Original Item. One-of-a-Kind. The SS (Schutzstaffel - 'Protection Squadron') was originally formed in 1925, ostensibly to act as a small, loyal bodyguard unit to protect the Führer, Adolf AH. Under the direction of the Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, the SS grew to be the most ruthless and feared organization of the 20th century. They were the vanguard of NSDAP and eventually controlled nearly every function of German life and much of Occupied Europe.

When WWII began in earnest, the Waffen-SS ("Armed SS") was organized as the military branch of the SS organization. Its formations included men from NSDAP ruled Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both occupied and unoccupied lands. They chose the ᛋᛋ doppelte Siegrune (Double Sig/Victory Rune) to be their emblem, and many of their divisions also used the old Germanic Runes and symbols as well.

This is a very nice Postcard depicting a well-known Waffen-SS recruiting poster, depicting a member of the HJ National Youth Organization and a Waffen-SS soldier in camouflage. The text of the poster reads:

DEUTSCHE JUGEN
meldet sich freiwillig zur
WAFFEN-ᛋᛋ

This translates to:

GERMAN YOUTH
VOLUNTEERS FOR
WAFFEN-SS

The postcard measures 4 1/16 x 5 13/16” and is actually posted, with an AH stamp covered by a postal ink stamp showing it was posted on July 18th, 1942. It was sent to the family of Paul Halleuscheid in Wuppertal-Ronsdorf. He wrote a long 16-line message, which appears to read:

Ihr Lieben!
Gemünd, 18.7.1942.

Heute nachmittag wieder Sonderausgang für unsere Stube! Da
will ich gleich noch den Gruß an Euch mitnehmen. Von jetzt ab
machen wir die Prüfungen für unser [Schießzeugnis?], auch die
im Gelände. Jungs, die verbotenerweise geraucht haben, wurden
gerade auf dem Rückmarsch geschliffen, die möchten hier nicht mehr.
Nächste Woche ist nochmal Schießen, anschließend dürfen
wir die [Ordnung?] berichtigen. Die Verpflegung wird im Ganzen
nicht besser, im Gegenteil! Deshalb will ich gleich noch
auf Hamsterfahrt. Hoffentlich erfolgreich. Draußen ist immer
noch regnerisch und kalt, nicht wie Mitte Juli. Morgen machen
wir nur Bewegung bei einem 30 km Marsch. Da freue
ich mich über meine Sohlen, es kommen neue Nägel drauf!
Heute mittag hatten wir wieder Erbsensuppe (wie vorige Woche) und
einen mächtigen harten Brotkanten. - Schickt mir bitte 2
Bleistifte (für K-Schein!) Viele Grüße! Euer Wolfgang.

Translated, it reads:

My dears!
Gemünd, 18 July 1942.

This afternoon again, special leave for our room! So
I want to send along another greeting to you. From now on
we are taking the examinations for our [shooting certificate?], including those
in the field. Boys who had smoked against regulations were
just drilled hard on the return march, they probably will not want to do that here anymore.
Next week there is shooting again, afterwards we are allowed
to correct the [order?]. The food is not getting better overall,
on the contrary! Therefore I want to go right away on
a food-scrounging trip. Hopefully successful. Outside it is still
rainy and cold, not like the middle of July. Tomorrow we get
only exercise with a 30 km march. I am glad
about my soles, new nails are being put on them!
At noon today we again had pea soup (like last week) and
a mighty hard crust of bread. - Please send me 2
pencils (for K-Schein!) Many greetings! Yours, Wolfgang.

A lovely postcard with great translations.