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SS uniform



 
 
]] 1932-1945, from Organisationshandbuch der NSDAP (1939).]] ]] Hans Lammers
Hans Lammers

Dr. Jur. Hans Heinrich Lammers was a prominent Nazi and head of the Reich Chancellery.Born in Lubliniec in Upper Silesia, the son of a veterinarian,...
 with Totenkopf
Totenkopf

Totenkopf or Totensch?del is the German language word for "skull of a dead man" and is used to describe a military insigne featuring a skull suprapositioned upon crossed long bones; when used in this context it is commonly known as the "death's head" in English....
 emblem on his peaked cap. ]]

SS uniform refers to the various uniforms worn by the units and departments of the Schutzstaffel (SS)
Schutzstaffel

The , abbreviated SS- or - was a major Nazi organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. The SS grew from a small paramilitary unit to a powerful force that served as the F?hrer's "Praetorian Guard," the Nazi Party's "Shield Squadron" and a force that, fielding almost a million men, managed to exert as much political influence as th...
 between 1925 and 1945. Because they are strongly associated with Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the colloquial English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party , which established a Totalitarianism dictatorship that existed from 1933 to 1945....
 and the Second World War, some of these designs are considered among the most recognizable uniform
Uniform

File:Porfirio Diaz paint.jpgA uniform is a set of standard clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity....
s in modern history.

History
In 1932, Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler

Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was a Nazi Germany German politician and head of the Schutzstaffel. He was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany, competing with Hermann G?ring, Martin Bormann and Joseph Goebbels....
 introduced the all-black SS uniform, which was designed by SS-Oberführer Prof.






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]] 1932-1945, from Organisationshandbuch der NSDAP (1939).]] ]] Hans Lammers
Hans Lammers

Dr. Jur. Hans Heinrich Lammers was a prominent Nazi and head of the Reich Chancellery.Born in Lubliniec in Upper Silesia, the son of a veterinarian,...
 with Totenkopf
Totenkopf

Totenkopf or Totensch?del is the German language word for "skull of a dead man" and is used to describe a military insigne featuring a skull suprapositioned upon crossed long bones; when used in this context it is commonly known as the "death's head" in English....
 emblem on his peaked cap. ]]

SS uniform refers to the various uniforms worn by the units and departments of the Schutzstaffel (SS)
Schutzstaffel

The , abbreviated SS- or - was a major Nazi organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. The SS grew from a small paramilitary unit to a powerful force that served as the F?hrer's "Praetorian Guard," the Nazi Party's "Shield Squadron" and a force that, fielding almost a million men, managed to exert as much political influence as th...
 between 1925 and 1945. Because they are strongly associated with Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the colloquial English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party , which established a Totalitarianism dictatorship that existed from 1933 to 1945....
 and the Second World War, some of these designs are considered among the most recognizable uniform
Uniform

File:Porfirio Diaz paint.jpgA uniform is a set of standard clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity....
s in modern history.

History


In 1932, Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler

Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was a Nazi Germany German politician and head of the Schutzstaffel. He was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany, competing with Hermann G?ring, Martin Bormann and Joseph Goebbels....
 introduced the all-black SS uniform, which was designed by SS-Oberführer Prof. Dr. Karl Diebitsch and graphic designer Walter Heck.

Some of the uniforms were produced by the Hugo Boss
Hugo Boss

Hugo Ferdinand Bossovich Blas?, known simply as Hugo Boss , was the founder of clothing company Hugo Boss AG....
 firm, and were produced under forced labor
Forced Labor

#REDIRECT Unfree labour...
 conditions, especially later in the war. The SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT)
SS-Verfügungstruppe

The SS-Verf?gungstruppe were combat divisions of the SS, trained according to the regulations of the German Armed Forces . They were the precursor of the later-developed Waffen-SS....
, a precursor of the fighting units of Waffen-SS
Waffen-SS

The Waffen-SS was the combat arm of the Schutzstaffel or SS. It was founded in Germany in 1939 after the SS was split into two units but the title of Waffen-SS only became official on 2 March, 1940....
, instead wore a variation of the green-grey (
feldgrau) Army (Wehrmacht Heer) uniform with SS insignia.

