Doppel Doppellitzen!

[stonemint]

[Arran]

Well that is extremely odd...

[HPL2008]

Well that is extremely odd...

The photo has clearly been retouched to update the rank insignia from Untersturmführer to Hauptsturmführer: Note that the two rank pips on the shoulder boards are also painted in, and rather crudely so. The person who did this was apparently not familiar with the finer points of SS rank insignia and got the collar patches wrong.

Updating rank insignia or adding decorations by means of retouching an older portrait picture was a common practice if a photograph of a person was urgently required - say, for a press release or a death card - but no current one was available.

[stonemint]

Yes, the photo was retouched. Here is a better closeup of the tabs/boards--you can see they were (somewhat crudely) painted in:

[TWS]

Updating rank insignia or adding decorations by means of retouching an older portrait picture was a common practice if a photograph of a person was urgently required - say, for a press release or a death card - but no current one was available.

Absolutely. Common practice. I have a portrait of a Romanian WWII era officer in my collection whereby the studio "updated" his rank insignia on the print.