Waffen-SS BeVo 'Theodor Eicke' Cufftitle

Description

Waffen-SS BeVo 'Theodor Eicke' Cufftitle (Ärmelband) as worn by members of the SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 6 "Theodor Eicke", part of the 3. SS-Panzer-Division "Totenkopf". 

Theodor Eicke was the founder of the SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS Totenkopf Units) and a key figure in the establishment of concentration camps in Nazi Germany. Eicke's SS-Totenkopf units were also deployed at the front from 1939 onwards. For this purpose, Himmler incorporated these units into the Waffen-SS under the name SS-Division Totenkopf.

On February 26, 1943, Eicke was shot down in his reconnaissance aircraft by Russian fire. He crashed in a barren steppe near Orilka, Ukraine, near Kharkov, where he died. A battle group of his 3rd SS-Division Totenkopf recovered his body, along with those of pilot Oberfeldwebel Michael Werner and SS-Hauptsturmführer Friedrich, from behind enemy lines. Shortly after his death, the Totenkopf Panzer Regiment received permission to wear a black armband bearing Eicke's name.

The cufftitle is woven in grey/white thread in the so-called 'BeVo' weave, both ends are factory machine-sewn and one end showing the interwoven 'BeVo-Wuppertal' marking. The cufftitle is in full lenght measuring 48cms. The cufftitle shows the woven script 'Theodor Eicke', the back of the cufftitle shows the salt-and-pepper design. The cufftitle is in good condition showing minor traces of years of storage. Rare and hard to find original cufftitle!