, it here the SS molt о пп the hl nd?, л nd ni nes ял d
ял eagle or] the grip. Its general design was hased on
that п-Г a .seventeenth-renlury German hunting knife
knnwn зк the 'Holbein' which had a representation nf
Holbein's painting The Dunce nf Death an its scabbard
Worm by all ranks of the AlIgemeine-SS with sort ire
and walking-uui dre£&, the SS dagger was presented tu
its owner only ut the special 9 November ceremony
when he graduated from SS-An warier to S&Mann. It
was not issued at any other time, от on masse like the
daggers of I ho more plebian SA Each SS member paid
the full cost of his dagger, usually m small instaimenls.
pr ior tn its presentation
In February 1934 the private purchase nr'trading-in'
ofSS daggers op the open market wa s forbidden. There-
after. daggers could only he ordered From тяпи-
ГасЦхгега through SS headquarturs. far issue via the
three main S3 uniform distribution centers al Munich.
Dresden and Berlin. Moreover, il was made a disciplin-
ary offense for an SS man lu dispose of or lose hia dag-
ger. on the grounds that it was a symbol of his office.. In
that way. it was assured that no unauthorized person
could buy or otherwise acquire an SS dagger. As of 25
January 1935, members dismissed from the SS had lo
surrender their daggers, even though they were
personal properly paid Гог by iheir own means. In castes
of voluntary resignation or normal retirement, how-
ever, dagger* could be retained, and the person in
question «из given a certificate staling that ha w.istn-
lilled tn possess il
Only the finest maker* of edged weapons were
cTinirartod to produce the 1933-pattern SS dagger.
These included Roker & Co., Carl Eiekhorn. Gottlieb
Ihtnirnerffnhr, Itii’hnrrt Herder, Jacobs & Co., Robert
Klans Ernst Pack & Soh ne, and C Bertram Reinhardt.
The earliest pi we-i from the 1ЙЗЯ-35 pr-riod featured the
maker * 'Lnidemerk ли 9 hr blade, о dark Ыие-ЬШек nno-
dyzed steel scEihh.rni. and nickel-silver fitting* with the
crassguard reverse stamped T‘, nr 111'tndpnntcthat
the dagger had passed inspection nt the main SS
uniform-distributicTii corner responsible for issuing it,
via. Munich. Dresden or Berlin, respectively. During
1936-37, makers' mark в were replaced by R7.M code
numbers le.g. R2M MTffifi for Eickhornl aeabbarcte
begun to he finished with black paint, and the stumped
inspection numerals were discontinued as the RZM had
by then entirely taken over the regulation of quality
Kmirol Finally, from 1938. nickel-silver gave way io
cheaper plated aleel for the mounts and aluminum for
ihe grip eagle, Yet, despite the lowering standard of
maierialb used, a high-quality appearance was always
muiniiiincd and. the daggers were consistent in their
fine finish. In September 9940, due tn national econo-
mice, the 1933-pattern. dagger was withdrawn, from pro-
duction fur iliu duration of the war
The SS dagger was suspended ul an angle from a
single leather strap until November 1934. when Himm-
ler inlrodutajd a vertical hanger fur wear with service
j»t Tht iKe-pdlSeci SS chained
1йй1)*| Uefti o nd tha iSM-patnir
witr hMjing strap.
krijHi. C*i UAW D*r Ihfc
ГцЬтмгАмежм! a maretipest at [*w
H-llp* Teutil tfl Rrjriint l jj,tsii«r1rr
pnhis nqM. wrth daMsr dearly
wcwH, is SS Gri.Dpe'Hu’iKr Rnilij
Bou»ilcr. iwnd ar №1l,jr‘i tncrutpnai
v pr wile OjflDcllcry Wfi У
Uci nifef йпЛ Ь jt btslr, wear IM
"Тад dtHAdwrt 1M1 day tudg«
ьрес jjif prxxJ.jct-d ler tM Ever!
ri Iler doc i me. Тгч FiVirty
OMIbnvd k? u±e uy i₽w izniFarm
adtyrtnanlb 11 possWo and,
ibrprisn ijy irt not счел ctn^-r'
10 waannf Ilia GrSdcn Partу bodq
ur,[.l i&j&
dress during crowd control However., the vertical
hanger, while more stable, was too reminiscent of the
humble bayonet frag, and m 1936 the single strap was
reintroduced for both the walking-out and service uni-
foerms. Thereafter, the vertical banger was restricted to
use an route marches and military exercise's.
A more ornate SS dagger, to be worn only by officers
and by those Old Guard NCOs and othLrrjnks who had
joined the organization prior Id 30 January 1933, wilS
introduced by Himmler on 21 June 1936. Generally
know n as the ‘chained dagger*, it mis wry similar to the
1.933 pattern but was suspended by means uf linked
octagonal plates, ornntcly embossed wfth death's heads
and HS runes, and featured a central wnbburd mount
decorated with swastikas, During the 1936-37 period
these chains and hl Lings, which were designed by Karl
Diebitsch, were made from nickel-silver. Later
examples were in nickel-plated steel with slightly
кпизИет, ie^H cival-nbaped skullt. Chained daggers bore
no makers' marks and it is likely that only uric firm,
probably Carl Eick horn, which featured the chained
dagger in its sales catalog, was contracted to produce
them Each chained dagger had to be privately pur-
chased through 88 headquarters.
Un the spring of 1940. SS-Obergrappen flihrer Friti
WeitEol suggested to Himmler that an army-type dag-
ger should be introduced for wear exclusively by officers
of the WniT?n-SS. who hart performed so well in th?
open mg .st: nges of the wu r but were pre wn I i 6 by regul: t-
tiims From wearing Lhe Allgememe-SS dagger with
F heir field-gray Uni form. However, Himmler reject еч!
the idea out of hand. It was nut until 15 February 1943,
during the preparations for the SS assault uh Khiirkav,
that Waffen-SS officers were finally permitted to wear
the chained dagger with their field-gray walking-out
dress. As a conceMion to their military status, they
were also given the right to use an army-pattern porte-
pee knot, tied about the grip and crossguard in a now
and unique SS style. Four months later, wear of the
chained dagger and knot with field-gray uniform was
extended to officers of the security policy and SD, and.
thus the latter became the only branch of the Allge-
meine-SS whose members were permitted to sport dag-
ger knots.
Production uf the chained dagger had Lobe disconti-
nued at the end of I&43 because of miiLcriul shortages,
und its weur wels subsequently forbidden fur Lhe dura-
tion of the war.
In add 11 ton to the standard 1933-pattern und 1936-
pattern SS daggers, several special presentation
variants were also produced. The first of these was (he
so-called Ftuhm SS Honor Dagger, 9900 of which were
distributed in February 1934 by SA Stabschef Ernst
Rohm to members t>£the SS Old Guard It took the form
uf a basic 1933-piiltern dagger with the addition of the
dud i cut ion '.In hvrzlicher K.inipradschaft, Ernst Rohm
<.‘ln heartfelt ciimrudeship, Ernst Rohm'i etched on the
reverse side uF the blade. Following the Night of the
Long Knives, 200 similar daggers etched Lln hertlichcr
Knmcrndsehaft, H Himmler ., were presented by the
Reichsfuhrer to 88 personnel who hud participated in
the bl wdy purge of the SA, A very ornate and expens i ve
SS honor dagger, with oakleaf-decorincd crossguards,
leather-covered scabbard and damascus steel blade,
was instituted by Himmler in 1936 fnr award to high-
ranking oftirers in recngniiion nf.vpecinl achievement,
When one was presented to (he MSDAP Treasurer
FraiU Xaver Schwarz, who was also an SS-Obcrst,-
GruppenfUhrer and second only to Himmler nn the SS
seniority list, hr responded by secretly cnmmiAsiiming
the Eickhurn firm to produce an even mare eLifinrafe
example, With fittings it nd chain hanger in solid silver,
which he than gave to the Reichsfuhrer as a birthday
present
«вал. lift: Ln 30 1!J54.
пrlier i Filled Пи s-fr п ГйьгиСЛ
when We Mw HtirM, W
КНДР heudqifW№r>, wei Ы?пр
bum. He «иaMomfMffiBd by bm
clW S3 und SA jjdjiina^Hi,
Sthauo Jimi WilWm Bturtw. and
uJao try Bjltkr rtin ЭДщКЛ. taAdV
fid N» H-iler Youth,
wht; пч RetrfeiJuw's. 5*1x0 с/
НСнГи, tmhqw*d br Hirrer.x 01
M'ACtWj SS OfflCfin-
Swords
During the era, SS ufficers anti Nt’Ds engaged
1 n cere тип tai duLsuH were permitted to wear a variety of
privately-purchased urmy-patlem sabers, often with
silver rather than regulation gift fillings. In 1936, how-
eve r, at the same t ime as t he introd uct inn of f he cha in cd
dagger, a writs uf Atundardiwd swords in the classic
straight-bladed '/legen' style was created specifically
for members of the SS and police, emphasising the close
relationship between the two nrganivatiuns. There
were minor differences between degen for officers and
those fnr NC0sr while SS swords featured runes on the
grip, and police examples the police eagle. Personnel
attached to SS Reiterstnndjirten retained the I nidi-
ticnal curved sab&r for use on horseback.
SS NC0s could readily purchase their swords, via
lot’ll I units. Tram the SS administrative department in
Berlin The officer’s sword, on the other hand which
was referred to as the rfes йейгЛя/Ййг-
ers-S'S, or Reichsfuhrer's Sword of Honor, was given an
elevated slatusand could not be worn automatically by
every SS officer It was bestowed by H i mmleг on|y upon
«elected Allgsmpine’SSmTnTnnndcrsand al! graduates
fui чглит: 53 1*сич1 kr-irs ^o<r by
qtf<XTV 1^*1 Aid |umar NCOg
of the Waffen-SS JirnkerMrhulen at Bad Talz and
Braunschweig. Each presentation of the Ehrendegen
was шотparried by a citation in which the Rclrhe-
Ebhrer instructed the recipient: 'I award you the SS
ifword. Never draw it without reason,crsheathe it w it h-
uut honor!’ I'kii verleihe Ihnen den Degen dtr SS. Zie-
hen Sie ihn niemals ohm Not! Sleeken Sie ihn niemah
ein ohne Ehrel'i However, despite Himmler s dramatic
ewhortaticnw, the sword never became a cult weapon to
the sameeKtent as the revered SS dagger. Manufacture
ceased on 25 January 1911 Гог the duration of thp war,
0 nd SS officer л comm i ssiongd a ftor that date frequ p ni ly
reverted to thu old priicLico of carrying army Kuboi's.
Still more raclusive wore Lhe ao-cullod Grburisiatfis-
iiefien or birthday swords, given by Himmler to SS
gene nils and other leading Nazi personalities;, aa birth-
day presents. They were made to order by Germany's
master swordsmilh, Paul Muller, who whs director of
the SS damascus school at Dachau. The Gehurist.-igs-
degeu featured hallmarked silver fittings and blades of
the Iinest damascus steel with exquisitely raised und
gilded personal dedications from Himmler. The sword
given lo von Ribbentrop on his birthday in 1939, for
example, bore the golden legend ’Meinem 1кЪч?п Joa-
chim von Ribbentrop num 30.4.39 - .11. Himmler,
Reichsfuhrer-SS'(“To my dear friend Joachim von Rib-
bentrop on 30 April 1939 - II Himmler. Reithaftihrer-
SShset between two swastikas, Hitler received a simi-
lar weapon, the bkidp inKcriptson of which rend. Tn good
timus and bad. we will always remain stecdfhst'.
thereby extolling th a virtues and loyalty of the SS, and
binding its member directly to him.
i±rr; HiL4» Ъй!Г<-by Ф*
LM/Mfl'Mlarte guard cl Iwoor
COmmtfxM by H lurt^iu^Jiw
Пчо04гИ1кл. Frrvuary '.43a
rh^hT, FpbCT NOC'S *Jlh K£
kry.t, м worn Ey иЯ'СС *jrrjrl
off очг. wtTC' txrtd SS TTwmt*rsf-p.
The SS Death's Head Ring
Опр uf ihir most obscure yet most poLunl uf nil SS utti-
Form acruuterrrwnlsi was the Tntenkopfring dvr SS, or
SS Doath's Head King, instituted by Himmler on 10
Aprii 1934. The Tbt&nkapfring was not classed as a
national dseoraticm ад it was in the gift of the Keichs-
ftlh rer Howe ver, it ranked as a senior award w 1 thin the
SS brotherhood recognising the wearer's personal
achievement, devotion to duly, and loyalty to the
Fuhrer and his ideals.
The concept and runic form of the ring was undoubt-
edly adapted by Ihmmler from pagan German mythol-
ogy, which related hem Thur possessed a pare hi Iver
ring cm which people cuuld take oaths 1 much ah Chris-
tians swear on the Bi bleb and huw binding treat let
were carved in runes on Wotan's spear. The Drath's
Head Ring comprised u massive band cl' oakleaves
deeply embossed with a Totenkopf and a number of
symbolic runes. Each piece was cast and hand-finished
by specially commissioned jewelers working for the
firm of Otto Gahr in Munich, and was finely engraved
inside the band with (he letters 'SJb'tthe abbreviation
for 'Seinem lieben' ar, roughly, *Tb Пенг11 followed by
the recipient's surname, thu date of presentation and j
facs 1 m l le of I h m ml era signature.
Initially, the weighty silver ring was reserved
primarily fur those Old Guard veterans with SS mem-
bership numbers below 5000 but qualifications Гог the
award ware gradually extended until, by 1539, vir-
tually all officers with over three years' sen ice were eli-
gible. Award of the ring cuuld bo postponed if the pros-
pective holder had been punished for contravention 0Г
the SS discipline code. Each ring was presented with a
citation which read:
’] award you the S3 IWt h's Head Ring. The ringaymbflliies
our loyalty to th.1,- Fuhrer, our steadfast .itwdienev and our
brotherhood and cumratLehhi p The Death's Head reminds ub
that we should be ready at any time to Lay down our lives for
the good at the Germanic people. The runes diamel ricelly
•opposite the Death's Head uro symbols, iram our past of the
prosperity which we will restore through XatiunaL Socialism
The two Sig-Runes aland lor the name of our SS The swas-
tika and the I lugail-Hunv represent our unshakable Faith m
the ultimate victory of on г philosophy The ring is wreathed
in aakr the Iradilinnal German k-lf Thu Death's Ik-iid King
rannut be bought or sold and must never Га 11 Into the ha nd» of
ihow not entitled to wear it When you love the SS, or when
you div, the ring must bv returned to (by Riaehsfuhrer SS
The unaUlhOiriaid acquisition of duplicates of the ring Li fur-
hidden and [mrtishahiu by law. Wear rhe ring with honor!'
H HIMMLER
The ring, vs hich whs to be worn unly on the ring finger
uf the left hand, was bestowed On S&t SG promotion
dates. All awards were .recorded in the Dienslultera-
lisle, or Officers1 Seniority List, and the personnel files
of the holders. All ring-holders who were demoted, sus-
pended or dismissed From the SS, or who resigned or re-
tired. had to return their ringa and citations to the SS
Personalhauptnmt Those later accepted back into the
organisation would again qualify for the ring- When a
serving ring-hedder died, his reUtivea could retain bin
Qituticn pa p keepsake, hut hgd lo return hts ring to the,
SS Person»IhtiuptEiml which arranged, for its prescr-
vatiun in Himmlers castle at Wewelsburg in perma-
nent cum me niurulion uf the holder. Similarly, ifa ring-
holder lighting with the Wehrmacht or Waffen-SS was
killed in action. his ring had to be retrieved from the
body by members of his unit and returned by the unit
commander lo the SS Person al ha upturn t for preser-
vation. In effect, the returned rings of dead SS men con-
stituted military memorials and were cared for as such
at WeM.elsbuTg'sever'growingScbm.rj des ZnAcrbersirfes
ТоГелЛор/гтдез or Shrine to Helders of the Death's
Head Ring.
The Death’s Head Ring became so sought-after an
honor th»t many SSand police men not entitled to wear
if hrid я variety nF unofficial 'skull rings' produced in
gold Ond silver by local jewelers and even egneentrfl-
tfoh-CAmp inmates- However, these lacked any runic
symbolism and were rather vulgar representations of
the real thing
On 17 October 1944, the Reichsfuhrer-SS canceled
further manufacture and presentation of the Toten-
kopfring for the duration of the war. In the spring of
1945. on Himmlers orders, a II the rings which had been
kept in the shrine were blast-sealed into a mountain-
side near Wewelshiurg. lo prevent their capture by the
Allies. To this day, they have never been found.
Between 1934 and 1944. around 14,500 rings were
awarded. As at 1 January 1945, according to official SS
Etaiisiica, 64 percent uf these had. been returned on the
deaths uf their holders li.e. ihaeie rings io be buried of
Wewtlisburgl, 10 per cent had been Iasi on the battle’
field, and 26 per cent were either still in the possession
of ring holders ur otherwise unaccounted for That
would mean that, in theory, about 3foHl rings might
have been in circulation al the and of the war. The
history of the SS Death's Head Ring indicate» the grav-
ity with which the SS treated their regalia.
Flags and Banners
From 4 July 1926, the SS had the distinction of keeping
the mutt revert’d flag in the Third Reich, the Bhif/u/lHC.
or Blood Bunner, which had been carried at the head of
the Nazi Old Guard during the Munich Putsch when
they were fired upon by the police. It was spattered With
the gore of those shot during the encounter and was
thereafter considered to be something of a holy relic, SS
man Jakub Grimminger of the Munich SS detachment,
a veteran of the World War I Gallipoli Campaign and
t<₽: The 55 Offath S HMd
This onowns toSS-
HaLplslLiTnrfMrpr JtiMI TmcIvi* rq
W.
urr: Thsw plain Iran tre 134.3
ecjilwn of Ihs Drtjjjrujji'xxTS&ocft
dter AnSDAP fhialra'tr л u foci ют vl
S3 and uniform stylrn
Md4w1he14*l>pjL1cm FoldztMChan
-Cd Ita Leitrslundarte-SS Adcir
НЛЬ
я>Ан1 The ShrrmbflftnWlr« ofltw
14IF1 5S Signata fUirl4i<n (Vimna>.
Or рлПняЛтк *npr«t sie 11ч
gwaei *kI
tMmtolmr.
participant in the 1922 'Battle of Coburg' when the SA
had muted the local Comm uniats, was accorded the
honor of being appointed the first official bearer of the
Blood Banner and he retained that position throughout
his career The last public appearance of the Hlutfahne
иве nt the funeral of Adolf Wagner, Gauleiter of
Munich-Upper Bavaria, in April 1S44. By that lime,
Grimminger had attained the rank of SS-Standarten-
Euhrer, his association with the mystical flag having
assured him л steady succession uf promotions.
Every Allgemeinc-SS Standarte was represented, by
a banner or Fe/diejcAen, which was itself known as the
regimental "Standarte". Somewhat reminiscent of the
ancient Roman vexillum banner, it took the form of a
wooden pole surmounted hya metal eagieand wreathed
swastika, below which was я black and silver boxed
nameplate hearing the li tie or area of the SS Standarte
on the front Lind the initials 'M.SDAP1 on the hack From
the Ixm was suspended a red silk flag with a black static
swastika on a white circle. The malto "Deutschland
Erwacha' I'Germany Awoke’I was embroidered tn bul-
lion ort the obvur-B, with bNol. 8ол. Deutsche Arbeiter-
partoi - Sturmabteilung" on the reverse. The whole
item was finished off with a blacky whiie-'rcd fringe and
tassels. Apart from the black name box, th? SS Feld’
zeichen was identical to that of the SA.
When an SS unit achieved roughly regimental pro-
portions. и was awarded a Fcldzeichen in a mass
pseudo-religious ceremony which look place each Sep-
tember as pari of the annual NSDAP celebrations ul
Kumberg. During the proceedings. Hitler would pre-
sent many new standards to regimental commanders
and touch them with the Dlutfahne which Grimm Inger
was carrying alongside, so linking in spirit the most re-
cent SS members with the martyrs of the Munich
Putsch
SS Fteileratundarten carried similar but distinctive
Feldreichen which had the 'Deutschland Erwache' flag
hanging from a wooden bar fixed it right angles lo the
standard pole. In pCare of the name box, these cavalry
LEFT! Hittof C<H13K4|ij4| зд«г 2[<l
n*w ЗА ал£ 55 *1 г4кй лс ню
RefchtparHitag m 1934, ckwty
by MfihOb Cimm^igot
M*iy nflihe BIjHphnfi-
НК1ИГ Аг»С5Гч1пй1чп г.| 'hr
и<| 1340 F rid?'1 ct« r cwncd by me-
Lfiib<.Li'--q idi Si Ad г a Mitfer1. Iho
uigirol □nndzird Гс-р jk-ei by the
Fuhra's quord зЫ1 tart ri й
Moscow Fivdscjm FiWiig been
taplurud by Itw ЙМ Anry in 1S45.
Ftro Lcibsbandtaile'a diMmctvd
wTnifi-tejirrtr ikMda M|inf>i7H!*it
wu WrtnJirrftd in 1*И. »d wu
Lrtique is L*al PtoirwH
Л1№Г An 55 will
rtj (mjww. ТЬЧ наш
WH EHrbnpr^Vd fCr u¥« tty dl 5S
juroor «JffWS CiH |*1Л* tutf CATS-.
WFhki the otkA ^.cji Lm-r^td Itflt h<4
vijfikl*. rugiXitajris diGialMl ihai
I he рег-nfit Ь*
an Watfw*-SS nun could
pUlWkUr p“3lL-^jp>l Al [ХОПП? th*
Ihrj bwh If4w unit'* CLinIfTHl Eh<4k
AluSH- »вит: TM disHi^zlrw
fl«COuw™»ti drenSSa-lindajd-
Ьалгм - tj c*flAl. СиМбЬет am
gauntnt}
standards featured я black patch, or РаЛлдоярг'едгЛ on
th? flag cloth, bearing сгоя-wd lances and the unit de-
signation in silver
Each SS Slurmbann was represented by a Sturm-
ha nnfa h rre or faatLal ion flug, wh iefa шок the ferni uf a red
ground with j large black mobile swastika on u white
c i rcu Lar fie I d, wi I h black and si Ker tw iated cord edging.
In the upper left ст mor, or canton, a black Fa h neiiS’
piegel was embroidered in silver thread with the
Slurmbann and Slandarle numbers in Roman and
Arabic numerals respectively. Th? majority of these ЗЯ
dags were made by the firm of Fahnen-Ho-ITniann,
Berlin.
SS standard-bearer* initially were я heart-shaped
SA-style metal gorget or Kamnt. dating from 1929,
upon which was affixed a gilded eight-pointed sunburst
surmounted by a facsimile of the cOnterpoccL! of the SA
bull buckle. In 1938, ei new and uniquo SS-patlurn
standard-bearers gorget appeared, crescent-shaped
and featuring a largo eagle and swastika and a suspen-
sion chain decorated with runes and death's heads. SS
flug-bearers also wore a maesive bandolier in black,
with silver brocade mlging.
Command flags, nr Ktinimartdoflaggrnin the shape
of rigid pennants Un Hup pules, were curried as unit
markers nt Large parades or, in smaller versions, were
flown from the fenders of Staff cats and other official
vehicles. They were square, rectangular or triangular
in form depending upon designation, and wore made of
black-and-white waterproof cloth with rustproof silver
thread. Command fljig^wcre usually covered m a trans-
parent Celluloid casing during inclement w eat her.
Each SS headquarters was required tn keep on hand one
official vehicle fljg and one command pennant for the
Reichnfuhrcr-SS, faruhe in the event uf a 'flying visit' by
Himmler, lit her Kommandaflaggen included Lhasa fur
the heads of the SS Hjuplilmlvr, SS OborabschnittC
and Abschnit le com tnu riders, the leaders of Stu ndu rten,
Reiterslondarten, Sturmbannc. SS«tores and Inspector
rates, and senior Sponsoring Members.
THE WAFFEN-SS
When Hitler assumed the Chancellorship. he felt that
he could not entirely rely on the traditional Reichswehr
guards лрр-iinted by the State to protect him Con-
s^quently, he quickly issued instructions for She forma-
linn of я tihw futl-timr- nrm₽ci SS unit whoiW snip func-
tion would be tn escort him at ull tune.4, whether in
Berlin or an his nflici л I journeys throughout Оеттплпу-
Ai the Party Day Rally in September 1933, the detach-
ment weis officially named the Leibstandarte-SS ‘Adolf
Hitler' or LAH. which may best be translnled ля the
‘Adolf Hitler' Life Gu-urd-b, invoking memories uf the
Bavarian royal bodyguard regiments. Under Sepp
Dietrich, the Lei batandartccame to be in.exclusive pro-
minence around Hitler, its men serving nut only us his
guards but also as his adjutants, drivers, servants and
waiters
Ar the snmp time as the infant Leibstnndnrte wag
being nurtured, other smfi.ll groups of armed SS men
were set up я.11 over Germany to he nt the dfoposal of
I uca I ffoii leaders. As a genera I rule, each hH Absch ri tf t
feOfuiti'd its own Kaserniprte Hiinderischaft-of ] (Ш1 or so
barracked troop», and several of thcHE were amulgu-
mated in key fireaa to hecume company-or even h. itta-
I ion -siled PbiHischf Berri tncha firn, or PBa, pel it ica I re-
serve squads. Along with the Loibbtunckircu, the.' Plk
played a significant purl in the Night of the Long
Knives. as a result of which they were expanded, into a
new force known ns the SS-Vcrfugungstruppc or
SS-VT, under Paul Hauwer.
