Special Feldherrnhalle Insignia

In June 1937, the SA-Stabschef (Chief of Staff) ordered the institution of a special insignia to be worn by qualified former members of the elite SA-Standarte "Feldherrnhalle." His order
appeared in the “Veordungsblatt der Obersten SA-Fuhrung," 7. Jahrgang, Nummer 8, 7 June 1937, p. 52, para.149. It read as follows:

149. Re: Insignia for SA men who have left the Regiment "Feldherrnhalle." F 2b 13735.

1. SA men honorably leaving the Regiment "Feldherrnhalle” will join the SA unit of their prospective place of residence. However, during the time of the annual Reich Party Day, they are available to the Regiment "Feldherrnhnlle" for several days of training.

2. The commander of the Regiment "Feldherrnhalle" may award the SA men referred to in Number 1 the privilege of wearing the regiment’s insignia.

3. The insignia consists of an oval piece of material 7cm high, made of brown cloth, with the 5cm emblem of the Regiment "Feldherrnhnlle." It is worn on the left forearm of the SA service uniform.

4. The commander of the Regiment "Feldherrnhalle" will issue authorization to wear the insignia. The authorization is renewed annually, on the occassion of the Reich Party Day, by the commander of the Regiment "Feldherrnhalle."

5. The insignia is provided free of charge the first time. Additional insignia are to be obtained from the Regiment "Feldherrnhalle" administrative office upon payment.

Illustration [1] is a copy of the original order instituting this new insignia. [2] is an original unissued specimen of the insignia, with paper RZM tag. This example is machine—woven in aluminum thread in the so-called "BeVo" style. [3] shows a variant example which consists of a silver-colored metal "Feldherrnhalle" rune attached to a brown wool base. The metal rune is identical to those worn on the right-side collar tabs of active members of Regiment "Feldherrnhalle."

No original period photographs showing this insignia in actual wear have so far come to light. Since wear of the insignia had to be individually authorized by the "Feldherrnhalle" commander
(rather than automatically applying to all men who left the unit), it may not have been widely issued. Also, since the instituting order tied the insignia to annual reauthorization at the Reichsparietag rallies, and the last such Party Congress occurred in September 1938, it is
possible that the insignia may have been discontinued at that time. Aside from the cited original order, it was apparently never again mentioned in any subsequent SA or NSDAP publications.

Finally, [4] is a photograph showing an active—duty SA-Mann (Private) of the SA—Standarte "Feldherrnhalle" in the regimental uniform. Note the runic device on his right collar tab, identical in design to that on this virtually unknown insignia for former members.

Thanks are extended to W.P.B.R. Saris for providing a copy of the original SA order, to Philip B. Carson for making available the specimen shown in [3], to Wilfred Uhlmann Bradach for translating the order, and to Hugh Page Taylor for prividing photo [4].

Clyde R. Davis, Special Insignia for Former Members of the SA-Standarte "Feldherrnhalle", The Military Advisor, 2005

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

Nazi Collecting... In Russia!

For the benefit of those collectors contemplating a trip to the former Soviet Union to buy German relics, I would like to relate some observations I had during a recent (1992) tour of duty in St. Petersburg and Moscow.

I had assumed the Russian collectors would be ignorant of western prices and demand, and on this point I was wrong. Most serious collectors had western reference books and pricing guides (a subscriber told me that when trying to buy Nazi items from an antique market in East Berlin, before the wall came down, the dealer pulled out a copy of Der Gauleiter to use in justifying his price! ed.) and asked top dollar for their items. On Sundays in St. Petersburg, a 75-100 table military collectors mart takes place, where you can buy anything from current Russian uniforms to Iron Crosses. The mart serves as a meeting place for serious collectors, who don’t bring their better items, but rather invite you to their homes to view their collections. They are very proud of their collections and justifiably so some of these collections looked like they were airlifted from the MAX show. Most of their buying trips are to the Baltic States, where friends and contacts locate and hold items for them. I saw beautiful helmet covers and uniform insignia, including nice cuff titles, most of which allegedly came from Estonia.

