Fashion designer ss. Form of the Waffen SS: the history of the creation and insignia of the military uniform of the Wehrmacht

The famous German fashion house apologized to the world community for the fact that during the Second World War, forced labor was used in its factories.

Hugo Ferdinand BOSS.

Why did Hugo join the Nazi party?

Back in 1997, Hugo Boss publicly acknowledged its collaboration with the Nazis. The impetus for the statement of the representatives of the company was the disclosure of hidden bank accounts in Switzerland, in which the name of Hugo Boss appeared, which proved his connection with the Nazis. But then in the statements there was a statement about the complete ignorance of the company's management about this fact - the absence of any mention of events related to the maintenance of the Nazi regime in the company's archives served as an argument.
In 2006, the Austrian magazine Profil wrote that Hugo Boss supplied uniforms to the Nazi army during World War II. And, even worse, she used the labor of prisoners from concentration camps and prisoners of war for this. The firm did not deny the allegations. Press secretary Monica Stylen said at the time: "The Hugo Boss factory made work clothes and, apparently, uniforms for the SS." But since the enterprise did not have more accurate data about its history, the supply of Nazi uniforms and the use of forced labor were left without comment. And only a year later, the 83-year-old son of Hugo Boss Siegfried admitted that his father was a member of the Nazi Party. “And who was not a member at that time? The whole industry worked for the Nazis,” said Siegfried Boss.
To clean up the image of the company, it was decided to hire a historian who would investigate the events of 60 years ago, as did many other German companies accused of collaborating with the Nazis.
The author of the recently published book Hugo Boss, 1924-1945, Bundeswehr University economic historian Roman Köster, to whom the company commissioned the study, had to check the rumors about the use of forced labor in the factories of the enterprise, and also find out whether Hugo Ferdinand Boss was really Hitler's "personal tailor".
After studying historical documents, the author of the book came to the conclusion that the founder of a textile company in the city of Metzingen (Baden-Württemberg) was a sincere supporter of the Nazi Party. “It is clear that Hugo Ferdinand Boss joined the party not only because of the opportunity to receive orders for the tailoring of military uniforms,” the author of the publication writes.
After the war, Boss claimed until his death in 1948 that he had joined to save his company, having been commissioned to make uniforms, first for party members and then for SS units. “Perhaps this is true, but judging by the statements of Hugo Ferdinand Boss, it cannot be said that his personal views diverged from those of the National Socialists,” Köster said. “That probably didn’t happen.”
From April 1940, Hugo Boss began to use forced labor in his enterprise, mostly women. At the factory, which served as the basis for the current Fashion House, 140 immigrants from Poland and 40 from France were used as forced labor in those years. Especially for such workers, a camp was built near the factory. Hygiene and food supply were at times very far from accepted norms.
As Roman Koester notes, in 1944, a year before the end of the war, Boss tried to alleviate the situation of female workers. He ordered some of them to be placed in his house, and also improved their nutrition. “We can only repeat what is already known: the treatment of forced factory workers was at times very cruel and reached the point of coercion. At the same time, care was shown about them, so it is very difficult to come to unambiguous conclusions, ”the author of the book writes.
The leadership of the fashion house Hugo Boss does not deny its past. After receiving the results of Roman Köster's research, the bosses not only did not interfere with the publication of the book, but also accompanied it with an official apology for the use of forced labor in the past. “We acknowledge all the hard facts and deeply regret that many people had to endure suffering while working in our factories during the war years. We didn't even try to hide it or rewrite history. By funding Roman Köster's research, we hoped to see the true story of our company. Our expectations have come true,” Hugo Boss management said in an official statement.
Representatives of Hugo Boss claim that they did not subject the work of Roman Koester to any censorship and that the book came out in the form in which the author wrote it.

