Waffen-SS camp guard collar tab set for Unterscharführer

Description

Unissued mint example ‘SS Temporary Camp Guard’ collar tab. This pattern of collar insignia was introduced in 1944. It was worn by the thousands of Wehrmacht personnel who were transferred to the SS to serve as guards in the concentration camp system, to make up for manpower shortages as the SS pushed their combat-ready troops to the front. This tab is textbook in all aspects, and is the so-called ‘Dachau’ type, very likely one of the many removed from the Dachau storage by American soldiers as a souvenir. The double swastika is machine embroidered in white thread on black wool. The reverse shows the typical Dachau white stitching, and a typical buckram stiffener. The embroidery shows very slight age toning. This SS Temporary Camp Guard collar tab was never issued or worn, and has no mothing or other damage. It’s an evocative piece of insignia from the most sinister and notorious SS branch. It comes with a nearly matching rank tab, for the rank of SS-Unterscharführer