BACKGROUND: Physical fitness of its personnel was a prime concern of all elements of the SS and prior to the war each new recruit was issued a basic sport uniform that consisted of black short pants and athletic shoes and a white pullover "tank top" style shirt with the runic SS emblem on the front center, plus an additional track suit consisting long pants and a long sleeve shirt. Additional sports outfits were also issued for specific sports such as fencing. The basic regional organizational infrastructure of the Allgemeine-SS, (General-SS), began with the SS-Oberabschnitte, (SS Districts), which corresponded roughly to the German Armed Forces, Wehrkreis, (Military District), and each SS-Oberabschnitte contained a Sportabteilung, (Sports Detachment), which was tasked with all aspects of physical fitness and sports training. Of Note: The SS sports uniform was based on the army’s sports uniform and was officially adopted by regulations in May 1934 but in likelihood it had been introduced prior to that date. Originally the insignia utilized on the sports shirt consists of white SS runes on a black base field but the coloration of the insignia was soon reverse to black SS runes on a white base field. The issue of the sports uniform was discontinued sometime early in the war, circa mid-1941. NCO personnel were distinguished from EM’s by the addition of a black stripe positioned around the collar of the sports shirt while all ranks wore the matching, black, short pants. The RZM, Reichzeugmeisterei, (National Equipment Quartermaster), was officially founded in June 1934 in Munich by the NSDAP, Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, (National Socialist German Worker’s Party), as a Reich Hauptamt, (State Central Office), and was based on the earlier SA ,Sturm Abteilung, (Storm/Assault Detachment), Quartermaster’s Department. The functions of the RZM were not only to procure and distribute items to Party formations, but also to approve chosen designs and to act as a quality control supervisor to ensure items manufactured for the Party met required specification and were standardized. Starting in late 1934 items manufactured for the SS came under the quality control of the RZM and were marked by the appropriate RZM/SS approval marking. In 1943 the Waffen-SS assumed full control over their uniform item production and no longer fell under the authority of the RZM.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Stretchy, standard issue, woven white tricot construction, tank top style, sports shirt with vertical, machine stitched, side seams and low, circular, boat-cut neck line. The front center of the shirt has a second pattern SS sports insignia machine sewn in place that consists of a roughly, 3 7/8" diameter, machine woven white rayon base with a black/white/black trimmed outer border encompassing a white field with central, interwoven, black SS runes. The shirt has a dual-ply hemmed tail skirt and the interior of the neck and arm openings have a narrow reinforcement strip of white cotton machine stitched in place. The interior reverse tail skirt is well marked with the black inkstamped manufacturer’s name and location, "Hermann Engelmann Nchf. Limbach Sa.". The shirt is in overall very good condition with a few small picks and pulls and light to moderate age and usage toning. The shirt is roughly size 36" chest but the stretchiness of the fabric would allow it to accommodate larger sizes. Also included are woven, black cotton/rayon blend construction sports shorts with machine stitched seams, that feature a tunnel looped, white, elastic, fit adjustment drawstring to the waistband and dual-ply hemmed legs. The elastic has lost all of its elasticity. The shorts have a single patch pocket to the right seat. The shorts have no fly. The interior of the shorts have a woven, pale grey, rayon label, with brown, machine woven, script that includes the RZM logo within a circular border and, "Vorschriftsmäßige Sportbekleidung", (Regulation Sports Clothing). The interior of the shorts have an additional small, woven, white cotton label with the black inkstamped size, "4", (roughly medium), and another woven, black, rayon tag with the silver, machine woven, RZM logo and SS runes within dual circular borders flanking the manufacturer’s numerical code and the date, "21/37", indicating an unknown manufacturer in 1937. All three labels are machine stitched in place. The shorts are in overall very good condition with minimal age and usage toning. The shorts would fit up to a roughly size 35" waist. Nice set.

GRADE ****                             PRICE $1,850.00