Germany. An Extremely Scarce Mint & Unissued Pair Of “Ss-Death’s Head Unit” Officer’s Collar Tabs

This is an extremely scarce, mint, and unissued matching pair of SS-Death’s Head Unit (SS-Totenkopfverband/SS-TV) Officer’s collar tabs; consisting of a left and right death’s head collar tab; both tabs displaying a shiny metallic death’s head constructed of fine quality hand-embroidered aluminum/silver bullion wire wound around a white core; both tabs are edged by twisted silver piping on all four sides; with a standard buckram core; measuring 54 mm x 41 mm; mint and unissued condition.

Footnote: The SS-Totenkopfverband (SS-TV) “Death’s Head Unit” was an independent branch of the SS created in 1933, and tasked by the NSDAP to create a new program of mass incarceration for enemies of the state. In the early days of the SS-TV, with no formal detention facilities in existence, every-day lockable spaces were used for the incarceration of “detainees”, such as engine rooms, brewery floors, storage facilities and cellars. Following the fall of the SA during the Night of the Long Knives (June 30 - July 2, 1934), the SS-TV started to build state-run concentration camps throughout the Third Reich until the end of the war. For a short period of time during 1939, the SS-Totenkopfverband utilized “double” collar insignia that did not display the wearer’s rank on the left tab. When Wehrmacht Heer style shoulder straps were introduced into the SS, it was ordered in October 1939 that all rank patches were to be removed as SS collar insignia were deemed no longer necessary. These were soon found to be impractical, however, since the introduction of SS-issue smocks and coats hid the shoulder boards, thus making it impossible to tell the wearer’s rank if the shoulder boards were covered, since special sleeve insignia to distinguish ranks was not introduced until 1943. The use of “double” insignia was forbidden as of May 1940, but many individuals continued to wear them against regulation.