Not sure about this armband- Sonderkommando Trawniki

[BOB COLEMAN]

WHY is it fake? How do you know it's fake. I want to learn too, not just to tell my friend. No such unit for instance is good, I didn't know that.

As previously stated, the material is incorrect for a period armband. An armband for a KZ Lager prisoner would never have a SS property stamp. The final question being, how would an armband from Poland travel to North America in brand new condition? Some things in collecting can only be learned by years of experience and unfortunately mistakes.

[Adrian Stevenson]

I can tell you a bit about the "supposed" background to this item. It is OK collecting stuff, but what is equally, if not more important, is to understand the historical background and context to items.

Read up on the Rising of the Jewish Gheto in Warsaw in 1943. There was a large SS training camp located at Trawniki where a lot of Eastern European volunteers were trained. Some of these men were brought in to help put down the rising. Jurgen Stroop, the SS Commander calls them "the Trawniki Men" in his report. These were adhoc units thrown together. The faker here has created an armband supposedly for them.

Cheers, Ade.

[all1knew]

Hello all,

Another discussion on these:

SS-sonderkommando armband - Wehrmacht-Awards.com Militaria Forums

same material as the one that started the thread but these two are different color - identical ink stamp

look at look at the "iki" in the stamping, on the white version no word "Sipo"

both green examples have artificial rust splattering on them, proving they were made by the same faker as the other reproduction pair. In the end all are fake.

As Bob Coleman has stated, they have a fake SS Office stamp on them, the white version being different than the green version. Identical manufacturing technique and materials used in all three, and the circular SS eagle stamp is on a similar angle as well.

William Kramer

[all1knew]

another I found and detail of stamp.

William Kramer

[BOB COLEMAN]

WHY is it fake? How do you know it's fake. I want to learn too, not just to tell my friend. No such unit for instance is good, I didn't know that.

The sonnderkommando never wore an armband. After many years of collecting, some items, such as this piece, stand out as being fake. ANY Holocaust itemrequires scrutiny as few genuine examples survive. Ask yourself the question, how would such an item from Eastern Europe end up in Wisconsin? Why would anyone want to retain such an item? Regardless, it is a fantasy item. If your friend does not want to accept the fact this is a fake, that is up to him. He is either very inexperienced or a fraud.

[all1knew]

having an armband like this and being caught at the end of the war by Poles, former camp inmates or the Soviets would have been an IMMEDIATE death sentence. Immediate. Makes just about as much sense as an in-field CIA agent wearing a t-shirt that says "undercover" on it.

These are not even to be considered "reproduction" as nothing like them ever existed, these are complete fantasy designs that were made up.

William Kramer