Men nwh i.l н, a t h i rd nrm pd SS Гпппа tlOG к ПО*'п as the
WracAi,e.ribfTwrfchnd hw-n created specifically for the pur
poap of gun rd mg the growi ng n umber of concent rat ion
co tip । nmates- Com mo nded by Th eodor Eicke, th is for-
mation grow Lp incorporate five hnttaHons which in
Mnrrh 1Я36 were numnd the SS-Totenkapfierhnnde er
SS-TV iSS Death'» Head Units] beesuj^e of their dm-
t i net ivc collar patches. Thntbiimc month, the Lvibst-ijn-
dorte played a leading rule in Hitler's first move out-
wards w-hen it provided the advance guard in the
reoccupation of the Rhineland.
PflFW«.Hl iPif.F* ThS Ci-ikr*
-r-blVwid,^H HWONhS P4M L|B
Рогл»л5 н*м. Ch«l4h and
Mimmkn Lx-Vixl 3-7 Jjr щ*>
liM
Atcvi SS ^bwgfuppanltfwta
TtWDifcH ttc*r w<4<wh) tn* Kn W»
Снпт *iCt> СШ1кш*к.
Lin C№C*nlAtKMi-cJimp дь Lrti
retvired 4i 0г*сйп1л0с Ptl lhe«
«.*}« Ih th* Form dF qэтьэт
*i*i«i eooitd be <лм ip
trwy FsixJ Ortfl lueidry rtema Inxr, Ilie-
VJir.p С4Л1К» artj thOU.
ярит: mjinntr Hcitimnnn, HiUaTi
oorjon*! wrjh s*pp
Ew&Kftfit Hhrzhi^.TMdfrh dw -lfl
Й& ctr-nnw q1 ЦК*.
щгт CoKw Mtchfli лтга М9*в ла
4ih to jl M.orn >р ДГ1
ObnlLTrT-'UtU'Cf nF thp
Lc-hs'ontliirtq St AdoJr HiHar'
асялик Dm 6 Лugu11 lM-Ч- Oberst-
Lrypt-Vf-h. "irtH til cinch bcr irn^ 1tiQ
№Х1и«п1Ь гсс'рггП □! the C inrxidz
10 i№ KfiCjfir'i Спил. Tb-r
prts^rtljIiot p№Lagraph war
Ab '4цЛуШМ 4П at to cDOCicaVlhe
ir.irj !u l+llw S пцпГ arm, wtiicti
had tritfi during Ihd
t»™., pkn .HMsS^litm a lie-г pF a
r-’rtnujN fta/W.
йПи! № LcibiniMiJl* 1Г11rv-
Bcdir vc№ry (wad» <yi i?Juiy
1A40. Tha higpi-quaJity <stf«;iWs
tuntcr on thr left, cgnlrmt*
wthlho iNd blisLbM h/ tl>
hCC □ and men.
niuh pwni. Thcod.., WiKh,
shewn here al [ba Init dunng: Iha Я
Naweriber I SIL ralebr Jliam m
Mu»t*i. wisdtwoF th« onqiFaJ lit
ihenibeesol Пи L*tmstanaщ1е апй
кч! |l.i LAH DrviiFtn dunng the
№rr>ldOdy OjUlfri Ol JОГИ-*LKJO31
l’T-H wou'-dud am Я
Ai^juat tHid iperii tbe reii ur ihe
л» on лПщнпцгп! tOlhoSS
.Fdhtfunrgsfl^ptifiit
During Ihe irniL of Lhe prewar period, the armed SS
developed under the direction of innovative оЛПигл who
Favored the tactic»uf UH&nult detachments, shock LFUtrJK
and mobile battle gruuph. Huun even the Wehrmacht's
cj'ebrows iw as SS troops on maneuvers covered
almost two mites in 20 minutes in full battle urder. By
September 1939. the Lribstandarlc had expanded to in-
clude three motorized infantry butiulions and ancillary
unit», while the SS-VT comprised the ‘Deutschland1,
‘German Ki* я nd “Dcr Fuhrer' Standlarten with artillery
support. The Death's Head Units were even more
numeruuK, with five Tbtenknpfstandartcn and a Home
Guard butiuliun, the so-called SS-Hennwchr, in Dan-
zig
Su why had there been such u rapid militariizaticin nF
large sections of the SS?The rea*£m was u simple one.
The SS was primarily a civil pal все force which Hitler
hopt'd would eventually maintain order not only in Ger
many but throughout Nazi-occupied Europe To do so,
however, it would first have to win its spurs cm rhe
hnttlvfield. h would hr necessary For the SS and police,
in their own cloHod цпИя, tn prove themselves at the
front and make hliwjd .sacrifices, to the same dc-gree us
iiny other brunch of the armed forces Only then could
the SS posses# the authority necessary Гог its future rale
in the New Order.
The Leibstandarte, ‘DeuLMhland' ‘Germania' and
rhe SS-Heimwehr Danxig nil pnrtirip^ted actively in
the conquest of Poland At the end of 1НЗЯ, rhe term
'Waffen-SS' began tn he used when referring tn the
armed SS 1йгпм1№п.ч, which Няияздг лиссвянГыПу
argued nseded tn he organized into full divisions to
npprute efficienlly Within л few month;; the three
SS-VT rppimunis had huen merged into the* first Full SS
division, the SS-Verfiigungsdi vision or SS-V, and the
SS-TatcnkcpfstandarlfiEi utiitvd to become the SS-
Totonkopf-Di vision or SS-T A third combat division
the so-ca Hod Poli sei-Di vision, was created almost over-
night by a mass tra nsfer of uniformed police personnel
into the Waffen-SS. The Blitzkrieg across Holland Bel-
gium and Prance during May-June 1940 established
beyond doubt the fighting reputation nf the Waffen-SS.
with six of their number winning the coveted Knights
'C ГОКЛ.
fferru.my's success in western Китире opened up h
new reservoir of pro-Na/i foreigners whom Lhe Wehr-
macht had rto authority to ctinscripl. They were re-
cruited mtn .l new Wuffen-SS division named ’Wiking’,
under Felix Steiner, at the end ОГ1940. In April 1941,
the LeibfitandtirLc and SS-V, the latter having been
awarded the title SS-Division 'Reich\ raced through
Yugoslavia and Greece.
SOLDATEN DER
jjEIBSTANDARTE
ADOLF HITW
ut’r This ccnwnemcfil'rt itynea
PhMikW irt Jar.. згу I54j and
t*h1*rt*4i 12 pbo*c4ra*y*ijc trtnLs
by SS war eor«i>crnlent-L aKw-y
№« LeibHaneHde m ляю<г
Wi.&w чеп. Ai^jiL-h tFfli4rf*j агч
опиату of H* SS-Twseihcipf
Divitmi uvwng La вш4*С«ч1
-Г nortlhnm Frjrcil May I'JflO
СагпсьЧagn ctorthing h»d 'Kit а»и
wtdaFy untnbulod fq SS-TvirMfB
al Itm<nty vt3t;p in Ыч war. aid
^rkf-ipay апту-рлИнп tuntpa лег*
ГЬт ич>₽- c* thi daqr
i an' Grratctal ar-
ObttriliFniditfww ui Iftt 1и1еги.сф1
DnrrStW. 1«D Dunog ,bm tanndMrt
Ol il* S5 I-eld arvrSrixi *i llw
inu оггиэд d iNm in
prraonMi vka/ 0 <<•(> r*a Г|ЧК^*ч
wilsr-pAflcb**, Wil* ranitab**4
aM>catrrd *ol«*r by Ous an Mider
llraps m лтпу (nstunn Tlw
rruilfJiinfl c4Mr ржи CutM w»
rMCJidjsjinti-Jcatwriig May, u,.i
such г-1-дпи wntinmid 50 b* *cm
wH лЕр 1W!
if*т. at
womi -/..ir,gr iJiltf fr»Qve*iity
ndMjnc«4 dM-p irilD o-nj/nj
lamipr^, *r nh^ixlol lh-- man
WWirmachl fwoif
nricnsj un.SS Toir-"Hopf l-dcip:
cefletwits alter h- fall ar Franca.
The min tn Ihd n^it wrirS Itw
'H Ча-КмгасгМиртг' arn>bjnd of
ил nuKiiinrf SlrelchEKhe are*- and a
Op -jl m.t о1 totr tn jr4l ir-^flira
П №№4 'tjm IM «rfirjuM ar
№r olbcrs.
*+*») &4i'i**rb *' ►* SS-PflU*-
Ew-S-on Ou «d'^s i tjrn>j>f. доии.
th» V*ibi-Rrjri ₽пЦ1Г ппа* Ojpn-Жт
пгчПгп-гп FffijVrl. *uFim»r t^iU
lift Cr*.: ijhut-OtHi-nrrT f r4j $b?iiw,
СЮТ1 munder ql :tw S3 L>rtibicn
'W, fjrtig'
Al dawn on June 1941P Hitler ordered his forces
i nto RuKwip Lu begi n Ihe e pic con El id uf ideologies wh ich
became a worofesterTni nation and changed forererthe
hitherto generally chivalrous character of the Wuf-
fen-SS. 'Reich" was heavily ungngud sit Minsk, Smo-
lensk and Borodino, where Hausler Just an eye. find the
d i visi tm tn me wi t h in a few к i Iometens of Moscow л 11 he
end of the yean The force of the Russian counter-
offensive during the harsh winter of 1941-42 stunned
the Germans, ma nv of whom found themselves cut off in
isolated 'pockets', the most notable being that al Oeni-
jan.sk which contained sis. divisionsh including I’oten-
корГ.
During 1942, the SS diviiaions were refitted with a
strong tank component- In May. ‘Raich’ was renamed
’Das Reich1 and in September the SS-Kavallerie-
Division was activated for anti-partisan duties behind
the lines. December HUW Ihtf farmtiliQn nf two cum-
pietcly new WalTen-SS divisions,, 'HuhunBLaufcin' and
'Frurtdsberg', hy which time SS troops in the field num-
bered around 2(J(ihO0C.
The Soviet oflemuve of December 1942 proved dis-
tustrous tor the Germans. The Sixth Army was des-
troyed al Stalingrad and other German forces in the
Caucasus also faced the grim possibility of encircle*
ment. However, the Russian thrust had beenme dange-
rously over-ex tended and in March J943an$fj’Pnnzpr-
Korps comprising the Leibslandarte, ’Das Reich' and
ТпЕепкорГ took Kharkov, a prestige largel- F«t the
firsl lime, a substantial body nf Waffen-SS troop*
foughi together under thei гил n general к and t he re^ul L
was a resounding viclory. To Hitler, who wuh becoming
increasingly disillusioned with army failure*, it wo
prwf of the fighting capabilities of the Waffen-SS. In
July, the SS-Panzei^Korps played it* pint in the mass
armored buttles о round Kursk and again feught well,
despite being weakened by the removal oft he Leibslam
darte which was transferred to Italy to bolster German
fortes there The position on I he eastern front under-
went a drastic deterioration when the Soviets feunched
an offensive аетон the Ukraine at the end ef the year.
The Wiking division wfis trapped in the Кагйип-Cher-
k assy pocket in О мгепр rem i л isccn t uf Stalin grud. wh i Ie
th? Loibslnndarte and elements of ‘[)ан Reich' were en-
circled at Kpmenets Podolsky and had lo be rescued by
‘JhihenKlaufpn’ and "Fruindpburg' Worn down and ex-
hausted. the Waffen-SS formations were now increas-
ingly unabte to stem the advancing Russian tide
In the spring of 1944 the battered SS divisions were
sent westwards and refitted in preparation for the ex-
petted A ng lo-A merica n i n va sion Threughou t J и ly, the
l>eihstandartcn dDas Keich", "Hohenstaufen', "Fninds-
berg" and the recently mustered 'Hitltrjugend' md
“Gotz von Berlichingen4 divisions struggled ceaselessly
to contain the Allies in their beachhead, but were over-
taken by sheer weight of numbers. Simultaneously, the
Red Army struck again in the east and ripped the Ger-
man linesapert/Wiklng' and ‘TeterкорГ repulsed the
Soviet attack on Warsaw during August, while in the
Balkans the backbone of the Gennan defense wus pro-
vided by "Prinz Eugen", ‘Htindschjir and uthcr nomi-
nally Recond-gradc SS formulionp which hud been with-
drawn from their usual umlL-purlitiln duties.
Irvcrcaaingly, wh feordinury German soldi ers were pre-
pared to surrender, il Was left 10 the Waffen-SS Го light
Lt» » A tn*
Hlnotiueend' Diviilw tiFfs**da»T
>4*f F*WUb Ajjull l^u Ий It
*»nring |tw nrfr# СЭТОДПад* dM
tiai< on top ol a vtiodarii 1i*«.
tjlpu«
цдо lift: tl** 'ijor.ttnrkratt-
'□hrreog' worn ol bjif frack» was
л dc-'j1 шве! by Ifre ЛаКвойЙ n a
™wty ol role» This arc fronrir q
tfrw i jLbcal symbols ar 9*0 £>l а П,
?od Battalia»», 1st S-S'
Рдггетдгммю-ег Fbogitrerrl, *ш<и
the rttad №MAtn, БлрЛгтЬн 1?J3
*5н9: S0l4>Ar9 t?F Iht SS Cawilrr
Ofr ir*l'-p*1iian plljnl ft
Huss-s. dimmer
MlWr ТТи- Anni y |ми*-*»(хи.
W₽*O'*ЧФ |hf ‘crrtMT- C4P
’ля'*" it.ii »pMr rt.»ri .11
r>gti| цр*mW 1twooOol tn* наг
ипго .1 rf л-счп □/ ar hfCO t]f ГГи
Ё&'Рпгют.ДоПсКллпд; ДЫо ung I
at K.aiwctwnracko in tf*n Ajdo-inot
IT 0cccJToe< 19*4. Tlio
Seb**тут»ша1)еп dmer нспгц a
cwr an leal frier tnDlorirg heftwl
i£f । Оч- cl d МчМ or
waHen-Kiroflft Jd*aflc*4 di^iotr
П1 - Af 44АПМ. sNiHiJiv*
4i(™. Th<J*f ysung n*Hf$
wipUrnd прдг EMlt-wrei 1Itc nnO
of l!M4 opitam-2o1№>CMhnbELnd
ilalcfll nwi Vfaripn-St ivhtfh wn>
tn ir пр al'TOit t<Ли1',1 worn djI к a
гпи]|[<4 DMit nuaJ 1rcn[ Mil- ncliorv
Оглам: Л псп, А^пьспе. Chclrtcti
snd Wrtl. tfuihiIюд the 111 SS-
РапвгИшфОч, wm МПкч'1 quests
j| 6апт1Чпдо*т m >M4
•пит: SoldMflUvt wMtthey C#i
horn Ml SS vrhMe bwntpy
|hi AoMItW alBlHjrr иЯ ft>r1rfl_ Afwd
H94S
on. In September the British &irbnme [ending at Arn-
hem w;ikdefeated by ‘Hohenstoufen’ and 'Frundshprg1
Th ih victory, ii nd the general alow । ng duw n of t he Л11 ipd
advance across France, peirsuadcd Elillpr to launch a
major offensive through the Ardennes, spoarhfijidpd hy
Dietrich e Sixth SS-Panzer Army, tn nn attempt to re-
pent the successes of IfMO. However, the hilly and
wooded terrain naturally favored defensive action and
the German advance ground to ji hith. With u virtual
stalemate in the west. Hitler pulled his SS divisions out
and sent them eastwards, whore the situation hud опта
mare became desperate.
At the beginning nf 1915, the Soviets swept across
Poland Even so. Hiller’» main concern wag to safe-
guard the tenuous hold he- still maimtainnd (ivpr the
Hungarian oilfields. The SS cavalry divisions ‘Florian
Geyer and 'Murta Theresa' were besieged in Budapest,
and ‘ToLernknpf and AViking' tailed in efforts to relieve
them The deployment tif Sixth SS-Panzer Army re-
inforced by the ‘Beichsfuhrer-SS’ division was the Inst
gamble, and it came to nothing. The failure of the Waf-
fen-SS in Hungary had н devaelating effect on Hiller,
who had came to expect the impossible from them, and
he openly accused Dietrich and his subordintilio; of
betrayal. Nevcrlhe teas. SS troops carried on lighting as
loyally аз ever as they slowly retreated into Germany,
bowed under the weight of superior Allied numbers and
equipment During the last week in April, a battle
group nf hard-rnne Waffen-SS engaged in a life and
death struggle to defend the Filhnerbunker. By that
time, most SS units hud accepted the reality of (he
sltuntinn and were pushing westwards to surrender to
th*! British and Americans.
Il is estiiiiJiU'd that коте iftO.OOO Waffen-SS soldiers
were killiid in action during World War II, with about
4G0,Q0Q wounded and a further 70.000 listed 'mining'.
L<rr. тг&»55-ть&1*1ит11*»
.viMtipd id tK' 'HanSbthnr
й№афп nd the pnd o’ ThMr
JecQriilwn^ iiidic*!*’ I'f’xjl 1Гитг ащ
Gmman nnlxxub Tlw tifbcp n th*
rrvcdf, a vnlcron ч* l№ SA'SS idty
nJ B'1L'nscJl*rt*p (РшГЧЛ'<к) П
1И1, «гага IF в Ылгпк Fiqr.l-hj-"d
coiLir tulrft чки+rd by Mm#
'Hand ichii' ^cTboomi ргкх Id In#
rtrtHhjclusn dP th# dwind
Ac:mr[dr jtd swaStkS pitth. Nta#
flfad the pJrtf i Mi ОГ rrtwbdH liLfn
And Stpwn gJnleri.
‘kw. The liA*d-qro.y f« with d*h-
P*tn bast* I wii rishdd by
птвтЬчга oC [he Mobieci S5
divuoHs iKndeelar crO 'Xnria
0Г JhO ЕТ|ГЧпГ»1ф«агпЦ11Г
тгавпюгчл^. mosJ»t tropes w^ye
the pnqitw imr ПЛЦ? -ЛП Ь'.лЬ-ц
46wH4fcr#t$ uirinfl- wertj Wh-1,
Ki f-hi»l 1hny C-DJid ЫД V. Idil.r
'СГ.ЧТГМВ1. ыгч дгоигОЛпгч
prjynr w inc Jl rtHTjvir-jf incir
rtqililKin hciidocar
p-dhi: SS soidterh r ignore lhr>
r<ni, k'"«l djrirq Iba ’мэти-Иит
r-gFilmg dh thd EttMem FrtXit. kl Is
ik^x Toil >be So।Adi Slngvd Uiit
iFx.1 Cd Ehdw w rrunf 55 ii-isvnd
« ptHrt® c. iheidbi,' 'rwiturnc ihdt
rlw VKaFJeO-SS wM СЮ1 lb*
Ibtc* -Kheh Mail
piOCrwhdd t4d jx*n*jr*d
These figures a re puL inLo their true perspective when it
is considered that the entire British army, navy and air
furee combined suffered a total nt"270,000 fata] casual-
ties between 1039 and 1945. and US Ineses were
300,000. By the closing stages of the war, SS soldiers
were normally in their late teens, and the average age
of a Waffen-SS junior officer was 20. with a life ex-
pectancy of two months at the front
The loyally and determination «Г the Walfen-SS
belied the fact thnt the greater part of its strength, over
57 percent, ultimately comprised non-Gennan
nations К I л rge л и mhecs of pro-Germa ns, anti - Bolshe-
viks, members of local pseudn-N;izi political parties, ad-
venturers and simple opportunist я spread right across
occupied Europe were only too eager to throw in their
lot with the winning side. Flemings. Dutchmen,
Italians, Walloons. Norwegians, Dunes, Frenchmen,
Latvians. Ukrainians, Rumatiiuiii, Estonians, Croats
and many otherajnduding even a few British, enlisted
in the Waffen-SS, often in their own units with their
own distincti ve insignia The westerners generally per-
uiFT The ИвИйП-55 3o*dbuCl», (X
pifVMk *a«jb*d » ел ide^My
d&Gurneni dhd п-м io b* c*m*O by
th* hfdd** it 411im«. Implant
deV.XS «Ц 5<i4f snfl tum*r| und
WWW li^Ind *1h*n. лги! IroiXM шага
gwffi sinKt crtoc, tv "№kvc jnd
dmlroy th* rNwvhnt pv^rs brlorr
зипрмЕет ng.
hfjmi. 'MkinduAui' art Itory
psraonrsrl dinng 'liaFling, ipmg
1&Ы
□ludw Ttrcv 'HondiKhw' Irdcp^s,
wJTtg Iheir disfihclFirt WTdlr
jng swDBlikd <xjHar pdfltAeb Л»
rt3№r 'HortdMhBf *B4 <J*hrrfd
Irjni Ьл АпОнС wi>d *i4№>ing
‘scuiiitir'
wf id>v йи'лr $й-Впд*сЕрГи1тх K/.r1
S4ii4>+«т**hg, .ч т-в.М,- Ы Eh*
HAhdirhar DwiuHMi, gi^irn
ьлзЬисЧлпа. to his driver in 154*. He
min Ihc- fpcuMh.:n--thong
tdehvai3&o*i his ncV slwve The
Croul LheOk^Dd^d ihiL+d Ol tne
dvз on 13 iLt» vs-t*e EWcun Iha
arm Mflir c4 Ihn оПЧяг 4tarti>*H) t-1
Ihe orivert -door.
formed well, but those From the east were p«or at best,
and ut worsl a complete rubble. Their loyally was
always in question and Himmler regorcled them simply
ои racially infener елпгтп-fodder, whose only ether
saving graee was their propaganda value.
As the war ргоргелчес!.. the vast majority of WuF-
fen-SS uniform clothing wuh being mjnufucturetl 'in
house 51 concentration camps und prisons, nuiny uf
which had fully equipped tailoring workshops or BCj
kleidungswrrke. Their products bore ihq stomp
'SS- Й W fol lowed by a code nu mbpr a I located lo the pur-
tirukir establishment concerned, an example being ‘SS-
B\V-0-0453'-005fl' which related Lo Dachou By 19+4-45,
however, shortagee of raw materials h.id created bitch a
crisis in the uni Form industry that even the concentra-
tion camps could nut meet the clothing needs of the
Waffen-SS. The result was that newly recruited fmnt-
line SS soldiers ended up wearing captured uniforms.
кЕП WtuVl ItMj вг V3b libWEHM Itw
Bgl сдоздгт1гfflffln ri*T£ on 1J
Ajml IS 45, 1hfty I&mWJ it fctaN»
largwy ibу *&. r,dta *nd
retloefjt nq Puerto anfl rrwm
had Ь-;тГ1 1глп’-,сгтгъЗ i or л
'игрек irv рам from ил4L4
Ьal fata Id WaMen SS lonnat-эпз,
and «no epnunued to^pon me*
uAil irtugrid
vti&tr TM JKrJrUdW*i Fiwd cap
comity №e Drai arm»55 uihii
dlfftAfl 1G33-34
RSJXTJ A >M*Ktori «I -Vt-11 5-
cap 1ГЭДПЦ] W,ti lew bif4"rt
СЛДОЯ MJQU1 ГЛр.4
I Ч-rwr) Orefl Ch Y- :iU(A «П i'hlfr ъупщ
Agr gfliMtrf м3 iihpNgrflry tnj-Md
rcr ЧПЖЧ JW*S, Wflh рЩ-урОол
'.«лэпи Iwlfa tropuenl jrrJorm
particularly Italian items taken after the full ufMlifesu-
lini Older veterans tended to retain their better
quality early-issue tunics, caps and boats for ns long os
possible, often until they quite literally full apart, The
uniforms and insignia of the AVafTen-SS were distinct
from those of the Allgemeine SS. and can now be
covered in some detail
Headgear
The bland urd headgear nF L he arm cd SS form ul i on я con-
tinuully evolved From 1933 until the end of World Wur
IL with every year seeing either a new pattern being in-
troduced, an existing style being modified, ar an out
dated item being withdrawn. In March 1933 members of
the SSStabewache Berlin, the forerunner of the Leib-
standarte, were issued with heavyweight 1916- and
1918-model ек-агрпу eleel helmets, hand-punted or
sprayed block, for wear when on guard duty. These
pl ai n Stahl he! me. w hi ch d id not h&u г и nу SS i nai gn ta at
that time, were the first dislingwshmg items of head-
gear to he sported by the иттПи! units.