Replicas are common, mostly poor quality medals and badges. However, they make some excellent uniform upgrades, and they have the time and expertise to turn a standard Army tunic into an excellent SS. Be very careful when buying, they will not usually let you return an item even if arrangements were made, and they want absolute proof it’s a fake of has been tampered with. They are quick to point out many "variations" exists and many obviously re—worked helmets are “just like Ivan found in the bunker" or "Misha brought home. For me, the scariest replicas were "KURLAND" cuff titles. These were supposed to have been locally produced and were well made and embroidered on the silver/white strip. They were all dirty, aged and cut short about four inches on either side of the letters. They looked prefect... all 300 of them! Once again, they are keenly aware that WW2 was fought in their back yard and sometimes use that fact to their advantage when trying to justify a bad piece, i.e., "many of our SS daggers have leather scabbards, as the metal scabbards froze to the lower crossguards".

The bunkers and defenses around St. Petersburg are not completely picked over, and
the brave of heart can go hunting with local collectors. German divisional cemeteries are not off-limits and the Russians are not respectful in this regard, so don’t be surprised to see them popping the dogtags off fallen log crosses or digging in the area. The swamps have preserved large amounts of field gear and weapons and the Russians know how to retrieve it. You would not believe the condition of some of these items. I saw an MG-42 tripod with all the leather intact and a G-43 that you could not tell had been submerged. lf you do choose to go hunting in the woods, go with someone who had done it before and be careful! Landmines were never completely cleared and considerable ordnance is still around. Some museums will sell items outright, as they do not have the same custody restrictions we do.

Museums served as staging areas for much captured military material, sooften they have dozens or hundreds of the same item. The local collectors will know who sells what, but either way try to get a tour of the storage room(s) of the military museums. The museum staffs are friendly towards Western collectors who are doing research and will give you a tour.

Remember, any pre-1945 items you purchase is considered an artifact and can not be legally exported. However,the Russian customs agents do not open most suitcases. If they do find a relic and recognize it, they will seize it unless you bribe them, and I’m not talking cigarettes. Give them $10.00 (about a month’s pay) and they will usually close the suitcase. The bottom line is... Do not get into an argument with the Customs people... ask for a supervisor and explain that you did not understand the rules, then bribe HIM! If this all sounds a bit shady, remember this is the way the Russians have been making their crippled system work and it is the accepted way of conducting business.

Russians prefer hard currency to trade items and the years of bargaining just to eat gives them an edge in negotiations. Deals are best made in Russian, but they also know the German word for many items or details and "pointy-talky" will suffice. Depending on the collector, they will trade for U.S. items, but there appeared to be a lot of current Western gear around, so don’t expect them to jump for your old utilities.

Generally, Russian collectors are serious about their hobby,will informed on prices, and eager to deal with you. As withus, they have their share of dishonest individuals and it is hard to convince them of some of the basicrules of authenticity which we in the west believe to be true. Be flexible, don’t be startled by their business/collecting methods, and err on the side of caution before buying anything. Good luck!

Robert G. Ensley U.S.M.C, "Nazi Collecting...In Russia!", Der Gauletier, 1993

Just For Fun...

Season's Greetings To All!

The Mysterious Case of the Hitler Letters

Last month I received an extraordinary long distance call from a man in another state who spoke in a rich German accent and identified himself, among other things, as a former member of the Hitler Youth! My caller said he had obtained from a relative in Germany, five handwritten letters from Hitler to three separate very prominent Nazis... and Eva Braun! (At this point I need to explain: Because of my personal opinion expressed below, I'm going to give my call the name "Rudolf", not his real name, and will refrain from identifying the contents of the letters, which were quite 'historic' in nature. (You'll see why below.) Naturally I was thrilled and flattered and I asked Rudolf to mail me copies of the letters, which he did.

