SS Temporary concentration camp guard collar tab

This black wool collar tab featuring silver-white machine-embroidered bars arranged in a stepped grid pattern.
Commonly associated with SS-Totenkopfverbände personnel serving as temporary or trainee guards at concentration camps.
This variant was produced in the SS-Bekleidungsamt in concentration camp Dachau.

Temporary Guards in Concentration Camps

During the Second World War, the Nazi concentration camp system required a vast number of personnel to maintain its operations.
As the war progressed and Germany suffered increasing casualties, especially on the Eastern Front, the SS faced significant manpower shortages. In response, the regime began assigning soldiers who were recovering from wounds, or older veterans deemed unfit for frontline service, to act as temporary guards at concentration camps.
Many of these individuals came from the Wehrmacht or other branches of the military.
While not formally part of the SS, they were often placed under the command of the SS-Totenkopfverbände, the units responsible for administering the concentration camp system.
These temporary guards received limited training and were expected to carry out tasks such as perimeter security, prisoner escort, or watchtower duty.
Although some may have seen this assignment as a temporary or less dangerous post compared to the front lines, they were still participants in a system of extreme violence, forced labor, and mass murder.
Their presence contributed to the overall functioning of the camps and the suffering of countless prisoners.
In many cases, these guards witnessed or were complicit in acts of brutality.