It all started with a uniform for postmen

Hugo Boss is one of the most famous fashion houses. Under this brand, classic lines of clothing, accessories and perfumes are produced. Clothing lines for men and women (there is also a children's line) from Hugo Boss are produced under two brands: Boss collections are presented separately, the main one is named Boss Black, and separately - Hugo clothing lines. Unlike the classic Boss, the Hugo brand is more unconventional and progressive. Another brand for "sophisticated" men and women, according to advertising, Hugo Boss is positioning the Baldessarini brand. Also accessories are produced under the Hugo Boss brand: watches, sunglasses and even mobile phones (together with Samsung), as well as perfumes.
Hugo Ferdinand Boss founded his company in Metzingen in 1923, just a few years after the end of the First World War, at a time when almost all of Germany was in a state of economic collapse.
At first it was a family business, the company was a small shop that grew into a small factory that was engaged in sewing uniforms for social services - policemen, postmen and overalls for workers. The post-war crisis in Germany affected the company, and soon, in 1930, Hugo Boss declared bankruptcy.
But changes in social and political life in Germany gave the company the opportunity for revenge. In 1931 (two years before Adolf Hitler came to power), Hugo Boss, like many Germans, joins the National Socialist Party of Germany. And soon the new party affiliation begins to bear fruit. One of the first major contracts Hugo Boss got was to make brown shirts for members of the Nazi Party. Then he received orders for the manufacture of uniforms for the German armed forces, attack aircraft, SS men and the youth organization Hitler Jugend. He also proudly wore a party badge on his jacket, recalls Hugo Boss' son Siegfried.
In 1946, for his membership in the party, support for the SS and supplying Nazi troops with uniforms - even before 1933 - Boss was recognized as an activist and supporter of the NSDAP; for this he was deprived of the right to vote, the opportunity to run his own company and was fined 100,000 marks.
In the post-war period, the company returned to the manufacture of clothing for postmen and police officers. In 1948, the founder of the company, Hugo Boss, dies, but the company continues to develop, and in the early 50s, the first men's suit appears in its assortment. But it wasn't until the 70s that the company focused entirely on men's fashion. The transformation of Hugo Boss into the fashion brand we know it today was greatly facilitated by the new management of the company. In 1967, the brothers Holy, Uwe and Jochen, the grandsons of Hugo Boss, take over the management. In the wake of the post-war recovery of the German economy, Hugo Boss is rapidly developing and becomes the largest in Germany and one of the largest clothing manufacturers in the world, as well as an influential fashion house.

Heinrich Himmler in a Hugo Boss suit.

Entrepreneurs of the Third Reich

Fashion house Hugo Boss has joined the long list of the largest German concerns that recognized the use of slave labor during the Second World War.
Equipment manufacturers Krupp, Siemens, medical firm Bayer, automobile firms Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, BMW, Porsche, and the American company Ford exploited the labor of hundreds of thousands of prisoners of war. For example, at the BMW factories, 30,000 prisoners repaired the engines of military aircraft, but at the Krupp factories, 70,000 prisoners, along with the manufacture of coffee makers and washing machines, built ... gas chambers. This enterprise even had its own factory on the territory of the Auschwitz concentration camp. At the Bayer plant, the prisoners made poisonous gases, and they lived for only three and a half months. Out of 35,000 workers
25,000 died.
Enterprises explained the use of prisoner labor simply - all ordinary workers were in the army, there was no one to work. The money earned by the prisoners went to Hitler's party and to finance the war effort. Already in the 1950s, some former prisoners began to demand compensation from these German firms, and many of the demands were satisfied.
Not so long ago, charges of sympathy for the National Socialists were brought against the founder of the furniture company IKEA, Ingvar Kamprad. One of the richest men in the world, Ingvar Kamprad also collaborated with the Nazis during World War II. Moreover, as Swedish historian Elisabeth Osbrink argues in her new book, the founder of IKEA still does not hide his sympathies for the Nazis.

For that time, the uniform of the German troops, sewn by Hugo Boss, was very fashionable and functional.

SS Fashion

The uniform for the SS was carefully designed, but looked intimidating. (SS is the abbreviated name of the German Schutzstaffel - “protective division”, the elite of the fascist troops.) The black SS uniform (well known to our viewers from Tatyana Lioznova’s Seventeen Moments of Spring) was invented by a 34-year-old heraldry specialist, a member of the Imperial Association of German Artists » Prof. Karl Diebitsch with his assistant Walter Heck. The latter also developed an emblem in the form of a double rune "zig" (the rune "zig" - lightning - in ancient German mythology was considered a symbol of the god of war Thor) and the design of melee weapons for the SS.
The creation of the SS uniform of Dibich was inspired by the uniform of the Prussian “Hussars of Death” (in colloquial German since the 18th century, it is customary to call the 1st Life Hussar Regiment and the 2nd Life Hussar Regiment of Queen Victoria of Prussia), which was decorated with the Totenkopf emblem - “dead head".
Ironically, the Russian Empire had its own black hussars dressed in a similar uniform: the Fifth Regiment of the Alexandrian Hussars.
Black uniforms and caps for SS members were introduced on July 7, 1932, and after 1939, a massive transition of SS members to gray uniforms began. In fact, from that moment on, the black uniform was no longer worn, giving preference to gray. Also for operations in Italy and the Balkans, SS units were dressed in yellow uniforms. In 1944, the black uniform was abolished in Germany. Soviet cultural figures turned it into a memorable symbol of an SS man.

