Original Items: Only One Lot of 2 Available. The "armband system" was instituted by the NSDAP Party in 1939 at the same time that the political leadership ranks were expanded into their final form. The purpose of the armband system was to denote positional titles within the NSDAP Party in contrast to a party member's political rank.

There were three groupings of armbands, classified as "operational", "administrative", and "command". The operational armbands were used by NSDAP Party political leaders on the local and county levels and were worn by those Party leaders directly engaged in implementing Party policies to the public. During World War II, this was most often associated with food rationing, war relief efforts, and civil defense.

The administrative armbands were worn by office staff across all levels of the party, although mostly were used by the regional staff of the Gauleiters. The third, and least common of the armbands, were the command armbands worn by the Deputy Gauleiters, Gauleiters, and Reichsleiters.

The NSDAP Party armbands were intended for immediate implementation upon the outbreak of World War II in 1939, although it was not until 1943 that the system was in total effect. Even then, photographic evidence reveals it was not uncommon for some political leaders to simply wear the pre-1939 bare swas armband, with some photographs as late as 1945 revealing political leaders failing to wear the appropriate NSDAP positional armband.

The Armbands In This Lot:
- Mid-War NSDAP Party Machine Embroidered Armband: This standard armband was worn by party members, and was also worn by many service members and other personnel during the war. It is in good service worn condition, and measures approximately 17" x 4", with the ends sewn together. It is definitely one of the rarer types, with a red background and an embroidered black Swas machine woven onto a white cloth circle, which is stitched to the band. Excellent condition.

- Deutscher Volkssturm Wehrmacht Armband: This is a very nice rare example of a German WWII Deutscher Volkssturm Wehrmacht (German people's storm defense force) armband. This was basically a last ditch civic militia utilized in the end days of WWII, when German defeat was inevitable. It is constructed simply, a red, black, and white dyed cotton armband with DEUTSCHER VOLKSSTURM / WEHRMACHT marked onto the exterior. This is surrounded by two Reichsadler (German State Eagle) emblems. It measures approximately 14 1/2" x 2 5/8" , and is in very good condition. It shows only light wear, possibly from storage, and does not have any stitch holes usually seen on issued examples.

These are both wonderful examples of mid and late war German armbands from WWII. Both come more than ready for display!