General Hans von Salmuth was born in 1888 & joined the German Army in 1907. He served during WWI & during the Weimar Republic era. He was Chief of Staff of the 2nd Corps from 1934 to 1937 when he was assigned as Chief of Staff to the 1st Army Group. In 1938 he was moved to Chief of Staff to the 2nd Army Group and in 1939 became Chief of Staff of Army Group North during the Invasion of Poland. He held several other positions throughout the Army & early in 1943 was advanced to Generaloberst, the second highest officer rank in the Wehrmacht. He served in Russia for which he would later face a war crimes trial. In the summer of 1943, he was reassigned to command the 15th Army defending against the upcoming allied invasion. He was relieved of his command after the disintegration of the German defenses.

PROVENANCE: Lifetime Collection of Dennis Ottaway.

Colonel Gunther Lutzow was one of the best known & most successful aces of WWII. He is credited with 110 victories in more than 300 combat missions. His flight service started in the Spanish Civil War with 5 confirmed kills. He went on to score 20 victories over the Western Front & 85 victories over the Eastern Front. He became Group Commander of JG3 late in 1939 & held various positions in the Luftwaffe despite his difficult reputation. He refused to comply with SS orders to supply men for execution squads thus earning the ire of the SS as well as the NSDAP. He recorded 2 victories while flying the new ME262 jet fighter but was missing in action & presumed killed a few days later on April 24, 1945.

PROVENANCE: Lifetime Collection of Dennis Ottaway.

Uniform coat is a very fine sage green wool gabardine with 6 aluminum pebble finished buttons down the front (1 unattached but included in pocket) & 1 on each pocket. Both sides of the front of the uniform, as well as the cuffs & dark green collar, are entirely piped in pink. There are 3 loops above the left breast pocket to support a medal bar. There are also 3 pairs of loops on & below the left pocket to support badges. Shoulder boards are woven silver bullion on pink with the intertwined letters, “GD” attached. This denotes a Major in the Grossdeutschland Regiment. The collar has silver bullion Army officer collar tabs backed in pink. There is a high relief silver bullion Army eagle above the right breast pocket. The uniform shows a lg. braided silver bullion aiguillette extending from the right shoulder board down the front & rear of the uniform & connecting to the 2nd button from the top. The right sleeve has a silver bullion on black wool cuff title that reads, “Grossdeutschland”. The interior is lined with dark green rayon. There is a slit on the left side to facilitate a dagger/sword hanger. The sleeves are lined in a white rayon material. The label below the inside collar reads, “WILHELM Holters BERLIN W 50 TAUENTZIENSTR. 16 GOLD. MED.1907(with an image of the medal)”. The interior of the left inside pocket has a tag that reads, “WILHELM Holters BERLIN W 50 TAUENTZIENSTR. 16 [Zimmermann Alo](written in ink) No. [5374](written in ink) den [Dec](written in ink) 19 [41](written in ink)”.

PROVENANCE: Lifetime Collection of Dennis Ottaway.

Uniform coat is of heavy black wool with black, 4 hole, sew on buttons in 2 sizes down the right side. The left breast has 3 sets of loops for badges & below the loops is a sewn on bullion SS rune patch. The shoulder boards are silver bullion on light green with a single pip denoting a 1st Lieutenant of the Panzer Grenadiers. The collar is piped in the same light green & the black wool collar tabs are also piped in light green with a Death’s Head device in the center of each. The left sleeve has a superb silver bullion police eagle & wreath insignia sewn on. The partial interior lining is of dark putty gray colored rayon. The inside back & sleeves are unlined. The inside left breast lining area is stamped, “ROGER KAUERT K.G. 40 43 104 62 64 Po 1943”. The pants are of the same heavy black wool material with a built in black cotton belt. There are 2 diagonally oriented slash pockets with flaps on the front & 2 additional pockets in the rear. There is also a watch pocket to the right of the fly. The fly closes with 4 exterior buttons & the waist closes with 2 interior buttons.
The cuffs have a single button flap closure with black cotton ties at the hem.

PROVENANCE: Lifetime Collection of Dennis Ottaway.

Brigadefuhrer Dr. Leo Gotzmann was born in 1893 & was the son of an Austrian NCO. He studied law at the University of Vienna & subsequently became a soldier in the Austro-Hungarian Army ultimately serving during WWI. He joined the Austrian Police in 1920 serving in the Security Guard Militia from 1924-1933. In 1933 he was transferred back to police headquarters because of his increasing National Socialist activities. He was arrested subsequent to the July Putsch & tried for high treason. He received a life sentence but was freed after the Anschluss in 1938. He returned to service in the Vienna police & rose to the rank of Supreme Councilor to the Police President of Vienna. He became a member of the Reichstag where he remained throughout the war. He was named Police President of Vienna in January of 1941 & was the SS leader of the Reichs Main Security Office. Gotzmann was arrested after the assassination attempt on Hitler but was released & reassumed his duties. He died in American custody of natural causes.