In 1938 a pale-grey (
steingrau) version was produced, which gradually replaced the black uniform in Germany, beginning with full-time officers. Most of the black uniforms were collected, stripped of SS insignia, and issued to SS foreign legion
Foreign legion

Foreign legion or Foreign Legion is a title which has been used by a small number of units of foreign volunteers. It can refer to:...
s and auxiliary forces inside and outside Germany.

The pale-grey uniform was cut the same as the black one, with the addition of two shoulder boards and an eagle badge replacing the red swastika arm-band. This was to more closely approximate a military uniform, to reflect the position of the SS as backbone of the security apparatus of a state at war, and signify the full identification between party and state. The original black uniform was rarely worn throughout the war, and to the German people it signified service shirkers and party bullies.

The majority of SS service personnel in occupied territory continued to wear variations of the Waffen-SS uniforms or a green-grey version of the SS service tunic. Branches that normally would wear civilian attire in the Reich
Reich

, is a German language loanword cognate with the English reign, region, and rich, but used most often to designate an empire, realm, or nation. The qualitative connotation from the German is "imperial, sovereign state." It is cognate with the North Germanic languages rike/rige, , , ; as found in bishopric....
, such as the Gestapo
Gestapo

The was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Under the overall administration of the Schutzstaffel , it was administered by the Reichssicherheitshauptamt and was considered a dual organization of the Sicherheitsdienst and also a suboffice of the Sicherheitspolizei ....
 and Kripo, were issued Army-like uniforms to avoid being mistaken for civilians in occupied territory.

Designs and Implications


wile of uniforms existed for the SS, often depending on the theatre of war where they were stationed, the all black uniform is the most well known. As with many non-camouflage
Camouflage

Camouflage is a method of cryptic or concealing coloration that allows an otherwise visible organism or object to remain invisibility through deception....
 military uniforms, these SS uniforms were tailored to project authority, and foster fear and respect. As Himmler put it, 'I know there are many people who fall ill when they see this black uniform; we understand that and don't expect that we will be loved by many people.' The historian Michael Burleigh
Michael Burleigh

Michael Burleigh is a United Kingdom author and historian.In 1977 he was awarded a first class honours degree in Medieval and Modern History from University College London, winning the Pollard, Dolley and Sir William Mayer prizes....
 saw it thus: 'Why, one might reasonably ask, should anyone want to go around wearing skulls and crossbones and runic symbols, unless they suffered from the morbid obsessions which animate juvenile motorbike gangs?' They used the Black-White-Red colour scheme, characteristic of the Nazi Party, on a variation of the standard SA uniform, with different insignia. The choice of colour was not by chance. Black
Black

Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflection light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light....
 is traditionally a German colour and the Nazis believed that it reflected their 'Aryan' heritage. Black was a sombre and authoritative colour, popular with fascist movements, introduced by the blackshirts
Blackshirts

The Blackshirts were Fascism paramilitary groups in History of Italy as a monarchy and in the World Wars during the period immediately following World War I and until the end of World War II....
 in Italy years before the creation of the SS.

Before the outbreak of war, the SS had two primary branches. The civil security forces Gestapo
Gestapo

The was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Under the overall administration of the Schutzstaffel , it was administered by the Reichssicherheitshauptamt and was considered a dual organization of the Sicherheitsdienst and also a suboffice of the Sicherheitspolizei ....
, SD (security services)
Sicherheitsdienst

The Sicherheitsdienst was primarily the intelligence service of the Schutzstaffel and the NSDAP. The organization was the first Nazi Party intelligence organization to be established and was often considered a "sister organization" with the Gestapo, which the SS had infiltrated heavily after 1934....
, Kripo (criminal-investigation police)
Kriminalpolizei

is the standard term for the criminal investigation agency within the police forces of Germany, Austria and the German-speaking cantons of Switzerland....
, and most other minor SS departments were deemed Allgemeine SS
Allgemeine SS