- Yes, I know that the Nazi uniform was invented by Hugo Boss, but objectively, the uniform is very beautiful. Stirlitz is immediately remembered ... And now our soldiers, they say, go in uniform from Yudashkin. So feel the difference, as they say. In general, I believe that art should be judged separately from the temporary circumstances in which it was created.

Alexey GOLOVIN,
psychologist (Krasnoyarsk):

- I heard that Hugo Boss even used the services of a small concentration camp for prisoners of war. They sewed shirts for German soldiers. There is a legend that he moved especially capable workers to his house, improved their living conditions ... I don’t know how to relate to this. You can't rewrite history. Nevertheless, now the company is apologizing to the victims of Nazism for something, which means they feel involved in bad deeds.

Eduard PINYUGZHANIN,
TV journalist (Kirov):

- The fact that Hugo Boss sewed a uniform for the Nazis did not shock me and did not become some kind of revelation. At that time, many people, in order to survive, had to accept for themselves the "rules of the game" that the Hitler government dictated. It is worth noting that Hugo Boss thus earned himself and, by creating jobs, made it possible for others to earn a living. His products were not lethal. The form can only intimidate. So I don't see anything special about what Hugo Boss did during World War II.

Igor NELYUBIN,
press secretary of ZAO VyatkaTorf (Kirov):

- We know the artist by his works, and not by what he was in life. Scoundrels are also talented - this fact does not require proof. We cannot say that Hugo Boss was a villain simply because he did his job with talent and quality. If he had worked differently, no one would have thanked him for this and would not have remembered him at all. Another thing is that Boss himself was a Nazi and used slave labor. This does not paint him at all and, probably, it would be worthy of condemnation at the Nuremberg trials as aiding the enemy. No credit for his talent. But people, whatever they may be, leave life. What remains is what is valuable for our society, for future generations.

Lyubov MOZHAEVA,
artistic director of the creative association "Union of Creators of Russia" (Irkutsk):

- World War II ended a long time ago, but facts from the “black” past are still emerging. On the one hand, like any sane person, forced labor deeply disgusts me. I understand perfectly well that the workers, or rather, the workers (as far as I know, mostly women from Poland, France and Ukraine worked at the factory at that time) lived in terrible conditions. It was a concentration camp, not a resort. But I fully admit the idea that Hugo Ferdinand Boss really was forced to work for the Hitler regime in order to save his business. By analogy with our country, our factories and plants were also redesigned for the needs of the war. I doubt that the leadership of the USSR offered any choice - rather, it simply confronted the fact.

Sergey PLATONOV,
Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics and Management in Construction (Irkutsk):

- German historians have entered into controversy over this scandal. Someone says that Hugo Boss was forced to cooperate with Hitler, others (in particular, Roman Köster) argue that the businessman sincerely sympathized with National Socialism. Finding reliable information is no longer possible. But it is known for certain that Hugo Boss paid a fine for aiding the Nazis. Now the leadership has apologized for the use of slave labor. In addition, in 2000 the company joined the "Remembrance, Responsibility, Future" fund, created by large German firms to pay compensation to former forced laborers. In summary, I can say that these official apologies and all the information that has surfaced in connection with this, albeit not very flattering, are all a good PR move in support of a book about the history of the company and interest in the brand.

Hugo Boss was born on July 8, 1885 in Metzingen, Baden-Württemberg. He studied at the People's School (German: Volksschule) and until 1899 attended the Real School (German: Realschule). For three years he studied merchant business in Bad Urach.

In 1902, Boss went to work in a weaving factory in Metzingen. After completing military service from 1903 to 1905, he worked at a weaving factory in Konstanz.

In 1908, after the death of his parents, Hugo Boss took over their textile shop in Metzingen. In the same year, he married Anna Katharina Freysinger (German: Anna Katharina Freysinger). From this marriage was born a daughter, Gertrude (German: Gertrud), who in 1931 married sales agent Eugen Holy (German: Eugen Holy).