During the summer oFl&33. liuld Cupfi identical in cut
to those of the Imperial Germ ail annx were distributed
for wear during training and fatigues Known as'A'rarc-
vhert' or ‘scratchers' because of their rough texture,
these black cloth соря were of the peakless ’pork pie'
typt, circular in. cut with white piping. They bore a
metal 1929-рл1Сегп eagle and swastika ;ihove л Ргцц-
Siam Ttilenkopf and featured и waterproof rust-brown
fabric interior rwith a thin leather sweatbund.
Early in 1934, the ЯлгЛяг^г^леЕ^еГг/der№Dj4jFor
пгт: The iTDdBS-iftai aleel hdm:t1
by poll Lt- car"t43-1 UWllP ШЧ1
Df №r SS-PoUZCr Ci’.iL СП Libi
1942.
<m.lcw: The modoHMI Wn/tan-SS
irtblirtl. clrurbr Vnwrq ib
*si^4rrt
IvMTCtaJ Ttlil firwju# I4fl «I Hlf
мц htiiwi. л bias*- wtfh *Mr
HlWiqiUtf Лпул 4 1u
Mut tMWfl 'Mjfn Cr длдяпмчг, &5
Ajjmnlипг-л ьл15 dur ng thr*
pnrg сГ IB45 u<hnn (mg tgpd in
fadcrl-hnc'd'dirnM' г-jhtmg witii Itw
WufcistuniL 41 q tti> клрйп
xurvhTiog Mtarnpl»
p пчт A Schj'jpo ‘/г officer'»
shahcK -rtilh vitiilo Кгпекьч pi1 jJ-
p'irr-* ThA lorn ol №ddq№tv ws
Mxfuewrtljf wOrn fin ttitnw jl
МЫДОЧ Wfrf ibtw&r
RZM, the Nazi party’s contracts office, pin ted an order
for the suppl у of new Sfi helmets to replace the 1916/18
models which were considered unnecessarily heavy far
t he arm ud SS, whose ma i n role was I h en one of i nterna Г
security rather that? open warfare. The R^M-pallem
helmet was made of light chromium steel alloy, w»s
marginally less angular in shape and had an improved
liner. There were two inspection marks rite-stamped
into the neck of the helmet, -SS runes on the left side,
and the RZM syrnhohm the right The J<ZM helmet was
popular, hut was suited only tn parade und guard duly
end was not widely' distributed On 23 February the
same year, speeial insignia Was introduced for wear on
Jill SS steel helmets, hand-painted at first and then in
decal farm. The Leibstandarte was authorized lo use
white SS runes on u black shield isacn replaced by black
SS runes on xi silver shield । on the right side of the hel-
met, ittid nil army-pattern shield bearing the national
colors uf black, w hi te a nd red in di agona t barn on the 1 e ft
side. Troops of the PBs. and iheir succoskoth in ibe
SS-VT. wore white-bordered black runes within a white
double circle on the right side of the Stahlhelm, Etnxl u
white-bordered black Hwa.4Lika on the luR side. That
December, SS helmet# began to be pointed in so-called
Jejirth-firLL> и gmy^brown shade, for .military
maneuvers,.nod an ог11и1'-гаЕ1кн field cap in an identical
color was introduced lo replace the 'НгёНвсЬсгГ Tht'
1934-paitem cap was again intended Гог drill use only
uiid was shaped like an upturned boat, hence il-s nick-
name 'Sc A //fcAcff or' li ll I e shi ph, I la desi.gn was 1 >h .-а-d nn
the army forage cap first i^ued about ihe same time,
with a seal loped From and side panels which could be
lowered to prelect the wearer's enrs in cold weather.
The first 'SJchHTch-en were issued vsilh p muchine-
embroid^red version uf thu 1929-pullern eagle art the
left side itnd a pkrin whiltf metal Imttun. lo the front.
adovT' Thubtick M^irfL'ctip
ircfhгп Гита m its t^ree forma 1ix
NCOs/mt-л. о Ki corn j nd дитег d :
was. pel dur. w№i jUbt 1ЙМ.
lejt: Tire warVrw Sc.’iri'T'r jIzh Ctl
on 55 wih aJtxb гиле
P-0-1|J OCHJ 1!Г>е-5ИСт
MtOw L EiTAn ма? s^fw'T*',
elferty shcwfla '*'* S5 tvnfs- S«ei
HkUhI S4HM44 Q1 tt* Fwnt»
tMVrMVT In training, April TWO, NtIiT
It4 H4* Cflliet 5(«1 iWlrnfH, *Td
lfb»mittjrpol po^ncn'Jir pntchn
hiEh W3rtfl#rv$£ jhwICkH гЛгпрф
and arm rngltn
EMLDW HH1MT: AtFO-r 1944. HKlSt Ызск
SS vETVICC C Jpb VaHV sir 1 piped o1
Chm -isrqn j STd rt-rtlAjed io Ifo
GehIu^ik -55 in wnlBm Еиндо.
Soon after Lis introduction, however, the plain bulton
wast-hnngcd tonne foal 11Г1 Pg Jin embused 1934-patLem
SS death's head.
ir. March 1935. troops nfthe SS-Wachverbande were
authorized to wear л large silver-painted Prussian
Totenkopf on the left side trf the steel helmet, to dis-
tinguish them from the Leibtttundurte and SS-VT. This
insignia was short-lived though, for on 12 August 1935 a
new set of stand jrdued helmel badges wm introduced
Гаг all Sd units, to replace those previously worn. Thc-
нни insignia, designed by Prof Нппя Hans, comprised
black SS runes uti a silver shield to be worn cm the right
«ide of t he li и lirt et, and a red shieId hen ring it wh ile d isk
containingu black swastika to he worn rm the left side
The original order decreed that these badges wore in be
painted on, but it wossnon announced thut they would
be available in decal form They wen? applied to all SS
helmets in time for the NSDAF rally th nt September.
Towards the end of the year, an earth-gray version of
I he black SS peaked cap was introduced for officers of
the Leibslondarte and SS-VT, to be worn on all occa-
sions when a sled helmet was not required Tho now
l[h'A Wiitim-SS otfliCH'* cuft'ic
'□W-styWor ciirtHtf печслр,
MitiKh йм си;№Г‘«плЕ№'1^1 l lay in
194J. JI Мл 1h*i lr ucL -num
' Surras s«r fam - MianaJfhmaf
ToiinrK^'MotSfrft^, ±rd faaiirvv -
ьгл'тк“ pc,ik and глттлк-г than
uiuji bl3rt-w*cct band.
BirDrt Ltn: А Шкк мггзнэл ol 11м
HM-dfHtemi SchiMWn held Cap,
irirotfuLrt in 1938 г Jr LrtB by
•rn*d S3- entacd rtW when
w»n; сн/
MjHl AiQHKW IWB'ОЫ.^' bjld
мф Lv b|W«. w1h C10*h
рл*к. Dl.4 the (t*« jicit
unocrnmpn lor a iruzhirp- o* mstjfnia
to t> wont on hr л ±g* .ir due lo
local short-njtre. лг4 surppl'y
dtriicuH>«s. П Ih-i [asj-im DM
Prussian- slyte denlh's M.t J has
beenus4d loreduce nirwis-og or
n.i™"i"'431934 pnGt-rm ТоБсгкср!
Schirmmiitze cuinrided with distribution pf the new,
lighter-model army steel helmet, with shallow neck
guard, less protruding visor und simplified ventilation
holes. Nevertheless, the old traditional IPl&'lb models
still continued lo be worn for some considerable lime,
particularly by ulficers.
On 31 March 1936, the other-ranks’ field cap began tn
be manufactured in a black version Гог wear with the
black service uniform when walking out. and m earth -
brown Гог SS-TV personnel on duly within concentra-
tion cunips, Insignia remained the samy, although th и
embroidered 1921#-pattern eagle was replaced by eIlu
distinctive SS type InLeг in the year. In 193" there wua u
general distribution of a new field-gray eombul unifurm
to all branches uf the armed SS, with consequent
changes in headgear. The earth-gray and earth-brown
Schiffchen were replaced by a u'biquilouisheld-gray ver-
sion, and the officers peaked cap also began to be made
with a field-gray top.
On 25 February 1938, w new field cap was created for
NCOs. It wjjlk similar jh appearance to the Schirm-
miiUe. with p field-gray top, black doth band and while
piping, but the peak was made frnni the sjime cloth as
the Lop of ihtj cup and there was nn chinsirup or stif-
fened, It could he fuldtjd for storage in th и breadbag or
rucksack, hence its nicknunic 'the crusher' Many
NCOs who luier becuine officers continued to wear this
popular tup throughout the war, and some individuals;
hired private tailors to make variants of it with leather
peaks, velvet bonds and silk linings.
In 1939, и less eluburatu version uf the field-gray
peaked cap was authorized for wear by NCOs in the
vicinity of their barracks. It was only after the black
unitorm had ceased to be worn. as walking-out dress
that other ranks were issued with, or allowed lo pur-
chase, the field-gray peaked cup for walking out That
June, officers were permilled lo buy a nun-regv latino
white-lopped SrhirrnmutM* fpr wear with the n&w sum-
mer uniform.
The outbreak ufwur in September 1939 witnessed Ibu
first use by вате rear-echelon SS units of thy .-и-срПгк]
EtfelxfaitlhLfm, which whs tuunufucLured fruni u thm-
iguuge steel and hod previously Ьсил issued only la
pul ice and fire fighters. Soon aRerwards, following
army practice, an inverted chevron ur soutache of
braided piping in the appropriate branch of service
color began to be worn nn the front of the ot her ranks'
field cap, edwe the deathu head button which was
therejjjPtur painted field-gray. Armed SS officers still
hud no regulation field cap of their own, and during the
first few months ofthB wnr many uf them pure bused the
1938-mode I army officer’s forage rap ond replaced or
covered [ho nut ionol ruckudu with either a meta) SS
death's head or a small silver one removed frum pn
army panzer collar patch. Thisobviuus shurtroming in
SS Iveadgcarwaa remedied in December 1939, however.
when a new field cap was authorized specifically Гиг
WafFen-SS officers ft was again boat-shaped, but did
not have a scalloped front, and the side panels wore
gently sloping in the style nF the Luftwaffe Ftieger-
njidfje The top of the flap was piped in aluminum cord
л nd insignia consisted of the SS eagle and Totenkepf
machine-woven in aluminum w'lreon a black ground A
WtiiTenfarhe .чей Lach e was worn over the death's head
On 21 March I.94U. Lhe gaudy black, white and red
swastika decal was ondert'd removed from SS steel hel-
mets for the dUFtiliu-n of the war, Гиг cimuuilage
reasons, Thal October, the other ranks' 1934-pattern
field cup was replaced by a new style Schiftchen identi-
cal in cut to the officer's version. Ii became known as the
Ftfdmifce newer Arf or ‘new-model lieid cap’, and
featured a machine-woven eagle and death's head tm
the front of the cap instead of the deaths head builon
and side etiRfe. Lvremher saw the issue of a Bcrgmtitxe
nr mountain cap to the fledgling Waffen-SS alpine
units.
In Fcbruiiry 194], the manufacture and retailing of
SS peaked cup.» was freed from RZM control. From then
oiin the Scbirmrnutbe could be mode Lo individual order
by private Ьд tiers A variety of makers' label к could
eubieque nl ly be found i nside SS peaked ca ps. and these
Were not restricted to German firms. A custom-made
'Crusher' cop in the author's collection, for example,
which was produced for a Leibstondorte officer
stationed in Italy in 1943, Ьелгч the trademark *Sucms-
sori Faro - Mi lanu/Roma/Torenp/Mnderia' As a result
of the evpr-incrfraiirtg difficulty an obtaining SS capi
and insignia at the front hne, типу officers purchased
army nr police caps and replneed the badges with their
own.
In March 1041, ihe 1916, 1918 and RZM model steel
helmet-?, and any old slocks of earth-gray cloth head-
gear si ill in use, were ordered tube withdrawn from ser-
vice. The following winter saw the first widespread ине
of fur caps. particularly captured Russian Ushankas,, by
the Waffen-SS. An almost indescribable range of nffi-
cial, semi-cifllciaI and unofficial winter cape quickly de-
veloped, and the insignia utilized was entirely depen-
dent. upon what, was available at the time. Metal
SchirrmnUtze budges. cloth Feldmdtze insignia, sleeve
eagles and even death's bends cut from SS-Tnlenkopf-
Division collar patches have been observed in photo-
graphs. On 1 August 1942, the smooth inward crimping
of the steel helmet rim was abandoned far economic
reasons, giving the model 11942 helme-1 a sharp sil-
houette, The next month, the soutache was dropped and
no longer leaturrd on the Wchilfchen
By 1943, practical experience nt the front had shown
the SchiiYchen to be almost useless in comparison to the
Bergmtitxe. On 1 October, therefore, u new field cap was
int reduced to re place all its predecessors. Known as the
EinheilafutdiniUze, ur standard field cap. il was very
similar to th& mountain cap, but had a longer peak and
lower crown. Later versions featured only one fiber or
plastic button at the front instead of two metal ernes. In-
signia was officially a woven death4? head to the front
and я woven eagle to (he left side, but Schirmmn.lM*
hadgefl were frequently used, and the eagle often
appeared rm the front Later in the year, a nn^-pleye tri-
nngnlnr 'economy' insignia showing hoth the SSeagle
and 1 heTotonkopf whs authorized, hut ir was not widely
manufactured nr distributed. On I November IfH'i the
SS runes helmet derrd was discontinued fnr the dura-
tion of the war. Thf fez. rir Тог^мяг Л, whs also intro-
duced during 1943. fur wear instead of the field Сыр by
members of Moslem SS units. The fea was made from
heavy field-gray felt, with a dark-green silken tassel
and standard woven insignia. A version in maroon was
sometimes sported by officers when walking out or on
parade, but may have been unofficial. Albanian Mos-
lems had their own conical fez
In IJM’L Italian SS formations made widespread use
uf former I [ я! in n A rmy fie I d ca ps. реи krd cups a nd steel
helmets with the addition nf appropriate insignia, end
i.n 1S43 .srmie Indian volunteers transferred frcim the
Wehrmjichl wore turbans with Waffen-SS unifurm
left: Cwtccn1ra1jcw"canip NCOa
лгиа qufrdS irt 1S38. Thrt p£№a
иь1>л113 j wide wWtcljf nFuniTwri-i
isnrt. i"tudH4 IN, VM
ScMteheit, hhe MM F«id up. the
Dtack 55 вегоса cj a. We cnii
lin1i>ffl. .TrVj №fi (Mrih-bn?wn SS
T Q rpnfccp** ЧФтШ dr 1 и r*c
чм; JwllUt Sciirijck -n 1<ДЗ.
дп лагу pqrpjnfiliifld
vordom oFttie 'cnjshor' cip. The
w.iffljed in;i^<ila btilow №f r.tbc i
(Mr if ,in Hfinq Club
t,ufqn
*c»it: MjrtM’i TortiLKh mod by
Ine InL o*lrtzen at l^n. 'hUnrschar'
wwvo'i whan wj -inq oid. Such
Ие-тЪ were lid Ire riHd ^urri Cmlifirt
*na *#* < wmpQT^ry
e*p«keni lading A4ue oi the
O*1«rj|l F4ld-pi*v пнтЛН
Field Tunics
Numbers of the first armed SS units wore the 1932-
pullern black service uniform on all ccrasiuns. It was
identical to the outfit issued tn thi- Allgemeine-SS. but
while it was impressive when worn on parade or when
walking OUl, it proved tor ally impractical for UKuiti the
field, nr when performing ge neral barrack duties. In
order to protect the Ыяск uniform m such csrcurrt-
stances, tunies arid trousers manufuctnircd from a tight-
weight gray-white cniton drill wm ргисЗискч! in the
summer of 1933- Officers and NCOS subsequently wore
з drill jacket which was cut very much like the black
tunic, although Butnetimes with concealed buttons, and
on which col hr palehes a nd a shou Ider st rap were warn.
Other ranks had a less attractive, ^apefoss, hadgefoss
tunic with a standing collar
At the beginning of 1935 a new earth-gray uniform
identical in style to the black service outfit, begun to be
distributed to soldiers of th? Leibst&ndurtt imd SS-VT
Enlisted men's tunics had five buttons down the front
instead of four. and could tie worn closed at the Puck
Since the standard SS urmbiind with its bright colors
was clearly unsuitable fur field use, it was replaced on
the left arm of the earth-gray tunic by an eagle and
swastika. In March 1936. an earth-brown version of the
uniform was produced for everyday work wear by SS-
TotcnkopIVerbiinde personnel on duty within the con-
fines of concentration camps. In 1937, the earth-gray
and earth-brown uniforms were replaced fay a new
standardized field-gray SS uniform It was bused on
that of the army, hut the jacket retained the typically
SS features of slanting slash side pockets and a black/
silver piped collar which was the same color as the rest
of the tunic The following year, ihe Lribsfondurfo
began to be issued with army tunics., distinguished by
their unpiped dark-green collars and pfoated patch side
pockets, for wear during training.
Al thi" end оГ 1939, the sudden formation uf the SS-
Totenkopf-Di vision and the Polizei-Di vision necessi-
tated the widespread and general uw ofstandardarmy-
issue tunics since there were insufficient quantities: of
t he SS-sty lo fl c Id-gray u n i form Because of t he basic di f-
ferences in cut between the Iwo patterns, and Himm-
ler's desire for uniformity of dress, various contradic-
tory orders were issued during the winter of 1939-40.
k(Fr: Hiirmifh Fidiref
oi SG Cibora&sctnitl Sud #r j t:
the ЫасЬ ЗЕпкл- jH'I&'t 'n ’MS
below, гля left: Ttw b*tui movis-
artcitx Leib flteltrtaiani wiiK
Hoopers of Iha LritrtUndWI u.
•ipw^noibftf гннг*и*тч[ Steal!:..
duTi^aiMidmirtaj of i«w
Ракльрагакад *11S3S
miowlef»:h SopInM»
MiirwrJw uiqjtixl IM 1,^1&51яп<ДягМ>
«I ri'i. tF»T*ck» и ktvitj und
pffHj-rHBfl t>*dric№ tandh л nc*
f B-ldliKtwm butd on Hittar'i
wrvinTl slwanin
нюнт: The l№l-puJ№<n Ijp c wJti
bald-рту и», аз ivtirn by Jn
-r1ilh.T> HullcYuhHct □! Iht ULIt
von Вхн^сЬпдйп' Division, sp* "Ц
y&M. The *ibt»n3, are ih&lft df Ihe
tartC»a»2rdCiMiS flirtiibi
Frim! Mwrdi, !hd O₽4' jl A^i-diXl
Badge FM Wtumd Badfie *1 ElflC*.
>»e
banxiel .and trof *e*e rimed
нглел tarilhlnф fluh
ii»t: A pnvauly iBriOrtd
(idtifM wvice bdiMe &Г i
MJatia«-S5 rtr^wjr^
UWsiufroWwef. c 1941.
ju*c*v f*4 U Uy 4
1 alorikcrpl CtMfL^hirt jhr*r, ₽.
1943. Игл pHjav*-4 pwhcll w»*4
^Lirxtnfd tor tt4» шт^ M42 limn;.
ПА 1M.1-. I I’m 'к<ис14>п <J" LFr tn' il
tkKk rrc>« Iron Ihrw 1a taa
tbciwi F *!□ ич-лоп Лтчд лг»
н’-anlr, Jt+riFarrnliJt,'tr, 3d S5>
PatiiwDi'.л<5П 'TplenHopf, c.
1У4J. W part.ci* mr Mt ore Ihe
ppod EuiiiBfls^nldraLlri* and F>w
Dtraotclo IttM-poftom doaih'i hicatf
cud nue awwiinn C>ev*xrt мпилн
iha i« SS-Tgb Aa^i-
StartlarTP 'OWtMjrfrr'i' fc+ip L*tsn
well NCOS
atid dispatch । иЗскь.
instructing which out flu should be worn by ufficera он
opposed to МС'Оз and other ranks, when t hey should be
buttoned or unbuttonffd at the neck, and mj on. These
orders were generally ignored by alL concerned, and the
result was a fair mixture of dress worn eimultsneoualy
within even Lhc smallest units. In Muy 1940 tinny Cun*
1сн begun Ln make their inevitable appearance in the
ranks of the SS-VerfUgungsdi vision, and they soon be-
came univerad throughout the Waffen-SS. During the
euu rse of 1940, t hei r da rk-groen col la ra were phased ou t
in favor of field-gray onea, and that August the black?
silver collar piping was discontinued From 1942.
purely for reasons of economy, patch pockets were made
without pleats and ip 194-1 thp Ittwer edges nfthe pocket
flaps were Kt.rHightonpd The wnnl content of thw
model-1943 tunic wss also drastically neduDud, which
resulted in pour lherm.il insul.uion end u low Eennile
strength. On25September 1944 an entirely newstyleof
field tunic based on the British Army biitlledress blouse
was introduced for wear by nil Ссптшп ground combut.
units, including members of aujiilinry formations such
as the HAD and №KK. A universal color called ’ЛсЛГ
(?a»h 41', which was more slate-gray than field-gray,
was devised far the new outfit in an effort to standardise
the various military and paramilitary uniform colors
hitherto seen on the by tt Ie field. However, in reality,
пишу different shades of in-merged.. *1Ъе 1944 field uni-
fnrrr was very unpopular, and was not issued in suffi-
cient quantities to change 1 he uppeaninra.* of the Waf-
fen-SS radically.
The unifurm rogu Lot inns for Waffon-SS officers dif-
fered jscimewiULt from thusc for other ranks. Until 1939
llft During1 Iha war, nwVrtHrt tfl
IN- pldTI-t'dlrtta SMITH? pO h»
swv*g m iratifikip-oti !<w<ivi«
mrt ll№M m ДО1ДО114И 411
Iba gr^r wV^rn-i fli ih«.
5<hc-"e 1sdie<i4i. rrescHKfri'u of
*f4<lh«K ST HfK 'tv-jr *л*,. тнпМЛ
or We bD or. mdfoa, or tfm $S- The
plnth > u|h1-Чалй l TlLar pjtc t- irU
3D" Мчит «Uimffnd, gnpmaTIV
dCHNbnq аНзс^пютЕ to Iba oid SO
ovpnlually beeйг>й
uiri jaraa'Hirougtrail Iba Spa and
E.D Tti» raqukitHjn AJIrjemeint-SS
IS St jMlinm tunic ahtc зро«1» Iha
War tAerfl Стазы lit and inJ
Class», bequentIff Uwartfed 4 j1h*
stexintr ptfCa "br 1№r ЧресМ
sonncos'.
Л1Е11Т StJTViCt П'ИС 0-1 Й.
&tnuupfi*wi Gbwlftiiflaffl. c,
1513 Ц-m^. pUlM*d 14.1 rrtf»g*
ins 35 and ₽e*ct ккоатвИ
5t»a1W4fiutrMrp*. or Start*
РпЯесмп Cvps. j ш iQii'ini rad
^лсОм-’Ч'ча dual Fh i-ntj*"-.rvp ci
tjpKh редипиИнзгц. Police dr опта
асгчНи* r[o 1hs SS *tm
distinguished by Ine werm d
Sig Rliims in nu -ют гт"Ьп ds*y
tuHow Um Ic4l tnoal poc'cC
ufifbcers in the Leibslandurte and SS-VT hid only one
field-gray tunic., the"йьчЧг', which was identical tn cut to
ths black SS service tunic and was always worn open at
the neck with a brown shirt and black tie. At the begin-
ning oft he war, some SS officers avoided the expense of
having to buy a field blouse for combat wear hy having
their existing tunics convert**!, with the addition of
stand'aitd"fail co-1 lors which cowId he closed at the neck
Others had dark-green open-necked collars fitted. even
though the t was expressly forb idden. A num her of a i in i
1st stop-gap measure* were taken until the issue of n
general order Ln December 1939. which stipulated that
officers1 field tunica were henoeforth to be identical in
style to those of other ranks. Throughout the remainder
of the war. WufTcn-SS officers generally wore cither
privately-tailored field blouses like (hose of their army
ro]|ftsgue84 or basic-issue tunics purchased from their
u n i I stores W li lie feummc r versions were ako produced.
although these were officially prohibited in June 1941),
and the nlive-grcpn wnterproii-F cottiin duck from cjp-
tvred Soviet grcjundsheuts was often made up in to light-
weight unlincd field tunics for hot Weather use.
