Schutzpolizei Enlisted Police Shako – H. Becker

Product Description:  A fine and well-preserved example of the Schutzpolizei Enlisted Police Shako – H. Becker, retaining its distinctive form and excellent overall presentation. Constructed with a chipboard body featuring black-finished leather visor and rear guard, both well-kept with only minor edge chipping to the rear. The field-gray wool body shows a few small areas of light mothing and wear consistent with age.

The interior displays a clean and supple leather liner, marked size 56½, with its original draw cord showing some thinning and wear. The polished aluminum police eagle and national cockade remain in excellent condition, the latter showing only minor paint loss from handling.

Overall, this Schutzpolizei Enlisted Police Shako – H. Becker example rates in excellent condition, representing a fine specimen of the enlisted ranks headgear issued to the German Schutzpolizei during the period, and a particularly attractive example by maker H. Becker.

Historical Description: The German Polizei (Police) had very many different roles before and during WWII. There were many different Police organizations that worked together for the purposes of law enforcement and maintaining order. The Ordnungspolizei was the regular police. Under the Ordnungspolizei umbrella were the various Schutzpolizei (protection police) units, including state, municipal, rural, and traffic police. There was also the Water Protection Police and the Fire Protection Police. Within the Ordnungspolizei jurisdiction was the Hilfspolizei, a category which included volunteer fire departments, Air Raid Protection Police, postal protection, and Factory Protection Police, among other groups. Police batallions of the Ordnungspolizei deployed to occupied territories during WWII, where their duties included the roundup and elimination of Jews and other civilian groups the Nazis regarded as undesirable. Besides the Ordnungspolizei, there was also the Sicherheitspolizei, made up of the combined forces of the criminal police and the Gestapo secret police. Under police jurisdiction was the Sicherheitsdienst, the intelligence service of the Nazi party and SS. Starting in 1943, all German police forces were placed under the command of SS leader Heinrich Himmler. The various Polizei organizations all had distinctive uniforms and insignia which indicated rank, organizational assignment, and occupational assignment. Headgear of Polizei units ranged from the mostly ornamental “Tschako” helmets of civilian police forces, to field caps and combat helmets. As with all Third Reich uniformed organizations, the Polizei had their own ID documents and awards, as well.

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