In 1914, Hugo Boss went to the front with the rank of chief corporal (German: Obergefreiter) and retired from the army in the same rank in 1918. Nothing is known about his active participation in the First World War. In 1923, Hugo Boss founded a small garment factory in Metzingen for the production of work and sportswear.
In 1930, his company was in danger of bankruptcy. On April 1, 1931, Hugo Boss joined the NSDAP (membership number 508889) and thereby saved his factory by receiving a party order for the production of uniforms for the SA, SS and Hitler Youth, other Nazi paramilitary structures and the Wehrmacht.

These are the black uniforms for the SS (SchutzStaffel), the famous brown shirts for the SA (Sturmabteilung) stormtroopers, as well as the black and brown uniforms for the Hitler Youth.

The author of the black SS uniform, as well as many regalia of the Third Reich, was Karl Dibich. He was born in 1899. Will die many years after the end of World War II in 1985. He also served in the SS as Oberführer. He designed the SS uniforms with graphic designer Walter Heck. Dibich also designed the Ahnenerbe logo and crosses for SS officers. By the way, Dibich was also the director of the Porzellan Manufaktur Allach porcelain factory in 1936 before the factory was transferred to the SS and moved to Dachau.
Walter Heck, a graphic artist, was also an SS Hauptsturmführer. It was he who in 1933 developed the emblem of the SS, combining two runes "Zig" (the rune "zig" - lightning in ancient German mythology was considered a symbol of the god of war Thor). He also designed the emblem of the SA

Very soon the company became one of the main manufacturers of military and paramilitary uniforms. With the outbreak of World War II, his factory was declared an important military enterprise and received an order for the production of Wehrmacht uniforms. However, Hugo Boss was only one of the 75,000 German private tailors covering the army.
Production continued throughout the war. The firm received colossal revenues from the National Socialist state.
According to one version, Hugo Boss and his team could be the personal tailors of the Fuhrer and the hierarchs of the Reich, at least it is clear that the company enjoyed their patronage.

The expansion of production and profits of the factory was facilitated by the use of slave labor by citizens of the occupied countries, who were kept in inhuman conditions and exploited in the most inhumane way. During the war years, the company used forced labor of 140 Poles and 40 French prisoners. After the defeat of the Reich in 1945, the Allies tried Hugo Boss. But he, having convinced the court that he had become a Nazi but of necessity, escaped prison, he was sentenced to a huge fine of 100 thousand marks. “Of course my father belonged to the Nazi Party,” says Siegfried Boss, 83, today. "But who didn't belong to her then?"

The uniform of the SA assault troops by Boss

SS and GESTAPO caps designed by Hugo Boss

Collection autumn 1934-winter 1935

Collection 1935, Berlin

Hitler costume, designed by Hugo Boss 1935. Photo from a women's magazine

After the war, Boss quickly switched to sewing uniforms for police, railroad and postal workers, as well as work clothes. After the death of Hugo Boss in 1948, his son-in-law Eugen Holy took over the firm. Hugo Boss produced the first men's suit in 1953. In 1967, the company was taken over by Eugen Holy's children, Uwe and Jonen.
1946: The factory almost burns out again: Hugo Boss is accused of collaborating with the Nazis, fined 80,000 marks and deprived of the right to vote.

1948: Hugo Boss dies and his son-in-law Eugen Holy takes over the company. Hugo Boss again specializes in uniforms for railroad workers and postmen.

1953: Hugo Boss launches the first men's suit. This is a turning point in the history of the company: it begins to move away from mass production of clothing and gradually move closer to the world of haute couture.

1967: Uwe and Jochen Holy, the children of the former head of the firm and grandchildren of the founder, take over the company. It is they who turn the brand into a world famous fashion brand.

1970s: Hugo Boss develops rapidly. First, the firm becomes Germany's largest menswear manufacturer. Secondly, the company is turning into an influential fashion house.

1972: Hugo Boss sponsors Formula 1 racing, golf and tennis championships for the first time.

1975: Talented fashion designer Werner Baldessarini starts working with Hugo Boss.

1984: launch of the brand's perfume line.

1993: The company is taken over by the Italian holding Marzotto SpA (currently Valentino Fashion Group). The Holy brothers leave the enterprise. Peter Littman becomes the CEO of the company. He divides the brand into lines with different target audiences: Boss offering classic clothes, Hugo with bold youth models, Baldessarini with luxury products.

1996: Launch of the Hugo Boss Award for Achievement in Contemporary Art.