While must WuElen-SS units were issued with one or
more оГ these uniforms, depending upon the dale of far-
malien, the Italian SS alone, was not, Al the end of
1943, SS-Obtrgruppenfuhrer Karl Wolff, thp Chief of
the Hauptamt Perronlirher Stab RIHS and Supreme SS
and Police Commander in Italy, succewfuUy bargained
with the army'aQuartsTTnaster-GenBral Гог the supply
of 100,0(10 cnpWrod Italian Army uniforms for wear by
his SS and police anti-partisan forces. Many of those
items were HUhscquently used to kit Out the 24(h and
2Eh h Wд fien-SS d iv isicnh, whose mu mbur-. du ly sported
a hodgepodge of Italian garb in gray-grouh, colon ini
khaki and Mediterranean camouflage, with their own
unique Itai inn SS insignia.
Camouflage Clothing
The creation of standardised camouflage clothing whh
the most significant contribution, of the Waffen-SS lo
the history<1ГiniLJ IIiferTT'I development,anti had a
profound effect tin the appearance uf till modern,
soldiery, In February 1937 SS-SturmbannfUhrer Wib
helm Brandt, who was a Doctor of Engineering and
commander of the SS-VT reconnaissance battalion,
began work on the design uf camouflage clothing and
equipment for use by hi-5 Iroopp. Н1Э prototype Camou-
flage grouridshoets, and helmet covers
were successfully tented by thy SS-Stondorte bDeut-
echlund’ m fiald rruneuverh rhe following December,
during which it was estimated that they would, reduce
ba III и ca^ua I ties by IS percent. In June 193S, patents in
respect of those items were granted to the Hciehs-
fuhrcr-SS. so that they could nut bo copied by the army.
By January 1939 despite great difficulties in obtaining
sufficient quantities of waterproof cotton duck, and the
fact that printing had to be ha nd “done, 8400 ground-
sheets and 6500 helmet covers had been supplied lo the
SS-Verfugungstruppe Smocks were also distributed,
and Hausser instructed that at least 20 of these should
be held, fay each company for the exclusive use nfa^ull
Croups.
Camouflage clothing wet not widely worn du ring the
Polish campaign, but even ra the revolutionary SS Zelt-
buhnen and hi'lmt'l covens earned high praise from
GeneraLmiijor Kempf» who sent samples of them to Lhu
Army High Command in Bertin for evaluation By June
1940 huijui-printing hud been superseded by n much
(Md WMM W, 9eej*Metf Лт 14
lift. An мг(у-ра.Чеп» WxtMrvSS
свтишПпд* хптэск, *1’1 vmIicjJ
сцк^игтдх лЕ l*ic Fruni, лр absence
ol Mlaoe leaps, ичи txitteis i№
thfr **H. Il 4. (J лчн eummr-va*
art, лип 9'sw ог«юн1и*ар*ч
*км, Wd*fw-S5 rewuibrtij posUw.
p. IW The ennl.
jpp,-uyh-itij од nsl <k> h«
twrrvnwor»:, ttw- I rib'^jrinwie
₽СИПЧС1*СTi 4 H4KiX#1e. Wd If»
n<ifl йгп wn ил lh» wrong
f аЩи p*tch *r>d w 1he wiQng
cd It» Url’HiM
p Cj4t : *л &S flttvcrr. *-r. ir th*
black счагегег E.inhoiEbtaldTnutiD.
HIcnйдЯIня captifEd AJWd
paratnaejpons xl Amhotri,
StpEeniLxH i41+
ЦП Д dM'-pJWtwn'L-jj’ibii'bijr
wn«*.. dlaingwUted by №« Ыяде
k№ps Bl 1*4 ShOdlCMr* JH pKW*.
in И*л phiirt fl IllhMft M-»(9g oul.
*xf ф acc^miMr *c bv a ira«hmq
heimtl ctwflf.
мант: А Sownt banfc cr*-*
iumirwlflrmg IcmSS ЧСп
IfM namtufldgt sirxacb. pid Mid
cnp. Mmnrf T^xj
г«и wdHiz Аз-ми4 Froopi o'
VrtpiuJij^sdi'.'isrorr KtofiUbatria by
(h*ir lUcL dF tcJLai pa'.tho^
4»rt<iq iWwFv liiJtd пятоьчки'
Srttoci1 Jftd КЙНЛИ clrtjra m May
'MO
faster machine process which allowed rtliSJ production
cF 341,000 ятЛйска fur delivery L& all Jit Id units el the
Waffen-SS. Many variant styles pF camouflage were
ultimately manufactured simultaneously and issued
indiscriminately throughout the Waffen-SS Most gar-
ments made From waterproof col ton duck were printed
on both sides and were reversible, with one side pre-
dominantly green and the other brown Гог use як sea.w-
naJ variations dictated
The Zelthahn was the first item nF ситошНяде uni-
form to see widespread rtistrihutitun h was triangular
in .shape, measuring 20Яст X 20Яст X 24llcm, and
could be worn як a cape nr poncho, or buttoned together
with three others to form a fhur-miin tent. In Fact, any
number of groundshoetB could be combined to make
even larger shelters. When attaching Zelthahncn in
such circumstances, care had to be taken to use identi-
cal, or at least similar, pattern greumkheeta to main-
tain the camouflage effect, and to that end identifying
numbers were printed along their bases. Even when
combining shelter quarters of different designs, 'paving
slabs' of color were provided along the edces al regular
intervals so that the various camouflage patterns would
merge mlo each other. In December 191Я i.t was derided
Tint to issue any more groundshpets to men on the east-
ern front For economy reasons, and by September 1944
their production had ceased completely.
lift: Summer updcoft cH й
LeMiaMantr c,
1 'ZMD, THs Wdtr (J d^as wU
euthw rtd IP Ju-1* ’939 fw ЙМГ
tatew i rtjkH and я 5«₽г*тЬвг
wtbye*. &m t-ва wHSmuwU
(Jtw (han c.mi-top il
WW1KX4 <t В<РСМ<чдагЧТ1 Nple
j' мИ<dial 1ho black apinc la
pc j-.0d tap, and ihn fimnan
Н"“ччт13Г.А Badge on Hit InM
t,HOLM I pockdt
hOMF. Pol с* beW-мнтлся inform
31 worn by л H Juplrr л^п ut
GendumwiB. c. 19*4. Tbo nmd
pc*t*. 4iHiTHluiabrf by ни смагпш
РЧ>пф Md ЬлЬш t№hprw*k.
№№ed lafitward ; ™d
dirtnctm bw в**с*
ми эНо wpenr-dwJ pi’wn^ci’-
in лагч^ДугаИяфгк it
waa wrnrwHjed by SS-
GH ПР*<1\ЛГМ AuQiHl Mpyvn₽r
TT.-. wtllt Ml IMJrJtnnl’*
jFjuiisn». an 0 d Cwnpatgmir,
eJift'^n, $$ Ьпид! шли, |1и
>тцп н»1иг.и Spori* B,nJp* in
SJ'rW. thr Wa>' Morrt Сюзг лмТ.
rrl*fosbTply. ,f4 baa< ribuAP
ncTirc-'^hip bailqc pained Io ibc
rft trttal port.if, a I'jF’y commcl
orachce -nr-cnad Ihe civil pc*-ra
dumfl waniJTM. №№ itio th» №»
ibbcn uf а реке» tom}-ujwie«
dbvoaiKmi v<rthfr**i4ii^e *фй41.
пч atы/iw wjjhm-ss mjj
wWlfr P**,L medt *nW tw*
art xnjproor Л wei ikrtty
гф4«г««Н. b*ng *4i <xi а»ч «I»
Mid Гли-смтюуПлси! flfl llw fltfiflc
*Hd t*t hflfld "H кчмдъ ю
bo worn OdW th# frtftfl hfllmet.
пвдиг Ttw partLa w» ttwtd wifti
ралt> J/vd mitlflnj. ttw*
laSor nCTp^rrxidalirHj л Inijf*»-
tngor'.
The steel-helmet cover was produced from segments
of Zellbahn material., and roneequently occaHiunally
featured the identifying printed pattern number. It was
designed to conform to the shape Of the model-1935
Stahlhclm and was attached by means of three spring-
loaded blackened steel clips held on by bare aluminum
rivets, a ne at each side and one at the rear Covers made
from 1942 onwards had loops sewn on to hold foliage
The ca mouflage smock was a reversible pullover gar-
ment gathered at the neck by means of an adjustable
cord and at the wrists and waist by elastic, It had no col-
lar and the first pattern had no pockets, only two verti-
cal openings at the front which gave the wearer access
to his tunic underneath. During the war, various modi-
fications wore made Id it including the adoption of n
longer ‘skirt’, foliage loops sewn in threes to the
shoulders and upper sleeves, And the addition of iwo
side pockets with buttoned flap». However, nil smocks
conformed tn the standard manufacturing process oF
being cut out from a long strip of Zcltbahn material,
with a centre! hole for fitting over the head. They were
sewn only up the sides, never across the shoulders. Pro-
duction ceased in January 1944. although smocks con-
tinued to be worn widely until the end of the war.
On 15 April 1942 a camouflage face mask, which had
initially been rejected by Наи-здг during prewrar trials,
was issued fur use in conjunction with the helmet cover
and smock. It comprised a scries of strings fitted to on
elasticated Rtrap and hung like a curtain over the face.
The mask was very effective when used in bushy ter-
rain and was much prized by snipers. Thu following
June, a camouflage field cap. again made from water-
proof Zelt bah n material, was introduced. It was shaped
Like the Bergnuitze and w^a generally unlined and FC
vendible. From December 1942, special insignia woven
in green and brown artificial silk were produced for
wear on the cap, but were nut widely adopted.
On 1 March 1944 a camouflage version of the drill uni-
form was introduced for both field and working dress. It
comprised a tunic and trousers in (he same cut as the
model-1943 field uniform, but made from lightweight
unlined herringbone twill with a standardised spotted
or ’pea! pat tern camoufl аде pri nt ed on one si de on ly It
could be worn on i ts own d и r in д the sv miner, OF on top of
d Standard field uniform in cold weather, and wrs de-
signed to replace the -mure expensive smock and, ulti-
mately, the normal field and drill uniforms. Only the
eagle and swastika and special rank badges were in-
tended to be worn on the left slesvC of the tunic, hut
shoulder streps and other insignia were also occasion*
ally seen Between 1 November 1944 and 15 March 1945,
distribution of the camouflage drill uniform was sus-
pended because of its intolerable losses during the
winter months, in effect, it was never reissued.
lEFI A-ljH3 Mtnwnw
cH1irrjJ4h#d tnr ih
LMk <Я Г0М94 l«** 1n* Ертлд-
(awufl ЫасЬфлрЛ <rt»oi с'щ **»
hrtJ in plrUT by it-iff Alummi^n
nwti.
nrusw: Sflcc-u гаг к г&уи
ccfTfir ытр ban and DdtkKiLU,
rrthr' trttrakrtxlfr pmlrd, w№
airiNonced ^cr ww An AmKkiflapa
uoMrm. wnhouttNxMe< «ищм
ThM4 dWwn MUlfr 10 ЛчМ^Ирр#*-
№d
HauplUlMiWlluh^*
AO4R Two W«№-$$ pnWfWi 4П
№гп£ИЧ|?1 Jutf 19A4 Tt^i
Ot№«tl^fflWWW W ttw Hfl WW№
pj'iri "“Hide 1iОПI Ltplu Td АП
САггилпайв
ГНЕ AAFFT bJ-S5
llu: Ал M44 pea
eamtu*aqc flnll tunic, >om by a
WaHsn-SS h€0
hwi I" was r J jrcijT та1, lor jj
o№ee*s J nJ mtn го «slay hili rank
|*ЧчЛя t*> OtHiwaJHWs on rue
C№4X1№{№ drill turtrt. twirtiry lb
regUalWi», F" Ihrt use. mOmlry
□t»r5iL*ni*uhrer sliftrfde* wrath
П C ?Urry SviU*iM 14)1 ГЙГЩЙ a!
Лч-ВГ^ IS I'lObl notably S|,|
KfligN't Cr&M 0! 1*11» ЙОО Стой til
th« гвдК and thp Close С<хгчмс
Clasp atXh» in* riMxn bJ, Tbs
qHfCu“'* bK&>« 4 fn* prt-1fl4?
rbCk*)4it^p typ* wcppoMd 50
Eh« ln:f Тк1Н-дги.у цПоу verws
whirh has orr.n ^idmy '^pcdLCK
hole also Ihe 'WIF'-paVurn Lr-fl
tan л h*Tn^™j ErtXT Iha njh' brfl-ait
poilmL, ahd №a pwataly
pi*ttUiftl bixKb-in. by Cad
ZAslS.
THE WASFTN-55
Panzer Uniforms
SS-VT armored troops received their version of the
black panzer uniform in Its special headgear tool?
the-form of a floppy black woolen beret, or jEJnsAcnffllktze,
fitted over an internal crash helmet, the Schtrtzmlltze,
which comprised a heavily-padded liner. A Large em-
hroidered SS eagle and a uniquely designed T-olenkopf.
not unlike the army's panzer death's head hut with 3
lower jaw in the SS style, were sewn to the front of the
beret.The BaakenTnutzewatiduippnttntjed in 1940after
proving impractical in combat II was replaced by a
black version of tha fichiffc.hen field cap. which in turn
was superseded by a black Einheitafaldmiilzc in
October 1943- The SS tank tunic, or Panntrjacke, was a
short, dtjuhlH-hreu-ited black jacket fastened with con-
cealed buttons. It differed from its army counterpart in
that the front was cut vertically instead of being
slanted, the lapels were smaller, and there was no
central seam down the back. The collar of the jacket was
piped in silver for officers but was unpipod for other
ranks.
In the sp ri ng of 1941, a field -gray version of t he pan sr
uniform was issued tn members ofthe Leibstandarle's
Ssurmgeschutz-Abteilung. By Augusl 1942 this outfit
had been distributed to other assault-gun units, and
four months larer its wear was estended to all Waf-
fen-SS anti-tank formations. A lightweight panzer uni-
form m need-green denim drill material was issued to
crews of tan ks 0 nd armored ch rs, to be worn as a work or
Hummer tint fit. Il whs instantly р:)ри1нг urd remained
но throughinil the war There were minur mrxclific.it ions
made til Various stages, burh nS tin.- addition uflarge
patch pockets with flaps to the left front uf the jacket
and left thigh of the trousers.
On 15 January 1943, panzer crews received a one-
piece combination work uniform made of camouflage
waterproof cotton duck, identical to the material used
in the manufacture of the smock and Zeltbahn. These
coveralls were usually worn without insignia, although
shoulder straps were оселл tonally spurted. At the name
time a winter combi nation mudc From two thttkncsscu
of cloth, white on one side and. field-gray On the other,
was introduced and was widely worn during the battle
«1Н31ЧГ The n>Lrt>diM> lapel* and
v-trtit<lly-'rtmt <5l Iha S5
PjucriИски nre cie-arti' c < Ueitf
kWh ITHi lirik luntC til j Tii Pr ch
LNiEorBcholuhuH, a 1 th4 CM
panxw «ta M ElM Pirk
wjtitnifcb* wtwifl 1 be tbeJdw
Йг*р*. th* Tflr.k еяп.1* BBdiHl >n
Sihitr, *nij IM iwltwfl flrt wtflrine
iMrtibbpn nf Hu- irc*i Сго»ь 2nd
ЙИ* hflen 1M Wtt Up*l
left: А-- Ы3£ ami у-, pattern tunic
with cJilar, ns worn b*
j 4ot1Wi*rfiror or Ihr SS
Т<нет>ЬорГ От‘.тзгап, ti. 1941. The
Standardissue Клг.йАн ntfc
arnmumuwi po-uchas, w
PjrtrWWHttttMri. ddlMTlrWn 1915
2nd aernari» vWlLABtlj иПС|ШгЧМ
ЦНЛ1И5 Ease «rt comprrtMl
ttrw compartirwni» Ьс-Ш'гч j roitu
tid M round* юн* chpj
A.IX-rt Jkn М4Д itli’T S$ ttuvn
L.ihni'^r-'^rr.j-Lzr *iti th*i рг*и
peca «oven -nnqnia whwh was
not issui-d will th*. Insl mwMhs Dt
trio- «аг
глг, left: An SS pnrunr outfit t<w *
Lx ib'.tnrd Vlr" г*тир1ч1и-пЧьЛ1ггг. p.
1943.
It*I Kurt
мотет й* c&ininurn3ei OMIW
L*ifrStj.rx*»rl* I4CWмчъыгк*
tMlUUKMl *1 Rt№4, Jllly 441 Hfl IS
*«!*] a '(AHlwr1 члр *1(1* iin
c*rljf Рплялл 0ГЧ|П'З.П(МС1 Mr-jTf
HIM Mi« «I ih* 'boy of Ih?
VY^Pnn-SS.. ^|im.-jir>ly whining Ki*
knlj^ils lrC'iG uu'hO.sJUHWs and
Swdf di irttllMj l<- Kling llba
HiSr-pitportD' Drvisic-п m
Norm л dy. HisOanng L-tpcnC:
4*ftHhir*i llw г-с клали- 'dtw
SchneBfir Moy₽ <t|uK;k Mnyt*'],
41 nd 1й'й> 'PlmzormryOr1 I lank
Mfiytfl
HhJhT TfOOpi ijfif* End 55
Harmoigrpnndi»<fiagiment tflhusj
SbQUrrwMil inlhp ArCpwes, 15
W
of К harken', These coverall combinations were never
very popular, simply because ofthe difficulty of getting
in andnu( pF them. That fact, nUied with the successor
the геьч!-$гееп denima and the extreme shortage of
waterproof cotton duck, Is^d to the decision hemp niadu
in January 1944 to discontinue the camouflage com-
bi nation and produce instead n lightweight version of
th и рапгег uniform in camouflage herringbone twill. It
duly appeared two months Eater, at I he same lima ae the
camouflage drill uniform introduced for all other Waf-
Геп-SS unite, and it was tn the same standardized
spotted "pea’ pattern, unlined and printed on one side
only. The camouflage panzer uniform saw widespread
service, particularly on the western front. On l Novem-
ber distribution ceased for the duration of (he winter,
and the camouflage outfit wo> never reissued.
While Lho clothing of Wnflen-SS armored personnel
remained fairly standard, there.1 waa one major initia-
tive ol divisional level which drasLically altered Lhe
appearance of many panzer crews participating in the
Normandy Cumpuign. During the autumn of 1943, the
Leibstaadarte had been involved in disarming capit-
ulated Italian armed forces and fighting partisans in
northern, Italy, hi the process, the division had con-
fiMated huge quantities of abandoned Italian uniforms,
among which were large numbers of German U-Boat
leather jackets and trousers, originally sold by Hitler to
MuhmiJ ini's navy, and vast stocks of [tabun Army
camouflage ma Lori al. The latter was quickh used Co
product1 cups, tunica Etnd coveralls in the German style,
which were distributed to soldiers of the Leibstandartc
and' H i ll erj ugend' । a Franco. The U- Boat cloth ing went.
almost exclusively to the young tank crews of HitL&r-
jugrndJ. and protected many of thorn against serious
burns.
Paratroop Uniforms
SS-Fallsehirmjager-BaEaiHnn 5СЮ was formed at the
end of 1943, in the wake of Otto Skorzeny’g murh-
vsunted liberation ol*the deposed Musual ini that Sep-
tember, which liad relied heavily on Luftwaffe para-
troop support Contrary to widespread belief, Lhe SS
paratroop battalion was not .a penal unit but was com-
posed entirely of volunteers Its first major action took
place in May 1944. and involved the battalion being
dropped by glider right on lop of Marshal Tito's vast
p.nrtinan-headquortera complex in the munntauis near
Drvar, Yugoslavia. In the fighting which ensued, the
unit, was almost wiped out. The survivors were re-
formed us LxS-Fallschirmjagor-Bntai|i|on fiflb, under
Skorzeny’s command, and trained, fur л drop on
Budapest to capture theson Ol the recalcitranl Hungar-
ian leader, Admiral Horthy. Some SS para troopers
were later involved in the Arden not Offensive, and the
remainder fought as infantry on the eastern front II is
safe lo say that the SS ]>aras were always thrown into
the worst hol-spata, and the battalion was thought of els
something of a Suicide squad.'
Of я II the branches of the Waften-SS. least is known
about Lhe el nt hi ng and equipment afthe parnchutiata. It
прреппя that Г hi.- Luftwaffe nFsumed ronpon.^ihility not
on ly for the t ra inmg a nd t ransportsLion by air of t he SS
paras, but also Гог supplying them with speciubi*t d rests
and equipment. When Зкигиглу itnd his s,:iiall joint SS
and Luftwaffe commandu force rtscued Mussolini from
his imprison men L nt Gran Sasso, they all wore regula-
tion air-Force trupLcal clothing with full Luftwaffe in-
signiu. At a celebratory rally held in the Berlin Sports
Palace *un afterwards, however, th&SS men reverted
Lu their Jiurmul held-gray uniforms.
Tiie nieiubtTs of SS-FtdlachirntidgenBataillone 5tH)
and 600 were 1940-pattcm SS Schiffchen field caps. SS
bell buckle* and standard Waffen-SS field-gray tunics
with the insignia of their previous units, since there
were no specialist 36 paratroop badges. Thu Luftwaffe
supplied all their prolectire clothing, which comprised:
the normal paratroop hteel helmet, with ur without
Luftwaffe decal and 'splinter'-pattern cover; the'splin-
ts r'-piittem camouflage paratroop jump smock, with or
without Luftwaffe brisket eagle; blue-gray or field-gray
paratroop trouser*^ runvas gaiters; and ankle bootSr
One surviving photograph shows two German para-
troopers wearing standard SS-issue camnpfluge
smocks, but these are thought to be Luftwaffe Fall-
schirmjager personnel in Italy, who would have had the
oppurtu n i ty of nbtai ning SS smocks from the E lerm u nn
Goring' рапиег division, which was kitted out with
them. Another unique picture illustrates an para-
trooper apparently wearing thu ‘рил’-pattern camou-
flage drs 111 u n i c and trousers whi Ie ful fi II i ng a n i nfan try
role on the partem front near the end of the w ir
During recent yeans. auveral refcrenwa have been
made to л hatch of paratroop jump s minks nuinufoo
lured from SS 'pea-pat tern uamoulkigu drill material
with thu SS tag]и stitched to the right breast These
appeared in the USA during the early 1080з with the
alary that they had been found by American troops
Aifivf Siurrnblirmfuhrif On*
5кв*гй*^. of ич ss
Sp*c^i Fixc-ва. wn, 1e*
<Л’Т(йл чич*ч.
'K#1W Бу Hit *И1*Пмп AWtfiW
p*«i
it ft: Qh 12 ti^pInmtHu 1T43,
SkpiTwVs sS commaniw, *n0i
иг-кисг iup-sort, cjun«d oil a
dar,nq gltflw 1к>пг o*1h(i
Holo: Campa 'т-р+таЬ'мг' a I ppm?
Gizn Sdiitx Ihc lotlM-jI wo* in lire
Аргпт- ntrr nnd r<№bpd Mlm.z n>.
who Hud iKCni irnpr i-TiiJ (hero
Ictllow'ifl kii rt-drrl overthrew All
irt (rtcaf [ik|r>{j диг wt>e LuhwjFle
vftilSrmt, wrth n* irtd^afliw СИ SS
irttfirtberihip
occupying the SS clothing depot at btirhuu in April
T9J5 While such talcs cannot be disproved, there must
he grave doubts ns to the authenticity of these- items.
For nne thing, many are date-stamped Ч943’. a year
Early for "pea'-pattern camouflage Some slocks of 'pea’-
pattern material survived the war, and if is naw hieing
reprinted for the battle ГЕ-pnariment fraternity, so the
postwar creation of ’SS pnrn smocks would not have
been fl i fticu 1 r. a point reinforced. by the sudden appear-
ance of a pair of niwer-befure-heard-cif SS рпгпЦтэпр
camouflage trousers in France in 1990. No wartime
references tu, or photographs. of, Lhe SS paralnwjp
smock CKIBL. The railed 'iaS-Fallschirrnjager'' cuff
liille is most certainly a postwar fantasy piece. No SS
para cuff title was approved during the Third Reich,
and the few titles worn by some SS paralnxipa were
those of their former units.
Tropical Clothing
While Waffen-SS troops never served in North Africa, a
few units. primarily the Lei bstandarte.'Wiki ng\'Prinz
Eugen' and ’Ruichsfuhrer-SS’ saw acli-cin in the Bal-
kans, southern Russia and Italy, where sweltering
summer Conditions made the wearing of convEnllonal
uniform items very uncomfortable. However, the
demand for hot-weather clothing was usually localized
and temporary, so the development of a. tropical uni-
form For the Waffen-SS was gradual and on something
of ап ас/ 4oe basis.
