Description
Latvia: interwar Latvian Army/ WWII collaborationist [Security] Police private's collar patches, c. 1931+. Wine-colored pair w/diagonal silver tresse stripe of type used from 1931 by Latvian Army (infantry) & during the German occupation by the 'Security Police' (known as 'Schutzmannschaft'). Surface wear on left patch & moth nips. Interwar army & security police each numbered 25,000 men & the army's khaki-yellow uniform was retained to 1945; the collaborationist police was established by the German 'Order Police', commanded by the head of SD & Einsatzgruppen (Franz Walter Stahlecker), as such involved in perpertration of Holocaust & anti-partisan operations. See image for varied uniforms in single unit (280th Schuma/Police bn).
