SS Totenkopf Officers Collar Tab Set, Untersturmführer
Price: Sold
Description: The collar tabs consist of the right side Vertical SS Totenkopf collar tab and a matched SS-Untersturmführers left hand rank side. The right hand side collar tab is black wool having a hand-embroidered silver-wire vertical Totenkopf. The left side rank tab features three, silver washed, stamped alloy rank pips. Both of the collar tabs have the same fine twisted silver/aluminum piping and are mounted on the same typical tan buckram bases. Great original matched set!
Background: The SS-Wachverbände, (SS-Guard Units) in March 1933 was re-designated, SS-Totenkopfverbände, (SS-Death’s Head Units), on March 29th 1936. The SS-Wachverbände began to wear the distinctive Death’s head collar tabs on both collars sometime in 1935 with the death’s heads positioned vertically on the collar tabs. In October 1939 personnel from the SS-Totenkopfverbände were recruited to compose the cadre of the newly forming SS-Totenkopf-Division and continued to wear the death’s head, positioned vertically, on the right collar tab. In May 1940 personnel of the SS-Totenkopf-Division altered the positioning of the death’s head from the vertical position to the horizontal position while personnel remaining with the SS-Totenkopfverbände did the exact opposite by exchanging the horizontal positioning for the vertical positioning, on the same date. All tabs became horizontal with the Waffen-SS units: SS-Panzer-Grenadier-Division “Totenkopf” on 11/1942, and 3rd SS-Panzer-Division “Totenkopf” on 10/1943 respectively through the end of the war.
