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Page 13
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Prinz Eugen Sword by Eickhorn (Item WAF 13-3; SS 37-5) |
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DESCRIPTION: Here is certainly the most desirable of the Third Reich field-marshal series. It’s named after the illustrious Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663-1736). He was one of the most successful military commanders in modern military history. Born in Paris he grew up around the French court of King Louis XIV, but later moved to Austria and transferred his loyalty to the Hapsburg Monarchy spanning six decades. Eugene served several Holy Roman emperors: Leopold I, Joseph I, and Charles VI. He was the consummate warrior and first saw action against the Ottoman Turks at the siege of Vienna and then through many subsequent wars; however, the prince’s fame was secured with his decisive victory against the Ottomans at the Battle of Zenta in 1697 earning him wide fame in Europe. Is it any wonder that the Germans named the most beautiful of their army swords after him? Although it was a sword originally designed and issued to army officers it was unofficially used by officers of the elite Austrian-based Division Prinz Eugen of the Waffen-SS, an elite fighting unit. Pictures exist of Waffen-SS officers wearing this sword, why not? They themselves were named after this heroic marshal. A beloved song was written and sung by all troops of the German Wehrmacht. It was named “Prinz Eugen, der edle Ritter”–”Prince Eugene, the Noble Knight.” It commemorates his victory over the Turks in 1717. The Sword The sword is by the prestigious firm of Carl Eickhorn of Solingen. It is 33 inches long and slightly curved since edged chromed and not sharpened-style fuller blade. The blade retains its mirror-lustered finish (absolutly excellent condition). The ricasso is marked original “Eickhorn Solingen” with the knight’s helmeted head. All fittings are gilded with some wear to the outermost edges. It has the dove-head pommel and is decorated with a large Wehrmacht eagle on it. Excellent patterns decorate the back strap, knuckle bow, and ferrule, and a very stylized army eagle decorates the crossguard, but is quite different from the standard ones that are seen on more standard types of army swords. There is with it a silver portepee with leather strap. The black, metal scabbard retains 90 percent of the paint with the usual wear. It has a single hanger ring with leather buckle attachment. Overall length 39 3/4 inches. This is a rare sword that whenever found often brings as much as $2,500. PRICE: SOLD |
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Service Fez of the Muslim Units of the Waffen-SS (Item WAF 13-4) |
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DESCRIPTION: When the independent state of Croatia proclaimed its independence on April 10, 1941, during the German invasion of Yugoslavia, part of the land it claimed was the former Astro-Hungarian province of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The province was of an ethnic mix with a portion of the population being Catholic Croatian, a portion being Orthodox Serbian, and a portion being Croatians of the Muslim faith, and it was these Muslim inhabitants of Bosnia that Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler and the SS would attempt to recruit for a Croatian SS division. The persons responsible for the recruitment in particular of Croatian Muslims by the SS were manyfold. For one, Himmler was fascinated by the Islamic faith and thought Muslims to be fearless soldiers who were willing to fight and die for their religion and furthermore he subscribed to a general theory that Croatians (and therefore the Croatian Muslims) were not in fact Slavic people, but actually of Aryan descent and thereby acceptable to the racially pure SS movement. The Germans were hoping to rally the world’s 350 million Muslims to their side in a struggle against international communism and its ardent supporter the British Empire. The creation of a Muslim, albeit European Muslim, division, was considered a firm stepping-stone to this greater end. Adolf Hitler approved of Himmler’s idea in February 1943, however, the Croatian leader Ante Pavelic and his ministry agreed to the division’s creation on March 5, 1943. The division’s strength reached the required 26,000 men by mid 1943. The new division was assigned the number “13” and originally named the 13 SS Fri. Gebirgsjager Division (Kroatien) or Handzar in the Croatian language. The symbol on their collar tabs is the curved Turkish-style sword (scimitar). This sword has historically been the symbol of Bosnia. The headgear worn by this division was the Muslim fez in field gray for normal service and the red fez occurred for walking out; both had the SS eagle and death’s head insignia sewn in the front of this headgear. The oval mountain troop edelweiss patch was worn on the right arm. The collar patches depicted an arm holding the scimitar sword. The great service that was rendered to the SS and the German forces was the ‘very special service’ that amounted to partisan hunting and that was so effectively pursued by these Muslim troopers. It is estimated that some 20,000 Muslims served in the Hanzar (Handschar) SS Division. They have been accused of all sorts of atrocities imaginable, but the horrid massacres and mutilations of the bloodthirsty partisans do not seem worthy of mention by the victorious allies who actually supplied and encouraged these murderers. The Yugoslav partisans were led by possibly the most blood-thirsty evil personality of WWII, General Marshal Josip Broz Tito. The Handschar soldiers fought against these genocidal fiends, but