Mitteilungsblatt der RZM June 1934

[Wilhelm Saris]

The plans for the uniform for the SS for wearing after the war were "on paper" and thought about.
Himmler put his plans together. I must have this letter with remarks laying around somewhere. It is
interesting in many ways. One thing I know out of heart is that he would get rid of wearing the
well-known buckles.

[HPL2008]

I am familiar with the Stammabteilung, but was the 8/15 Allgemeine SS member paid? Or was it a weekend warrior thing?

The vast majority of the enlisted men and junior officers in the various units of the Allgemeine SS (i.e. the Fußstandarten and the various specialized equestrian-, motor-, signals- and engineer formations) served as unpaid volunteers [ehrenamtlich] or, at best, as part-timers [nebenamtlich], carrying out their SS duties on evenings, weekends, national holidays etc. This often resulted in very busy schedules and caused some SS members to quit altogether.

Typically, only the higher-ranking officers in these units - ca. from Sturmbannführer upwards - and very small numbers of staff/administrative personnel were full-time salaried [hauptamtlich] personnel.

(Of course, more full-time personnel of all ranks was to be found in the higher-level administrative bodies of the SS, such as the various Hauptämter.)

[HPL2008]

The plans for the uniform for the SS for wearing after the war were "on paper" and thought about.
Himmler put his plans together. I must have this letter with remarks laying around somewhere. It is
interesting in many ways. One thing I know out of heart is that he would get rid of wearing the
well-known buckles.

Very interesting. Was this because the circular SS officer buckles tended to come undone when the wearer leaned forward (a problem that caused many Waffen-SS officers to adopt Army-style belts with twin claw buckles) or was there some other reason?

In any case, I am sure I speak for many other members as well if I say we would love to read this document.

[Tricot]

The vast majority of the enlisted men and junior officers in the various units of the Allgemeine SS (i.e. the Fußstandarten and the various specialized equestrian-, motor-, signals- and engineer formations) served as unpaid volunteers [ehrenamtlich] or, at best, as part-timers [nebenamtlich], carrying out their SS duties on evenings, weekends, national holidays etc. This often resulted in very busy schedules and caused some SS members to quit altogether.

Typically, only the higher-ranking officers in these units - ca. from Sturmbannführer upwards - and very small numbers of staff/administrative personnel were full-time salaried [hauptamtlich] personnel.

(Of course, more full-time personnel of all ranks was to be found in the higher-level administrative bodies of the SS, such as the various Hauptämter.)

Thank you very much, sir. The literature available is mostly the "30,000 Foot View" of the early SS. It is difficult to find "man on the street" information regarding the lifestyle of the 08/15 member of a Fußstandarten.

I imagined a largely volunteer labor pool was necessary as the labor costs otherwise would be staggering. Simply clothing the members must have been an incredible cost.

[BenVK]

Himmler apparently ordered the SS VT people to turn in their black uniforms, which, if my collection is any measure, was an order only partially filled. The black uniform remained in use in the Allgem. SS until the bitter end. We have threads on this issue.

Makes one wonder how much of Himmlers authority was fact or fiction. His orders survive in black and white yet we know that so many of them were universally ignored in reality!

[Friedrich-Berthold]

The plans for the uniform for the SS for wearing after the war were "on paper" and thought about.
Himmler put his plans together. I must have this letter with remarks laying around somewhere. It is
interesting in many ways. One thing I know out of heart is that he would get rid of wearing the
well-known buckles.

Mollo also makes reference to this issue.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

The vast majority of the enlisted men and junior officers in the various units of the Allgemeine SS (i.e. the Fußstandarten and the various specialized equestrian-, motor-, signals- and engineer formations) served as unpaid volunteers [ehrenamtlich] or, at best, as part-timers [nebenamtlich], carrying out their SS duties on evenings, weekends, national holidays etc. This often resulted in very busy schedules and caused some SS members to quit altogether.

Typically, only the higher-ranking officers in these units - ca. from Sturmbannführer upwards - and very small numbers of staff/administrative personnel were full-time salaried [hauptamtlich] personnel.

(Of course, more full-time personnel of all ranks was to be found in the higher-level administrative bodies of the SS, such as the various Hauptämter.)

Absolutely correct. These facts are visible in the rank lists as well as in the Organisationsbuch d. NSDAP.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

Thank you very much, sir. The literature available is mostly the "30,000 Foot View" of the early SS. It is difficult to find "man on the street" information regarding the lifestyle of the 08/15 member of a Fußstandarten.

I imagined a largely volunteer labor pool was necessary as the labor costs otherwise would be staggering. Simply clothing the members must have been an incredible cost.

The German volume here has the newest bibliographical essay and updated views of the history of the SS of which I am aware.
The Koehl book is based on his earlier work on the structure of the SS.

The online postings of primary sources are very revealing if you can read German.

[Friedrich-Berthold]

An excerpt from 23 June '34 as concerns collar patches

[M18922]

Thanks. Himmler apparently ordered the SS VT people to turn in their black uniforms, which, if my collection is any measure, was an order only partially filled. The black uniform remained in use in the Allgem. SS until the bitter end. We have threads on this issue.

- - Updated - -

Attachment 352176Attachment 352177Attachment 352175Here is an example of the contracting with local vendors in a peaked cap.

That is the nicest SS schirmmütze I have seen.

Cheers, Patrick