1997: The company receives a license to manufacture watches in conjunction with the Swiss brand Tempus Concept.

2000: The men's brand begins to produce collections for women. Hugo Boss, again accused of collaborating with the Nazis, joins the "Remembrance, Responsibility, Future" Foundation. It provides £500,000 in compensation to former forced laborers.

2002: the appearance of the children's line of the brand.

2004: Opening of a 1100 m2 boutique in Paris at 115 Champs Elysées.

2005: Launch of the Boss Skin line of men's cosmetics and obtaining a license for the production of glasses.

2006: First collaboration between Folker Kahele, creative director of Hugo Boss and Jamiroquai frontman Jay Kay. The joint JK for Hugo collection includes biker jackets and gloves, trousers, jersey items.

2007: Private equity firm Permira acquires a majority stake in Hugo Boss Group. The Baldessarini brand is bought out by Werner Baldessarini. Hugo Boss has the Boss Selection line, replacing the sold brand.

2008: obtaining a license for the joint production of women's jewelry with the Swarovski brand.

2009: Launch of the Samsung Hugo Boss mobile phone.

2009: Hugo Boss employs more than 9,000 people.

2012: publication of the book “Hugo Boss, 1924-1945” by Roman Kester commissioned by the company management. The work tells about the times of cooperation of the factory with the Nazis.

Today Hugo Boss is one of the most recognizable fashion houses. The main shareholder of the company is Valentino Fashion Group. The General Manager is Bruno Sälzer. The company's designers were Werner Baldessarini, Andrea Canelloni, Jose Hang, Volker Kaichele, Bruno Peters, Graham Black, Eyan Allen, Karin Busnel, Bart de Becker.

used the slave labor of citizens of the occupied countries, held in inhuman conditions. Such an accusation is contained in the book of Roman Kester, a young historian from Munich. The historian received an order for the book from the company itself, which wanted to shed light on the darkest pages of its past.

German fashion house Hugo Boss has apologized for the mistreatment of those who were forced to work in their factory during the Second World War, which produced military uniforms for the Nazis.

At the factory, which served as the basis for the current Fashion House, 140 immigrants from Poland and 40 from France were used as forced labor in those years.

After the defeat of the Reich in 1945, the Allies tried Hugo Boss and sentenced him to a huge fine of 100,000 marks, but he escaped prison. He claimed to have become a Nazi out of necessity. But this is not true. He joined the NSDAP in 1931.

"It is clear that Hugo Ferdinand Boss joined the party not only because of the opportunity to receive orders for the tailoring of military uniforms, but also because he was a follower of National Socialism," the author writes.

One of the first major contracts that Hugo Boss got was to make brown shirts for members of the newly formed Nazi Party.

By 1938, the factory was producing army uniforms, and eventually they began to sew uniforms for SS units.

SS is the abbreviation of the German Schutzstaffel - "protective division". The elite of the fascist troops. Initially, the squadron was formed for the personal protection of Hitler, but grew into a leading military organization. And the uniform for the SS was designed carefully, but looked intimidating. The SS wore black uniforms with breeches and knee-high boots, brown shirts with a black tie, black caps with a death's head cockade, and insignia in the form of two Zig runes. But during combat training, it turned out that the black uniform was not suitable for war and the gray SS uniform for combat operations was introduced. Also for operations in Italy and the Balkans, SS units were dressed in yellow uniforms. The whole form was constantly undergoing changes and refined over the years of the war. This variety of outfits required large capacities for the production of uniforms, and many enterprises were engaged in the production of weapons and could not produce anything else. So the provision of military needs was a profitable business.
In 1930, Hugo Boss (Hugo Boss) was on the verge of bankruptcy. Hugo, the owner of the factory, made up his mind and joined the NSDAP (Nazi Party) and immediately received an order for the production of uniforms for the SA, SS and Hitler Youth. In principle, the choice is quite predictable. It was difficult to exist outside the party, and members received assistance and benefits. Although principles did not allow someone to do this ... In 1937, almost a hundred people already worked for Hugo Boss. With the outbreak of World War II, his company was registered as an important military enterprise and received an order for the manufacture of Wehrmacht uniforms. Indeed, some of the SS uniform designs were designed by Hugo Boss, not by Hugo himself, but by Professor Karl Oberführer and designer Diebitschen Walter Kech. After the war, Hugo Boss quickly switched to making uniforms for railroad workers and postmen. And the brand entered high fashion only in the 90s. And at this time, a new movement was born - Nazi chic - Nazi chic. The costumes have undergone a significant redesign and are made from completely different fabrics. Nazi uniforms are especially popular in Japan, where neo-Nazi organizations are active, and young people dress up in Nazi costumes "for fun." It is a pity that not everyone thinks about the ethics of their actions. Although you can not blame people for wanting to stand out, especially children. Even the Nazi uniform is very popular with fetishists, but the photo was not uploaded for ethical reasons. In general, there are quite sexy images:) How do you like the fetish? Updated on 04/10/10 19:15: I run my fashion design blog, if anyone is interested, see my profile. Updated on 04/10/10 23:04: I do NOT approve of wearing fascist symbols.

