Description
Very rare, sought after example of a type 2 collar tab worn by a Waffen-SS/Allgemeine-SS Obergruppenführer (Lieutenant General), this is a textbook example with clear signs of being worn and removed from a uniform. The bullion is tight and very detailed, the doeskin black wool is very high quality, the reverse shows signs of a previous RZM tag that has since been lost to time. The tab has a metal boarder stiffener on the inside edges which was also done on 4 lug screw back tabs, a truly rare piece of period worn SS insignia that is typically fake when encountered!
Note – During the Second World War, there were only 88 promotions to the rank Obergruppenführer, of which 22 were considered regular officers of the Waffen-SS and the rest members of the Allgemeine SS. The first wartime promotions to SS-Obergruppenführer occurred in April 1940 when the rank was granted to Joachim von Ribbentrop, Martin Bormann and Hans Lammers; Arthur Seyss-Inquart and Otto Dietrich were promoted a year later. All five promotions were honorary SS ranks with the first promotion of an active SS officer occurring in September 1941 when the rank was granted to Reinhard Heydrich. The Waffen-SS commander, Paul Hausser was promoted to the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer on 1 October 1941. Waffen-SS commander Theodor Eicke was promoted to SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS on 20 April 1942. Sepp Dietrich remained senior, having served as General der SS-VT (SS-Verfügungstruppe) upon the outbreak of World War II in 1939.
SS-Obergruppenführer was considered the highest rank of the Allgemeine SS until April 1942; equivalent to a lieutenant general (three-star general) in the American and British armies. It was only outranked by Himmler’s special rank of Reichsführer-SS. However, within the Waffen-SS, the rank of SS-Gruppenführer was equivalent to a Generalleutnant, and an SS-Obergruppenführer came to be considered the equivalent of a General; holders were titled in full SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS.
