Swastika armband

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The swastika armband was introduced by the early National Socialists in 1920 as a " combat armband ". They took over the swastika from the anti - Semitic Völkisch movement . Initially, this armband was used to identify the party members of the NSDAP , as they were equipped with different street clothes and various reworked uniforms from the First World War or the Freikorps and were often indistinguishable from their political opponents. From 1925 onwards the armband was called the “storm band”, but both names were used until the unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945. Until then, there were around 38 variants of this armband.

This armband was a significant feature of the Nazi officials during the Nazi era . Outside of the German Reich , the National Socialists' preference for uniforms, including their armband, was often caricatured , for example in Charlie Chaplin's feature film The Great Dictator .

In the last weeks of the war, the swastika armband was sometimes used as a uniform substitute for the Volkssturm , although it was marked by its own armband.

With the Control Council Act No. 2 , all National Socialist organizations were dissolved and banned. Until today, according to § 86 Abs. 1 Nr. 4 StGB, the use of symbols of unconstitutional organizations is forbidden to display and wear this armband with the exception of the historical documentation in Germany, Austria and other countries.

Supporters of the Hitler putsch with swastika armbands during the arrest of city councilors

Description and examples

The Nazi swastika armband was made of red wool with a white circle with a black swastika ("swastika mirror") attached in the middle. The numerous subdivisions of the NSDAP often had their own "armbands", but their basic pattern was always the same, such as

Different forms

The armbands had to comply with the party official regulations of the NSDAP. Members who could not financially afford the purchase through a tailor were allowed to make their own armbands. These had to be approved by a superordinate body (usually by a local group leader or district leader ) and received a stamp on the left side of the armband, with the stamp overlapping the circle and the red base field.

The members of the “NSDAP party readiness” also wore such a somewhat narrower armband. This was woven and bore the printed inscription NSDAP-party readiness in black .

Early special armbands

For the "Jugendbund der NSDAP" founded on May 13, 1922, which wore an SA-like uniform, a separate armband was introduced in 1924. This was later taken over by the Hitler Youth .

Before the introduction of the rank badges and shoulder pieces, the rank of the bearer was represented by various horizontal stripes and colors in the Nazi organizations since 1921.

Sturmabteilung (SA)

(including the Motor-SA and the "National Socialist Workers' Youth" / Hitler Youth)

  1. SA man: no stripes; normal NS armband
  2. Platoon leader: two silver (white) stripes
  3. Hundred leader: three silver stripes
  4. Regimental commander: four silver stripes
  5. Squad leader: a golden stripe
  6. Reichsführer SA: three gold stripes and two narrow gold stripes

Schutzstaffel (SS)

  1. SS man: normal SS armband
  2. Deputy local SS leader: 1 white stripe
  3. Local SS leader (relay leader): 1 gold stripe
  4. Deputy Gau SS leader: 2 white stripes
  5. Gau SS-Führer (Oberführer): 2 gold stripes
  6. Deputy Reichsstaffelführer: 3 white stripes
  7. Reichsstaffelführer (Reichsführer): 3 gold stripes

These armbands were used until 1930 and became obsolete with the introduction of the rank mirror , which in 1933 was supplemented with shoulder pieces.

Reserve units from 1934

The reserve units of the SA, SS etc. also wore special armbands from 1934:

  1. Members of the SA reserve wore armbands with a 1 cm wide gray stripe on the edges. This armband was also used by the other Nazi organizations with the exception of the HJ and the SS.
  2. Members of the SS main departments and the reserve wore the SS armband. The black stripes of the SS armband were gray for members of the main departments and white for the SS reserves.
  3. Members of the Hitler Youth reserve wore the Hitler Youth armband, which, like the SA reserve armband, was edged with a 1 cm wide strip.
  4. Members of the so-called "SA military sports communities" wore a red armband with a white circle in which the SA military badge was shown in green.

Parodies

Double cross

Outside of the National Socialist German Reich, this mark was caricatured along with the Nazi uniforms, the best-known example is the double cross in Chaplin's film The Great Dictator . There, the swastika as part of the uniform has become a dark oval with two slightly offset white St. Andrew's crosses arranged vertically one below the other . The double cross alludes to the English term double-cross for "fraudulent double play". The armband over the coats also bears this modified symbol.

literature

  • Brian L. Davis, Ian Westwell: German Uniforms and Badges. 1933-1945 . Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-613-02676-7 .
  • Andrew Mollo: Uniforms of the SS . Volume 1: Allgemeine SS 1933–1945 . 4th edition. Windrow & Greene, London 1991, ISBN 1-872004-90-3 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Figures The Great Dictator (PDF; 2.4 MB) ( Memento from February 19, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ^ Brian L. Davis and Ian Westwell: German Uniforms and Badges 1933-1945 , illustration p. 108.
  3. ^ Brian L. Davis and Ian Westwell: German Uniforms and Badges 1933-1945 , illustration on p. 71.
  4. ^ Brian L. Davis and Ian Westwell: German Uniforms and Badges 1933-1945 , illustration p. 113.
  5. ^ A b c Brian L. Davis and Ian Westwell: German uniforms and badges 1933–1945 , p. 95.
  6. ↑ Hermann Göring used his service armband introduced in 1923 until around 1932. (Sources: Peter Longerich: Die braunen Bataillone , plate p. 19; Brian L. Davis: Uniforms and Badges of the Air Force 1940–1945 , Chapter: “Hermann Göring and his uniforms”, pictures p. 262 and 265; David Littlejohn: The SA 1925–45 , picture p. 9)