The Allgemeine SS was the biggest SS branch in terms of members. It was established in the autumn of 1934 to distinguish certain Schutzstaffel members from the Waffen-SS....
 and the combat units were known as Waffen-SS
Waffen-SS

The Waffen-SS was the combat arm of the Schutzstaffel or SS. It was founded in Germany in 1939 after the SS was split into two units but the title of Waffen-SS only became official on 2 March, 1940....
. Most of the Allgemeine SS, especially in occupied areas, switched to the Army's green-grey uniforms like those already in use with the Waffen-SS and the SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV; the “Totenkopf” or death-head corps)
SS-Totenkopfverbände

SS-Totenkopfverb?nde was a Germany Nazism formation of Nazi concentration campss guards. Created before World War II, the SS-TV was a part of the Nazi military organization Schutzstaffel ....
 while retaining their own insignia. The officers, depending on their rank and position, wore either Waffen-SS uniforms or the pale-grey SS uniforms. Himmler, for example, wore the pale-grey uniform of the Reichsführer-SS
Reichsführer-SS

was a special SS rank that existed between the years of 1925 and 1945. Reichsf?hrer-SS was a title from 1925 to 1933 and, after 1934, became the highest rank of the German Schutzstaffel ....
 as did the majority of the SS and Police Leaders.

The Waffen-SS


The precursor units of the Waffen-SS
Waffen-SS

The Waffen-SS was the combat arm of the Schutzstaffel or SS. It was founded in Germany in 1939 after the SS was split into two units but the title of Waffen-SS only became official on 2 March, 1940....
 were the militarised branches of the SS known as the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH)
1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler

The Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler founded in September 1933 was Adolf Hitler's personal Bodyguard Regiment . In 1939 the SS-LAH became a separate unit of the Waffen-SS aside the SS-Totenkopfverb?nde and the SS-Verf?gungstruppe....
, the SS-TV (
SS-Totenkopfverbände, or "Totenkopfstandarten"), and the SS-VT (SS-Verfügungstruppe). These troops were the first SS to introduce earth colours for their uniforms in 1935. Just before the outbreak of the war they were issued a variation of the 1936 Army model, with some distinguishable features, the most obvious of which was their collar, which could be worn open with a tie. As there were no sufficient numbers of field uniforms for the SS yet, quite some SS units had to wear Army uniforms during the invasion of Poland, which resulted in some Army officers complaining about SS-units wearing Army uniforms when they were conducting executions and atrocities behind Polish frontlines. The Wehrmacht (Army) did not want to be linked with these actions. Some SS-units still had to rely on Army uniforms in April 1940, during the occupation of Denmark. In late 1940 and as the then newly formed/named Waffen-SS was expanding, it made logistical sense to issue uniforms from the same Army contractors and the new issue SS uniforms had practically the same design of the green-grey uniforms of the Army, with the addition of SS insignia. Officers used both original SS collar patches and shoulder boards similar to the Wehrmacht shoulder boards. Until early stages of the war, SS-officers used only one shoulder board (see photo). By the end of the war a wide variety of uniforms could be observed, even within the same unit, and standardization was never complete, as previous stocks were issued or recycled, and as officers combined Army and SS uniform parts according to personal taste: quite some high-ranking officers preferred to wear grey Army coats and blouses, especially those officers who formerly served in World War I, the Reichswehr (German Armed Forces 1921-1935) or in the Wehrmacht.

It is a common misconception that the SS fought in black uniforms. Only SS tank crews wore black uniforms in combat. This was not, however, the all-black uniform worn by the pre-war SS, but rather a short, black waist-cut coat similar in style to that worn by tank crews in the Wehrmacht. The black colour was chosen for tank crews because it would not show grease and oil stains as the green-grey equivalent did.

Waffen-SS troops were also pioneering among the German forces in the use of camouflage
Military camouflage

Camouflage became an essential part of modern military tactics after the increase in accuracy and rate of fire of weapons during the 19th century....
 clothing and wore it extensively during the war. Waffen-SS used a variety of original summer and winter designs in dot and splinter patterns. Usually camouflage was worn on overall parkas or helmet covers, and only late in the war were camouflaged tunics introduced.

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