SS uniform - question

[saulius]

Hello,

I have question - characterized for German soldiers to wear uniforms without identifying insignia (in this case, without a collar tab)? Maybe this soldier (see foto) is legionary or freiwilliger?
Thanks



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[John Pic]

Early in the war the SS-VT were ordered to remove thier collar tab insignias this lasted for a brief period..the soldier in the photo appears to be SS-VT by looking at his cap.

[all1knew]

Early in the war the SS-VT were ordered to remove thier collar tab insignias this lasted for a brief period..the soldier in the photo appears to be SS-VT by looking at his cap.

John,

Why were they asked to do that? Was there any logic behind the order?

William Kramer

[revi]

Any sign of a photographers name in relief or stamped on the paper itself? I have a few several of these "ununited" pictures and mine are all from the Netherlands.

Best,

Seth.

[derek]

The removal, and covering up, of SS insignia in 1939/40 was done for security reasons. The location and specifics of unit deployment are an important aspect of military intelligence and SS-VT insignia was considered overly specific.
Derek

[John Pic]

Exactly although later they went back to wearing the insignias.

[all1knew]

The removal, and covering up, of SS insignia in 1939/40 was done for security reasons. The location and specifics of unit deployment are an important aspect of military intelligence and SS-VT insignia was considered overly specific.
Derek

Thank you!

William Kramer

[Kpfuhrer]

Perhaps He is a SS Anwarter. A pal of mine has a foto of a Gruppe of SS men at a train station prewar in which all have early uniforms, such as this, with out the tabs.

This is from Wikipedia and may explain it.....

Anwärter is a German title which translates as “Candidate”. During the Third Reich, Anwärter was used as a paramilitary rank by both the NSDAP and the SS. As an SS rank, an Anwärter was someone who had applied for membership in the SS and was undergoing a probationary period, after which time an appointment would be issued to the rank of SS-Mann. The earliest recorded use of Anwärter as an SS rank was 1932; however, the rank was used as title dating back to 1925. Within the Allgemeine-SS, the transition from Anwärter to Mann was an extensive process, typically taking over one year. During that year, a potential SS member would be drilled and indoctrinated; racial, political, and background checks would also be conducted. At the end of this time, typically in an elaborate ceremony, an Anwärter would be promoted to the rank of SS-Mann.

After 1941, Anwärter was also used as a rank of the Waffen-SS, but to a much lesser degree than in the General-SS. A Waffen-SS Anwärter was usually a recruit who had been processed into the SS (typically at a recruiting station), but had yet to report for basic training. Once basic training began, the Anwärter was unceremoniously promoted to the rank of SS-Schütze.

Between 1942 and 1945, an even lower rank existed within the SS known as Bewerber. The SS was the only Nazi paramilitary group to have a rank lower than that of Anwärter. The SS rank of Anwärter used no insignia.

The order to remove insignia (tabs), I beleive, was given in Russia along with the change of unit tactical symbols as stated...for security.

[NickG]

Its true that anwarter (or raw recruits) often did not wear tabs yet...
I guess these were issued after bootcamp completion (in the early years)
but in this case more likely a Blitzkrieg security measure, you can actually see tab ghosts in the picture.

This image shows recruits with no tabs yet (on the right)

[saulius]

Any sign of a photographers name in relief or stamped on the paper itself? I have a few several of these "ununited" pictures and mine are all from the Netherlands.

Best,

Seth.

On the other side is clean. Traces be seen that the photo was glued on the album.

[revi]

Thanks for the picture of the back Saulius,

Scanned the pictures I was talking about for you,
-First one is from a Czech fotoshop.
-Second is the same man, picture taken and dated 22th of July 1940, Amsterdam ( Netherlands) ( stamp is along the verticale black line on the back, in the middle ).
-Third is another man. dated 23rd or 25th of July 1940, City Studio Kalverstraat, Amsterdam.

All without tabs.

Best,

Seth.

[revi]

-second, same man, 22 juli, Amsterdam.

[revi]

-Third, 23 of 25 of juli 1940, Amsterdam.