Article about: One organization I have a lot of interest in is the Postschutz. It was tasked with guarding mail, telegraph, and radio stations. As it was a small organization, there is not a lot of materia
We have seen that the men in the RMBO-type uniforms were not Postschutz members as such, but simply postal officials. Now for a very brief look at the uniforms of the Postschutz:
The Postschutz was raised by an order of 7 March 1933. Its first uniform regulations were dated 23 March 1933 and specified the provisional uniform for the new service, which consisted of a dark blue cap and tunic and black trousers. Rank insignia were very basic and allowed only a distinction between men, NCOs and officers who wore, respectively, one, two or three gold rank stars (of the then-current standard postal pattern) pinned directly to the tunic collar.
By May 1934, this uniform was a replaced by a field grey one. New rank insignia were introduced along with the new uniform, with the rank insignia system enlarged/revised in 1939 and again changed in 1940. The uniform remained field grey for the next seven years after its introduction.
Howver, the armed forces objected to the widespread wear of field grey by various non-military services and organizations, which - along with economic considerations - eventually led to a Führer decree of 21 June 1941 which restricted the wear of field grey uniforms to the Wehrmacht and the SS (with only very few minor exceptions). Because of this decree, on the same day Reichspostminister Ohnesorge ordered the Postschutz personnel to return all field grey clothing items which were to be collected, cleaned, repaired and put into storage, the intention being to have them dyed a new color. Now, Postschutz personnel could only wear Drillich (work/fatigue) uniforms along with the field cap (which was retained for the time being out of necessity); instructors were also allowed to wear grey trousers with the Drillich jackets, but only while within the Postschutz schools. In public - such as when standing guard outside postal installations - even the Drillich could not be worn and Postschutz men had to wear normal blue postal uniforms or even suitable civilian clothing.
However, just one day after this ruling, the Eastern Campaign was launched and soon the uniform question for Postschutz men serving in the newly-occupied eastern territories became urgent. Ohnesorge made the proposal to have the field-grey uniforms dyed brown, which was accepted and implemented. The results, however, were apparently unsatisfactory and led to some complaints.
The matter was finally resolved, when the Postschutz was taken into the SS as the SS-Postschutz on May 1942 and was once more permanently authorized to wear field grey uniforms. Interestingly, the Postschutz became a part of the Allgemeine SS (rather than the Waffen-SS). Thus, blank right collar patches and A-SS type shoulder boards were worn rather than runes and military shoulder boards. SS-Postschutz personnel outside the Reich wore field grey, whereas those serving within Germany's borders were to wear the black service uniform. Apparently, the changeover in insignia was slow and gradual, with some personnel showing little enthusiasm to adopt the new insignia.
“Show me the regulation, and I’ll show you the exception.”
And now for the Postschutz-like uniforms and caps with green rather than orange piping seen in several posts in this thread:
These are actually not for the Postschutz, but for the Deutsche Dienstpost (Dt. Dp.). The Deutsche Dienstpost [German postal service for official mail] was set up in the occupied territories. (Not just in the east, but also in France, Northern Italy, the Balkans, the Netherlands, Denmark etc.) The first such service was established in May 1939 in Bohemia and Moravia after the Czech annexation, followed by Poland in December 1939. The Dt. Dp. was first disbanded in those territories - such as Luxemburg - that were fully absorbed by Germany and thus cared for by the regular postal service. It was then successively dissolved in the territories re-taken by the Allies, but continued to operate in the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway until the end of the war.
The Deutsche Dienstpost was responsible for running the postal service between the government- and administrative agencies in the occupied territories and within the Reich. As such, it was the civilian administration's equivalent to the armed forces' Feldpost service.
Personnel of the Deutsche Dienstpost wore the same uniforms and insignia as the Postschutz, but with green instead of orange pipings and shoulder board underlay. Also, the Postschutz sleeve patch was not to be worn by the Deutsche Dienstpost. This can be seen on the tunic in post # 23. However, in other cases - such as the uniform in post # 3 - the patch was worn. Again, this may imply a Dienstpost official's additional membership in the Postschutz. (It is worth noting that practically all postal officials in the Generalgouvernement were Postschutz members as well.)
Although the rank insignia were the same, they reflected the wearer's postal official's title rather than the Postschutz rank. (For example, three pips on a collar patch identified an Abteilungsführer in the Postschutz and an Oberpostsekretär in the Deutsche Dienstpost).
A final observation: I had always erroneously thought of the Postschutz of being a full-time, professional security service. However, this was not the case. The vast majority of its personnel were postal officials, -employees and -laborers who served in the Postschutz in addition to their normal duties: In 1941, the Postschutz had a total of ca. 42,000 members. Out of these, only some 900 - 1,000 - less than 3 % - were exclusively employed in Postschutz duties! (No doubt the percentage was much smaller still in peacetime.)
The above information on the Postschutz and the Deutsche Dienstpost comes from Michael Schweizer's (highly recommended) book "Der Postschutz und Postluftschutz im Dritten Reich und den besetzten Gebieten" and Dieter Deuster's article "Rangverhältnisse und Dienstkleidung im Deutschen Postwesen 1928-1945" in the periodical "Archiv für Deutsche Postgeschichte", issue no. 2/1987.
“Show me the regulation, and I’ll show you the exception.”
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