German WWII SS Officer’s Honor Degan for Hermann Florstedt (Fully Documented)-This is a very special offering! This SS sword is fully documented to SS Standarten Führer Hermann Florstedt (NSDAP #488 573). It is engraved with his initials HF on the top of the pommel cap and his SS number “8660” can be seen under the buffer pad. Arthur Hermann Florstedt (18 February 1895 – 5 April 1945) was a German SS official who served as the third commandant of Majdanek concentration camp from November 1942 to October 1943. Florstedt was a veteran of WW1 and involved in right-wing paramilitaries before joining the Party in 1931. He rose through the ranks of the SS to hold high-ranking positions at various concentration camps from 1939, including Buchenwald where he developed a reputation for brutality against prisoners. Florstedt was arrested in 1943 during a corruption investigation into Karl-Otto Koch for stealing the valuables of Holocaust victims at Majdanek. He was convicted and sentenced to death, but his execution on 5 April 1945 shortly before the end of the war is unconfirmed and his fate is (supposedly) unknown. There is a book written about this guy, it is titled Hermann Florstedt, SS-Führer und KZ-Lagerkommandant: Ein Lebensbild im Horizont der Familie by Peter Lindner.
SS Officers Honor Degan’s were authorized for wear personally by Himmler and ownership required a certificate. Each one was, upon being awarded, duly noted in the SS Dienstaltersliste and became a part of the owner’s service record. The white buffer pad remains intact under the crossguard. The D-guard has a nice pewter like patina that nicely matches the rest of the fittings. The underside is SS proof marked and numbered “8660”. The quillon has a light bend. The cast oak leaf and acorn ferrule are beautiful. The black wood grip and wire wrap look great. The solid nickel SS runes button is nicely burnished and tightly set in place. The pommel top has a stylized engraved initals. “HF”. This piece has never been disassembled. The black anodized scabbard a nice dark finish. Anodized scabbards on Degans are extremely early and rare! The scabbard does show oxidization spotting throughout. The bottom fitting is the slip-on type and shows some rusting. The top nickel fitting is secured with two screws. The scabbard throat is SS proof marked. This sword measures approx. 40 inches (101.6cm) in length with the blade alone measuring 34 inches (86.36cm) long and is single fullered. It shows age grey, spotting and minor pitting throughout. There are some rough spots and three nicks to the cutting edge. A rare opportunity to own a Degan that is attributed to a known officer.
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