Original Item. Only One Available. This is a very nice example of the distinctive late-war German WWII right-side collar tab commonly referred to by collectors as the Waffen-SS Temporary KZ-Guard Collar Tab. The tab features the unusual doppelarmiges swas., or “double-armed swas.,” machine embroidered in silver-gray thread on a black wool base.

The example is constructed from black wool badge cloth with the double-armed emblem neatly machine embroidered in light silver-gray thread. The reverse displays the characteristic construction of folded black wool around a tan stiffened buckram backing, with the central portion of the buckram remaining exposed. The folded edges are secured with light-colored machine stitching, several ends of which remain visible. This construction closely corresponds to the type frequently encountered by collectors among late-war SS clothing stocks and examples traditionally associated with the so-called “Dachau” type of insignia.

The tab remains in very attractive condition. The embroidered emblem is complete and remains sharply defined. The black wool retains a good, dense appearance with scattered surface lint, minor edge wear, and some light fraying at the corners and along the unfinished edges.

During 1944, severe German manpower shortages resulted in increasing numbers of Heer and Luftwaffe personnel being transferred into camp guard formations. On June 27, 1944, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler ordered that, for the duration of the war, camp guard units were to wear the double-armed collar insignia. A subsequent order issued through SS-WVHA Amtsgruppe D on August 8, 1944 specifically directed transferred Heer and Luftwaffe personnel to begin wearing the new collar tabs immediately. Existing SS personnel of the camp commandant staffs and Totenkopf-Sturmbanne were permitted to continue wearing their older death's-head tabs until those stocks were used up. The surviving orders are cited to Bundesarchiv file NS 19 neu/1922.