Why We Wear a Uniform

 

Source: SS Leitheft, No. 10, 1937

 

Uniforms were once a sign of recognition. In ancient times, uniforms were given to men in the same way as their thinking was influenced. They were ‘stuffed’ into them, and this expression already carries the bitter taste of constraint.

 

Today, it is worn as a sign of spiritual attitude. The only thing that counts is the will and the action of the men wearing the jacket, not the look or the fashion. For this reason, the simple feldgrau uniform is more valuable than the gold-laden dolman of a hussar.

 

The heroic struggle of our soldiers against an enemy world gave the feldgrau jacket its letters of nobility. It symbolises forever the memory of the misery and death that befell millions of Germany’s finest fighters under rolling fire and in tank battles, on the silt fields of Flanders and on the icy expanses of Russia, on the grey “no man’s land”. They were men ready to accept death, united in victory and comradeship, heroic loners standing by their last machine gun.

 

Every man who wears the jacket has a duty to this tradition. It thus became the expression of the soldiers at the front, of the will of national defence. Adolf Hitler, the corporal of the Great War, made it the honorary garment of the new national army.

 

Similarly, the brown shirt will always be the honorary garment of the National Socialist fighter – a constant reminder of the sacrificial spirit of all the anonymous men and women who followed the Führer with sacred loyalty, driven by one constant idea: Germany! Germany, you must live, even if we must die. This spirit of sacrifice and loyalty, of comradeship and desire for freedom, firmly unites every wearer of the brown shirt. We recognize that we wear the brown shirt and the black jacket in the same spirit as these fighters.

 

The uniform implies a disciplined attitude.

 

It is no longer necessary to tell a National Socialist today that we make no distinction between service and private life. We are constantly in the service of our people. A National Socialist must therefore never let himself go. The SS must also, in civilian life, act as if he were on duty, as if he were wearing the black uniform, the honorary garment of his Führer.

 

The uniform therefore implies a duty. It must also be worn with the deepest conviction that it will become an honourable distinction for its wearer.

 

But the uniform also implies physical qualities. It should be worn by healthy men and not by weaklings. That is why in all units that wear a uniform, physical exercise is cultivated. Under the uniform, the man without attitude becomes the caricature of the soldier and thus makes the troop ridiculous.

 

The notions of soldier, defence and activity are linked to the uniform. Being a soldier implies the notion of duty. The uniform demands that the wearer is always aware that he or she has great duties to fulfil. Wearing a uniform requires the ability to fight with conviction for the idea that made us put it on. It is an expression of comradeship, perseverance and loyalty. He who thinks like this when he wears it and hangs his way of thinking with his jacket on his hanger is not only endangering his personal appearance. He harms the group to which he belongs. For the individual is nothing – perhaps a name that is forgotten three days later. The uniform wearer, on the other hand, symbolises an idea, even if his name is unknown.

 

The uniform demands from its wearer a total refusal to compromise. It tolerates no hesitation. It demands action’.

 

The wearer of the uniform is the focus of all eyes. When unforeseen events occur, the masses will turn to him, feeling that he knows what needs to be done. The civilian can afford to fail: no one will draw general conclusions. The soldier who fails undermines the respect of all those who wear the same jacket. He who wears the uniform is always placed at a higher level of responsibility, he is in any case a leader, an elected official. Our education must therefore aim to ensure that one day our young people wear the uniform out of conviction, and are not simply “stuck” in it. Young people must be aware that the uniform, in National Socialist Germany, has become the expression of all those who come together because they are of the same species. The grey jacket of the People’s Army, the brown shirt and the black uniform are the honorary garments of men who are ready to fight for the National Socialist Reich and an eternal Germany.

 

So that’s why we wear the uniform. A lot of people probably respected the black jacket at first because it looks good. They took pride in it and were satisfied. But gradually they realised that it also imposed duties, which we accepted voluntarily and out of conviction. One can perhaps follow the rules of an association, even devoting oneself twice a week to its objectives, but certainly not a world view. The black jacket implies that the wearer must act every day and every hour as a soldier of National Socialism. Every action on our part will therefore be observed, compared and judged. The value of an idea represented by the wearer of the uniform is judged by his behaviour

 

We must win the confidence of our fellow citizens by our thoughtfulness, for we do not want to impose our world view on the people, but to persuade them of its rightness. He who wears the uniform experiences National Socialism in advance. And our task is to spread our world view ever more widely in the community until it is understood.

 

We want to be respected and to judge the value of National Socialism by our attitude.

 

That’s why we wear a uniform.

 

V.J. Schuster