PROVENANCE: Lifetime Collection of Dennis Ottaway.

A fine example of an enlisted grade WWII German panzer peaked cap & a standard WWII German Schutzpolitzei shako

SS PANZER PEAKED CAP: The crown is constructed of field green wool & the band is black wool. The entire cap is piped in pink denoting the owner’s attachment to a panzer unit. The front shows a metal SS eagle over a metal Death’s Head device. Black leather, 2 buckle chinstrap w/ central rectangular loop & black side buttons. Black visor w/ dark green underside. Brown leather sweatband w/ a dull, reddish tan, polished cotton lining. The inside crown lining is dull orange w/ only traces of the sweatshield remaining. The marking under the sweatshield remains clear & reads, “Fewegla (logo) Deutsche Wertarbeit”.

SCHUTZPOLITZEI SHAKO: A very fine example of a standard WWII German Schutzpolitzei shako w/ a black leather finished crown, chinstrap, visor & rear visor denoting use by city or town police. The underside of the visors is dark green. The body of the shako is covered in green wool felt & has 2 screened vent holes on each side. There is a lg. aluminum police eagle on the front w/ an aluminum cockade above. The side posts & chinstrap buckles are also aluminum. Light tan leather, 9 finger liner w/ missing tie. The inside crown is labeled, “HANS ROMER * Neu-Ulm (Donau) * “ & “Echt Fiber-Tschako”. The crown is also stamped w/ the size designation “54 1/2”.

Koch was an infamous figure even among his peers. He was accused & later convicted of the murder of Dr. Walter Kramer, as well as other medical staff, at Buchenwald to cover up the treatment of his syphilis. He was also convicted of embezzlement & several other crimes. After a lengthy investigation, he was eventually executed on April 5, 1945, 1 week before American troops liberated the camp. His 2nd wife, Ilse Kohler, was known as “The Bitch of Buchenwald” & was convicted of many atrocities perpetrated at the camp. She was sentenced to life in prison & hanged herself while incarcerated in 1967. This uniform was taken from Buchenwald by 2 Canadian intelligence officers working w/ the 3rd Army. It was given to a Canadian museum where it was deaccessed several years ago & purchased by our consignor.

General Rudolf Querner was the son of a wealthy landowner. He was an officer in WWI & was awarded the 2nd Class Iron Cross as well as the Hessian General Honor medal. He joined the NSDAP in 1933. He held many positions including the Ordnungspolizei of Prague from 1939 to 1941. From May 1941 to January of 1943, he was the HSSPF Nordsee in Military District 10. From January 1943 to October 1944, he was HSSPF for District 17 around Vienna. He was promoted to SS Obergruppenfuhrer in late June of 1943 & was named General of the Waffen SS on the first day of July 1944. In October of 1944, he became HSSPF for District 11 where he remained until the end of the war. Querner was responsible for the evacuation of concentration & POW camps & his name has been tied to large orders of Zyklon-B. He was captured by US troops & committed suicide in prison on May 27, 1945.

General Karl von Eberstein was born in 1894 to a German noble family. He entered the Cadet Corps in 1912 & served during WWI earning both the Iron Cross 1st Class & 2nd Class, as well as the 1914-18 Honor Cross. Eberstein joined the NSDAP in 1922 but quit after the Beer Hall Putsch of 1923. He rejoined the Party in 1925 & was an early member of the SS on the staff of Heinrich Himmler. He briefly joined the SA in the summer of 1930. He quickly rose through the ranks of the SS & held many positions of honor & authority. He was named Police President of Munich in 1938, General of the Police in 1941 & General of the Waffen SS in 1944. He was relieved of command in late April of 1945 for “defeatism”. He was awarded the Gold Party badge, SS Honor ring & the Sword of Honor of the Reichsfuhrer-SS. His other awards included the NSDAP Long Service in silver & bronze, the SS Long Service award & the Italian Grand Cross of the Order of the Roman Eagle with swords.