unfortunately were never able to collect the Gorgon’s head of that malignant rodent, Tito. The German’s recruited two SS divisions from Yugoslavia’s Muslim populations: the famous Bosnian Handschar Div. and the Albanian Skanderbeg 21st Waffen-SS Division. SS conscription in Yugoslavia during the war produced 42,000 Waffen-SS and police troops. When the Grand Mufti came to Berlin he received an enthusiastic reception by both the German people and the whole Islamic community of Germany, which welcomed him as the Führer of the Arabic world, and he soon became an honored guest of the National Socialist leadership and met several times with Hitler. It is noted that the Bosnian Muslim recruits rapidly found favor with Heinrich Himmler and the whole SS leadership and a special Muslim military school was established in Dresden, but we now witness the indiscriminate bashing of all Muslims that continues even today. The Fez First of all, you must realize that such Bosnian Waffen-SS headgear is extremely scarce and almost never does one show up. Why? Because American and British soldiers never faced them in battle. The red (walking-out version) does appear from time to time because essentially the red fez looks a bit like a Masonic Shriner’s fez and certain nefarious dealers have added real or fake SS eagles and skulls to them thereby ‘Bosnia-izing’ them. But real red ones do occasionally show up, but almost never do we see the service ones in grey and when you rarely see one it’s bound to be original (I have never seen a fake gray one). The one we offer here is most definitely a 100-percent-original piece with Bevo eagle and skull attached. The fez tail is intact and tied in the correct, prescribed manner. Here is a chance to acquire the rarest of Third Reich headgear from the toughest of the ‘bandit hunters’ the war had ever experienced. PRICE: SOLD |
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Mid-period Model 1936-Model Chained SS Dagger (Waffen-SS?) (Item WAF 13-6; SSDAG 2-1) |
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DESCRIPTION: This great-looking dagger has nickel-plated fittings. The crossguards are in very fine condition, showing only the most minor of signs of age; nearly all of the plating is intact throughout. The matching nickel-plated-steel tang nut is also in fine condition, but the crossguards are of the genuine nickel construction, while the scabbard fittings are nickel plated. This is considered perfectly legitimate and acceptable. These SS officers often resided in Ordensburg-type residences such as Bad Tolz, and daggers were often mixed up according to Tom Wittmann and other experts. The ebony grip is a beauty, having high-ridge construction and no obvious repairs. This grip is in pretty much perfect condition. It has a very fine black tone to the wood and is very nicely shaped and fits the crossguards perfectly. The SS runic button is the style that is slightly convex. It is the style button, which is positioned straight up and down. The grip eagle is the silvered aluminum type and retains full detailing throughout. Wrapped about the grip is a fine 42cm portepee. It really looks great, and there is hardly any fray and it only shows some minor age. It’s a very fine hilt, here. It was generally the Waffen-SS officers that wore portepees. The scabbard shell is perfectly straight. This shell has a wonderful anodized finish that remains 100-percent intact throughout both sides. The majority of the original protective lacquer is still present over the anodized surface, with only a few areas that are slightly worn. This lacquer is probably about 90-percent intact. The scabbard mounts are the nickel-plated-over-a-steel base, with their original factory-bright finish. The lower mount ball has never been dropped and is in perfect condition. These fine mounts are retained by steel dome-head screws that also still have most of their plating. The center ramp is the later style, having the rolled edge, which is not as crisp as the earlier type. It looks excellent, however. It’s decorated with three intertwined swastikas. This darkening really makes the intertwined swastika design jump out at the viewer. This ramp is retained by two screws; one on the left outside edge and another on the right-side edge just below the chain attachment. These screws have never been turned. The chain is also very nice having the entire original factory darkening in the backgrounds of the links. Each of these links has been pebbled to give the almost-raised look that we like to see on the skull and bones and SS runes. The teeth of the skulls are all there and are leering at the viewer. The runes are high off the surfaces. All of the tabs that connect the links are secure, with no openings on the reverse. The reverse links have a black patination, an indication of lots of silver in the construction. The second link on the upper chain is properly stamped with the SS-Kulturzeichen. The cloverleaf is the closed style, and it too has all of the darkening. The snap clip is in good condition, with a fine, working spring. You won't see a better Type 2 chain! The blade of this example retains much of the original cross graining. It is nice and bright and has a typical, lightly etched motto. I would say that there is about 95 percent of the original darkening in the letters of the motto. There is just a slight amount of smudge in the surfaces of the blade. It is not bad though, and the blade is easily rates at Excellent Plus, Plus. It retains the original needle-like tip and the shoulders perfectly fit the lower crossguard contour. Here is a rare opportunity to acquire a really fine chained SS dagger that remains in choice condition. The vintage of this dagger is probably about 1937 or 1938.