The first requirement for tropical clothing was voiced
in April 1011. during the hastily organized invasion of
Greece Some members of the Lu itatandartc look to
wearing the basic SS sports kit, comprising undershirt
and ahort$, when not engaged in combat, while others
went bure-ehestud. A short-term partial Holy Liu n was
achieved by thy iuHueof army pith helmets, or Т'грргл-
Aefffiie, bul these wen1 unpopular and were noL worn in
any great numbers. When sported by the SS, they bore
tw insignia. A number of origin al pith helmets survive
featuring metal SS runic a nd swastika shield badges in
the same style as the standard SS steel helmet decals.
However, it is likely that those insignia are postwar
creations, particularly since the swastika shield detail
had been discontinued m March 1940, a year before the
introduction of Tropenhelme to the SS During the
autumn of 1942, SS-Divirion Wiki ng' advanced deep
into 1 hr CauciiAiH region and a number of its personnel
митр Luftwaffe tropical uniforms find Schiffehen field
Caps irt light-tan cotton drill Air-force insignirt were re-
placed by SS hudfiEri, and from February 1943 Sri rank
chevrons in tan-brown on black were authorized for
wear with thu tropica] tunic by SlurrtimurtibRalLen-
fahrer grades. AL the same lime, the use of culkir
patches with tropical gear was forbidden.
In September 1943, и wholly new and, fur the first
lime, formalized Waffen-SS. tropical uniform was in-
traduced and distributed on an entire unit basis to the
Sturmbrigado Reich stub гег-SS' on Corsica. The uni-
form was я strange hybrid and may, in Fact, have been
made by convert j ng Italian clothing which had recently
been seized by the Germans. The tunic had pleated
patch pockets in the army style, was colored light Ltn in
ihe Luftwaffe ntyle. and featured a caped, effect across
the upper section in the Italian Snhpriana style the
роякя of the ’сыре forming the upper pocket flaps. In-
signia was officially restricted to shoulder straps,
tropical sleeve chevrons and в special inn-brown woven
version ofthoSS arm eagle, but normal га I Bar patches
w ore also occasionally seen. The SS tropical field cap. tn
accompany ihe new tunic., was in the same shape яя the
SS camouflage field cap. without fl tip and buttons Il too
w a» light Mn in color and. sported a tan-brawn eagle and
death's head. No officer's version existed
Photographic evidence suggests that the 1943-
pat Lem Waffen-SS tropical tunic was only ever issued
to the Sturmfarigade 'Reichsfuhrer-SS', and even then
Was not worn by members oFlbnt formation after they
left Corsica. The Sturm brigade appears to have been
chosen to 1 i и Id- Lest and и vu lu alu th e л hw 1 unic ОП an ex-
perimental basis. Whether it was badly reported upon.
□Г whether ecuiwmics and the lack of tropical cam-
paigns after 1943 dictated that nu more хЕоскя nF the
lUHIC would be manufactured, is unknown. In any
event, there is nothing to indicate that it wim issued
nga i n. The SS trap i cal fie I d ca p. on t he oil ш t ha nd, was
w tdely distributed among ihe various units fighting in
Italy during 1944-45. and was a popular item of dress
During the last year of ihe war, members of SS units
in Italy, Austria und ihe Balkans reverted to wearing a
mixture of Wehrmacht and Italian tropical clothing.
Luftwaffe items were most prized, particularly the
tunic and Schiffcheii, and the latter could often bo seen
bearing SS mutul budges re moved Prem the peaked cap
Protective Clothing
Ao early аз July 1935. the Leibslanduric was issued
with an carih-grey double-breasted gna trout. ur Mcrn-
iei, wh ich bare coll ar pi ping and ful I insign in. This i Lam
was superseded by л fie Id-gray version in 1937, and with
the military dpveinprnent of the SS-VT and SS-TV tlicnc
was a iL-ndcncy to follow1 ятту greatcoat fashions
cluHviy, whsch led to the gradual adoption of a dark-
green co Hur arid [he a<i hue ronuival of cnllar palchos.
By the Outbreak of war, Ihe situation, я.ч regard's great-
COflt insignia hviib fairly muddled nnd I'itricus erderh
wore issued in. an attempt to clarify the position. The
dark-green coilfir was officially apprmi>d in Песет bur
1939 only to be canceled 0 few rtlanthb-Inter. Collar pip-
ing for nt her ra n ks bccame ob^uk-le i n A ugust 1940, nnd
all surviving examples of the old earth-gray coal were
recalled, in March 1941 Officers with the rank of SS-
Ohorfuhrer and above ware permitted to w*nr the
grertlccHii with the top three hutinnsuiidnn?, as tocx-
pose [heir distinctive silver-gray lapels, and from 1941
holders of the Knights Cross and alh₽r neck awards
were al m allowed to du so. As the war progressed, many
officers countered the declining quality of the issue
Mantel by having greatDOat.s tailor-made to thfir nwn
specifications. These items incorporated such refine-
ments as removable blanket linings, reinforced but-
tons, extra pcckelaand detachable sheirpekin or fur col-
lars. The resu It of all this was t hat duzc-ns of vari ulions
I гп. A fi-h’flSI .f pc^l.qn <X1 St**
41 f rcwil during Iho winter gf
liM-1-42. Tfro soldiers wcnc tai c
jrTj. grsaricojts, which
itfajcdcij MElftprDLrClHXl in
lArnpcrakrn ia in(j t-riL* 50 C.
MLOWJ J" 111" ril4IW"fl 1*1»
Lf.l Ji",jhJUiW *L HS Uirnije )гь »гШ
Й1 Dutcribur
i».4. Thu SOMierS Art hillH .*ui
wlb №« Krth-griiy MJrtlri.
wnikr the fjtwe» 1|Ля1и tniinlkn
wixr д WA **1h whie
fcr rl *rfcj, ci«+-6tr*p, »
re d wb.llhil Fi'fMTW .'ll Г*ССЧ1.|ГЧ1Ч
ihe 1.еЛф1 arid [tri t, ISj7-3$
on thy basic Waffen-SS greatcoat came lo be produced
and worn side-by-side, many of them in direct contra-
vent ion of reguljiticuus. Moreover, a nn&ssivc version of
the Mantel, called the surcoat er was de-
signed to be warn on tup of the ordinary greatcoat by
drivers of open motor vehicles orthose on static sentry
duty, and featured two vertical pockets above the wjiist,
in addition to the normal side pockets.
Officers had the option of purchasing a field-gray
leather greatcoat, but this item was extremely expen-
sive and few subalterns could afford it There were
scverul variants, both in cut and in the use? of insignia.
As an alternative to ihe tenthljг coat. many junior
о Dice rs und NCOs bought the much cheaper 1938-
pattern tn-ld-gniy raincoat, the so-called Rege^mantcl.
made of rubberized cotton twill wtth a leather-like
appearance. Others used the regulation motorcyclist1!?
coat, or Kradwhiiteniaiitd, which was first introduced
for агщу dispatch ridcra and eventually ram? lo be
widely worn by я variety of Wehrmacht, Waffen-SS ond
police personnel during inclement weather. Early
examples hnd л dark-green cloth cnllar, hut after 1'940
the whole coat was made from rubberiz'd fabric. The
skirt could be divided And buttoned around Iho legs for
ease of uk& or the motorcycle,
Fol lowing the d isast rou* wi nto r carnpai gn о f 194 L-42,
when no adequate warm clothing was provided far Ger-
man soldiers fighting nn thf- Russian fmnt. prepara-
tions were made to design and supply appropriate uni-
form items with a view In averting a similar crisis
Various fur, sheepskin and lamhswml wяistrofils and
caps wirre issued in the short termr nrtd snow antiraks
originally intended for mountain troops serving in Nor-
way were diverted and shipped east. Wherever whort-
jges were still apparent, captured Soviet winter cloth-
ing was u^ed, augmented by civilian items col lectad in
Germany.
Throughout 1942, the Waffen-SS developed its own
winter combat uniform, or
independent of the army. h consisted of a heavy, fur-
lined parka-type cop I in a waterproof cement-gray
gEibardi ли, with rtiEilchingovertrnuHers. When snow lay
Utt the j'rolitid, :in undyed while cotton hooded smock
and trousers were issued These were designed to be
worn on top of the parka and йуёПГ&ия^гн und were
readily washable. Al the end uf Lhe year, и padded re-
versible parka in a waterproof rayon, white on one side
□nd tan er reed-green on the other, was distributed for
use as a windcheater.
The definitive Waffen-SS winter uniform did not
enter service until 1M3-44, and comprised a hoed,,
jacket, trousers and ml Hens, all made from two layers
of windproof materiul with a wecd-rayon interlining.
The whol r out ti I was reversib le, being wh i tv о rt one side
and SS autumn camouflage on the other, and was de-
signed in he worn over the normal held uniform The
white aid? tended tn get filthy very quickly, which
defeated its purpose, .-41 troops were ordered lo wear the
unilijrin v, ith the camnufljge sidenul unless (hey wen-
actually tightens IT1 Hnciw-envered terrain. [Juri ng 194*1,.
a small rtumbiT rtf similar garments were made utilis-
ing slocks nf c si pt и red Italian cjichoutinge material
Some of there were reversible and nt hers were lined in
fur or sheepskin
The production of fur-lined items for the Waffen-SS
was generally undertaken by the SS Eastern Industries
Ltd , or Osttndusirie GmbH, which used local Jewish
labor to manufacture uniforms and equipment from
property and raw materials seized hy the Germans.
W । pier clq t h ing was a spec ial ly of the S3- Bek kid ungs-
werke in the Lublin urea of Poland, primarily at lhe
Pon intown л nd Тгз.'А'тп к i work ca m ps. Eta г garments, re-
moved from Donre nt nil ion-camp in mates through mil
the Reich Were ordered I о he collected and forwnrded tn
Lublin for repruce^sing It л und fact rhrit many
Waffen-SS sol diers unknowingly wore winter uniforms
lined with fox-furs and stoles taken from old women
who had died al Auschwitz, Maj da nek, Sobibor and
Treblinka,
xaovc ieft: 5?пчг SS and
Hir*jujertd'effiteri, Itemmbr
S^wiOitflrrth and F4Le Win.
obstfVъ ihe ifdfWQ of the i2ih SS
Hit*1иййМ' Ргл* D . an 1№.
Hole iho твлвсу of (гмкмч ла
protocirrt бе thing Л tr^idfr'ic*.
l®*t; Ry^n морс on the
Ribs**! Fiwk, March 1Я Z Лю*
imTH4iU!in doth.fte soirftod .nunf
H"* 11^4 Oi Jlnow *41 П(Ч1-
'ogutatKiftookl-wiu'lhDr gur Ai
1№ lunfh, oN&-lrt4? **itcr c <itb nq
«и ьотоГNrwj <4 a luxury in t№
Waftin-SS. Only taler, os ths war
cm Iha Eaitwn Froil dragpod cm.
ku. J the SS FVtewfr adequate
eold-wt-arwr сомме Ml
чочг 4 R-.,il Грог Ти*Ч Of 1П> 1ы
SSPenur Dwibuxi n teaArderrea,
December 1&U. Т1Ч OfirtW
мэпогн) et Iu*r wsjh гл* seeofid-
эисиг cjrbcvfijij# tmock
;>*rh аяdo nuyiy ci
on нч tarm, u.i mete
ihegneehwal partially
urdcrif.ilt. lhe flu1, barral
Insignia Production
While the majority of wartime Waffen-SS uniforms
were made hv SS factories, the insignia attached to
them always tended to he manufactured by long’
extubhshud private companies. That arrangement
necessitated strict standardization and quality control,
the administration of which whs entrusted to the
ReiehszeugmciKterci or RZM, a body which had been set
up as early as 1 April 1929 to supervise the production
and pricing of all Nazi parly uniform items. The basic
functions of the RZM were to see that NSUAP contract к
went to Aryan firms and lo ensure that linal product*
were of a high standard yet priced losuil the pocket of
the average party member, It al-sn acted as a ’clearing
house’ between manufarliirpni on the one hand, and
wholesalers and retailers on the other. On 16 March
1935, centrad numbers were introduced and awarded
lo every RZM-nppruved cam рагу, and after ihat date
RZM numbers replaced makers’ marks on all NSDAP
ULT.-uulernu?nts> So Iht buttons, belt hooks, etc. of the
AligeriLeiiie-SS, which always remained an organ uf the
Nazi party, consistently featured RZM marks. Those of
ihe Waffen-SS., however, which wua in effect a Slate
arm during the war, very seldom did Waffen-SS in-
signia fell into several distinct categories» according to
manufacture. Each of these will now be described in
turn.
Metal badges such аь eagles and dea th’s head» For the
peukud сэр, Totenkopf buttons for the 10-3-1-pattern
Held cap, shoulder-strop ciphers; and rank pips were
made in a variety of materials, dependent primarily
upon date uf production. The most common combina-
tions were us follows:
1933-36 plated brass or plated tombakbronze;
1936-45: copper-pl tiled aluminum with a surface wpsh
or bare aluminum,
1939-45: painted or plated steel;
1942-45: plated or painted zinc;
1944-45: bare zinc.
In general terms the quality of metals used declined us
the war progressed, hut despite that, a good standard of
overall finish and appearance wan always maintained
Early to mid-war examples were usually crisply die-
struck, with hollow backs bearing two nr three Hal
prongs or round pins for ulluchmenl purposes. The re-
verse of t hesi? items tended to feature u mirrur image of
the obverse design Late-war badges were often cast,
with smooth concave backs,
Cap eagles and death's heads, which were common to
both the Allgemeine-SS and Waffen-SS, normally bore
IIZM marks, either individually stamped onto the
badge reverse or embossed into it as part of the die-
striking or cast mg process. Tvpicul examples were
RZM Ml/52’ iDe.Mrhler & Sohn of Munich । and K-ZM
M1/167' । Au gust in Hicke of Tyssn bei Dedenbach >,
During the war. the form nt of RZM codes used on metal
SS insignia changed, deleting the 'MT prefix and
adding a year suffix, e g. 'RZM 499.41'. No list of these
later codes is known to have survived. and so they have
never been deciphered,
The earliest SS cloth badges were ha nd-embroidered,
LtF i: Wovtn or paper RZM labeb
w«rfr aBithed to mo« SS ctatti
тыдта, al least ипЫ lire «ioty part
si tbs war. in Uu st fhafe*tj'
trrt*n*r*,B, Iha Utah on 11» -ear
m tins *r-nfr*nd d**Kite il4t «1 Has
UOflrt mjKl* tn KWdJlXt Will» 1ha
appro»«) S5 pattern by tn» rm
ЬрШлд cu-lfact aumtxrr JI Qt ir*JJ.
h>r: Клг1 W.lhclm Kc.iirt»,
Г<№егч perмша! $$ or<№*y
twt*«n т}$4 nn£ iiJS. Wi a
imnJI modal ol port □! 1(ч гНагнчО
now Ftocte Chancellery ler
елатппЛкм! by Speer, Hitter,
Schnut and Iho sculptor Jpwr
Tbcxak, Murncti ra/way nlalien.
«3?
and this form of insignia was Worn by soldiers of the
wmetlSS during rhe 1933-35 period. Hand-embroidery
could be in white or silver-gray cotion thread, fine alu-
minum wire or heavy silver bullion, with the latter two
styles normally being reserved for officers. However, in
September 1934 ncjn-commissinned and enlisted ranks
□f the Leibstandarteand SS-VT were al w authoris'd io
wear aluminum wire insignia with the black uniform,
to sut thum apart from their colleagues in lhe Allge-
meine-SS. Ku two hand-embroidered badges were ever
identical к uince they were individually made. The em-
broidery was usually done over c.irdhn.ird templates,
which comprised ihm cutouts nF the rulevant designs
and which could vary slightly from 0H4 maker Ю an-
other. 0n.ee the actual embroidery was completed. a
paper or doth backing was glued onto the reverse of
each piece to prevent fraying, Radge companies
generally employed, women lo do th is work, or farmed it
out to local seamstresses on a cottage-industry basis.
In 1936, when the RZM had become effectively
organized under Reiehszeugmeister Richard Boehner,
machine-embroidered insignia began to be produced
a nd wide ly d i stri hu led. for wear by SS en I istad men and
NCOs. This form of embroidery was ch tap and quirk to
execute. and generally utilized white or silver-gray cot-
ton thread on a black-wover. bud gucl ot h bust? The
thickness of Lhe embroidery depended upon how the in*
dividual manufacturer's machine was adjusted, but il
usually had a 1 ighlly-formed and raised appearance
Thu only exception was lhe flat chain-stitch embroidery
which was sometimes employed on shoulder-strap
badges- The producers of machine-embroidered insig-
n i a were normally fairly sutwtant id I firms, аз on ly t hey
could afford the expensive equipment involved in the
manufacturing process Such companies were rigidly
controlled hy the RZM. and their product* hud to carry’
labels hearing the relevuni contract numbers. In addi-
tion to the standard RZM paper tags used by all NSDAP
formation*. a system of small black-and-white woven
labels was devised specifically furSS items. Each bore
the RZM symbol and SS rune* together with Lhe
makers contract tianiber and year dale, an example
being'RZM 21/86 SS’. Where a firm was engaged only in
embroidery work, the let tuns ‘HL , donating 'ЗЛгг^егеГ or
'embroiderer’, were incorporated into the label, for
example KZM St 455/36 SS*. It was not uncommon for
iwo such labels to be attached to a single badge, particu-
larly a cuff title. if two separate firms were involved m
it* manufacture due to subcontract mg. One Inbul would
refer to lhe maker of the hacking und Lhe other lo the
embroiderer, and because of this, machinc-
pmhroiderdd insignia has come to bo known as the
'RZK1-style by collectors
Machine-woven badges were produced from 1939.
using artificial silk artd either cotton nr fine aluminum
wire. They had л very hat appearance :ind Lhe manufac-
turing process, which could product' hundreds nFidenti-
cal insignia run off on a single continuous strip of
ribband ike material, allowed for the incorporation of
very fine detail into the design. The principal producer
of i h use badges wa* the Wuppertal-Barmen firm of
Randfahnk Ewald VorjiXeher, whose trademark
REVO' has come to he used when referring tn all
machine-woven insignio.
The use of silk-screen printing m the manufacture of
certain Waffen-SS badges was introduced in 1944 but
iy;is primarily restricted to foreign volunteer shields,
war-auxiliary armbands und the special rank insignia
Lin Cincu-dr SS ipdHto 1л<1а*4*11г1
ifiiHjifti tUKrrti lhe Our*H>iO bAJfpS
worn «л iha upper lf<t U>«tvfr Ы FM
до№0 j*O»l by me№b№b bl S3
Im’ing ffiW Fit* *И
WjHen-aairXfwniUHi
1гслрл ei r> ГлГич яЧег tti»
ПЬГфЗДрЬОН pf 1hn ubiqmti>ij
feihmlMmutrr, arwi wntusrd
on Flit loti Ida at rrxhjrla-п cap
and <№ nghd -Vriwa flf 1hn lurac-
миг: On llAuquut 1JJ3. Hiinrrw,
Aonfti ar □ Su de1 C fln- и
reviewed thr fra" rnuxlor, or
"Appell'. <M SS GruppcOsl al Нм
йгппдл SUSdiurrt tn Uer*n. HimmEcr
*ЧР|й!гни1 Iha 'I1lh Bavanin
UHdniry Reuflwi« an drfrter-
C4d*1 M W13, bwl ЧЙ414П1
ip 'f* rtcjrtL mat m 11ч пкнчме ffiai
IM Arrrr*,1*JJJ Wifi сглсмПЫ
по*м *?tел не «л iwMi-rikVy
гппчзг-rt p" h— fad V*»L WiliL*
mW pl hucomvrwnirm. M wi*
not anuiMi ip wnnr itw in?n Cmss
or any Dihci mil'lnry arvard, end fir
lerded to сотрем :л1г tpr 1ht$ by
on overt di-.pliiy <rf fiaDifiF-
dfcwjlio"^, such nj tie l№?
f-ronbwf Port}1 Day В it!ci' зОоал
herti on Г-ii fefl breast pt-ck-L
Гог сл mnu ftagi- clothing. Cheap production costs were
more than outweighed by the poor quality of the
finished article, a rad prink'd Liudgua were very unpopu-
lar
The procedures governing theapproval and manufac-
ture cf Waffen-SS insignia were very complicated
Various SS departments, particularly the SS I la upt-
urn t, the SS Fuhrungshauptamt, the SS Winschalls-
und Verwaltungshauptamtand the Unapt unit Person
Ikher Slab RfSSwould often be involved. Once a design
had been approved hv Himmler, it would push to the SS-
WVHA which would tn turn authorize the RZM. to sup-
ply the required quantity. The RZM then placed л
cnnirucl with one of its approved firms and the finished
badges were delivered to one of ihe SS clothing depots,
usually Dachau, from where they would he supplied to
the unit concerned
By Soptcinber 1SM4, pressure* nn ihe RZM Ti:id de-
veloped tosuch an extent that u was forced m terminate
its involvement in the supply of insignia. to the
Wiiffen-SS. The fellow ing December it announced that
Waffen-SS eaglet, death’s heads. cellar patches,
shoulder straps and cuff titles could henceforth be
manufactured, without a contract, for direct sale to
authorized wholesalers a nd re Li tiers for the dura! ion of
the W(tr By that Stage, no Iles» than 24 firms were pro-
ducing cloth insignia for the Waffen-SS These com-
pan.ies arc listed below
Ccbrildar Auarhammar, Weissenburg: Albrecht
Bender, Weissenburg. Max Dorfel. Eibenstock;
Lnthur von Dredcn & Co., Wuppertal-Elberfeld:
Oskar Frank. Eibenstock; Geissler & Hast, Ansbach:
August Gobols Suhne. GroM^Schdnau: E. Gunther.
Eibenstock: Hensel & Schuhmann, Berlin: Ihnter-
lellner, Brunnacke? & Co Wi-iHst-nhurg; E Kohler,,
Annabeiqj: Kruse & Snhne. WuppRrtal-Bnrmen;Sig-
mund Lendvay, Vienna; Lucas & VursLeher.
Wuppertal-Barmen; F. Muller, Russburh; R.
Nilzsche. Eibenstock; J F Rielcder, Ht-ilbronn;
Julius Riess, Erfurt; Franz Ronnefahrl, Branden-
burg; Hermann Schmuck & Co. Weissenburg; Thiele
& Steinert, Freiberg. Tro I tech & Hauselmann.
Berlin, Ewnld Vorslehcr, Wuppertal-Barmen; Ferdi-
mind Winter, Treuchtlingen.
Wallenfarbe
During the Third Reich, certain colors were employed
in the design of military, paramilitary and civil uni-
forms a nd accouterments, as a methodical means of unit
idvnt1 heat ton. These colors uppUured on tunic facings,
cup piping, armbands and eo on and were known as
branch uf -sorviMi colors or
normally referred tu in the abbreviated form Ил/fen-
ftirbe.
Before the outbreak of World War 11, all armed SS
piping was white, silver or blackfeilver twist, like that
of the Allgemeine-SS However. in December 1939. due
to the increasing militariaation of the Waffen-SS nnd
its new-found associations with Wehrmacht forces,
shoulder strops piped in army WafTunfurbe were in-
troduced A few officers и I so began to equip themselves
with WfilTenfarbe-piped peaked cups a nd long trousers,
made to order, but Himmler immediately forbade that
pract ice, instructing that the piping on these items was
to rem in n white. Ялты ccmfusinn then endued, for m
Mai’ 1940 the Reichsfuhrer backtracked by indicating
that peaked cups could thcreuftvr be piped in Wu.fl в n-
farbe, although u!l walking-cut dress Lmuscra were
now to be piped in gray. Thu following November
Himmler chungod his mind yet again, directing that
WaffenfarlM was once more to be restricted to shoulder
straps and the soutache on the field cap, with all other
piping reverting to whit* or aluminum depending on
rank It is dear that tlie Reichsfuhrer wanted his
soldiers tn retain their own unique appearance, distinct
from that of the игту, hut a number of Waffen-SS
officers and men continued to wear Wy lYenfarhe on
t hei г pea ked caps until the end nf t he war. i n deli н псе of
I limmler's order?.
