Collecting Basics - Fake Nazi Cloth Items

The Nazi Regime in Germany, found that more manpower was needed, to prosecute their war of aggression.

The amount of forces they opposed as well as controlling the vast area of conquered territories, was simply too much for their own German teutonic supermen to handle unassisted.

Policies were enacted, which brought foreign legions into existence, composed of volunteers from other nations. These Legions often received insignias to identify them and give a sense of community as well.

In this article, we will look at some examples of the sleeve shields of various freiwilligen (Volunteer) Foreign Legions, of the German Army and the Waffen SS.

First up is a collection of various authentic, original shields. Every item pictured in this one photo is the genuine article. Some are fairly easy to locate and affordable. Other shields are extremely rare. Their availability compared to the demand for them, has caused their true value to reveal itself.

Many are approximately $250, but scarcer patterns can sell from $750 to $1250.

All Third Reich insignias, have been reproduced in counterfeits by forgers for decades, and sleeve shields are no exception. For instance here are 2 originals, under different lighting conditions and having seen different use and wear. Still it is obvious that the two insignias are the same pattern.

And here is a printed Fake. Many of the printed sleeve shields have been reproduced..

Original printed variations did exist of many shields, but Screen printed repros have been widely distributed throughout the hobby. They are inexpensive and if you do not know what real ones look like you may get stuck with fakes.

An original Bevo Don Kossack, and a fake "Local made side by side.
The one on the right was made to fool a collector, and it did.
Someone bought a humped up tunic with this shield upon its sleeve.

Local Variants abound, and that reality is used to sell fakes, which are made up to seem local made.

Cloth Freiwillige Abzeichen came in several accepted forms. 1st is the machine woven or gewebt production type commonly know as Bevo.

Here is an original BEVO pattern Turkistan ( a unit that was involved in Normandy). Next to it is one of the new high quality woven fakes made specifically to fool a collector.. So Bevo is not foolproof and safe.

As far as I can determine the bevo models are safe to buy, if they compare favorably with a known original. The replica bevo patterns make several types of errors. Be sure and compare not only the design and stitching, but the rear details and also the base colors.

Charles Warriner, "Collecting Basics - Fake Nazi Cloth Items", Militaria Blog, 2009