Dienstmütze, Seide, schwarz, für Führer bis Standartenführer

**Friedrich-Berthold** · 01-27-2016, 10:54 PM

Andreas' reading of the files also illustrates the way that Allgemeine SS personnel migrated into the SSVT, which is an important insight in all of this.

The SSVT Pioneer Sturmbann was in the process of its organization in Saxony in 1935. I just checked in Mollo.

You also see the wholly corrupt way in the v. Eberstein letter that good ole' Himmler cashes in on normal state budgets to finance the SS, since the party finances could not sustain
the growth of the SS at all. The SSVT drew from Ministry of the Interior budget, if memory serves. It is all in the Pohl biographies as well as the Kaienburg on SS economic enterprises.

This example shows how nice militaria in the hands of sane people produces something of merit for all.

In another context, as Dr. CMH mentions, the sight of such a fine cap would provoke all manner of jealous tirades and cultural pessimist rants.

Or, the persons would simply have no idea of the rarity of the item or of its context, especially as visible in the documents.

Heinrich is also one of the generation of the unbound, i.e. too young to have fought in the war, but then swept up in the civil war aftermath.
And in that, his time in the Freikorps in Berlin with the suppression of the Spartakus uprising, as well as his then being dumped out of the Rw in 1931 is interesting.
1931 is in the wake of the Ulmer Reichswehr Prozess, when the degree of Nazi penetration of the army became an issue. Do you have his c.v. written in his own hand, as well,
or did you include that already? I recall something, but can you post it again? Is there post 1935 data in the file made for you?

Thanks again. A real pleasure after the recent dives into the sewer with the malefactors.

**Espenlaub Militaria** · 01-27-2016 10:54 PM

We also buy and trade your items and full collections!

**M18922** · 01-27-2016, 11:03 PM

An exceptional cap! I am very fond of silk top caps of all kinds. This one, however, is one of the best I have seen.

Patrick

**HPL2008** · 01-27-2016, 11:16 PM

by DrCMH

I'm going to work through the Sütterlinschrift in his Lebenslauf, if I hit a brick wall perhaps I could reach out to you for some help?

Should that be the case, do post it here and I will see what I can do.

**DrCMH** · 01-28-2016, 04:44 AM

Attached is the c.v. in Heinrich's own hand.

His handwriting is far more legible than that of other files I have images of.

The following is post 1935 data:

**DrCMH** · 01-28-2016, 05:21 AM

I actually have data that reaches back to the Weimar period. Thank you, FB and Andreas, for helping me grasp the full context of the files. I can painstakingly go through and translate, however, the ability to see this from the perspective of a historian is a skill I do not possess. Add to that my relative lack of familiarity with German culture and military tradition and the richness of the information extracted here solely by me is diminished. Andreas and FB have a way of placing historical information into a beautiful and truly informative narrative.

**Friedrich-Berthold** · 01-28-2016, 05:32 AM

Thanks so much. The Waffen SS piece is interesting. In his 1943 OER he gets a good grade, but the person mentions that, after his logistical service in Russia from June 1941 until well into 1942, he, nonetheless, manifested a certain "fatigue."

In the later correspondence i.e. late 1944, there is a fight about his promotion. He plainly had Pohl mad at him, whereas Demelhuber wanted him promoted to Obersturmbannfuehrer in his HQ in the Nethelands. I.e. the normal competing chaos of satraps and their realms that characterized the SS and Nazi Germany as a whole. And which is also happening at the moment,
in another context.

Demelhuber writes a letter in support of his promotion, with the statement that with the desperate logistical situation in the Netherlands, where
he served under D., that H. had done an excellent job. There is then the rejoinder up the chain to the RFSS front office from what must be the WVHA kingdom that puts the aw sh!t on poor Heinrich. There was an awful lot of this kind of hectoring crap in the leadership and management of the SS, dear readers.

His is an interesting story to be sure. Do you have the pieces from 1935 until 1943, too?
The more the better.

Andreas is a genius, of course, and I am not nearly as bright or as charming as he. I have been reading these documents for forty five years and have also lived in
a not dissimilar bureaucracy for about forty one of these years and so forth.

The full value of the regalia emerges with its context and its rich detail.

The normal story told by most in other locales is pretty one dimensional.

**HPL2008** · 01-28-2016, 08:23 AM

by DrCMH

Attached is the c.v. in Heinrich's own hand.

His handwriting is far more legible than that of other files I have images of.

Most of the information in his CV is also contained in the file cards and my summary, so forgive me if I don't translate it in full.

What additional data it contains is as follows:

The Falkenberg he was born in is the one near Freiberg in Saxony. (There are several places named Falkenberg.) His father was a laborer in a state-owned metalworks.

From the 6th to the 14th year of his life, Heinrich attended the Volksschule in Conradsdorf near Freiberg, attaining a basic-level education. His training/work as a boxmaker must have taken place after he left school and prior to enlisting in the Freikorps. Taking up work at such a young age was not unusual in those days.

During his Reichswehr days, he took part "in the suppression of all riots in Central Germany".

After he left the army, he worked as a civilian employee of the paymaster's office of the 12. (Sächsisches) Reiter-Regiment [12th (Saxon) Cavalry Regiment], taking up work on 1st March 1932. (As an ex-serviceman, he was entitled to subsequent employment by the state).

Heinrich married on 2nd July 1927.

He made sure to stress that, as a soldier, he had always been enthusiastic about the ideas of Hitler, which is why he immediately joined the NSDAP and the SS as soon as he left the army. (He wouldn't have been allowed to join the Party while on active service.) He also states that what spare time he has is solely devoted to SS activities.

**Wagriff** · 01-28-2016, 08:32 AM

A superb hat and one that is impossible to upgrade. With a Silk top, no less. Look at the silver cord, how it is still bright and sparkling. If the hat had no known history to it, it would still be a centerpiece for any advanced collection, but the owner is known and led a storied career. Well done indeed, picking up a jewel such as this piece!