Volkssturm Uniform

[ffs1]

Attached is a picture of a Volkssturm soldier. Can anyone tell by the uniform where he was stationed, his regiment, rank, or any other information?

[John G.]

ffs1,
The photo shows a full SS/SD enlistedman.....his rank is SS Mann. There's nothing in the picture that shows anything to do with the Volksstrum....but it does show a member of the SS-Sicherheitsdienst or Sicherheitspolizei (SS Security Office or Security Polizei).

Can't tell any particular SD unit as the only differential would be a cuff title which this guy doesn't wear....I don't see a sleeve diamond, maybe the angle of the picture....the book (Angolia's "Cloth Ins. of the SS") says Non-SS members assigned to SD were not authorized to wear the sleeve diamond....but I doubt he'd wear the sleeve eagle & Visor hat fully decked out in SS insignia if he wasn't an SS member....

Hope this helps...
John G.

[Ian Hulley]

The man could be just a non-Germanic Waffen-SS Mann or Schutze. However I believe he's SiPo (or SD) because I'm not sure the foreign volunteers would have been issued with the schirmmutze, the straps certainly aren't white-piped I'll bet they're 'Gift Grun' ... Toxic Green of the SD.

Ian.

[ffs1]

Thank you all. I just guessed at him being Volkssturm. Thanks for setting me straight.

[pavel michalek]

This is war time photo taken before 1942 as he doesn´t have OrPo epaulet.

[scruffy]

a read sad sack example of a solider ,......his blood type tattoo under his arm ,...probably still hurt him
I doubt that he survived the war ,.... I say the photo is late war ,-----dopes like him were not even allowed into the ss , until 1943

[ffs1]

Scruffy

This man was a Donauschwab drafted into the A-H army in WW1. He was severely wounded in that war. At the start of WW2 he was kicked off his farm in Macedonia, ending up in Poland in this uniform. This DOPE lived to be 80 years old. I thought this was a respectable forum.

[Ian Hulley]

I thought this was a respectable forum.

And I can assure you that it is, we gave you honest answers ... only scruffy ran off at the mouth I think you'll find.

Ian

[Sewer King]

There do seem a few strange things about the photo, however. The clouded backdrop suggests that it is a studio portrait. Why would his belt be worn so noticeably aslant as this (or maybe too loose)? A good photographer might ordinarily straighten out something as simple as this before taking the picture, and maybe pose the subject more to look better. Especially if he has taken enough uniformed portraits. This of course assumes a professional lensman, but fixing these things does not actually require a pro.

In his preparations for the famous searchlight display at the NSDAP rally, Albert Speer noted that many Party members were not particularly photogenic, so doing the ceremonies at night were a big help. When the German foreign service was put into new uniforms in the late 1930s, one official quipped that it was not helpful because their undistinguished looks ended up making them look like doormen or porters.

This might apply to many ordinary police other ranks, regardless of their abilities or performance. Some men might not cut a good figure in uniform, and a photo might emphasize it. Maybe this would be more evident when a large proportion of the whole nation is in some kind of uniform?

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the straps certainly aren't white-piped I'll bet they're 'Gift Grun' ... Toxic Green of the SD.

Under what circumstances might there be such a mismatch between cap and shoulder strap piping?

Also, why no SS runes?

-- Alan

[Ian Hulley]

Branch-coloured cap piping was short-lived (about 6 months if I remember correctly) and it was abolished well before the SD 'Gift Grun' waffenfarbe was introduced so there's no circumstances that would justify a 'toxic green' piped cap.

Non-Germanic foreign volunteer units, the SD, SiPo and SS headquarter offices all wore the blank right collar patch. German members of foreign units were authorised to wear runes or the units own tab and the bullion embroidered runes below the left breast pocket (same as the police SS members wore).

Ian

[Sewer King]

Thanks, Ian.

The man could be just a non-Germanic Waffen-SS Mann or Schutze. However I believe he's SiPo (or SD) because I'm not sure the foreign volunteers would have been issued with the schirmmutze ...

For what is likely a studio photo and not official, I think there is a chance that the peaked cap was a loan just for the portrait. As an older, lowest-ranking man and ethnic German, could he also be a reservist?

=============================

This man was a Donauschwab drafted into the A-H army in WW1. He was severely wounded in that war. At the start of WW2 he was kicked off his farm in Macedonia, ending up in Poland in this uniform.

How do we have the basics about his Austro-Hungarian conscription, but not about his security service in the next war?

-- Alan

[ffs1]

He was my Grandfather.

[Sewer King]

I understand. Would there have been little record handed down of his police service then, except for this portrait?

I did not mean anything unflattering about his photo -- it was similar to what I supposed in another thread about Third Reich wedding photos. It is sometimes the nature of photographing people in general.

-- Alan