The Himmler's SS (52 page)

Reverse view of the insignia shown on p. 243. Note the typical RZM paper label affixed to the pre-1940 ‘death's head/13' collar patch. Such labels did not appear on later wartime pieces.

Machine-woven badges were produced from 1939, using artificial silk and either cotton or fine aluminium wire. They had a very flat appearance and the manufacturing process, which could result in hundreds of identical insignia being run off on a single continuous strip of ribbon-like material, allowed for the incorporation of very fine detail into the design. The principal producer of these badges was the Wuppertal-Barmen firm of Bandfabrik Ewald Vorsteher, whose trade mark ‘BEVO' has become synonymous with machine-woven insignia.

The use of silk-screen printing in the manufacture of certain Waffen-SS badges was introduced in 1944, but was primarily restricted to foreign volunteer shields, war auxiliary armbands and the special rank insignia for camouflage clothing. Low production costs were more than outweighed by the poor quality of the finished article, and printed badges were very unpopular.

The procedures governing the approval and manufacture of Waffen-SS insignia were very complicated. Various SS departments, particularly the SS Hauptamt, the SS Führungshauptamt and the SS Wirtschafts- und Verwaltungshauptamt were continually at each other's throats over who was responsible for this matter, and the process by which new badges were proposed and introduced was not settled until May 1944, when the following was agreed:

1.
The SS-HA became primarily responsible for the design and proposal to the Reichsführer-SS of ‘political' SS insignia, i.e. national emblems, collar patches, arm shields and formation badges. However, the SS-HA had first to get the opinion of the SS-FHA before submitting samples to Himmler.

2.
The SS-FHA became primarily responsible for the design and proposal to the Reichsführer-SS of ‘non-political' insignia, i.e. rank badges, cuff titles, qualification badges, branch of service insignia and specialist badges. If political considerations arose in respect of any of these, the SS-FHA had to obtain the opinion of the SS-HA before submission to Himmler.

3.
The SS-HA would, after obtaining the approval of the Reichsführer-SS, cede badges listed at 1. above to the SS-FHA. The SS-FHA was then responsible for the execution and issue of the badges in cooperation with the SS-WVHA. The SS-FHA and SS-WVHA would collaborate until the completion of final samples of these badges.

4.
The method of wearing new types of badges would be decided in relation to the method of wearing existing badges. If changes in the method of wear were necessary, the SS-FHA was responsible for making them. However, if insignia under 1. above were involved, the SS-FHA had to obtain the opinion of the SS-HA first. Such was the case in 1944, when it was decided to move foreign volunteer shields from their traditional location 1.5 cm above the cuff title to a new position further up the left sleeve, 1.5 cm below the SS arm eagle. The SS-HA was besieged with complaints from foreign volunteer units whose members regarded this as a slur, subordinating their national flags and coats of arms to the Nazi eagle!

To complicate the issue still further, Himmler himself also suggested the introduction of special badges, such as cuff titles for as yet unnamed SS regiments and divisions. He was personally responsible for some designs, and often consulted with two artists on his Persönlicher Stab, namely SS-Oberführer Prof. Benno von Arent and SS-Oberführer Prof. Karl Diebitsch. Once a design had been approved by the Reichsführer it would pass to the SS-WVHA which would in turn authorise the RZM to supply the required quantity. The RZM then placed a contract with one of its approved firms and the finished badges were delivered to one of the SS clothing depots, usually Dachau, from where they would finally be supplied to the unit concerned. So, in the production of a single new badge, no less than four departments, the SS-HA, SS-FHA, SS-WVHA and Pers. Stab RfSS might, and probably would, be involved!

By September 1944, pressures on the RZM had developed to such an extent that it was forced to terminate its involvement in the supply of insignia to the Waffen-SS. The following December it announced that Waffen-SS eagles, death's heads, collar patches, shoulder straps and cuff titles could henceforth be manufactured, without a contract, for direct sale to authorised wholesalers and retailers for the duration of the war. By that stage, no less than twenty-four firms were producing cloth insignia for the Waffen-SS:

