Description
Product Description: A rare SS Standard Bearer Shoulder Belt in overall excellent condition. The SS Standard Bearer Shoulder Belt was used for carrying the bulk of the weight of the SS Regimental Standards during parades or rallies. These cross straps were worn over the wearer’s left shoulder. The strap is made of a heavy pliable leather strap which measures roughly 4″ wide (10cm). The obverse side of the strap has a black wool base which is trimmed with (4) parallel silver flat-wire tress bands running the length of the cross strap. Some light wear can be seen to the tress in areas, mostly where it had been folded for storage after the war. The edge of the strap has some light wear to the black leather finish, again mostly where it had been folded. The leather cup at the base of the strap, intended for the base of the Standard Pole to rest, is intact with only light wear. All stitching remains intact on the pole carrier. The black buckle, leather tongue, and leather tongue keeper are all intact with no repairs or alterations on the reverse. This SS Standard Bearer Shoulder Belt is nicely SS marked on the reverse with “SS 502/37 RZM”. A rare piece to find if one is looking to complete an SS standard bearer display, or even to compliment an SS display. These don’t come up often!
Historical Description: The origins of the SS began in 1923 as a small detail of men meant to protect Nazi Party meetings during the first years of the party. Under the leadership of Heinrich Himmler, the SS would grow to become one of the most feared, loathed, and yet in some instances, respected organizations in world history. From the early days of the Nazi party to its final moments, the SS were Germany’s foremost security, surveillance, and elite military organization. The SS was comprised of three main elements, the Allgemeine SS (General SS), the Waffen SS (Armed SS), and the SS Totenkopfverbande (SS Deaths Head Units). The Allgemeine SS were primarily responsible for policing, security, the Gestapo, and enforcement of racial policies. The Waffen SS were the organizations paramilitary combat troops who would eventually become the nucleus of Germany’s most elite formations during the Second World War, comprising of many divisions and volunteers from all over Europe. The role of the SS Totenkopfverbande is amongst some of the most notorious of the organization as their responsibility was overseeing and operating the concentration camps and death camps from 1933 to 1945. Additional subdivisions of the SS also included the Sicherdienst “SD”, and the Geheimestaatspolizei “Gestapo”. By the end of World War 2, the SS would have grown from a small unit of 8 men, to over 1 million, including volunteers from nearly every European nation serving in their ranks.
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