The fol low. ng list shows the Wuffenfiirbe coliirs
SS WaftenfaiHe 1939-45
ft лСГк'лГлгЬе ftafFi-n-biti Hi inrti <гГ Service
IU«l Park i<,rfrmIli*n.T'i <4Я1*1гис11ЛП L-nHfcf
UI nr
Litfhi Hlii* FivM Аш i jftice । Г-гчгч t“eh 1*43» Miiter TudieksiS SjHjvI пикЯ July lS«f rrupfailt 1 Willi ftllrtlM ЦМ4Р
:A> HIl»- AjlnllihCrnlH.n,
Cirpfr-r Ri i*h RmЛ1Г1IkjriLlI J jrte 1IHJ1
1 .ijlhi HoukM СпгедЩцачл C iR>-
Ijjll. tlwwi Н™-Гк! Oflltt-lT. iklBcUClIirUllAl IfHfih Spwijk^taiBr.lil lurw-14121
finis* linvfl Маш'ишп Гглр* ill-run. Muy 14i2i I'eltcT’Pr. jnn durmtm jrd 1142,
Lin’hl Gray Gtn'ial ISIhrtri Fhir.irliTr-Sdn^jr.lil Junt ]ff,L2,
IWk tir.iy fibrr.rrh'r'^ SCtglf ifmm June L942l
CfuMliJr Fl'M lyJlce 4r.,rn«l Tn"p*. MukirTfrhfiwril Schffil i FrtJfn July 1Ш2 unld ,4u*№i. 64441 le«hi4v«l Uniif ft rlfrlrv
Lifhl Pink Muter T«4‘luikeid Sih,Mil il'mra 14441 Vr.LliMpurt iftwH Arju-it |4441
Rj>4- Pink EYiHii-r AnU-tani Ттщрн
Saltnua [Via Mi]Лаг,
Hntshi E--1 lliuM ii4- l5mkn4i)iLi Arlilkiy Flali К-к-Ш Unit»
tw SriMtv
Crlmwm Pa'J Viiinniiy
HfJ-lihny 1*"| Spc^ialiiU ifmtn June №21
ftlplf [iiiiinlrj.
lialibrn Vvtk>W Ovpill? R«B<ir!|iiii*snw<fr(W! JiJJiv LM4J,
LfllUl Yrtlirt- I'iritl IWl 0Якт <И!*Ц| F-rll 11H3I SaqnnlL* ft ar C-i.rT.-.pxwii-riL»
№4x1, Мрлфп IJ1 tM &1h 55-
Dfrisxxi 'flord' capt-jFBd
ENI '.hB Anna Ir-CHlfc, мжсь 1945. Tn*
Efe-toitiK 15 Ohe*n on ttie
Eflht '.kWiiIEJ' Pl? 1Гп1ч*>сИ,1/-ьЛ1,'т
иг Ihe Cflnfpr, Ah,:. |cr Mrif ffjwn
SpWll (jMH<-flinVS -inoJdE"
t каре. He ei» t>Ag-ci;irt wp
mvgnaa, even г! Lile^tagn tn
Bib war. ЧаЬп Чре Ihn, ня dI
bHrdfcrf airtipa wrth lie
tArnikjIbqa сип Ы щ Uh 1Kl- f qnl
Jrtd rtie nJcrl’*! disH anhind Bn-
<Я ire rtfiixi on Ube ЙЛ
which wore officially authorized for use by the Waf-
fen-SS at various stages of World War II However, it
should be noted th mt a few shades wore withdrawn or
rea Notated from lime to time, and tn any case the differ-
ences in some colors were so slight as tn he almost indis-
linguishable, о situation rnmpnunded hv variations tn
manufacturers* dyes, Ihe bleach 1 or effect o f the sun and
the general weathering oE piping under field cnndit inns
There is often healed debaLe between buyers and sellers
□f surviving piped items us to whether the WafronEarbe
colors concerned ore rare or relatively common опоя.
Collar Patches
The earliest armed SS units were technically im the
local Ahschnitlc staff, and as such members wore blank
right collar patches. In Muy 1933, officers' patches
began to be piped in a hLick/nluniinum twisted cord
and those of other ranks in white cord With the rapid
екрнпдЬп of the militarized SS format ions, it soon br-
camc clear thut some kind of distinctive collar ins<ignia
wnf. required for th и Leibbtondonc and Politischc
Bereit»haftcn, «nd towards the and of theyear patches
bearing double Sig-Runes, hand-omhioidered in silver
hullion Гог officers and white or silver-gray cotton for
other ranks. were issued to soldiers of the LAH In Juno
1934 the SS РВд attached to Oberabschnilte Sud, Suri-
west! nnd Miц₽ wereauIhorized to wear runic 'SS 1b. ’SS
2* л nd SS 3 patches respectively, with the numbers os
large sr the runes, and three months later ПОП-
Dommisjiioned ranks in the I^jbatandarU? and SS-VT
were furlhE^rdiiit infsui shed by being u 11 nwud Ln use л lu-
minum wire embroidery un their collar patches. In
October, the piping on officers’ patches was changed to
the definitive plain aluminum corel, with the black/
aluminum twist now being adopted by other ranks. The
rest of the prewar period witnessed the introduction of
rnachine-embrniclered collar patches for the field uni-
form. deaths heads and other designs for SS-TV and
specialist unite, and ^adoption □fthe'SS 1\ 'SS2Land
'SS 3’ patches, this time with small num hern, by the
'Deutschland', 'Gcrmnnin' and ‘Der Fuhrer' Sland-
urlen. Same culkir patches were produced nn mctnl
buses with screw fi Lt 1 n gs m eiich corner, so th cy enu Id be
easily removed from the tunic when it was being:
c If .in rd.
When лету-pattern shoulder straps were introduced
fur the armed SS in March 1938, it was apparent that
the wearing of dual rank badges rm hath the left collar
patch ।SS rank) and shoulder straps 'army equivalent ’
was unnecessary. However, H i in m I er decreed that SS
ranks, .should btill be displayed. Thu situation was
exacerbated at t he ou t break of war. with the I xd hst and-
arte- SS-VT and SS-TV being given specific rules along-
side the Wehrmacht, The ordinary Gtrmnn soldier was
bemused by the SS rank iystem, and was at .1 loss in
know which SS men he was supposed to salute and
whore orders he was obliged to obey it therefore be-
came absolutely assent tai. for practical and disci plin-
ary reasons. that Waffen-SS rank budges should cor-
respond to those in the armed forces and be easily
recogniaed ян such. Con-requently, during the formation
of the first SS field divisions in the autumn of 1939. it
was decided th.it their personnel should not wear SS
rank patches. Instead they received .matching collar
patches with th< runes or death’s head on both sides.
Tltt'ir ranks were indicated solely by shoulder straps, 111
the army style However, pre-war Waffen-SS officers
and men jealously retained their existing collar
patches, showing their SS ranks.
The increased иле of camouflage smocks, which
covered the shoulder straps and, indeed, all insignia ex-
cept the collar patches, led Himmler lo rescind the
matching collar patch order on If) May 11M0, and rein-
traduce the SS тип к porch for all Waffen-SS members.
At the same lime, the need for security during the inva-
sion uf the- Low Count ri esand France rendered obsolete
Authorized Collar Patches 1 Lirik-ricj.1 Dpglli’s !1слг1 1 jrm vuth tuci? ISIO^lS 1541 Тг>1с-п.1срГ UniLs JCorrftfiian Lemkin
Hriujjrb I’eHad Ijud w.th nae imrEnh 194143 NwHiflimn LhjfKTi
Lrfd UniL-Wnm J+y Vul Глппцл-1 194145 Dutch Lc ^irm- 'RiederHund
Blunk 131U3-4ft Чри cd i*L-. I Vp.n iiiii-nbjl or Hl| TiiIm 194145 ‘NontwnM’ Кггчклгр’ t^nmiwL
SijiTFl!nib- rhit >ч4 .ill«iilr4i HemiJi b'lpurV'l-HbliHhWrfk1
Lyre 1941-45 MlBWSebwl
ЧЧ l9;L)>4ft I^Ahl then Гют i*HU all Ciirmun Ctanhh flap l‘MJ Fmihwrpr ГМпи|«1а*к
ил 9 Ць'гпитк' игiLb nril Obi-Йипе |f14^-4ft Ih i iu FbfpHi'
rd iocaLcd и! h«r pate het UTvit SftmrWiid №-45 Hurdland
i l«;h № I’H tdod S31W "ini 1 №4ti All rjrt-m.in л J Grmianu: UnfiLi
SSlnfilr 2 ISJI SB I’U-Kw<i~44< (им atlocjicd Dthnr рьЪгкдо
SS ..URr J tfl 44 ЬНГН'ЛГШе }|ппк1пЫ Iki.iUiH
D lflIM-37 DoHian Cuunl. tkimdkuii .III'.id 1М.ТПГГП1 НМЛ-45 ToienkcpT l.rmt«
h 104-1-17 [‘пгчтл|Г11'лгП Е’иМф^йЛ Sdinular L 5v<.j>4dkji 194-3 45 HLinrHchir'
U ЮМ-37 1 brtiau Тнттц <>mp LiiMi I'Ltn pj.nl 1<МЗн|Б J41ti (UkminiBni 1115iMrm
S3-T IfKH-IB 11.Ц9 ТЙ« nflk*".' Schaal Sn.jb4.ikj 1МЗЧ5 Latvian L«Hiun/15lh&: IStJi
Sipick. S -4wiel ioni-чи SS-VT р|»лс«-г liullil HHI rLatvuin.bDi'nSififlw
SSlr^h'HFri^ Нм.|г I1ICM-4I1 fei-VT Kipnis Г1п11л1|«1 Sun & tiru.ru ГЧ-4Ч5 ISthbLkttiMi IhvHian
fiJvtmull L IMSJD Ihsitxliljiiii’ К d Miukcl AimSmenl llkH-16 sWlitE^M-irinHir ISjvijtaiL
3 !Й£-4и Tkiiori-ihwL’igt ilSLcrR.' School Согп1кт»лег H.H4-4U Мпгщ iTimu'
ssv ISi-Jri Ad nn bni* Frat win Sctinol H иниь Huiwrif"
Venrfil IIiwUh Hwd ] »4ь4Г' Tilk'nlu^f Unit! (.'«isscsl
Vcrirfpl Пг.чИ» Urai' GreflMie 1 *44-45 tn гЬч-wiiii(^r l3rifnilbF3£ih
J.V 34&S-37 StTV Hjllmlwn Smfr DivuKa
Vert il-jI ПгаСЬГе ThrrJ’ Ь|П*|лЬл4П[ 1*44-4.J Ekiliih Five Corp-
Elradrl-SS 1JMH0 f&TVCnnijHimr» [ihitiile jrmvd Ямпыики 1444 4' Non SS Auniliary CorKvntntton
Von и jI Гк-olh’a 1 kndS 1 D№4c1 S&TV Mrdirf! Ih4iieln«n Camp I iicn rd г
Stomal 1 2 JS35-1CJ GcTOarua" Fl jcnlrip ГгганоВг 1345 Lnnd'tuiiH Nederland1
SiB 1М5ЧЦ SS-VT МгЛенЗ ЙШ<л1ш1 Fl jminjr»jrEnndc
5S« 15I3&-1C1 KkirHht.itTC' inwiflH 1945 'tjiml>tirf№ Ncdnr|4M
Yertinil Ik.jLh n
HmlLK 1 S2tt-r|<r Ctiiiivnlr jtiori Camp AalT A Innrr number rtf olJirt vftibrvHlerrd Сч| l^r роЧ'кг. tfxiil whieh
5S'4tmII 3 1 Sartell [hr Fuhrir’ ГПППЛ1 hr aiiikehikiiird by fflniemi»Mfy гФлт.кт^рпьг or
Bolin1 Litzett LKiS-44 Piilicc-Division HiKairwiilHFy diGelkv Muftk. if №L mH. nrepreinjhly |>е,ил-.4
I’iJict Lilu'n iiiruHFSi 19H»-4J PHiccDLCHiaa ГаЬгкз1л№"<>ТЬе 9еЫл krW'rl'.jJ II"! я ctrf*e 'aLlc-^d' AS o.1Lii palehc*
404 iwr; SS irjpfu^rnhF»
Hmtni.t IJilta мм ль “No ГпЧ
Wen гит SS 14 F>cnt ol l№ KmlgM'S,
Стой *tfi Qaklnavt». Swords and
и'nroo'rds. For iha pnescfiLdE-jn
phaEDqrapfi, taken &п SC A|>j Зчи1
Mn*ir ь ahie t-.-.-urniMt al №
Gt. rrf* лГч Sch-Ttfu^uU# mfr
ihinwKifn piiwig, г*з ihe
e^Miiiefy ч*м-мНко>ЛгГ90
«№ щГсГ« or № док
llfi 55 ль->л jit i-ooF-. in Russ».
iXjrHrtiPr w*|, COllW fWlehM AArfH-.
Uiually me onfy aMjrr.i <tsip№
whilr 1fWi «rfnoidlu.gq- ur-pek №
twig wm
ftfrir: Twp rJic .Шг- ilrnps pped hi
ihe Ьгстгг Wdknlrrbe ol
COnocriir j.liDn .Crimp МО'Г
лк*пдзнэе №«lirm aF
cmbron±Eretl дли rrartn Ьап/ОНЙ
<4onlh'Ji head oo or jjiittntl lii
*txrt 1M0 OylOMMOtJi
ninwnol Дгйру The ftXibhb
arrrftJ swj iE.ko ui'ch djh d PrjjHi
1544 urM diMMKl « iw i SS
eoflcentira1on-c*np guvd
all I SS-VT and SS-TV cullur putchEs bearing numerals
or letiera. which were ordered to be removed For a
short time during Lh£ western campaign, perron nel in
the SS-Verfiigungsdivision ччмч- no collar patches at
all From then an, the basic SS runes rollar patch be-
came standard for all German and Germanic Waf-
fen-SS formations except Totenkopf units, whonc mem-
tiers continued to wear the death * head, now produced
m a horizontal version того suitable Гог изо on the
closed-neck field tunic, hi August 19.1 U. the black, alu-
minum twisted ettrd harden ng other ranks’ patches was
abolished,, tearing these Hatches Linbnnderod fur the real
uf the war.
With (he increasing recruitment of non-Gormans
into the Waffen-SS after 1940, Himmler became con-
cerned about the use of iheSS runes insiguia by those
not racially suitable for ful l SS membership, und hein-
st Fueled t h al such recru its should w «ar some ol her form
of badge on t he righ I col I ar patch The SS t herea Пег de-
signed and issued a range of appropriate collar patches
for its foreign units and, pending the distributnon of
these insignia, blank p.itchos were often worn in new
units as an interim тпеаниге- German SS officers and
КСОя serving in foreign formation? were still enliik'd
bo wear the SS runes collar patch und, u»> from Julj
1943. if they chose to identify with their mon by wearing
the distinctive unit patch, they were-obliged to sport the
SS runes embroidered below the left breast pocket in
stead The latter insignia was identical to that worn by
SS men tn the German police.
The weari ng of col tar pa ichea <1 id not л Iwtiy я con form
to regulations. Matching patches and vertical dealha
heads, although prohibited in 1940, continued to b₽
worn well >nln 19-1and officers often used Other ranks'
patches in (he hold, nr removed the rai ding from their
own pnlchES- In 1943, machine-woven vorsions nfthvSS
runes and hariEuntal death's head putrhes Were pro-
du red, but the curlier embed id vred vxu in plcs- were still
bei ng i ssued at t he e nd of t he war. Recruits u oder train
ing often wore no collar patches at all.
The- following table lists all SS-VT, SS-TV and
Waftcn-SS unit collar patches which have been eon
firmed by con temporary photographic nr documentary
evidence They were produced in embroidered *еге1опя
only, unless otherwise indicated
Shoulder Straps
Members of the armed SS wore standard Allge-
meine-SS shoulder straps on the right side only until
1935, when the earth-gray uniform wag introduced. In
July ofthat year, SS-VT ollicers were ordered to wear
theiг Allgenteine-SS strops on both shoulders of the
gray uniform. Giber ranks, received, army-pattern
strap* made of plain earth-gray material, nr earth-
brown for SS-TV troops. In 1936 those enlisted men's
HhouIder straps were replaced first by n round-ended
black version pipvd in bhickAilurrunum twisted cord,
then by an unpiped black type with pointed ends. None
of these early straps identified the wearer's rank, as
Hint was shown by his collar patches.
Jn March 1938, army-pattern shoulder straps with
Unauthorized Collar Patches
Vvnr All.klvdly
11.-Ч1СП SlS'II.i uilfi^ Produced I niLtnkrridrd for Wcur by
SS, n>j*il 1 rik№i»n I'ri^^hlT 1 Irtlniriii.-v Ki'l.ik^l
Vjkiiu I'hklbllAn \l,inii1»l I’nqj
Ijjrijt Jl.lp (k~rd 11Ы1 ,Sum.-cuL^ I ilijnin,’W|li,ig'
SunEiL'nRMl HiaS LSjEiis iti X^rdUrnl
W Trnlrnl uf ID-L-I Xdb.SS Auul игу Oaift'nlrdLi. 41 Caiiip 1 riLird-
A I.Hinnur ltM4 Hl fi 4L OOlli (L’kiTiininii ।
Sa H^ni- E kmeV Hmd U>H Н,1гв|
||rtl|H-l |>H SiLaniJrrl^j'
Skinb^iru I mJ
k.ILM tViUi.r Е’пл, 4iK.4l 11MJ J4|H lluljS-lll lllxlhlnu
Ci«,r[pi in 11 Jilin iftLcMbaai []|.vkaiiiri
Кллч-я ftvtunl i 1444 21Цri i|i^,liitn.i Г1КIrIiih
Wrenlh S>ifln mi 1411 j4lh . h^l ilui flivlfciL'fl
[utrfil Urw# f. Г ин-l lilnhiin Division
HiarjtUltdt KmwHiFi t>fthu- IW5 'Walln tiiHi'
rfrik 11МЙ JOlh 1 HumI an'l'krnininn 1 Ihvixinn
StWBinrStl Snix-ltZ lb. I1H5 K,1rJ illullKiirhall1 UulMiin
.ГилН CnMMd lll-l/i I llni'lu^ll
t 'j, n.ij I’Mi 1hrlr-»flri|;rr |tnipfir ИЧЬ РигЬниП
WnlFrf 1 Uid ISdA C 'niilrjll h.
S'A unl & riliiL ld ltN5
TiKrrV Гl,.wl HijS ludi.ili 1^.-Ц1Л
black underlay and gill stars were issued to nil armed
SS officers, and NCOs began lo wear aluminum litre, nr
Tres®, and white metal 'pips'. Rank was iherenftcr
clearly indicated by the sirups. Freni December 1939,
office™ gporlcd col о red Waftcn fa rbe piping bet ween 11 il-
aluminum braid and black underlay, and other ranks
received their definitive WafTenfarbe-pipcd black
stnipri with rounded ends.
A large number uf unit dcntificalnan insignia were
worn un the shoulder ?trap*. For officers, the® n umer-
als and ciphers were i hi Li nl ly in gi Lt m L'tul, than hron &e
after 1940. Other ranks had them embroidered directly
onto their straps, or onto removable alip-оп tubs from
1940. The table on the prex ious page lists the various
identification badges known to have been u^d on Waf-
fen-SS ahoulder straps.
In October 1943, Himmler decided that Waffen-SS
units and spec ial tsi personnel were adequately identi-
fied by collar pitches, cuff titles and sleeve diamonds,
and he forbade the wearing of shoulder-strap numerelg
ami ciphers Гог the duration uf thu war The only ex-
ception was the Lcibslandarle-SS "Adolf Hitler', who®
members retained their LAH monograms.
ич*гт: There pair: at НяНсп SS
c-lu-rcy JrajUtUr ilrapn irc-cate
1rom lap Го terttorn a
WetоппШззалсе Uborjtxjrmlunrtk,
ЛЛ Ir'anHy h3Lbl3'LTn*uHjor, -K*d
дл R<55 Surf* ituroltkinMuiirer
eLL&w. Ал SS-UnbWKtarfJow in
8u#dtrt-*1. W5
ilw 5q_ а MwmtiQnai
«nd if4«fr«iMi-l»k цгмм*-
51^1 Г F.X h*bkt_h was «iMd only one*
«141 tftfrt dijp^rted at ОрвгаЬпд
IhsPanwrtiwi v AnnwrflFw.
»M «slnpcnHjf игггрЮ, en< j! wii
чту -jccttiMuCy hjrcrt by
ihn jtvrd$ <jl VenwlurF i"d Hitlrr
¥<Wtfi troop» Ourlrhg IM tkje-ng
tteije* at ttw wnr
Shoulder-siraa Insignia
Huil^r Unit
A SS-\"T Artiitery Пг^икгп!.
A itnichir 1 №-VT Reeroinn гкылег BnCleliivn
АВД ArtilLtri .Scbool 1
AS,I1 АгиЛеру School II
f'Wwin-Hl Terknital LhiiCe
n 'DcruLKhland1 Sliuidirte
DF Ckr Fuhrer'&endjrle
F Rumi Numeral R*c пи г i пя О Hi rc*
Fl ЯуАТ Ar[i-Airrmft □’[G BiLlellpn
C Чгггтяпи' Sln^rlarke
JSH JuFii.rrichfu.1r
JST Липкигаскик' Tsli
L MrtarTrttunw*1 Sthwel
LtCebc Triinine tiMMkrhnH’ntb
I AH Lnb^widark'-^' Airi 1 T-hLlw'
Ijrr* Jstini-
MS M u.j.hvh'ujr Breuiuihu, t it
Л ’Nurd.lajd' ^UiruljrU
P iGdUllfr ®-VT Ал19-Тилк SiUiibjn
Sfipfst Vrtfnnerv Vrut*
Seiiw л stun MrJii.*! Uncle
SK.T1 D^cliau GrmrfiTi
§KT Ptjel-v Gerri ron
USL L'rtlcrfuhrerKhuIr LujcnburK
L’&R I'rLrrfuhrmchuIr Hadoltwll
W 'Wrt4l orud' SUrndirtc
1 - 17 Tei* о к пр Г S be n i* ri im
Cutl Titles
The cuff title, a woven black tape about 2Hmm in width
and 4Эст in length, which was worn nn the tower left
sleeve of the tunic and greatcoat, became one nf the
must distinctive features of SS uniform. Apart from
identifying the unit of the wearer, it promoted a re-
markable esprit de corps in the WafTen-SS-
AIL prewar regiments and mast ancillary formations
of the SS-VT and SS-TV hud their own LulTlitlcs, which
were handed over as part and parcel of the clothing
issue. Each man received four, one fur each of his uni-
forms, and they were expected lo lust him nine months.
These early cuff titles were embroidered in Gothic let-
tering with the exception of the Leibstand antes ‘Adolf
Hitler innignu, which featured the hand-written Sub
ter!in script officially reserved for the Fuhrer’s guards
from 1 On l September 193$, th e G ot hie ‘SS’ used о n
certain cuff tit les was replaced by a runic version, nnd
three months Intern 11 Gothic scri pt weis diiscnntinued in
favor of standard 1л tin lettering.
In May 1940, the cut! titles worn by ancillary
WuFTcn-SS units, Гог example 'SS-Nachrirhtcnsturin-
bunn' mid SS-Pinniersturm.bartrT, were abolished ns it
was fell that they constituted a security risk Regi
mental titles such as 'Deutschland' continued lo be
used, however, even after the introduction of di visional
titles in 1942. and were worn by divisional personnel
not en tilled to regime nta I cu IT til I es. So a mem ber of t he
signals battalion in the SSA'erfugungsdivision would
wear the ‘SS-Nachrichtensturmbann' title until May
1940, then noqulftiileat all, and finally the 'Das Reich'
title as from September 1942.
As the war progressed, cuff titles took on a new sig-
nificance and were presented at solemn ceremonies
during which unit commanders would remind reci-
pients of the great huilur being bestowed upon them and
that they should du nothing tu disgrace the nuines
which their cuff lilies bore. The exact criteria fur
awarding names and cuff titles is not known, but what
is certain is that many SS divisions, like the 14lh
Ukrainian। and 15th H>atviani, were never named,
while some of those which were, such as 'Hnndschar’
and "Maria Theresa', never received cuff titles, Ilirnm-
ler apparently judged every application nn its own mfr-
ilfi, refusing rame new units on the grounds that P CM IT
title hud to be earned on the field of brittle, and turning
down others because they hud been formed as n tempor-
ary wartime expedient from personnel considered
racially unsuitable for SS membership.
lot A wMcdioo ol Worten-55
•jhcuWor гклря Tho*« dcnoU,
*Offl tot to bottom, 1»П Щ right- 9
Houpt*ch*r1Ohr*r.«
ЗмсшН! Sch4rti4ver. MoiMitain
Trwp UnlcrK-hJri Jwrr, or, Inljnlry
SctiyUo. a Medical Otwrsiwm.
ЬалМ jirof, a S+gnfll,
iJnitwUiJHi'Uiref pl 1hcr
LoitW’tnrxUric, Q priTiZdr
UoiwKh^Uhrcr o< Bia 'Grwu'
т-ргтэтЯ
чпиг: Wover»SS uuH Utici ter.
irom lop lo beoam: siarif ol ем
IFfvhJM SS A'jjciklrrM Tr*R“ni*J
SitoOJ al ObesWalMlm, Civil
Frijon^r Ptiixs [ixider 1hsS«i|.