The SS troops belonged to the SS organization, service in them was not considered a state service, even if it was legally equated with such. The military uniform of the SS soldiers is quite recognizable around the world, most often this black uniform is associated with the organization itself. It is known that the uniforms for the SS during the Holocaust were sewn by prisoners of the Buchenwald concentration camp.

History of the SS military uniform

Initially, the soldiers of the SS troops (also "Waffen SS") dressed in a gray uniform, extremely similar to the uniform of the attack aircraft of the regular German army. In 1930, the very well-known black uniform was introduced, which was supposed to emphasize the difference between the troops and the rest, to determine the elitism of the unit. By 1939, the SS officers received a white full dress uniform, and from 1934 a gray one was introduced, intended for field battles. The gray military uniform differed from black only in color.

In addition, the SS servicemen relied on a black overcoat, which, with the introduction of a gray uniform, was replaced by a double-breasted one, respectively, in gray. Officers of high ranks were allowed to wear their overcoat unbuttoned on the top three buttons so that the colored distinctive stripes were visible. Following the same right (in 1941) received the holders of the Knight's Cross, who were allowed to demonstrate the award.

The women's uniform of the Waffen SS consisted of a gray jacket and skirt, as well as a black cap with the image of an SS eagle.

A black ceremonial club tunic with the symbols of the organization for officers was also developed.

It should be noted that in fact the black uniform was the uniform of the SS organization specifically, and not the troops: only SS members had the right to wear this uniform, the transferred Wehrmacht soldiers were not allowed to use it. By 1944, the wearing of this black uniform was officially abolished, although in fact by 1939 it was used only on solemn occasions.

Distinctive features of the Nazi uniform

The SS uniform had a number of distinctive features that are easily remembered even now, after the dissolution of the organization:

• The SS emblem in the form of two Germanic runes "zig" was used on uniform insignia. Runes on uniforms were only allowed to be worn by ethnic Germans - Aryans, foreign members of the Waffen SS were not allowed to use this symbolism.
• "Dead Head" - at first, a metal round cockade with the image of a skull was used on the cap of SS soldiers. Later it was used on the buttonholes of the soldiers of the 3rd tank division.
• A red armband with a black swastika on a white background was worn by members of the SS and stood out significantly from the black dress uniform.
• The image of an eagle with outstretched wings and a swastika (which was the emblem of Nazi Germany) eventually replaced the skulls on cap badges and began to be embroidered on the sleeves of the uniform.

The camouflage of the Waffen SS differed from the camouflage of the Wehrmacht in its pattern. Instead of the conventional pattern design with applied parallel lines, creating the so-called "rain effect", wood and plant patterns were used. Since 1938, the following camouflage elements of the SS uniform have been adopted: camouflage jackets, reversible helmet covers and face masks. On camouflage clothing, it was necessary to wear green stripes indicating the rank on both sleeves, although for the most part this requirement was not respected by the officers. In the campaigns, a set of stripes was also used, each of which denoted one or another military qualification.

SS uniform insignia

The ranks of the Waffen SS soldiers did not differ from the ranks of the Wehrmacht employees: there were differences only in form. The same distinctive signs were used on the uniform, such as shoulder straps and embroidered buttonholes. SS officers wore insignia with the symbols of the organization both on shoulder straps and in buttonholes.

The shoulder straps of SS officers had a double backing, the upper one differed in color depending on the type of troops. The backing was edged with a silver cord. On shoulder straps there were signs of belonging to one or another part, metal or embroidered with silk threads. The shoulder straps themselves were made of gray galloon, while their lining was invariably black. The bumps (or "stars") on the shoulder straps, designed to denote the rank of an officer, were bronze or gilded.