Belgian SS Cloth Insignia & E.Reitz

**Dos** · 02-09-2021, 06:56 PM

Hello Everyone,

I found a website E. Reitz Uniformwerke while i was browsing. I've spoken to the owner of this website, Werner Palinckx. I have asked if i could post these images here for future reference and he agreed. Note that all of these pictures have copyrights and can't be used without prior consent. There is interesting information that can be found on the website mentioned above. It also shows period pictures of these insignia in wear on uniforms and caps! The website seems to be still under construction so things maybe added in the near future.

Some information that is available on the website by Werner Palinckx:

Cloth Insignia – E. Reitz Uniformwerke

Belgian made cloth insignia are often referred to as being “Reitz made” insignia.
The E.Reitz factory however never produced any insignia herself. All insignia that were to be applied on the uniforms had to be supplied by the customer. In most cases this was the clothing office that issued the order for the production of a batch of uniforms. The German Army had many different of these clothing offices ( Heeresbekleidungsamt , Luftwaffe Bekleidungsamt , Kriegsmarine Bekleidungsamt ) and all the other paramilitary organisations had similar offices too ( Todt, NSKK, …) as did the collaboration organisations.

All of these customers had to deliver the cloth and insignia to the factory. The factory made the desired uniforms out of them. So it happened that some of these customers ordered their insignia with Belgian companies.

The area around Aalst ( Alost in french) was famous for it’s textile production before the war and they continued to produce during the war and are still doing so today.

One company named “Nominette” produced insignia for police, firefighters and civilian associations which were woven in a manner that it shows an almost perfect match with the well known war time Belgian made cloth insignia. We were able to receive the full history of the company with drawings and samples, but unfortunately the 4 war time years were – conveniently ? – missing due to bombardments during the liberation of Aalst in 1944.

Conveniently ? Because all companies producing and selling goods for the enemy were accused of collaboration and many suffered heavy penalties which often led to bankruptcy of the company concerned, not to mention imprisonment of it’s leadership. So there is no solid proof, but all facts and the production method of the insignia, point towards this company.

This is just a part of what is written there and it's worthwhile to read in my opinion. For the buckle collectors here, There is a section that can be found about Belgian made buckles:

Belt Buckles – E. Reitz Uniformwerke

The images that i show below are Belgian made SS insignia and belt buckles belonging to a collector called Michel Lalieux. You can click on them to enlarge! I wanted to share this with you all since there are only a few topics about these insignia and of course because of my interest for skull insignia.

Another older thread about these can be found here:

Belgium made machine woven ss cap skull and eagle set ( mint )

Thank you Werner & Michel, Enjoy!

-Dos

Credits: Michel Lalieux

**Espenlaub Militaria** · 02-09-2021 06:56 PM

We also buy and trade your items and full collections!

**Aldo** · 02-09-2021, 07:01 PM

Love it, great reference.

**Arran** · 02-10-2021, 07:56 PM

This is a great reference, thank you, and thanks to the original publisher. I got quite a bit of Belgian-made SS insignia from the FAKE section of Manions years ago- thank goodness they didn't know what they were doing!