WWII German Estonian Volunteers Sleeve Shield
Item #: WR49
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This is a World War II German Waffen SS Estonian Volunteer's sleeve shield. The shield is German manufactured. It is constructed of black wool and has a flat top, rounded bottom shield shaped base. It features a machine embroidered shield with a pointed bottom tip with three horizontal bars in the national colors of Estonia, blue, black and white. In 1938 Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler and the Allgemeine-SS began recruiting volunteer "Germanische" personnel who were considered to be "Nordic" to serve in the SS-VT and SS-Special Purpose Troops. Originally these Germanic troops were drawn from Dutch, Belgian, Danes and Norwegians with minor success. In march of 1940 with the formation of the Waffen-SS, recruitment of the Germanic personnel began to increase slightly. The outbreak of WWII caused additional Germanic volunteers to join the ranks of the Waffen-SS. The invasion of the Balkans in 1941 brought forward another pool of suitable "Ethnic Germans" available for voluntary enlistment in the Waffen-SS. The invasion of Russia on 22 June, 1941and the war against Bolshevism resulted in the Waffen-SS experiencing another surge in recruits willing to serve with the German Army. As the war continued and man power shortages became critical the standard criteria for acceptance in the Waffen-SS was decreased dramatically. By the end of the war more than half of all personnel serving in the Waffen-SS were non Germans. On 28 August, 1942, the German's called for volunteers in occupied Estonia to come forward and fight along side them in the battle against Bolshevism. Enough Estonians volunteered to raise three battalions which in early 1943 formed the basis of the 1st Estonian SS Volunteer Grenadier Regiment. Additional volunteers and those Estonians transferred from the German Army brought them up to brigade strength in early 1943. They reached Divisional strength in January 1944. Estonian nationals were authorized to wear an identifying sleeve shield just below the SS eagle on the upper left sleeve of the uniform. This is another opportunity to own a small piece of unique World War II history at a reasonable price.
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