Original German WWII SS POW Made Engraved Aluminum Box from Post-War Internment Camp at Regensburg

Original Item: Only One Available. Following the fall of NSDAP Germany, there was the need for many internment camps for the many German POWs. One of these was a U.S. Army-administered Disarmed Enemy Forces Facility (DEF) constructed at Regensburg, Bavaria in South East Germany. There was originally a temporary camp in the area, but a new facility was constructed from the ground up on a military training ground in the city, which was adjacent to captured German Barracks being used by the U.S. Army. It was used to house Wehrmacht and SS prisoners, operating from September 1945 to August 1953.

Here we have a very nice souvenir box, made from 1mm sheet aluminum and held together by small aluminum rivets. It measures approximately 3" x 2 1/4" x 1 1/4", and the exterior is covered with engraved patterns and designs. The front of the box is engraved with ᛋᛋ Doppelte Siegrune (Double Sig/Victory Rune) designs over an SS-style Totenkopf (Death's Head). The sides of the box are marked with ᛋᛋ-Camp, Regensburg, Germany, and 1945, while the back of the box has a large star with J. F. Q. in it, which we assume are the owners initials.

A very interesting piece of German SS POW material, ready to research and display!

The SS (Schutzstaffel) 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 Germany eventually controlled nearly every function of German life and much of Occupied Europe.

The Allgemeine-SS, (General-SS), was originally formed in May 1923 as the Stosstrupp Adolf AH, (Shock Troops Adolf AH), and was redesignated Schutzstaffel, (Protection Squad), in April 1925 with the official acceptance of the name verified on the second anniversary of the failed Munich "Beer-Hall" Putsch on November 9TH 1925. On January 6TH 1929 Heinrich Himmler was appointed as Reichsführer-SS, (National Leader {of the} SS), and on July 20TH 1934 shortly after the, June 30TH 1934, purge of the SA, Sturm Abteilung, (Storm Troopers) on the "Night of the Long Knives", the SS was rewarded by AH by being granted the status of an independent organization under direct control of the NSDAP, Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, (National Socialist German Worker’s Party).

The SS developed the distinctive SS style cap Totenkopf (death's head) skull and cross bones on October 6TH 1934 and introduced the SS pattern national cap eagle in February 1936. After their introductions the skull and eagle were to be worn on all forms of SS headgear. In 1944 the SS developed a single piece of cap insignia which incorporated both the skull and eagle on a one piece trapezoid base for wear on the M43 field cap. Originally these trapezoidal pieces of insignia were produced in a machine woven version until a final, embroidered version was introduced in late 1944. The first versions of the trapezoidal cap insignia featured dual rows of teeth in the skull while later versions only had a single row of teeth. Panzer personnel’s cap trapezoids were produced with a black base to match the color of the cap it was to be worn on.<