Uniform identification, please?

[Akira Takiguchi]

I would appreciate if someone can help me identifying two uniforms to find timeframe and organization, thank you!

<img src="http://www.history.jp/images/Dia29Yt.jpg">

[Rick Research]

YIKES!!!!!!! Is that a "Handschar" cuff title??????? Can't be!!! SS officer belt buckle, no tabs, no shoulder boards?

I can help with the Soviet anyway-- he is a Political Commissar (that is what the sleeve stars are), in a technical branch from the overall dark appearance of his cap. It looks like a black cap band with blue piping, which would be engineers. I can't see his rank, which would have been on the collar until 1943.

He looks quite a bit more relaxed than the SS person, so I'd say what you have here is a "German" prisoner of the Soviets, no later than summer 1943.

The Soviet sleeve insignia were all ordered removed in August 1941, and though some lingered on in use, COMMISSARS stars certainly did not-- since it was German policy to kill them on sight (the "Commissar Order"). Other Soviet officers wore sleeve chevrons which indicated rank, while all commissars wore the same stars.

For what same period "normal" Soviet officer insignia looked like, see

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...=armor+captain

[Akira Takiguchi]

Hi Rick! Thank you as always for your swift and informative response!

A few years back I acquired two boxes of color slides - one titled Legion Condor and the other titled Heimkehr der Bessarabiendeutschen.

This slide (and a couple of similar) was in L.C. box, but it doesn't match! Apparently the previous owner at one time scattered the slides on the floor and could not fix it back completely

So this must belong to the set of the evacuation of german population in Bessarabia, which was ceded by USSR in 1940 - still peace between Germany and USSR.

I found a page about the cession: http://www.hannowka.de/UmsiedlungBess.htm

Is there anyone who can identify the SS units that was active during the evacuation? I'd like to know what the cuff title says... Unfortunately even under 2400dpi scanning it is not legible.

Finally, look at the collar of SS man's brown shirt... After 64 years we see that local woman points him saying "you better fix your clothes, sir!" --- or is it some kind of formal method of wearing?

[Rick Research]

The Soviet Commissar is armed. I don't see a weapon on the SS officer.

The woman, I think, is in the classic "It was HIM!" denunciation pose:

I'd say the SS officer's shirt collar is out because he has been taken captive, searched roughly, and may be about to get shot. He does NOT look happy, eyes down, shoulders slumped, fingers fumbling at his tunic button, and so on-- hardly the Masterful Aryan Superman. Meanwhile the Commissar is making eye contact, hand on hip (next to pistol, BTW), "couldn't care less" smoking...

The "body language" just doesn't look like those smiles for the camera shots we see of "friendly" German and Soviet personnel along the border of Poland after their 1939 joint invasion.

[Peter Wiking]

Out from the cuff title and location i say Handschar, Horst Wessel, Heimwehr Danzig and Herman von Salza ?

Heimwehr Danzig was raised 39.
Handschar was raised 43.
Herman von Salza was raised 43.
Horst Wessel was raised 44.

Problem with Handschar is that i´m not aware they had cuff titles.

This is the best i can do for the moment.

Cheers.
Peter Wiking

[Akira Takiguchi]

More SS guys from Bessarabia

<img src="http://www.history.jp/images/BD-Dia16s.jpg">

[Gary Wood]

Akira
I would say the last photo at least one of the the ss guys is SD, the officer to the right wears a typical SD tunic (open neck) with blank collar insignia
cheers,
Gary

[Matthew T S]

About the first picture, it looks more like SS runes than a letter H to me...

[Akira Takiguchi]

Thank you Gary and Matthew! Attached is the close up (original 2400dpi with sharpness added) of the cuff title. At first I thought of an SS rune but it also could be a Fraktur "A"...

[SgtB]

I don't agree Matt because the next two letters are lower case. I was
thinking possibly an N, but Akira's closeup makes me doubt that too.

[ramon]

I have a basic question regarding this photograph.

If this is a Soviet photograph,

When did the Soviets start using color photography in the field?

I'm not the most experienced in this field so I must ask.

[Matthew T S]

Ok, obviously not runes after seeing that new close-up. Perhaps a gothic style letter U?

[erichcraciun]

Is this perhaps a posed Foto???? Does it come form Soviet or German sources? I assume by the title on the boxes it is a German source, however why would the Germans have a fotos such as he first one?

Erich

[Robin Lumsden]

Remember that until June, 1941 the Nazis and Soviets were ALLIES, in terms of the Ribbentrop/Molotov Pact. They split Poland between them in 1939. This could be a picture of FRIENDLY SS/Soviet troops. It looks pretty relaxed to me. Both the SS and the Soviets were involved in the resettlement of ethnic Germans in occupied Poland during 1939-41. I think these shots date from that time period, and were probably taken by German cameramen. The SS man is an officer, but his uniform is strange. He could, in fact, be Allgemeine-SS, attached to RuSHA, VOMI or one of the other 'resettlement' agencies.

[Mike C]

Hello Akira,

Does not appear to be any of the existing W-SS units of the time (LAH, DF, Deutschland, Germania, Totenkopf or Polizei) and none were deployed into Bessarabia. Perhaps SS-hauptamt with part of the h washed out?

Mike