FmW Police, War Ci>F«pon<lwte,
ГцхКчШп* VcJi*ibw<s <n*ve* worn]
Reichsschule-Я
Grenz-Polizei
Ч Ч4Я UU U14-1d.li IUK№ W i P - - ’ +П ВПШМ|^|ЖЧН
№* I PI Ж FilifiillFI'.|3|IFIlFFFI FFFIIBFmilllBir.Lrj FI"|i|P|“P|“PPPUbb4i iPb+lfelSliai I I I F|l I El IMIM4 4.I I h Ы«Я|,||Ч| I к
Я - Feldgendarmerie
i-kaMa iral El4 । k| ЮТ11<ЬШ п*М№й W-tirw+i 1- irbrf bllM>Wfl FF*tn4l4iH4H+hl«miiiiiMiFrii*«r 4аЧв bm! I M*l • 4S + I »
WKriegsberichfer
Osttiirkischer llajjen Verbajid der //
Reichsfiihrung-M
1ЖЛ- A pl CuT tie» worn
by, from Ipp (p Wttgnr tfre
Riichifcjhf*r-S$ л nd 0#pvW4nM
chiefs; «rtlMZflr? gn tfr» ЙлП of frw
SS High Command; o4ftco<i gn №*
staff Of Dber jb-cMitl SoeJwwt;
0№o*n On the stafr of the TJrxJ $5-
FuHS-5UUKl*rta (Dot me*®: NCO»
and man Of Lho 3rd Sturm of л
Bwarrt-Sturmbinn; NCOS and
man altichad k> Ifa SS Officer
School at BffrunacnwfrQ
fB*un*wtck),
поит: А ргнгаг ahpvtdar «trap al а
|unl<jr gflrcef gf 11ч- SS-Tfflenkopr-
EtaiKbri* 3 "Thuonpon' ONleton
atxjvo ojrtf tRlH ЧШИЧ lo. ’font
top to tottpm. «4 CS Totankogl-
standana 3 Ии-лпрвп' ClVSMXI.
the SS Tcttokppfatapdart»
ОьегЕчг,ет йнчдо; Ihe $S-
Panzorgrontidicr fiegir-icnt 6
Theodor Etctae'; the 3rd SS-Panw
Dndaiori ‘Totankopf.
Any Waffen-SS soldier transferring from one unit to
another had to remove Ня old cuff title and replace it
with that of his new unit. However, if the latter had not
been awarded a cuff title, the man wag permitted to con-
lin ue to wear the t it Ie of his former unit. That ex plains
why "Adolf Hitler and 'Der Fiihrer" cuff titles featured
among I he officer cadre of the 24 th SS Div i sion in nort h-
ern Italy at t he end of the war, and why miscellaneous
cuff titles were worn by SS paratroopers.
On occasion, two cuff titles could be worn together.
Officer cadets being trained at Bad Tolz, for example,
were initially allowed to wear the "SS-Schuk Tdlz’ cuff
title above their own regimental or divisional title®,
while war correspondents and m ilitary policemen often
wore the ’SS-KriEgsberichter' and 'SS-Feldgendarme-
rio lilies below I hose of the regiment or division to
which they were attached The wearing of more than
one cuff title in this fashion was forbidden m Augugt
1943.
Cuff titles fell into the following four categories
according to the method of their manufacture:
Hand-embroidered in aluminum wire or thread;
Produced from 1933 until June 1942. For wear by all
ranks until 1936, and thereafter by officers only.
Machine-embroidered in white or silver-gray cot-
ton thread: The so-called 'RZM-Btyle'. Produced from
1936-43 for wear by other гапкя only.
Machine-woven in aluminum thread Produced
from 1939-43 for wear by officers only.
Machine-woven in flat gray cotton or silken
thread: The so-called 'BEVO’ pattern. Produced from
1943-45 for wear by nil rank®.
It was not uncommon, however, for officers to use
other ranks’ cuff titles on their field tunica, or for NCQh
to acquire officer-quality titles for wear on their dress
uniforms. Moreover, old slocks of some early cuff titles
continued to be worn long after they had been officially
discontinued.
These categories are most important from a collec-
tor’s point of view, for some cuff titles which appear on
the market can readily be identified as reproductions
simply because the dale of introduction of the original
does not correspond with the manufacturing technique
of the copy. Cufftitles such as ’Florian Geyer’. 'Hohen-
staufvn’ and ‘Reichsfuhrer-SS’, for example, which
dated from 1943 and later, were all made in the BEVO
• Я * <«|«пвж»ж»»л™ п irrttavti 11« i • nit tw4TM»i
-iLI" JU! «
Уиидтмсп
*• i>yixf>iii4 i» t ®a aд вж «-*^.11 в iва ЖВЖ1Ж®»!••• яв> • *a я ***** -*^* *1 *'
H»tl BtlBTti > JU4 A 11 1111 t«a« «1П1 bi .
‘№^йЛЛА4тЧМ11ЛМ*нйЙвВ<Цй*а^мвМшваммнв1в^Ш|йЬШШМАШ|кшш1й1№й1Мм**1^к*ВйШ№ВИшМВ*л1ВЯШ
Theodor Eicke
'J-
Totenkopf
pattern and should net Ы? encountered ]n the earlier
RZM style. Similarly, Gothic script had been uban-
dnned hng before 1943,an it follows that Gothic letter-
ing sh<Hjld not ieutypp on HEVO cult titles.
The table below lute nil SS-VT, SS-TV nnd Waffen-SS
cuff lit Les which have been oinfirmt-d by contemporary
photographic or dncunifntnry evidence, together with
their known manufacturing styles.
A few rare variant cuff titles are olw know n tn have
EMisLed, but these were. unofficial and even unique in
ramt* cases. Examples include Sepp Dietrich's wartime
'Adolf Killer' cu.fl:' titles, which were embroidered in
gold bo I Lion, an d the ь1Л i ki ng' an d1 Wa Humeri' cti fi t it I cs-
hand-embroidered in Gothic script far wear by unit
commanders Herbert. Gil Ie and Lecm Degrelle respec-
tively, A small пиглЬет uf unapproved focalized cuff
titles, such as the bNarwa’ and. 'Estland' titles worn hv
some members of the 2iHh 1 Estonian i1 livi&ipn, are con-
firmed from photographs and were in all probability
hand-embroidered These are th и except iu пн which
prnve the general rule* of culttitle manufacture.
The following cufftitles were authorised during the
Waffen-SS Cuff Titles O-ilmnrk ]Vi1kv F ji!l 1ЯЙ ilW
Tilfc* ¥r*nr 1 Hired ш?оч1 Adult Fhllrr I’J.'B Пт.1пг1гп1н1гр !Ч;>” Briukh hrrOirjM 1*14-1 IJjnrciiirk Ifltl lM»HrirK 11M2 nir-th'. ||..nr| ipwiJinlai ISM lit и Nuti-Lr 1.941 Dtv Fuhrn-r 19:IS De Rvtlcr 19411 UtiicHhLnnd I.911S Kite I MT ESSTV 1919 Попал Ge; er 1944 Frcnkwp* iMitmjrk 191L ftuiHlkterc UMJ t'riv LrjKti tliinilrm I'HL ('|W, l-rgmlv Wjiijjind mil Frw. 1лц io n, NiwfcrLiiMltf 1911 Fiu. Ix^ian Xorwciren llM.I 1Ft пи-r ul Sex ir.irdi |pn l^manidi DftM HiCrLH КОП Bt'rlrdiinurn I1H3 l-ll'Fnxann *41 S*l*n НШ HnlIrrjuijralJ |!I4,.1 t-laheiuiuiLfeii 14143 1 lutMl Wi.-Mrl l£4-L Kdu L11. Riuhiui iS$S Klin Eepsis 1943 L inp-mairk 1942 Ln*int Nitrkrlniiclr Ly-ll 1ЛК1ГЛ1 Nururiun l°4D Мвп-ikfarin Hrijr giylji 111. :.K/M MW flCVO 111 REM Wepufarturii^ *ljK' fflirvu te JiixrntHl (non tte t-w HiLrviiiri){ * artiniL- liteijigrjip'lit fJ Birmten □Tthu-linx unit Pnikiblv Ь|11|Лт1П11Плнк11.-|1 пл oral у d '. tr;. ятлИ <|uirniit). waj rcqainMl UEVO tWM MW lltivo HE MW HE iik (им mw ni:w ismi HE (UM MW HE (UM MW BEVQ ftZM HEVO HZM R£M R7Sf MW KZM ЙКСО UK R7M MW UEl'O HEVO BE1D HEVlJ. ni.vt> HEVu HE (UM be™ HZM MW HE KZM REVO BEVG НК KXM MW REVO hzm bevc hi- (йм mw1 ilk (p.m 11 n.nij;nijj 1 IW42 ЗЪга kviccn НЧЗ ttrnh-Juhm'-SS IP-13 Hi’Kh^uhninn-Hf1 1Р4*1 (tiwhajrlwilv-SS “HI Hid lilinnl HryOndh IP43 fwitfh’rdi H137 НиГиС|11?ш1||11/,1>,1щ iretfl MkiiJiftcrteji IP44 HK-Aiulifh₽ Aiiidfimw. 1919 SS. Fl-Id p< fldiirnit-rii? 1942 SS. Hi'tinu.i'hr IMtuip ts:Ly £tf!-1n>pet Iran [чДЬ SS-КВпАЫ 1Я41 5&КГ1Е№<Ьегк11Сн LS4U SS-Кпгке- Iwrivhtvr-Kp IE4Q SS-Mu-1. ikxr Itulr (0ihjjl4 li 41-111 1541 SS-Njidi- riLhii-n- iljrraLaiiri iHCj" SilSuciw- alurmhatui 19J7 SS-roiuei Divuwn 10-12 SS-Sclnilc Н-пмпискг* ciu lEHfi й&НсквкТ.Н! 1КП ss-Tnunkuet- HTliiiiHlr 11В? SS-Utlli№jdH|r.j}i>f Г1и-1ц11 ЦК? SS-limirrlWifF- Bfh'ilJu UMU SS= Vr гкл 1L ывдл - wliuk- J9il^ Thtodiir E ickr НМЛ thu’e J44-2 Jlidriaprti HWT TrJcrxkofir IPrt WulLuihien I*M4 WT4 tatluti l№ WvKibHl 1О4Ч1 Wtkni|£ ЦМТ MW IUM MW ПЕ70 BLVD IDE икса- HUM MW REVO DEE (IZM HE нам REVO MIV MW REVO HSM HE (UM НЕ (Ш1 HKVl) Unofficial Sutlorliri вепре is <Ъл1п Milch-ninbroidiiry (№M НЕ КЯМ HE FUJI HZM MW UK VO DIE iSutlrrlun unlil IHlHin JUM HE : FLZ5.E MW HE : RZ. tr HE нам HE ГНД'О RZM МЙ HE . Mtf IUM MW НЕГО iiEva JIE ]IE IUM MV TiEVO HUM MW BEVO
bM iemm ч чинмшагг N™l|ir]u.|rfl Xrtrdhilrd Х>|П|н«-хЦ tlbrrhajM-n D»lfrunljrid IP-14 l»44 04D 1 SHI Il4:i ISU? I94f Kl'Y HE - ll.inif.rmliHT,jdfriii iq «biminijiii *1iV nr Uin-id !lZM - MdiJuHi'-rniLroidri-L-J ill while or чОог-цги.тгС'Иоп thn-jd MW’ Miirhimr-wimr-n in ulviTLiniini itltviid REVO MMhin«.«iM,4'i m fait £r^j cm on ur Bllltvn thrvjd
wur, but never issued far n variety of reasona;: Arlur
Fhleps, Charlemagne. b’inmaehes Frw Balilillcm der
WnITcn-SS, Hinrich Schuldl, 30 Januar, Lunds-farm
Nederland, Lalvija, OstiQrkischer Woffen-Vcrband der
SS. Woldem a ra Veigg, Most of I hesc cuff t it les ex i sled on
paper only Example? of the ‘Charlemagne', 'Landstorm
Nederland' and ‘Osttiirkischer WalTen-Verband dor SS’
lilies have appeared: in a manufactured form but these
have yet to he authenticated by phnfagraphir or doru-
menLary evidence.
Arm Eagles
1Ъе cag le and swastika was celab Lished an the nal i ona I
emblem, or of the Third Keith on 7
March 1936. The insignia ultimately developed to in-
corporate a wide variety of forms, but the eagle invari-
ably faced lo its right when being used by State
organisations such as the police and customs service,
and faits left when being worn by the NSDAPand parly
farm;itions like the SA pnrl NSKK,
The first SS tunic eagles were sported by Sepp
Dietrich and others as early uh the summer а Г 1935,
with the newly-introduced earth-gray uniform. The use
of eagles on the right breast was restricted by law to [he
army, navy and air force, so members of the Leibstand-
arte and SS-VT look to wearing theirs on rhe left upper
arm. in lieu of the gaudy Allgemeine-SS armband
which was clearly unsuitable far field use. The pattern
of sleeve eagle officially adopted by the armed SS tn
May 1936 wa? that introduced simultaneously for the
ruilruud police, witn a right-facing eagle having dip-
ping wings 11 was discontinued after only two ycurs,
bul was still being worn by some veterans in 1943.
The second and definitive pattern of SS notional
emblem, with a left facing eagle and straight wings
taper! ng to pen nt, was devised i n 1939 a nd was even t u-
ally produced in several variations to become one of the
mr^t distinctive features of Waffen-SS uniform The
commonest manufacturing method was machine em
broidery, in white nr nilver-grpy cotton thread on black,
and these RZM-style eagles came tn the fallowing three
typen dependent upon period of production.
Between 1936 and 13-11 the eagle had a pronounced
square head" the 1942-43 version had a less pronounced
curved head; and from 1944 a more shallow .round head.
Photographs confirm these types lime and time again
ns period, rather than manufacturers/, variations The
square-headed early eagle can regularly be seen in
prewar shots and pictures taken during the western
aiid Kalkan blitzkriegs of 1940-41, while the round-
headed insignia never features in these photographs.
Conversely, the round-headed late-war eagle is con-
sistently Keen on camouflage drill tunics during the
Normandy and Ardennes battles, with the early badge
being conspicuous by its absence nt chut stage of the
war
Tn 1939, a BEAT) machine-woven version of the SS
sleeve eagle began to appear, in flat gray coLion or
silken thread far other ranks and fine silver wire for
officers. Ii was widely worn on ail type* of Waffen-SS
uniform throughout the war, and was even used; as a cap
1ЧИ*Г SS-OOrtflrvopfnffrrrer
Wir-FtHm Корре Fhirer qF
ObnfdtnChHitl W;i.-tt4, Will/Lrvj his
SSand poll» t-'Dopi in 1&43. Gmi
easni шль Enalu'd on Ji Ос 1 uber
I STS, *ol oHinq It** JithoUil'on Ol
PtHJl-J, 9ld in January 1 1
rtnSntSO Gou Wnhelvid jftSr Iho
Hirer worths ti -aft iHsupn rt.
Koppt piar^d an unpwiwi tole
4* №9jaiuiu«i al 55 loua m iM
nw. Пени I witoy. tw rthcfi t»
r№fuvKt the г®* w ihrv-^efl ели
Взйре. rteartysrw-n 1ч*9on Г,-*
*tt fawn pwktr nt*
.'1Ьл'-Г1«гпГьг-,г1ц.Мге- ru- Bis
'г*Г9ч--*м1 и* iHpr>g<trt
UanjflCrp?? 1UO15.VC1 *lnrh
ru tnan 100 rttHj- .T>,-ar0ed ter
im*zn in Ы.. dT>i up 1Гц prewar
party m the Free City.
ьггт O', 1WJ Ihfr bS hJri
perrttjiiiJ ertiy di0ev1 CH me
GWnfcipdke A
tteoenmMi known аз ihe
Hj'JpLrU-Hi d'_‘ HjuptAnil
Odruf-Jlt-Criiifr W413 Wt 110 Wrthlf»
Ch4 R*iehaWrtinft-SS IdldviU
Himmbf uif AH ™wb сок-m лг,
th* cniF>.mwt док* #id h*. л*
cbnUHx peuHchen F--ii ?ei. nuon
PvKy 4*CiW4 Ff^aJdlng il;
(Чнга1|рг* end dnplpyrr^nt Pqhc*
дсчтгач’ dutincl’vr grnw and gold
tout pj':r<3 were <fVljJ
г-ч>ечт«:. with Ihe- IridirrfHlii
жп-f sli le utsn e; b-oirsp rejklaced
fci Ibt n>w BS patlwn, ihtnm* irfra
Idt j QcnerdJmafor der Pd'-in
erlHeride Ola gtnArtrt fcrrneh^k».
Tho &S memberihip nmni
rwuiwd sll'rt» for nA гМкЗ,
ncludnq денег Л.
•jwr. The rfclHzrt rflifflelrff
appa**d Ш many j.h stent Twme
гг1 culm № kht m* **tl or
UHilunrn itaijm bythn SttWUpciJWi.
Gerrfarrrwn» Verr.n^ungipcArei,
VKVf’irnpniiei, Wsi^mchuU-
pjlizei, Feuor^cnutzpcUzxn,
LuffLchjLi >alun _i~d w in. KI the
entfo' ms the Wrfkm-SS Рокии-
Omuan wB a&tdrded rhe Глист «1
iunl *rtf fide-,. fcstrjlcd hard bi 'Ie
ocvo-wavui. :ав4«ц And П2М-
ornbro-dmHS рЫИгГ».
barff>e fay female SS auxiliaries The BEVO eagle was
also produced in ton brown from 194.1 P far the tropical
uniform. A few examples in green weave, allegedly For
use on the spring si deaf the camuuflagE uniform, have
made their way on tn the market recently, but their
authenticity has not yet been tonfirmed
The S3 arm eagle was also hand-c mbroidcred in
.шкет bullion for officers. Numerous slight variations
existed, and a few hud anaps attached to the rear w that
they could readily bo removed from the tunic when the
latter was being cleaned. The bullion eagle was
standard wear for all SS officers, although Sepp
Dietrich again highlighted hiaunique status by having
his insignia executed in gold wire
In addition to the various regulation types of SS
HohcitBpbzeicheri, other eagh's were sometimes wo-rn
on the left arm of the Waffen-SS tunic. A number of ex-
army officers who transferred to the WaEfen-SS, and
foreigners who had previously served in Wehrmacht
legions, wore Iho army brcasi-eagle on the alcove,
either to emphasize their origins or simply because the
army eagle was тоге readi ly ^vailnhle to ihem The use
of army eagles was particularly ептпттит during the
rapid expansion пГ the Waffen-SS in 1ЛК19-4О. when SS
eagles were in short supply end army-stylo Wnffon-
ferbp pi pi ng л nd match i ng collar patches Were th e order
nf the day. A few SS-VTand SS-TV men on secondment
Id army units even Ware the army edgfe on the tight
breast while still spurting the SS angle uh the left arm.
The Italian SS had their own version of the sleeve-eagle,
which was rlghL-faelTig and clutched a fasces instead of
a swoallha, and. between August 1942 and October 1944
the German police eagle in orange thread was worn by
members of the SS'Feldgend.armerieH
Other Insignia
In addition to the insignia already mentioned, which
were «immcm to must Waffen-SS personnel,. 3 number
ufothEfr badges existed which merit only general cover-
age
Members of the f\i I izei-Division ware police collar
patches and headgear insignia until the beginning dI
1942ч when the unit was fully incorporated into the
Wflifcn-SS, Thereafter,, standard SS badges prevailed
Kather than completely re-decalling police helmets,
however, the pul ice eagle tended to be covered over with
the runic shield, giving many SS-Pdizei-Di vision hel-
mets the appearance'of having their Waffen-SS decals
on the wrong way round.
A range of arm shields was created tor foreign volun-
teers in the Waffen-SS., and generally look the form of
machine-embroidered national flags on a block cloth
ground measuring 60mm X 50mm These were
Standard]lied in 1943. end most were produced by the
Berlin firm of Troltsch & Hanselmann The shields
were at first worn above the cuff tit к», and later beneath
the SS arm eagle, and gradually replaced the army ver-
sions hitherto worn by many foreigners The flags of
Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, France, Great Britain.
Holland, Latvia and Norway featured on these shields,
while the badges fnr Albanian, Croatian, Finnish,
Flemish and Ukrainian volunteers bore suitable
heraldic mutifs.
A series of trade badges to identify skills and special-
ties was designed in the shape of black cloth diamonds
for wear on the lower left sleeve. Each badge waa
awarded after the successful completion of the relevant
SS trai n mg course, and those w ho graduated from army
schools were obliged to wear the army trade badge in
lieu of the SS one. From October 1943. mountain troopa
sported я machine-embroidered edelweiss on the Left
side of the BergmtitK? and on the right tunic sleeve,
above the Honor Chevron of the Old Guard if the latter
was iilao worn
Uniformed female SS auxiliaries had a unique badge
consisting of a black oval containir.g silver SS runes,
w h tch was sewn to the к ft breast pocket. Ot her civ il ian
employees were given embroidered, woven or printed
armbands bearing the words1 Waffen-SS'' or'Im Dien&te
der Waffen-SS when in the war zone, and Ьгоыа rds fea-
turing national colors were worn by youngSSflak auxi-
1 ш ri ез from the east. Th e latter were i ssued with a mix-
ture of Luftwaffe and Hitler Youth uniform, and a
printed triangular SS runes badge at the tup of the left
sleeve, irt the manner of the HJ district triangle, WAS
the only insignia which denoted their technical attech-
merit to the Waffen-SS.
During World War II, Waffen-SS soldiers were eli-
gible for the whole range of Nazi military decorations,
including the Iron Crow, German Cross, War Merit
Crons and sncm Participation in rhe Crimea, Demjansk
and Kurland battles earned the appropriate campaign
W-Poiizei-Division
Mi -Polizei-Divislon
urt; |rt 1ф*г, 54j4rf*4"i4»l'Z»' ол*
5D wwb aitocai«1
LT'-Ov” ₽flli4+-pm)rt» ^*1
St™» Л t'ach лпй sAujr *<1h
уип риэ-ng, to «kttn^jish t*»m
tror- mfimixtf i o' pUier 'bid
роЬсл 'ormalroni. Th* pairs nt
1Еявд shewn denote, Irorr lap to
ЬсТГэгп UntorsLurmhjhr'iW,
SlvmiMznrirfikiicr, Hauptschdr-
Urw, Uh BtrrsE h ar*1/1 r er,
f4otteo1’i/irer, Stuhmrauwi.
above. During Uw Г1Ж, al rrrгпЬ-гта
dl Iba Srpf 3hd SQ срегиИЧ П IlH
occxjprtrd сагп№гнп.1^о th* SO
uhiharm wtlv is iMaert dr#r»oe. S3
rank paaeh and Ыаий nqM-hOhd
eotlor ргяеИ Thw uijt*, cutl r-nle
wft Ьу ЧЧ"И *o «4 5<*tf flt
* 30 Ob* aincNhfl
Ftifirtl dip-/ use SD П1..1 Att
captured мгеярргм m Рт*лгк1
4p*onUjnr 1ЭЗй- The
Sti mt.annt^’irnr л ttn hprnprpund
eornrnaridryd ar* at It
LrLJU-.LT T'Ji’kl rMpenSlblE Id*
TCHFTtfeng lp patiinl-al part'sans
IrCawlitty Iha un'di an Th* aitvtr
banter La his S3 ч oovx diamond
odfsalaa. Gestapo merrb₽hJup
d isti net ions for men of the Leibstandarte, SS-
Tolenkopf-Di vision and VI Waflen-ATmeekorpsder SS,
while troops of all units wore Infantry Assault, General
Assault, Flak, Panzer Battle and Wound Badges, the
Tank Destruction Award and the Close Combat. Clasp.
The SS Ixmg Service DecpraLinn.1-, of 193.H- were super-
seded during the war by their Wehrmacht equivalents,
since the Waffen-SS was regarded aS an integral part of
the armed forces. Even naval and Luftwaffe Wai* and
Qualification Badges could Occasionally be Se&ti flit SS
uniform, depending upon the wearer’s service history.
Of all the German combat awards, only the Guerrilla
Warfare Badge was singled uut as being of specific re-
levance to the activities of the Waffen-SS, and for that
reason il merits some detailed description. The increas-
ing ferocity of lhe war waged against partisans in
Russia, the Balkans and elsewhere during 1941-43
neeeasiitated the creation of a new decoration to reward
those who had been engaged upon it for a prolonged
period. On 3G,January 1944, Hitler instituted the Ban-
denkumpfahteichen and officially designated it a
Karnpfabzeithen der Waffen-SS und Ptfiiztd\ ur
‘WafTen-SS and Police Battle Badge, Lhe only war
badge so described during the Third Reich It came in
three grades, bronze, silver and gold, for participatiun
in 2Q. 50 and IW combat days against guerrillas. Qua!-
ideation Гог award was therefore very high, making the
RHndenkarnpfabzeichpn far more difficult to achieve
than similar decorations like the Infantry Assault
Badge. In fact, the Guerrilla Warfare Badge in Gold
equated to winning the prized Close Combat Clasp in
Gold twice.
