Original Item. Only One Available. This is a great example of a German WWII “Papakha Kubanka”, a uniform headdress meant for Cossack troops. This German-Made example was intended for foreign volunteer Cossack troops, which could be part of several different formations during WWII. These included the 1st and 2nd SS Cossack Cavalry Divisions, as well as the Russo Liberation Army (ROA/POA), also known as the Vlasov army. These units were created on the Eastern Front mostly with Don Cossacks already serving in the Wehrmacht, those who escaped from the advancing Red Army and Soviet POWs.

We previously had a locally made Don Cossack Kubanka, but this is definitely German made, and has the correct German Army Heer Insignia attacked to the front. It is definitely of much higher quality manufacture, and has the correct astrakhan wool on the flap that goes around the entire cap. The body of the cap is made from German feldgrau wool, which covers the sides of the cap and the top of the flap, while the crown of the cap is tiefrot (deep red) the corps color used for Don Cossack foreign volunteers. There is a cross made from 14mm diamond woven silver tresse, so it is possible that this is for an NCO, or maybe even an officer.

While most Kubanka hats do not have a fold down flap on the neck area, this one does, and there are hook and loop fasteners that keep the flap in the up position when not in use, as unlike a pelzmütze or Russian ushanka, there are no side flaps to fasten under the chin or over the top. The left side hook and loop are intact and functional, while the right side hook is missing, so the flap is held in place by a pin.

The front of the cap is decorated with a well detailed stamped zinc insignia on the peak and and an open aluminum wreath surrounding a zinc tri-color cockade on the band. The insignia are in good shape, with the wreath still bright, while the eagle and cockade have matured to a gray patina due to the original plating oxidizing. The cockade still retains the red felt inlay, which is still a vibrant red color.

The side of the Kubanka is lined with blue gray light canvas, very similar to the lining we see on other German made winter caps. It shows only light use and staining, and we were not able to locate any markings on the interior. Size seems to be about a 55-56cm. Overall condition is really quite good, with the wool in great shape and very little mothing or other damage. The only real discrepancy is the missing hook on the right side, but that could easily be remedied if desired by the new owner.

Overall this is a great example of a very scarce piece of WWII German headgear, ready for further research and display.

The 1st Cossack Cavalry Division was a Russian Cossack division of the German Army that served during World War II. It was created on the Eastern Front mostly out of Don Cossacks already serving in the Wehrmacht, those who escaped from the advancing Red Army and Soviet POWs. In 1945, the division was transferred to the Waffen SS, becoming the 1st SS Cossack Cavalry Division (1. SS-Kosaken-Kavallerie-Division). At the end of the war, the unit ceased to exist.

The Papakha (Russian: папа́ха), also known as astrakhan peruk in English, is a wool hat worn by men throughout the Caucasus and also in uniformed regiments in the region and beyond. The word papakha is of Turkic origin (papak). In Azerbaijani, papaq literally translates to hat.

There are two different main types of Caucasian papakhas. One, called a papaha, is a high fur hat, usually made of karakul sheep skin. The hat has the general appearance of a cylinder with one open end, and is set upon the head in such a way as to have the brim touch the temples. Some of them come with ear flaps which can be folded up when not in use. The other called a kubanka, which is similar to the papaha, except shorter and with no ear flaps.

Papakha are very common in Armenia as well as other mountainous regions, where a man's hat is considered a very important part of his identity. In Georgia, papakhi are also mostly worn in mountainous regions of Pshavi, Khevi, Mtiuleti, and Tusheti. Papaq are also very common in Azerbaijan. Papakhi are also donned by the Chechens, Dagestanians, and other Caucasian tribes. In 1855, after the campaigns in the Caucasus Mountains, the Papakha was introduced in the Russian army as an official part of the uniform for the Cossacks, and later for the rest of the cavalry.

Don Cossacks
Don Cossacks or Donians, are Cossacks who settled along the middle and lower Don. Historically, they have been located within what was the Don Cossack Host, which was either an independent or an autonomous democratic republic in the present-day Southern Russia and the Donbas region of Ukraine, from the end of the 16th century until 1918. As of 1992, by the presidential decree of the Russian Federation, Cossacks can be enrolled on a special register. A number of Cossack communities have been reconstituted to further the Cossack cultural traditions, including those of the Don Cossack Host.

Don Cossacks have had a rich military tradition, playing an important part in the historical development of the Russian Empire and participating in most of its major wars.

Don Cossacks in World War II
On 20 April 1936 the previous ban on Cossacks serving in the Red Army was lifted. Later the same year two existing Red Army cavalry divisions were re-designated as Don Cossacks. By 1939 a number of these regiments had been issued with traditional Cossack uniforms in ceremonial and field service versions. The dress of the Don Cossack units included the broad red stripes on dark-blue breeches, which had been their distinguishing feature prior to the Revolution. The Don Cossack Cavalry Corps saw extensive active service until 1943, after which its role diminished (as did that of the other remaining horse-mounted units in the Red Army). However Don Cossack cavalry was still in existence in 1945 and participated in the Victory Parade in Moscow.

During World War II, the Don Cossacks mustered the largest single concentration of Cossacks within the German Army, the XVth SS Cossack Cavalry Corps. A great part of the Cossacks were former Russian citizens who elected to fight not so much for Germany as against the Soviet Union. The XVth SS Cossack Cavalry Corps included the 1st Cossack Division and the 2nd Cossack Division. The majority of the Cossacks remained loyal to the Red Army. In the earliest battles, particularly the encirclement of Belostok Cossack units such as the 94th Beloglisnky, 152nd Rostovsky and 48th Belorechensky regiments fought to their death.

In the opening phase of the war, during the German advance towards Moscow, Cossacks became extensively used for the raids behind enemy lines. The most famous of these took place during the Battle of Smolensk under the command of Lev Dovator, whose 3rd Cavalry Corps consisted of the 50th and 53rd Cavalry divisions from the Kuban and Terek Cossacks, which were mobilized from the Northern Caucasus. The raid, which in ten days covered 300 km and destroyed the hinterlands of the 9th German Army, before successfully breaking out. Whilst units under the command of General Pavel Belov, the 2nd Cavalry Corps made from Don, Kuban and Stavropol Cossacks spearheaded the counter-attack onto the right flank of the 6th German Army delaying its advance towards Moscow.

The high professionalism that the Cossacks under Dovator and Belov (both generals would later be granted the title Hero of the Soviet Union and their units raised to a Guards (elite) status) ensured that many new units would be formed. In the end, the Germans during the whole war only managed to form two Cossack Corps, while the Red Army in 1942 alone had 17. Many of the newly formed units were filled with ethnically Cossack volunteers. The Kuban Cossacks were allocated to the 10th, 12th and 13th Corps. However, the most famous Kuban Cossack unit would be the 17th Cossack Corps under the command of general Nikolay Kirichenko.

During one particular attack, Cossacks destroyed up to 1,800 enemy soldiers and officers, they took 300 prisoners, seized 18 artillery pieces and 25 mortars. The 5th and 9th Romanian Cavalry divisions fled in panic, and the 198th German Infantry division, carrying large losses, hastily departed to the left bank of the river Ei.

During the opening phase of the Battle of Stalingrad, when the Germans overran the Kuban, the majority of the Cossack population, long before the Germans began their agitation with Krasnov and Shkuro, became involved in Partisan activity. Raids onto the German positions from the Caucasus mountains became commonplace. After the German defeat at Stalingrad, the 4th Guards Kuban Cossack Corps, strengthened by tanks and artillery, broke through the German lines and liberated Mineralnye Vody, and Stavropol.