The Himmler's SS (34 page)

Early SA belt buckle, worn by the SS until 1931.

During the autumn of 1929, at the same time as the new SS collar patches and cuff titles were being manufactured and distributed, a small sharp-winged eagle and swastika badge, or Hoheitsabzeichen, was introduced for wear on the SA and SS kepi in place of the Reichskokarde. SS bandsmen's uniforms were further modified by the addition of black and white military-style ‘swallow's nests' worn at the shoulder.

At the end of 1931, the SS adopted the motto ‘Meine Ehre heisst Treue' (‘My Honour is Loyalty') following a well-publicised open letter which Hitler had sent to Kurt Daluege after the Stennes putsch, declaring in his praise: ‘SS Mann, deine Ehre heisst Treue'. Almost immediately, a belt buckle incorporating the motto into its design was commissioned and produced by the Overhoff firm of Lüdenscheid to replace the SA buckle hitherto worn by all members of the SS. The new belt buckle was circular in form for officers and rectangular for lower ranks, and continued in wear unchanged until 1945. In May 1933, shoulder straps, or Achselstücke, were devised for wear on the right shoulder only. These straps were adornments to be used in conjunction with the collar insignia already in existence and indicated rank level only (i.e. enlisted man or NCO/junior officer/intermediate officer/senior officer) rather than actual rank. In February 1934, a silver Honour Chevron for the Old Guard (Ehrenwinkel für Alte Kämpfer) was authorised for wear on the upper right arm by all members of the SS who had joined the SS, NSDAP or any of the other party-affiliated organisations prior to 30 January 1933. Qualification was later extended to include former members of the police, armed forces or Stahlhelm who fulfilled certain conditions and transferred into the SS. The traditional brown shirt uniform of the SS therefore developed almost continually over eleven years and incorporated many additions or alterations at specific times. These can be of great assistance in dating period photographs. The traditional uniform was gradually phased out after the Nazi assumption of power and was not generally worn after 1934, except on special ceremonial occasions by members of the SS Old Guard. At such events, some of the Alte Kämpfer even sported their homemade armbands from the 1921–2 era.

Red-edged cuff title indicating membership of the 12th Sturm, 3rd Sturmbann of an SS Fuss-Standarte.

A major change to SS uniform was made in 1932, in response to a governmental demand that the SA and SS should adopt a more ‘respectable' outfit as a condition of the lifting of the ban on political uniforms. On 7 July, a black tunic and peaked cap, harking back to the garb of the imperial Leib-Husaren, were introduced for the SS to replace the brown shirt and kepi. These items were made available first to officers, then lower ranks, and were worn side-by-side with the traditional uniform during 1933 while all members were being kitted out. By the beginning of 1934, sufficient quantities of the black uniform had been manufactured for it to be in general use. During the remainder of the 1930s, the black service uniform was developed as the SS organisation expanded. Greatcoats were produced and a series of specialist arm diamonds, or Ärmelraute, devised for wear on the lower left sleeve. On 21 June 1936 a new and larger SS cap eagle replaced the old 1929-pattern, and white shirts were authorised for wear under the tunic, instead of brown shirts, on ceremonial occasions. For evening functions such as parties, dances and so on there were black mess jackets for officers and white ‘monkey suits' for waiters, all bearing full SS insignia. As from 27 June 1939, officers were provided with an all-white version of the service uniform for walking out during the summer period, officially defined as 1 April to 30 September each year.

SS men in formalised traditional uniform mount a guard of honour over their comrade Fritz Schulz, killed in street fighting in Berlin, August 1932.

Full-time SS men were regularly issued with items of uniform and equipment. So far as part-timers were concerned, however, all uniform articles had to be purchased by the SS members themselves at their own expense. The only exceptions were replacements for items lost or damaged during the course of duty, which were provided free of charge. If an SS man wished to acquire a new tunic, for example, he could either buy it direct from a tailoring shop which was an approved sales outlet of the Reichszeugmeisterei der NSDAP, i.e. an authorised dealer in Nazi party uniforms and equipment, or else place a prepaid order with his local Trupp or Sturm which would, in turn, arrange to requisition a tunic on his behalf from one of the clothing stores run by the SS administrative department. The latter regularly produced price lists which were circulated to all SS formations for the attention of would-be buyers. The following small selection of prices is taken from the extensive Allgemeine-SS price list of January 1938, and gives a general idea of the cost of items for sale at that time:

SA and SS men parading during the ban on political uniforms in 1932.

An Allgemeine-SS Schar on parade, 1933. Note the mixture of traditional and black uniforms.

The reduction in the number of active part-time Allgemeine-SS men because of the enhancement of conscription at the outbreak of war, led to a surplus of black uniforms building up in SS stores after 1939. In 1942, the police collected most of the unwanted black Allgemeine-SS uniforms in Germany and sent them east for distribution to Schuma units, or west for issuing to the Germanic-SS. Those destined for the Schuma had their SS badges removed and distinctive bright green lapels, shoulder straps, pocket flaps and cuffs added. Similarly, the Germanic-SS attached their own special insignia to these uniforms. As a result, very few black Allgemeine-SS tunics survived the war with their original German badges intact.

Sig-Runes embossed in gold under the celluloid sweat shield of an Allgemeine-SS peaked cap, indicating that it was manufactured to comply with SS uniform regulations and supplied through SS channels.

In 1938, the Allgemeine-SS introduced a very elegant pale-grey uniform for its fulltime staff, thus bringing the SS into line with the general war footing of the other uniformed services. The new outfit was identical in style to the black uniform, but bore an SS-pattern shoulder strap on the left shoulder as well as one on the right, and replaced the swastika armband with a cloth version of the 1936-pattern SS eagle. The idea was to give the appearance of a military rather than political uniform, thus lending some authority to full-time Allgemeine-SS officers who were, by the nature of their employment, exempt from service in the Wehrmacht. The pale-grey uniform was issued first to Hauptamt personnel and thereafter to others qualified to wear it. The 40,000 or so active part-time members of the Allgemeine-SS, who were almost exclusively engaged in reserved occupations, were never issued with grey outfits and continued to wear the black uniform proudly while on duty in Germany. By 1945, however, that most impressive of all uniforms, which had been such a status symbol in the prewar days, had become an object of derision since its wearers were increasingly thought of as shirking military service.