November 7-8, 2018 Edged Weapons, Armor, & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/7/2018
The Waffen SS was one of the most battle proven and feared organizations of the Second World War. Growing from a small elite bodyguard group during the early party years, this paramilitary organization grew to an impressive size during the second half of the war and commanded some of the war's most well known SS divisions. Among these famous Waffen SS divisions was the SS Totenkopf (Death Head) Division. The SS Totenkopf Division took part in some of the earliest fighting of the war, such as the invasion of France. As the war progressed and Germany invaded the Soviet Union, the ensuing confrontation threw the SS Totenkopf Division into some of the war's most notable battles such as The Demjansk Pocket, Kursk, and Budapest. This is a near mint example of a Waffen SS Totenkopf Officer's Tunic. The base material of the tunic is made of a high quality, fine tricot wool. The tricot material of the tunic is near mint with no major damage or staining. Two very small moth nips are present on the lower, reverse side of the tunic, and a light moth track can be seen on the center of the reverse. The collar of the tunic has two collar tabs, is piped with a silver twisted cord, and the reverse side is lined with a fine brown wool. The left collar has an Officer's type Totenkopf Death Head tab which is constructed of a high quality black badge cloth, with a bullion embroidered skull in the center and a twisted silver cord around the perimeter. The Totenkopf tab has been neatly hand stitched to the collar. On the opposite collar, the SS rank tab for a Hauptsturmfuhrer is neatly machine stitched to the collar. This rank tab is constructed of black badge cloth, three aluminum pips, two black and silver cords, and twisted silver piping. Both tabs are in near mint + condition. The shoulder boards are the sew-in type, and feature two gold anodized aluminum pips on each, to denote the rank of Hauptsturmfuhrer. The base of the boards are black badge cloth over a metal stiffener. The sleeves of the tunic utilize french cuffs and are adorned with the insignia of the SS. The top of the right sleeve has an original "missing log" variant Demjansk Shield that is attached to the sleeve using the four prongs and the back plate. The addition of this Demjansk shield signifies that this soldier fought in the Demjansk pocket, in Russia, during the encirclement. The SS Sleeve Eagle on the right sleeve is of Officer quality. The eagle is made of a black badge cloth base and bullion embroidered eagle which was then skillfully sewn to the sleeve by hand. The sleeve eagle is in near mint + condition. Below the sleeve eagle is an Officer quality sleeve diamond, denoting this soldier was administration. The diamond is hand sewn to the sleeve using the same method as the sleeve eagle and is in near mint + condition. The lower right sleeve of the tunic bares the cuff title "Totenkopf". The SS used cuff titles to recognize the division each soldier belonged to. The cuff title is the standard RZM type. The lettering of the cuff title is embroidered with a white cotton thread, which runs slightly into the lower border. Each border of the cuff title consists of seven silver strands, the most widely recognized and accepted thread count by collectors for this style of cuff title. It is attached to the tunic by means of hand stitching, with a pattern more consistent of how the Totenkopf collar tab is applied. Eight silvered zinc buttons adorn the front of the tunic and two belt supporting buttons are on the back. All buttons are in near mint + condition. The tunic's breast pockets are pleated with scalloped flaps, while the lower pockets are the slash type using scalloped flaps. The interior of the tunic is fully lined with a rayon blend lining. The lining is slightly soiled near the neck and shoulder areas, from daily use, but shows no signs of damage. The internal waist buckle is still present and without damage. A dagger hanger slot can be seen on the right side of the interior. There are no markings or tags visible on the interior. SS tunics are not easy to find on today's market, and finding one from a unit that fought solely on the Russian front from 1940 onward is extremely difficult.