Gebrüder Auerhammer, Weissenburg

Albrecht Bender, Weissenburg

Max Dörfel, Eibenstock

Lothar von Dreden & Co., Wuppertal-Elberfeld

Oskar Frank, Eibenstock

Geissler & Hast, Ansbach

August Göbels Söhne, Gross-Schönau

E. Günther, Eibenstock

Hensel & Schuhmann, Berlin

Hinterleitner, Brunnacker & Co., Weissenburg

E. Köhler, Annaberg

Kruse & Söhne, Wuppertal-Barmen

Sigmund Lendvay, Vienna

Lucas & Vorsteher, Wuppertal-Barmen

F. Müller, Rossbach

R. Nitzsche, Eibenstock

J.F. Rieleder, Heilbronn

Julius Riess, Erfurt

Franz Rönnefahrt, Brandenburg

Hermann Schmuck & Co., Weissenburg

Thiele & Steinert, Freiberg

Tröltsch & Hanselmann, Berlin

Ewald Vorsteher, Wuppertal-Barmen

Ferdinand Winter, Treuchtlingen

In common with other Third Reich military formations, the Waffen-SS employed certain colours in the design of its uniforms and accoutrements as a means of unit identification. These colours appeared on tunic shoulder straps, cap piping, and so on and were known as branch of service colours, or ‘Waffengattungsfarben', normally referred to in the abbreviated form ‘Waffenfarben'. Before the outbreak of the Second World War, all armed SS piping was white, silver or twisted black and silver, like that of the Allgemeine-SS. However, in December 1939, due to the increasing militarisation of the Waffen-SS and its newfound associations with Wehrmacht forces, shoulder straps piped in army Waffenfarbe were introduced. A few officers also began to equip themselves with Waffenfarbe-piped peaked caps and long trousers, made to order through their local SS Kleiderkasse, but Himmler immediately forbade that practice, instructing that the piping on these items was to remain white. Some confusion then ensued, for in May 1940 the Reichsführer backtracked by indicating that peaked caps could thereafter be piped in Waffenfarbe, although all walking out dress trousers were now to be piped in grey. The following November Himmler changed his mind yet again, directing that Waffenfarbe was once more to be restricted to shoulder straps and the
soutache
on the field cap, with all other piping reverting to white or aluminium depending on rank. It is clear that the Reichsführer wanted his soldiers to retain their own unique appearance, distinct from that of the army, but a number of Waffen-SS officers and men continued to wear Waffenfarbe on their peaked caps until the end of the war, in defiance of Himmler's orders.

The Waffenfarbe colours officially authorised for use by the Waffen-SS branches are shown in the table below. However, it should be noted that a few shades were withdrawn, reallocated or even renamed from time to time, and in any case the differences in some colours were so slight as to be almost indistinguishable, a situation compounded by variations in manufacturers' dyes, the bleaching effect of the sun and the general weathering of piping under field conditions.

SS W
AFFENFARBEN

The Waffen-SS rank structure was very similar to that of the Allgemeine-SS, with a few specific exceptions. The lowest Waffen-SS rank was that of SS-Schütze, or Private, while a Private with six months' service was known as an SS-Oberschütze. The senior NCO rank was SS-Sturmscharführer, or Company Sergeant-Major, and any man holding Unterführer rank could be appointed to serve as his unit's SS-Stabscharführer or Duty NCO, who fulfilled various administrative and reporting functions and was nicknamed ‘der Spiess', or ‘the spear', a traditional term dating back the to pikemen of the Middle Ages. The ranks from SS-Untersturmführer to SS-Hauptsturmführer were known as company officers, with those from SS-Sturmbannführer to SS-Oberführer being termed field officers. Higher ranks were classed as general officers. All Waffen-SS generals were awarded their corresponding army rank titles in 1940, and were thereafter designated as follows:

SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS

SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS

SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS

SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer und Generaloberst der Waffen-SS

Non-German nationals from Germanic countries serving in foreign legions raised by the Waffen-SS replaced the rank prefix ‘SS-' with ‘Legions-' (e.g. ‘Legions-Hauptsturmführer'), while those in non-Germanic units used the prefix ‘Waffen-' (e.g. ‘Waffen-Hauptsturmführer der SS'). These denoted attachment to the Waffen-SS, rather than membership of the SS proper.

The regular Waffen-SS officer candidate, or Führerbewerber (FB), distinguished by a double lace bar on his shoulder straps, underwent four months' basic training after which he became an officer cadet, or Führeranwärter (FA), and received the title of SS-Junker with the equivalent rank of SS-Unterscharführer. He then attended a six-month military leadership course which culminated in his promotion to SS-Standartenjunker, equal to an SS-Scharführer. At the end of a further six months' officer training he was elevated to the position of SS-Standartenoberjunker, equating to an SS-Hauptscharführer, and was allowed to wear officer's cap cords, belt buckle and aluminium collar patch piping. He was then sent back to his unit where, after a minimum period of two months, he received promotion to SS-Untersturmführer. Officers who did not plan a military career and intended to serve in the Waffen-SS only for the duration of the war were given reserve commissions and were known as Reserve-Führerbewerber (RFB), Reserve-Führeranwärter (RFA), SS-Junker der Reserve, SS-Untersturmführer der Reserve, and so on.

Potential NCOs, or SS-Unter-führerbewerber, were generally trained at a company level, progressing to SS-Unterführeranwärter and then to SS-Unterscharführer. During their training, they wore a single lace bar on their shoulder straps if they had signed up for twelve years or more, and a thin twisted cord in the appropriate Waffenfarbe if they had signed up for less than twelve years.

The Waffen-SS also employed civilian specialists (interpreters, doctors, lawyers, and so on) known as Sonderführer, and later Fachführer, who were given appointments in relation to their tasks. They could hold the ranks of: