Who doesn't know this famous emblem? Perhaps everyone knows. The "dead head" is even a symbol. Here is just a symbol of what?
In general, I was surprised to find that the symbol, in general, is very old. And it was used, let's say, more than original, but under the Third Reich it was dealt with … Yes, as usual with the Nazis, when they pulled everything by the ears and pulled on the globe everything that only had a more or less suitable diameter.
Therefore, we will start talking about the "Dead Head" from a time that is very far removed in time from the Third Reich. From the Middle Ages.
There was a German poet Garnier von Susteren. He lived in the 15th century in Bremen and became famous for rather lengthy ballads with an admixture of mysticism.
Well, in general, Gothic, but it is clear that some already in the 15th century used skulls as decoration in full. And as a kind of evidence of valor, if this is how you understand the "banner stained with blood."
A little later, in 1740, a skull with two crossed bones embroidered with a silver thread was decorated with black objects used during the funeral of King Frederick Wilhelm I of Prussia. the skulls remained.
Well, so that the memory of the king was kept longer, the 1st and 2nd Life Hussar regiments were formed, which in their form inherited the elements of the funeral attire of the Prussian monarch.
A little later, these hussars formed the 5th hussar regiment, which they called without bothering: "Black hussars" or "Hussars of death". The people were taken there with dashing utterly, and in fact, a unit came out, distinguished by special courage and cruelty towards enemies.
And on myrliton (this is a headdress), the same "dead head" frightened the enemies.
By the way, she was also present on the headdresses of quite a Russian military. Here is the headdress of the hussars of the 5th Alexandria regiment. From the museum of the regiment in Samara. Quite a decent regiment was, by the way. Members of the imperial family did not take weaklings for patronage.
And the badge was also peculiar.
I emphasize boldly: the "head of death" was a distinctive sign of the Russian hussars of the Alexandrian 5th Hussar Her Majesty the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna's regiment. As well as the nickname "immortal hussars".
So, you see, the "death's head" as a symbol of valor was not at all alien to the Russians …
Let's go back, however, to Germany. And there was another "dead head", the Braunschweig one. The Braunschweig "death's head" was somewhat different from the Prussian - the skull was turned to face straight ahead, and the bones were located directly below it.
And the front attila of the Black Hussars:
Here, by the way, is another interesting photo: Princess of Prussia Victoria-Louise, chief of that very regiment of "Black Hussars". 1909 seems to be. It is quite normal, the princess - the chief of the regiment, wears the uniform of her unit.
And this was quite normal, since the great Prussian commander, Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blucher, began his service in the 8th Hussars, and also wore the black uniform of his regiment. In which he can hardly be reproached, since the regiment had a rich history and it was quite possible to be proud of it.
During the First World War, the "death's head" became the emblem of the shock units of the German army, primarily attack aircraft, flamethrowers and tankers. That is, the newly created types of troops, service in which required remarkable courage and courage.
Well, the expenditure of personnel there was appropriate. Therefore, heroic signs were required. So that the inflow does not decrease. Well, the respect was appropriate.
In 1918, after the end of the war, the "death's head" reappeared in Russia. Now it was used by the soldiers of the Volunteer Corps and the Volunteer Death Battalions. On banners, armored cars, cockades, they drew a skull with crossed bones under it, which meant a willingness to fight until death.
They fought in different ways, but here what was - it was.
On the whole, the “dead head” has become a symbol of courage, elitism and readiness for self-sacrifice. It was a badge of honor, like our "Guard".
But after the war, outright garbage began. I mean Germany.
Of course, the defeat of Germany in the First World War played an important role, giving rise to revanchist movements throughout the country. It is not surprising that the citizens of Germany, which the winners took over very well, really wanted to live "as before" and were really ready to do a lot for this.
"The head of the dead" has become a kind of symbol of national revanchism. It was worn not only as a cockade - it appeared on rings, cuffs, tie pins and other details of clothing.
Well, it is not surprising that the stormtroopers of Rem and Strasser (and later Hitler) chose the "dead head" as their emblem in 1923.
At first, the brown ones wore cockades that remained from the war. Then the Nazis ordered from the Munich firm Deshler a large batch of "dead heads", made precisely in the Prussian style, without the lower jaw.
At first, all the stormtroopers wore the dead head, then, when the SA units became history on the "night of the long knives", the emblem remained only with the SS men.
In general, there was something like that in this. Of course, the SS men liked some kind of continuity. The "Black Hussars" were the guard of the Prussian kings, and the SS men … Well, they were, in fact, a guard too.
Well, in general, everything went like that. Continuity, revanchism, traditions …
In 1934, there was a slight revolution in form. The first tank units created on the basis of cavalry units received the Prussian "dead head" as an emblem. And the SS sent a "dead head" of a new model, with a lower jaw.
The 1934 model "dead head" was produced in as many as three versions: turned left, right and straight. It was worn as a cockade by all members of the SS.
In general, they began to sculpt it everywhere. On buttonholes, daggers, gorgets, weekends and ceremonial tunics, drums, horns and some awards.
Yes, speaking of awards, it is worth mentioning the "Death's Head" ring or Totenkopfring - a personal award sign issued personally by Heinrich Himmler to members of the SS.
Initially, the ring was awarded to senior officers of the "old guard" (there were fewer than 5,000 people) who demonstrated outstanding courage and leadership in battle. But in the future, the rules for obtaining a ring were simplified, and by 1939 almost every SS officer who had served for more than 3 years could have such an award.
The award was lifetime. In the event of the death of the owner or his departure from the SS, the silver ring with the skull had to be handed over to Himmler in order to return it to Wewelsburg Castle as a memory of the owner. If the owner of the ring died in battle, his associates had to make every effort to return the ring and prevent it from falling into the hands of enemies. By January 1945, 64% of the 14,500 rings had been returned to Himmler, which testifies to the very clear work of both the Soviet troops and the Allies.
In the spring of 1945, all the rings stored in Wewelsburg, at the direction of Himmler, were buried under an artificially induced avalanche. They have not been found so far.
In addition to the SS, the "dead head" was usurped by some services in Danzig, where the "Black Hussars" were quartered. This continuity looks more than strange, but again nothing can be done: the "dead head" was chosen as the emblem of the Danzig militia (Heimwehr Danzig), as well as the Danzig police and the fire service.
In addition, the "head of death" has served as an emblem for some parts of the German armed forces since the First World War. These are the 5th Cavalry Regiment, 17th Infantry Regiment, Coastal Defense Detachment "Danzig" and Air Force battle groups Schleppgruppe 4 and Kampfgruppe 54.
We understand that the “dead head” was a real symbol of elitism, and the right to wear it was in itself a high reward. Well, she was supposed to remind the wearer that he was ready to die in the name. Just in the name.
Now we pass clearly to the Third Reich and the SS.
If you look carefully and thoughtfully, probably not so many fables are associated with any proper name of the Third Reich, as with "Dead Head". I am deliberately writing now with a capital letter, because this name was different from the previous one. After all, we are talking about a subdivision, or rather, a few.
The first, and, in fact, the most ominous. These are the "Death's Head" units, they are also SS-Totenkopfverbände, SS-TV. The SS unit responsible for guarding the concentration camps of the Third Reich.
The name SS-Totenkopfverbände itself is difficult to successfully translate into Russian. I will allow myself to interpret the word verbände as "union, association". With Totenkopf, everything is clear. That is, at the exit we have the "Union of the" Dead Head ". Indeed, the thugs were actively dragging the "dead head" wherever they could attach it.
Naturally, since these gentlemen were engaged in the protection of concentration camps, then everyone's hands were up to the elbows. It's kind of an uncontested case. It is clear that the article should not be smeared with images of these units, I hope this is understandable.
It was possible to distinguish the servicemen of the detachments of the "dead heads" from ordinary SS men by their buttonholes. Instead of the two runes traditional for the SS troops, which we used to call "lightning", on them, the emblem of the "Dead Head" was placed: a skull and crossbones. With the lower jaw. These units were created … that's right, in 1933, just when Himmler's SS took the place of honor of the SA stormtroopers Rem and Strasser.
And yes, the "dead-headed" to the last wore the same black uniform, which was actually abandoned in the rest of the SS. The reasons are simple - whoever fought at the front could actually live a little longer, since we had very "tender feelings" for the black SS uniform. Therefore (this has already been written about several times) the closer to the front, the less black the form was. And on the rear it was quite possible to turn over.
And these bearers of the "dead head" quite so calmly protested through the camps, and, by the way, basically got off with a slight fright at the end. Although some of them got what they deserved.
But the second carriers of the "dead head" were better known.
We are talking about the 3rd SS Panzer Division "Death's Head". Formed a division, as it becomes clear, from excessive zeal. However, in November 1939, at the SS training camp in Dachau, this unit appeared as a division of motorized infantry.
The basis was made up of guards from SS camp detachments, officers of SS reinforcement units and the Danzig SS Heimver (militia). The first commander was the founder of the "Dead Head", the inspector of concentration camps Theodor Eicke.
In general, they recruited the executioners (who are interested, read about the Danzig militia) and went to fight.
Here it is worth mentioning the rumors. The rumors were greatly helped by memoirs and memoirs, including from our side. If you collect all the books and films of the Soviet era, where the "Dead Head" is mentioned, it turns out that she fought in all sectors of the Eastern Front, and was completely destroyed many times.
Perhaps, you will not find a more or less large partisan detachment that did not enter into confrontation with the "Dead Head" and did not win.
In fact, of course, it was not like that. But such "victories", to which the "dead heads" in concentration camps are accustomed, did not work either.
The division began its combat path on July 2, 1941 in the Daugavpils area, and on July 9 it had to be replaced by the 290th Infantry Division and withdrawn for replenishment. The 21st mechanized corps of the future General of the Army and Twice Hero of the Soviet Union D. D. Lelyushenko and the 42nd Panzer Division worked. Splash "Dead Head" was discharged simply deafening, the division fought in virtually a week.
Strange for July 1941, when the Red Army was allegedly beaten in the tail and mane, right?
And in the future, "Dead Head" poked around Leningrad without much success. But all the fun was ahead. And in front was Demyansk and the second slap in the face, as a result of which during the period from January to October, the "Dead Head" left 80% of the personnel in our land, and as a result, the remnants were withdrawn for reorganization and "honorable" rest in France.
Then there was the third return to the Eastern Front, and in it the division behaved, in principle, very worthy. However, this was not reflected in the overall picture, and instead of heroically perishing for the Third Reich, in the spring of 1945 the remnants of the division marched from Hungary to Austria, where they surrendered to the allies.
I must say that there are no special feats for "Dead Head", as it were. They fought, yes, they fought well, but not so that it was on the lips. The only thing clearly attributed in history is counter-partisan actions. In reality, here the 3rd division has a tough alibi: the division did not actually get out of the front, and if it did, it was in such a state that it was clearly not up to the fight against the partisans.
However, there is one caveat. Until the very end of the war, there was a rotation of personnel between the division and the detachments in the camps. After being wounded, the soldiers of the division went to rest. In the concentration camps, where they were guarded.
In general, if the approach is simple, then every "dead-headed" had to shoot. To the head. As well as any SS man. So, just in case.
But, in fact, a "dead head", that is, a skull with bones, is actually quite an old thing. And not so nasty as it becomes clear when viewed at close range. Just an insignia, nothing more.
True, it just so happened that if you want, you can screw up anything. So it's not surprising that a rather ancient badge of valor was relegated to the Nazis.
I recommend reading:
Konstantin Zalessky. "SS. Security detachments of the NSDAP ".
Alexander Simakov. "Defeat of the" Death's Head "division. Demyansk disaster of the SS men."