The design uf the Guerrilla Warfare Budge was based
on that of the insignia uf the Silesian Freikorps uf 1919
and featured a wreath, of nek leaves Enclosing a sword,
with suTiwheel swastika (representing the German
forces I plunging into a hydra (the partiaaneL The
hydra, a fabulous multi-headed sea serpent of Greek
mythology; was famed as being almost impossible lo
destroy since im heads quickly grew again if they were
cut off The parallel with the partisan forces, which
sprung up vigorously time and time again, is obvious.
At the swn rd's po int was a Tote nkopf, wh ich was doubly
appropriate ыпее it ^mbolized both the SS involve-
mt nt in anti-part iaan warfare and the deadly nature of
the struggle.
LBTC №4 HlrtaiWi б1 PuM*l.
утаив Jd wii-5cvt«i тЧл4
and Nj-те-вм*<1 u^it* «торг *лд
rn i л1у H&VIXLH41 Bailing
Jkr^Laniipnj wl-П) CflflMlidnt0d >nt>Q
Ul *WMry ptf Cl Iwcr trw* n *1
IM fck lujti т ‘-"чч iTrtt, от Schurin
wUh over JOS txitljkjnj, 1n u*i*t
Ke SS ma Polizui in anl piri :.iri
aprrallpn*. InltiF)1 kitted ml In
modified kujpiLS bad.
А ^пмч'^' SS Jr rtonr i, they Шп
received held'улу цлгЬ u>rth 1nar
own unt. bitfgr-. j_id iratgrila
nr сирот Jib rta lhe be hum л гпрГСь
LizyaJ. V-alnint. ObsaiEwil'. Branch
аГ зеплае re' era wrt ЬлмлЗ an
iIwm ol the 0«<man pt « Tbt
^¥0*14 «г-ч rtWH Auqirtl 19*4,
win wtrn ^*1*1 civi4n <i*i n*i when
on Freni-hne duty *1^ 5 an
x*Ovr: hUjrmjnn
BUCtwlK O’ Hi* Tol 5*1 nop Г Pi-VOn
M! on* artfi* twrcwf' Of dr*
WiffltrvSS. w rauifl tn*w*«iirt*
belQre n» *in> t.illecl in nzl-on
outsme Wemiw ti Номгпйег 1S44:
Krt-jhfa ol ttie Iron Oaii
jwirar С'сзз <r Gold, won Сто»
1st und 2nd &jini3. Ckiie ComiKJt
CtaBp 4i Gfl'd. Wound Ehid^e Hl
GiM, rrilnnlr> Aiiauir Ekid&fi in
5'ver, Dwmfdabk S^ndd. War МсИ
OMB 2"d Cli!5i Airti bwiXrt,
RUfehin Front Mfdi СН4Л
DtLwPJJiO ^«41' wiin PVHQvif
Cl Ki 1* №
*. 'on The <*t*miie WiMiiir* Sidfr
Я &mVlJi*
THE GERMANIC-SS
Heinrich Himmler was possessed by his desire to im-
prove the strength and racial com position of the Ger-
man nation, and saw as the comerstone of the Greater
German Reich an SSorganization with native branches
in each of the occupied western territories. The NSDAP
hierarchy had long agreed that all the areas which had
formerly been part of the German (or Holy Romani
Empire, including Flanders and the Low Countries,
should automatically be incorporated into the new
Reich, with the mass of their populace eventually
attaining full Reich citizenship Himmler, however,
went a step further, demanding that Germany should
have the right to bring into its ranks the Germanic
peoples of Norway and Denmark, states which had
never been part of the Empire. The Reichsfiihrt-r en-
visaged the ultimate creation of a new western Ger-
manic State tn be called Burgundia, grouping the
Netherlands, Belgium, and north-eaat France, which
would be policed and governed solely by the SS accord-
ing to theSScode. Burgundia would act as a buffer, pro-
tecting Germany proper from western invasion. The
general aim was to attract all the Nordic blood of
Europe into theSS, so that never again would the Ger-
manic peoples come into mutual conflict.
F*t-'Jvb GfrHUK*.
vchirriMfB under SS cMhral wi rw
LwW*m Front.
«ft: А ггсспЫч ₽o*l*
upon vG-utMtwri Id jcrfi IM
f4orwi-g an Ski e*tta,on. ftaUKt
m Ocbotw 194?, thii tirwi
сотри&od 2'30 mvn vndw
Oberxhmnhjhrer Gust J&navwn,
nnd served wi№ IM 'HcfcT 0iM4юл
m Firiand poor tn Ьавд d.itundM
bn Млу ГК1
•uohil rtmrrli w»ls Oachau. Nota
1M EUMd Ofdw (XftHfunerrtfy
4МфЦуМ «1 IM rigfit ЬгаазЛ.
Jr*
#KI4<«mTAU0N
Tfl that end, Himmler established a rep lien of the
G сттттап AI IgemcinfrSS i n Fla nders i n Srptember 1940.
This Algemecne-SS Vlaanderen wasjoined two months
later by the Dutch Ncderlandwhe-Sfi, nnd in May 1941
the Norgcs-SS was formed in Norway. Members nf
these units retained their own languages and custom.^,
bat there was to be л о quest ion of a Europe of serm-free
pru-German states, each with its own independent SS
format ion loyal to its own political leader From the
start. Himmler told his western volunleers:
'Be certain of this. There will by in ;i|| Furopc just oni? SS -
the Germanic-SS under the command of the Reichsfuhrer-
SS. You can resist, hut that is a matter of indifference Co me
for we will create it in any cuse We di) not Oslt you to turn
against your country, nor to da any thing repugnant to
anyone proud of hia country, who loves it nnd has Iiim m'IT-
respect Neither do we expect you to became Germans out of
ojipiidurtism What we do ask is thnt you subordinate your
national ideal to □ superior racial nnd historical tdeal, that of
the single and Jill-einbrtiicing Gcrmimir Reich.'
Consequently, at thu end of 1942, the western forma-
tions were removed from the influence of their own
national collaborationist political leaders and amalga-
mated to become it new- Germanic-SS under Himmler's
direct orders. Their independence gone, they were now
merely branches of a single organization and were re-
tit led Germannsche-SS in Vhutnderen, Germannsche-
SS еп Nederland, and Germanske-SS Norge. After the
raisingin April 194.1 ofthr- Danish Gcrmansk Kurpsei.
Liter called the Schrilhurg Corps, the Germa nic-SS was
complete, with a total active membership of almost
9000 men. Many of them had seen action in Russia,
with the foreign volunteer legions of the Waffen-SS. All
wore duly kitted out with surplus Hack AHgcmcine-SS
uniforms imported from Germany, to which suitable
national insignia were attached. Their primary war-
time task was to support the Inca I police hy rooting out
partisans, subversives and other rinti-Nozi elements.
The uniform oft he Germ a n ic-SS in Flanders was vir-
tually identical It. that ofthe Allgemeine-SS. Thennly
NEDERLANDERS
VOOR UW EER EN GEWETEN
OP’-TEGEN HET BOLSJEWISME
DE WAFFEN ROE PT U !
lot lm<ind by J сл11 ta
втп» njairti Cori muni sth. '-arftn
rufflbm.^ Duieftrom whated in
ctw Wen&n-SSirem WOwiwertfs-.
MrrfXJ in erti-nr&wprtfj Ulf-
conttined Гснгпа.1й>№ whiitn
eulmituted in iwc 1ui Dutch 55
6ivi«iw4, th« 2M and
3«n LxjMiXFh Neftridritf 4o
l*t» tMn 22 <X Dutch
watle*i-55 unit* ww the- Xn«aht i
Стой
явит; Anoltw «Sint nsh<irting
Homnginni to tierend 1 heir *vulem
twOnrs in th* ипюп nl lh» SS Stu
Б(1ЧЛ|,ОЛ
points of departure were I hut the peaked cap Featured
a large elongated silver swastika instead of the SS
eagle, and a black diamond bearing the SS runes was
worn an the left upper arm in stead of the swastika arm-
band. The diamond was piped in black/fiilver twisted
cord far junior ranks and in silver bullion Гог officers.
Rank insignia worn on the left collar patch was the
same as that of the German SS, while the right collar
patch was blank. On the lower left sleeve, a black-and-
3 liver cuff title bore the legend ‘’SS-VlaandEren’, and
the belt buckle featured the SS runes in a circle of
oakleaves. Members of the Vlaenderen-Korps, which
was in effect the Flemish SS reserve, wore a similar
black uniform but were not entitled to spurt either the
peaked cap or arm diamond . They hud forage caps with
я silver swastika on the left side, and their cuff titles
read V ba nderon-Karps'. Moreover, their belt buckles
had only a semi-circle of oakleaves around the runes.
//-SKI DEG ERBATALJON
NORGE
NORDMENN
цгг; ГК pqMifir
в И^№вп-53 wldrer ь Sir
*«ct doswiixianl of a n-Bfliowi
.hfrtx j rt»tir+ «xwnch I*
iiMJiTj.I114 *iv*s in IN: Г-*|*Нип -
НП0Р №4 'Lien wiN-Asr
patch st 1Ni rfi,i4ikjrt
leg-.и»
uku.t. V ic lirr i’mbrr, uiM
title .i~d anr ah eltf 710ч F'ltmrbh
4.cg ™- Thp 'Black Leaned
Flj^defs' <xi ii tuckground
wfliulte wom try loldiwud tta
L*ngBmиск' AoulU brigade.
ntu>w "клир WornLwre u* Ihe
ОНПН31М w-55 M 4»mar*d an
iMl TNrr unrlonnis
ck>a^r tuiKi <и [K*i Ы tfwr
uxntlfHprfli *i the Мдеичвпв-SS.
1>Г r*nk« by P4<
G*rmanic-55 л Metlwwoi,
йпрГц^ид Hs«Mt€hB*isOer
(H.iu®lKt4rfUhrflTi,
OndtHaEMHilMknr lUnlmt^rm-
1l firrr. «timl 31» iZfflpircii С+кгу
from' IhcL'T ar th» йоплз л SS
In civilian dnihos, members of the Gcrmanic-SK
i.n Flanders could wear a circular lapel badge with a
ivhitp flivasiika on a black background, while patron
members, nr fjcrfeit, had their own
diumur.U-Kh.iped badge boa r 1 ng SS ru пек я nd 1 he letiprs
BL".
The nominal ulrength nf the b Lemish SS tn. June 19 1-t
wtiB 3500 Howe vc г, 1600 of these were on ucti vc serv ice
with the WafTon-SS, 940 wore with the NSKK and 500
were in the Vlaunderen-Korps. leaving only 460
regular GermaniL-KS men in KCjindent uf whom 100
were still probalionors. By the end of the year, most of
Belgium had been liberated. Thers was only onesignih-
canl except mn - the port uf Antwerp, birthplace of the
Flemish SS, which remained in German hands. The
remnants of the Germaansche-SB m Vlanndcren were
incorporated into a Security Corps of some 25DD
Assorted param i lit nrics. A bat ta lion of th is corps Ibu ph L
alongside t he Ge птъцп defender^ of An t werp in a but t Ie
which Insled throughout Septernber-November 1944 It
wns one nf the rare examples of western European col-
laborators being used lo Hghr against the British and
Americans, most of their colleagues ьиешц service only
in Russia,
The uniform of the Germnanscho-SS en Nederland
was аки hluck. viih a regimental number on the right
си] 1л г p..i tub. A tri angle hea г i ng a si Iver Wal fsangel on u
reJ-und-Ызск background was warn an the left upper
arm. and a si Iver meia I W<jll*m ngd a Iso a ppeared on the
peaked cup in place oflheSS eagle. On the right upper
arm, the SS runes were worn on ,i black diamond, in
silver bullion fur иГГ|СЕгга and while cntlnn for lower
ranks. All personnel wore blank cuff title# on I he lower
left sleeve, The 4000pa Iran muni burs, or /ipi’jjn$tiig^ffde
Ijden. wore an oval lapel budge with the SS rimes sur-
mounting a swastika and the letters RI/ The
GermaanKche-SS en Nederland had, on paper, й
strength оГfive regiments plus an SS-Police regiment,
and supported its own journal. Sfrvm SS However, its
active nienibur^hip, nominally 3800 was in fad con-
stant Ly depleted by voluntary enlistments into the
itiurc prestigious Waffen-SS
Thu NcrgfcM-SSuf ISM] wore a curious uniform coni-
pjisiitg a field-gray open-necked tunic with a khaki
shirt and black tie Rank insigniu was that of I he Riks-
hini, 11 he Norwegian Nazi equivalent uf Lhe German
SA) and the Rikshirdfa black лгтЬыnd with el sun спим
and swords was worn on the left sleeve. Ee-fore th и
Norges-SS could complete even its basic training, how-
ever, Hitler inveded Russia and 85 per cent of its mem-
berwhip immediately volunteered for service with the
NonvEgian Leginn of the Waffen-SS. The remainder
lL*t Th» Germane Prolciency
ЯиЛ* «1 EkOAZ6- h>44 than Ion ol
Which are ew* ancnsn to lurvrwB.
th* im*a twtg* Bbov* war wtKH
Uy Pitnon M
Иг»?с>ингпап4* LKtan, ellha
cjprnufuc-SS In f jnden.
eklcm: Cun мют аШнхжнЗ for
V/jNon-SS urwlt 0Q<n(>9*«d Qi •
nurture oJ Grrnian, Gennaoc end
VoJkbOoulsche рогаопл*!
пюмт: In Fetmjoiy 1944. roonjrt* for
Ihe fraruOsiSche S$-FrctiMillig*n
Grenadier Regiment were «worn in,
They lomcd Ihe пискну oi Ihe
700D--Mrt4ig French SSdrmwri
"CJiartemegM1, whicti wee
destroyed in earslem Germany al
Ihe end №e war
went] nto a pol ice com pan*, which took pa rt m t he siege
of Leningrad In July 1942. many veterans returned
from the east to form the new Gрттпяпяке-SS Norge,
which abandoned all Rikshird associations. A new oath
of allegiance was taken to Hitler, and the German-
inspired motto ‘Min aere er troskap' i‘My Honor is
Loyaltyh was adopted- The uniform of the Germanske-
SS Norge was all black except for a brown shirt It Com-
prised a ski-cup । peaked cups were never worn by the
Norwegian SSh an upcn-nticki'd tumc, ski trousers pnd
mountain boots. An eagle holding a sun crass in silver
and black Wds worn on the left sleeve above a cufftitle
bearing the legend 'Gtrmumskc-SS Norge’. Rank in-
signia appeared on the lift collar patch with a silver
sunwhecl swastika on the right patch. SS runes on a
block diamond wore sported on the right upper arm.
No Germanic-SS unit in Norway attained sufficient
size to he regarded as a Standarte. The largest that
could be mustered was a Slormbann or battalion, of
which there were 13 in various parts of the country.
Most were consistently under strength The concept of
patron members was introduced into Norway as in the
nlher Germanic countries, and these ко-cnlled Stof/rnr/e
Mediumпег were entithd tn wear a small oval badge in
blue к eno rue I. w ith s i I ver SS ru nes and the letters 'SM
Official figun's published in (Ifniniam'n, the Norwe-
gian SS newspaper, gave tlie strength of the Gcrmtimc-
SS in Norway as 1250 in September 1944. Of these, 330
were on combat duty with the Waffen-SS and 760 were
in police units, leaving only 160 Norwegians in the
active Germanic-SS, At the same time, there were 3500
patron members.
The Danish Germanic Corp?, or Gcrmansk Korpsct,
was Formed in 1943 From Russian-front veterans and
shortly thereafter was renamed theSchalburg Corps in
memory of their former leader who hud been killed at
Demjansk, The unit adopted a black uniform virtually
identical to that of the Allgemeine-SS. with similar
rank insignia, although the nomenclature used was
that oflhe Danish police. The main points of departure
were that the SS cap eagle was replaced by a winged
sunwhvel swastika, and a sunwheel swastika aIso
appeared nn the right collar patch and on the belt
buckle. A Danish heraldic shield, wmpriaing three blue
lions on я yellow field with red hearts, was worn, on the
upper left arm above ti cuff title bearing the word
’Schalburg’. On ceremonial guard duty, a highly-
polished black German sLecI helmet was worn with a
large white sunwhee) swastika on the right side- The
Schulburg Corp* adopted the sunn? techniques ns the
partisan groups which it fought, and responded to each
resistance assassination with one of its own. A so-called
Schalburg Cross, bearing the Corps motto Troskah vor
Acre’rOur Honor is Loyalty ) was instituted late in the
war, with one posthumous award being made.
tn addition to the Germanic-SS formations perma-
nently based in Flanders, Holland, Norway and Den-
mark, the Allgemeino-SS established its own Germa-
ntKthe Stnrrrtbnn ne nr Germanic battalions in the areas
u-f the Reich where there were large concentrations of
workers imported from the Nordic countries. These
for eigne ra numbered several hundred thousand by the
end oF 1942. and posed a major problem fur German in-
ternal security. To assist in their control, Flemish and
Dutch SS officers and men. most of them fresh from
front-line service in the east, we re employed by German
firms to engage in a propaganda campaign in the
factories They succeeded in persuading such large
numbers of their compalTjety lo join the local Al Ige-
meine-SS that never. Germanic battalions were set up
in the major industrial cities of Berlin, Braunschweig,
Dresden, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Nurnberg and Stutt-
gart Uniforms were supplied by the AI.]gumein.p-SS
and comprised the standard black Outfit, minus the
tunic Insignia was worn on the shirt, in the manner of
the old SS traditional uniform. Membership peaked at
around 7UUO a t the end of 1У4 4. wit h the sole funclio a of
policing foreign workers in Germany.
Initially. SS personnel from Flanders, Holland, Nor-
way and Denmark were entitled to compile for and
wear the paramilitary sports badges nwaHed by their
domestic pm-Nazi parties. However, the formal inn of
ihH Germa mc-SS at the end nf If Id 2 oil hut severed lhe
links wilh home and сопке!] uently :i new all-embracing
sports award was called for On 15 July 19J3. negula-
tions inlmducwijusl such a badge fnrthe Gormanic-SS
It whs to lake the form of two sig-runori. long lhe
emblem nf the German SS, superimposed over n sun-
whevl swastika, which was associated with pro-Nazi
parties across Europe as well as with the Waffen-SS
Wiking and Nnrd'hind divisions in which many west-
European volunteers were serving. The design was
therefore representative of the union between the Ger-
man SS and the GcrmanioSS. Approved and. instituted
by Himmler nn J August 1943. the award was named
rhe Gi’FFnanj'scAf Jjentungsruw,. or Germanic Pro-
ficiency Il one. It came in two grades, bronsc and. silver,
the badges differing only in the-color of the sunwhtoL
The tests leading Lo an award tif rhe badge wort on it pur
with those undergone by Germans in the SS to qualify
for Lhe German N at iunal Sparta Badge and 1 he A M i 1 i-
tary Sports Budge. They included running, jumping,
swimming,, rupe climbing, throwing the hanimcr,
shooting, completing an assault course, map read mg.
distance judging.obiervatiun,Camouflage, first aid,sig"
naling. verbal reporting and report writing. There were
also written and oral OKU mi nations on National Social-
ist theories. Training requirements meant that ell least
120 hours practise hud to be completed every six
mon, ha, .and tests had to be passed annually murder to
retain the hndgp.
The first tests and examinations look place in
January 1944 al the training school of the Dutch SS
at Avegtwr near Arnhem Over 2СЮО members of the
Lirr:11 No<iFTtnw4SLW,|tifi55
juurncd гзнГм! of Pim Г^гтял
Anna's 1 st nnd 2nd Covwv*.
Cavalry Lhwsicmi
ABDVt: The- ovai tnd(jn !cr Hj'npi
Members <и Slotie^idij Medlnmnrv
S' [*it Germ tri KZ'SS in Morwwy
(kiMI.-wilsekn ft, Ihccnnl lapel pp
by Qemur SS r*nsn*era
whf* eoi uniform.
лги vt гиант Grsts, Dieinch,
Junqcifwi *nd Deorebe ш a parooe
ip crtrtxnto 1Щ| «re reiuvn df ih&
Ifftlori Р^ЛГ 55 &ЧЭЛ.
нлик NikQia,5.<>ai^> j LmvMfl,
игоалпд lira Кг &O4i, Mtrtft
rr-o prjistjqi дг pa^n or ir«
1 Sth and 191Л S5 C-T-EHHii
Lin: SS'GvtiMM-r'iiJifw Ao ihJia
Неуепел, Cruel cl Ihfi Sf^.urrt>
Rotitv j-id SO.in 1ИТ.
Germanic^ prpsnnted thernsehres, hut only 95 passed.
They were di-rnmtpcl with Lhe badge С1Я silver and 77
hmnzel by Him ml er nn I February The foHowi ng June,
'20 Danes received the badgp al u ceremony at their
training center al Hoi и lie, und in August 25 members
uf the Germanic-SS in Norway were similarly
decorated. The Allied iiivasiun of Western Europe un-
dou bl cd I у prure rued more w idespread d isl ri bu Lion, and
it lb bulleted that total awards numbered less than 200.
Many badges were destroyed by their recipients at the
end of lhe war, for obvious reasons.
Thu Germanic Proficiency Kune was convex in form,
and measured 46mm in diameter. The sunwheeI was of
copper-plated zinc with an olive-bronse or silver wash,
while the sig- runes wc ru black enameled, tombakhi-onze
with silver-plated edges. The sig-runes were secured m
Lhe sun wheel by four round tombnk pins bent over at
the rear. The reverse had a typically 'bubbled' appear-
ance, and wap u nniarked. The pi n ba г was widen nd tint.
Since intended distribution was strictly limited, it is
most probable that all Germanic Proliciency Runes
were produced at a single source. Un fortunately, due lu
lhe absence оГ makers' marks, that source remains a
mystery. However, tl is more than likely that the badge
was made "in-hnuse' by one of the many SS economic
enterprises. It has been widely Liked, with most copies
being made from a bright alloy , with soldered runes and
RZM marks. A completely bogus Germanic Proficiency
Rune in <k>Ed’ has even appeared on lhe memorabilia
market in recent years.
An SS flti-F^KffUWnrr
jxibiicdiii». "tit! a Foreword 5j
flQ<nC4D"l*MEt HSn«Jt¥
<у«г P,>hl
At>M. HrOriT. Qfl tt M,.y 1^42, WtlllQ'
acling ax brjut,' Мд>сЬхс«Ч'<Ж1йг
о* ВоГкпча and Mwavia, HHycHcr
war blown up P'r CiKh agonlx i"
P-jq^v ana area л ¥?еги taker. Thri
WHMJ'Mok will jJjiwurtnt
(XOdiicOd by Iha SS n hia hcnw
Чит: Л aommcmsxatwa ь1лпч»
1ЛЬНпГЧ ri(?ytfK?fl a dealh mask.
<k»p±i6c w4iftoT port»ayirg a
fla*te n-35 гчд-li- ertiw.n ьсbon.
INDEX
Pz»je "itatal Л TjrotJrt-ler Ей
иМгаЕОЧк
Atstata'te CddinttS) ’В, 68, IK
АгТтмод-йе. альеаг-j. твьеагсП
ff0fli4aw>rt 29
A'kFT^-Si 16. 22-S3. 1*5
i-i-r-taiir-b, or эслвд JT, W
oaggw? oi ft?
ЛГЛГКМ' rf rotabt?9
ВД| яЮ tamv45 flf W.'
rex’ Отлип mUo"jl3 -ri 1S4
raata. ord 'lie? SO
гцсгигtrr-nt lor 25,27, Я
тфтСп1Л0ф*11^1к№ 22
rota and mfis □! 2? 25 27. M
inJloni) artd терян 20 32-47,
92,131 122,124
Arflfinrtrt dirtrtjn,^ 7ft. Zft 11ft Г fft
1Г9.135
Arrfwrn operaiHXi й 76. 05
Akfelrd, dt’UJlXjItaH ol 29
aiwarcia №d ate row Sff, JOS.
415.13?. над 153
Bocd Order ilvbCrtFj 14- IS 40
445
German Cross 13?. 141
Gumljw.irtw* Bwgr I 4CJ. >4)
Нтп I Jtw.ron Sh- t>d Gv»^ 41
41 *3
Iren Cw S3; 137
KragM s Crpesof (И Ffi9, r?fl
141., 1*5- rflj
Sperl I awarctalGcf mank
Ptc*l 4.. ЙигчГ Ji?, [54-5
S-S&talh-s Hoad F4ngs32 35.
57-i. 50
saw taso iradgri :r>d eppi
BjJges л nJ m*ey i j 121 -2 124-Й,
132.135,137 *0
turn thKfjfb №. t354
aim shields 13?
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