SS-ZA pin

[RaymondG]

Hi

I have finally joined the forum and so hello to everyone reading this..

SS-ZA

Dimas, I am sorry to say that the SS pin is a reproduction. The maker mark M1/129 did not exist and is commonly seen on reproduction NSDAP membership badges.

Original SS-Zivilabzeichen were only manufactured by two companies, namely Hoffstätter of Bonn and Gahr of Munich. Each have distinctive qualities and below is an example of the Hoffstätter pin so you can look at the differences.

The SS-ZA was a paid for lapel pin and the manufacture, issuing and distribution was tightly controlled by the SS as the revenue raised from the sale of the pins went straight into the SS coffers. As a result, I would be very sceptical of any pins not made by the two contracted manufacturers.

SSFM

SSFM is one of the more obscure collecting areas and the one that I enjoy the most. 'The Fördernde Mitglieder der SS' organisation was an important fundraising organisation for the fledgling SS, with its membership swelling to 465,000 at one stage in the 1930's. By 1936, membership numbers had fallen and it would never again be a substantial fundraising revenue stream for the SS.

The organisation was open to non-SS and for the monthly subscription, the member received a pin, membership book and subscription to the monthly magazine, FM-Zeitschrift.

If the member cancelled their membership, they were expected to return the pin and membership book as they remained the property of the SS. I think this was a little unfair as the member had paid extra for these when they first subscribed to the organisation.

Two types of pins exist for FM; the standard membership pin which Jim has kindly posted and an ehrennadel. This was awarded to the first 60,000 members and was issued in two 30,000 blocks in the mid-1930's.

If anyone is interested, I will post some images of the magazines and ehrennadel. That is unless I have already bored everyone by now

Best wishes

Raymond

[RaymondG]

Hi

Here are some images of the covers of the monthly magazine, FM-Zeitschrift. The publication ran from early 1934 to late 1939.

Raymond

[Ben Evans]

Yet another Derbyshire lad joins the forum

[RaymondG]

Hi Ben

That makes 3 that I know of!

Here is an image of the FM ehrennadel.

The image is not so good, but if anyone is looking to buy one of these, then they need to pay close attention to the back of the badge. The badges have been faked and the most common fake that I have encountered is RZM marked with M1/33. Originals were never RZM marked.

Raymond

[RaymondG]

Here are a couple of images of the membership book where the monthly dues stamps are recorded.

Raymond

[Dimas]

Thanks for information!

[jim arrasmith]

Hello,Raymond Glad To See You Here. I Am New To This Forum Also.

The SS-FM Mags: You See Pics Like You Can See Nowhere Else.

Here Is one Front To Back.

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Guys, these magazines do look like little goldmines of info. Thanks for showing them.

Cheers, Ade.

[RaymondG]

Hi

The FM magazines do have some wonderful images, many of which I have never seen before.

The magazine came in two formats. It started in a newspaper format in 1934, before moving to the more professional magazine format a few months later.

They also manufactured an annual folder to keep all your monthly copies in. I will see if I can dig out an image of one.

Raymond

[ironcross1]

Hi there Raymond , welcome aboard , very interesting reading and history on the pins , awesome , cheers Raymond