PRICE: SOLD |
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Cuff Title from the 21. Waffen-Gebirgs-Division der SS „Skanderbeg“ (Item WAF 13-7) |
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DESCRIPTION: Here is the rarest SS cuff band that we have ever handled and it’s 100-percent original and beyond any reproach. This cuff band is for enlisted personnel—possibly an NCO. This Gebirgsdivision was developed around the nucleus of an ethnic Albanian battalion that had seen bloody conflict against the Yugoslav partisans in eastern Bosnia. Its members settled many a score with these Tito-led, murdering scum of the earth! They fought as the 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian) composed of Muslim Albanians with mostly German and Yugoslav (Volksdeutsch) (ethnic German officers and NCOs). The division that was now the 21st SS Mountain Division was given the title “Skanderbeg” after medieval Albanian Lord George Kastrioti Skanderbeg, who defended the region of Albania against the Ottoman Empire for more than two decades in the 15th century. SS Skanderbeg never actually reached divisional strength, being at most a brigade-sized formation of between 6,000 and 6,500 troops. In May 1944, members of the division captured 281 partisans in Pristina and handed them over to German SD officials. Skanderbeg soldiers were often noted for actions such as these. However, when experiencing frontline fire from these dangerous rodents the brigade was fearsome in their counteractions as well. They excelled at one of their most significant military actions that took place in a German and partisan offensive in the German occupied territory of Montenegro in June and July 1944. The unit was disbanded on November 1, 1944. The remaining members of Skanderbeg were incorporated into the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen. SS-Brigadeführer August Schmidhuber (May 1911-February 1947) was transferred also from Skanderbeg to SS-Division Prinz Eugen and attained the rank of SS-Brigadeführer and Generalmajor der Waffen-SS as commander of the 7th SS Mountain Division Prinz Eugen. He was an effective leader and a brave and loyal officer dedicated to defeating the scores of Yugoslav partisans led by the evil incarnate Tito. It is sadly noted, however, that the rodents won and after excruciating torture he was hanged on February 27, 1947, in Belgrade. (RIP)-Tapferer Soldat und heroischen Kamerad. The Cuff Title This indeed is a highly collectable cuff title that true collectors will realize and covet. It’s machine-woven Bevo-like with letters in silver-grey thread across the face of the band with segmented border stripes at the top and bottom edges woven in the same, and the reverse side is in salt-and-pepper pattern (The title letters appear as a negative image reversed within a denser band of thread). The cuff title measures just under 18 inches long with the ends lightly frayed. The Skanderbeg cuff title is one of the most rarely seen, particularly in excellent condition as this one is. It has come from the fantastic collection of a lifelong collector. PRICE: $2,200.00; (The rarest of the rare!) |
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German WWII Poster Glorifying the German Infantry (Item WAF 13-7) |
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DESCRIPTION: This poster was part of a collection that came out of Russian archives. The German poster depicts a group of frontline soldiers on the combative advance. The central figure wears the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross and a tank destroyer patch. He holds at the ready an MP-40 submachine gun. In large letters across the bottom it says “Infanterie, Königin Aller Waffen” (Infantry, Queen in all Battles). This is possibly the most dramatic WWII poster ever produced; the colors used are beautiful. The poster is in excellent-plus condition except for the fact that it had been folded over in the archives; however, if placed in a museum frame with special glass this would not be noticed. It is a very fine line. The poster measures 34 by 22¾ inches.
PRICE: $475.00 |
Page Thirteen |
Please refer to item designator in parentheses in all correspondence.
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