November 7-8, 2018 Edged Weapons, Armor, & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/7/2018
The SA, otherwise known as the "Brownshirts", was the Nazi Party's first paramilitary group. This group played a large role during the rise of the Nazi Party in the 1920's and the early 1930's. The group's primary tasks were security for party rallies or gathering, disorganizing rival political groups, and promoting the ideals of the Party. What began as a small fairly disorganized rabble during the early 1920's, eventually grew to an overwhelming force of nearly three million strong in 1933. The size of the group by this point threatened even the German Military (Reichswehr) as tensions grew between the two. Eventually, the decision was made by Hitler to limit the SA's power by eliminating the leadership of the SA during what became known as "The Night of the Long Knives". On June 30, 1934, the SS arrested and executed Ernst Rohm and other top SA leaders, which made way for the eventual rise of the German Wehrmacht and SS. The lot consists of: (A) Third Reich "Hochland/Bayernwald" SA Brown Shirt, (B) RZM marked Tie, and (C) SA Buckle with Brown Belt and Cross-Strap. (A) The overall condition of the SA Brown Shirt is near mint. It is constructed of a tan cotton twill fabric that is without damage and only a few extremely small specks of black on the tunic's right upper arm. The cornflower blue backed collar tabs, with cornflower blue shoulder board and collar piping, designate the SA Gruppe "Hochland/Bayernwald". The twisted strand piping running the outer edge of the collar is neatly attached by hand stitching and is without any damage. Only slight patina shows in areas. The two cornflower blue collar tabs are neatly attached by hand stitching as well. The unit tab has a chain-stitched "1/35" in green thread and shows very minor moth tracking, with some slight wear to the high points. The rank tab holds a single rank pip, and has some moth nips to the upper left section, with slight wear to the high points. The single blue piped shoulder board is the sew-in type and shows a few small moth nips to the wool piping. The right arm has a three piece construction NSDAP armband attached to the shirt, in several areas with red thread. The armband is in excellent condition, shows only very light patina, and still retains the original RZM paper tag inside. The nine silver plated dish-style buttons are held in place by retaining pins or rings, and are in excellent condition. The bottom of the shirt has four internally sewn belt hooks. The right pocket of the shirt has one set of award loops which hold an original World War 1 Iron Cross First Class. The cross is in excellent condition and is marked "800" for the silver content. Above the right pocket, is a set of horizontal award loops which hold in place a three-place ribbon bar. (B) The Brown SA Tie is in overall, near mint condition. The oilcloth RZM tag on the reverse is still firmly intact and is stamped with the manufacturers code and product number. The overall length of the tie is 50". An original early enameled NSDAP Party Pin marked "RZM M1/141" is attached to the front of the tie. (C) The overall condition of the SA Buckle, with Leather Belt and Cross-Strapp, is near mint. The buckle is stamped out of brass and unmarked. The "95" marked leather belt has a few scratches on the exterior from the buckle scraping across the tongue. The belt has three leather belt loops; two for the cross-strap, and one possibly for a dagger. The adjustable leather Cross-Strap is in near mint condition and is marked near the end, but is illegible. This is a great opportunity to own an early and nearly complete SA Brown Shirt ensemble in one shot! Combining this set with the Hochland/Bayernwald SA Kepi from another lot of this auction would make one fantastic display.