The caption on the reverse side of the
Spieß' photo says:
"Zu stehtem* Andenken
von Deinem Freund
Willy [...]**
SS-Unterscharf. u. Stabsscha.***"
...i.e.:
"As a constant memory
from your friend
Willy [...]
SS-Unterscharf. u. Stabsscha."
*) misspelt; should be "stetem"
**) Sorry, can't quite make out the name.
***) See below.
The universally known and commonly used - but colloquial - term
Spieß referred to the NCO holding the duty position that was officially known as
Stabsscharführer in the SS (or
Hauptfeldwebel in the
Heer and
Luftwaffe). This was a company's senior NCO. (Unless I am mistaken, the British equivalent would be a Company Sergeant Major.)
"Senior", however, does neither mean the oldest nor the longest-serving, but refers to the status and responsibilities of the duty position.
In the SS, this duty position was normally held by an NCO of one of the two highest SNCO ranks, i.e.
Hauptscharführer or
Sturmscharführer. Only then was the holder of said duty position officially designated as
Stabsscharführer.
In wartime, lower-ranked NCOs would also be assigned to this duty postion, in which case they were properly referred to as
Stabsscharführerdiensttuer [i.e. "acting
Stabsscharführer"] [Note to non-German speakers: I dare you to say
Stabsscharführerdiensttuer three times in a row without a slip of the tongue!
]
This was the case with the man in the photograph: He is a humble
Unterscharführer, i.e. the lowest JNCO rank.
As has been said above, the
Spieß was clearly identified by the twin rings of sleeve
Tresse, but the notebook tucked into the tunic front - as seen in this photograph - was almost as important a sign of this duty position.
Oh, and the other two captions say: "
Bruder Wilil" = "
Brother Willi" and "
Rußland 1942" = "
Russia 1942".
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