I am NOT a handwriting expert. But like many of you, I have Charles Hamilton's book "Leaders and Personalities of the Third Reich" which contains numerous examples of Hitler's handwriting, and particularly his signature which degenerated into a downward illegible spiral as his end approached. I also have many photos in other books of various documents Hitler signed.Oh, how I wanted those letters to be real! But, in my opinion, they are not. I approached this project with what I believe to be a completely open mind. I studied the letters and the comparisons for a number of hours, then I invited a local well—known collector friend to study them with me, and with magnifying glass in hand we carefully examined ‘the letters (remember, these were photocopies) letter by letter, word by word, signature by signature. My friend's verdict agreed with mine. I have written Rudolf and told him my opinion (which, of course, may not be correct... and I've told him that also). I have suggested who else he should contact; he believes there are authorities in Germany who can help. What is wrong with the letters?

Well, first of all, they mentioned very well-known events which would have made them, if they were real, of the highest value. Frankly, the odds of 4 or 5 historic letters being assembled in one place (remember they were allegedly written to different people over several years) is very great. Possible, but not too likely. And, alas, the handwriting and signatures just didn't match what we had with which to compare them. Of course, there exists the possibility, as I told Rudolf that I am dead wrong about the handwriting.

The purpose of this article is not to castigate Rudolf. Frankly, I want to see anything a collector thinks is real. Maybe it is! And I happen to believe, after two long distance phone talks with Rudolf, that he is telling the truth. I am convinced he was a member of the Hitler Youth. His description of himself as a terrified 16 year old boy with a panzerfaust on his shoulder, being
ordered in April of 1945 by a kind—hearted leader to "drop it and run like hell for home" through both Nazi and French lines, is horrifyingly real. No, and I don't want to further argue the authenticity of the letters. If they are real, I've passed up the most important papers of the Third Reich I'll ever see.

The purpose of this article is to point out that, as we all know, forgeries and fakes of many Third Reich items are circling the globe. If you haven't seen one, you will; if you haven't bought one, you could. First, how can we identify them, and second, what can we do about them? The first answer is very difficult. All of us are fed up with the pseudo- know—it-alls who pick up a Knight's Cross and throw it back down on a table at a show with the comment "It's a fake!" Well, is it? And who says it is? Is he qualified? Unless we are experts, when asked an opinion, I believe we should state that the opinion we give is a qualified one, is only our opinion, and is based only on our own personal research and experience. Meanwhile, we can arm ourselves with knowledge. We are not as well—read as we should be. If we are in the 'German militaria' hobby we should read every history book we can. I am constantly appalled by the ’gun show mentality' of the 'collector' who will tell you that World War II started with 'the assassination or Rohm or that D—Day was December 7, l941 . In addition to the history books we can read and study the authoritative books and articles written by people like John Angolia, Hugh Page Taylor, Roger Bender, Tom Johnson and many others, who know what they are writing about. Also, we can quit trying to get rich quick. My mother told me there was no free lunch. In my rapidly advancing older age I still have trouble believing it. Chances are slim of my finding a Feldherrnhalle dagger in the woodwork for $50, or Hitler's letters of the highest importance that are mysteriously just now surfacing 43 years later. Perhaps the most apropos advice of all is this: It's in Latin incidentally, not German. "caveat emptor".

Mickey Huffman is a contributor to DG, his opinions and conclusions are his own. A collector for 10 years, and a long—time student of WWII, he is also president of the North Texas Militaria Collectors Association.

* * *

I'll jump in and add some fuel to the fire with these comments about Mickey's article. I haven't seen the letters Mickey talks about so I can't form any opinion of them. I have however, heard that there have been quite a few rare documents and letters recently stolen from the Berlin Document Center and that many would be just the type of thing Mickey describes. Also, I've heard through the grapevine, that the FBI has recently visited and confiscated some of these documents and letters from dealers right here in the U.S.. If anyone would have a collection like Mickey describes it would be the Berlin Document Center. On the other hand... Hitler was not fond of writing. He dictated almost everything, even ’Mein Kampf’ when he was in prison. The chances of finding hand written letters by him are extremely remote to say the least. So, I would say Mickey's decision was probably the correct one. Bob Treend, 1988

Mickey Huffman, "The Mysterious Case of the Hitler Letters", Der Gauleiter, 1988