This very attractive post 1943 general’s visor cap has a medium field green, wool crown w/ a dark green wool band. The piping at the top & base of the crown, as well as the base of the band, is fine gold bullion. The chinstrap is also gold bullion & is secured by 2 gold, pebble finished buttons. There is a gold finished, metal Wehrmacht eagle on the front of the peak w/ a gold finished, metal wreath below indicates post 1943 mfg. The cockade appears to be nickel silver over a black enameled border w/ a red felt center. Black, well formed visor features a tan underside. Sweatband is a soft medium brown leather w/ vent holes in the front & a ribbon tie in the rear. The initials, “R” & “B” on sm. oval metal tags are attached to the rear of the sweatband. The cloth liner is a deep orange color w/ a diamond shaped sweatshield. There are no visible maker markings on the interior.

Cap features a medium field green, wool crown & dark green wool band. Piping at the top of the crown, base of the crown & base of the band is tarnished gold bullion. The peak has a sewn on, flat silver bullion eagle & the wreath is also sewn on, flat silver bullion. The integral cockade has a stitched black border w/ a silver bullion inner ring & a stitched red center. Thick leather visor w/ a black finish on the front as well as the underside. There is neither a chinstrap nor side buttons & there is no evidence of either ever being present as is correct. Leather sweatband w/ vent holes in the front & a bow at the joint in the rear. Lining appears to be green rayon w/ no evidence of a sweatshield inside. Hat is clearly marked in black ink, “DAS ZEICHENFUR ADEFA(logo) Ware aus arischerhand” & “Spact – Metzger Iuh. Max Metzger FELLBACH”.

A spectacular offering of six 100% original WWII German black SS cuff titles. Titles include “Adolf Hitler”, “SS-Politzei-Division”, “Nordland”, “SS-Nachrichtensturmbann”, “Metz 1944” & “Grossdeutschland”. SS- Nachrichtensturmbann is silver bullion on black. Adolf Hitler, SS-Politzei-Division & Nordland are a bevo type weave on gray/black. Metz 1944 & Grossdeutschland are embroidered on a black wool band.

A rare & very desirable WWII German 1939 Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross likely produced by Juncker of Berlin. This example features a regulation silver frame of standard form marked, “L/12” & “800” on either side of the round suspension loop. The cross is of multi-piece construction w/ black center having an eggshell sheen that is rarely seen by Juncker. As expected, the obverse has a raised Party symbol w/ the date “1939” below, & the reverse has a raised “1813” which represents the year the award was instituted. The award measures 47.92mm x 48.35mm. The cross is accompanied by oak leaves in silver being commonly known as 2nd type. The oak leaves are marked, “900” indicating silver purity & “21” being the Prasidialkanzlei number. The oak leaves measure 21.08mm x 20.16mm & are believed to have been mfg. by Gebruder Godet of Berlin. The Knight’s Cross is suspended from a short, correct red, white & black ribbon w/ black cotton tapes measuring 9 1/2″ & 4″ on either end. The 9 1/2″ length has a sewn hook at the end & the 4″ length features 3 eye attachments for size adjustment.

A superb example of a WWII German enlisted man’s visor cap of the notorious Allgemeine SS. The hat features a black wool body & black wool band. All piping is white. The death’s head skull appears to be plated zinc & the SS eagle is also silver plated. Leather chinstrap w/ 2 black enameled buckles & a central connective oval O ring. Side buttons have a black enameled finish. Black visor w/ dark orange underside stamped w/ an RZM SS mark. Dull orange sweatband w/ a legible, pressed in logo that reads, “DEUTSCHES LEDER”. Tan colored lining w/ triangular sweatshield. Under the sweatshield is a gold “SS” round insignia w/ the size “57 1/2” above. A black & white cloth SS RZM tag reads, “Vom Reichsfuhrer SS befohlene Ausfuhrung”. The owner’s name is on a sm. piece of paper, inserted under the sweatshield, that reads, “Heinr. Looschelders”.

A very fine example of a WWII period German Cross in gold by the firm of Deschler und Sohn of Munchen. The Cross has a beautifully enameled black Party symbol surrounded by a gold wreath & 8 pointed multi-rayed star. The reverse shows 4 rivet construction w/ a “1” clearly stamped on the outside of the wide pin. The reverse is hand inscribed, “P. JUST”. Paul Just joined the Kreigsmarine in 1936 & was part of the Olympia Crew. He attended officer training school from 1936 to 1938 & then was attached to the Luftwaffe as a flight crew observer in coastal command until early in 1941. After attending U-Boat Commander Training School, Just served aboard the U-6 & U-151, both school boats. In June of 1943, he assumed his first active duty combat command, the U-546. U-546 was lost on its 3rd combat patrol northwest of the Azores. 33 Officers & men survived & 26 were lost after being depth charged by US destroyers. Kapitanleutnant Just received the 1st & 2nd Class Iron Crosses, as well as this German Cross in gold while in command of U-546. The German Cross is held in its original, unmarked presentation case.