Damals: Erinnerungen an grosse tage der SS totenkopf-division im französischen feldzug

An excellent example of the very rare photo history of the SS-totenkopf division in the field in france in 1940. With autographed by a SS-Standartenführer.

This is as nice an example of the rare SS photographic combat book Damals as we have ever seen.

DAMALS (Back Then) is a 8-1/4 x 11-1/8 inch, 120 page very, very heavily illustrated hard cover remembrance book of “the Great Days of the SS-Totenkopf Division Battling through France in 1940” by SS War Correspondents Ege, Bauer and Bonda as printed by Christian Belser in Stuttgart for the SS Führungshauptamt in Berlin in 1941. It is superb SS photographic material of the very finest kind.
Together with a very brief one-page introduction and excellent photo captions, the photos in this book tell the story of the short but tough campaign which reduced the glorious French Armed Forces to en masse surrender in a few days time.

Very sharp mostly full-page photographs show SS General “Papa” Eicke, columns of SS vehicles, SS troops and officers deploying to the field, marching through French towns, chatting with German Panzer troops, resting en route, directing traffic, shelling French positions, firing machine guns, crossing streams in rubber boats, firing mortars, looking at dead British troops, erecting communications systems, etc. Other photos show SS-Totenkopf Division wounded, graves of the dead, building bridges, cooks preparing meals for the troops, knocked-out French tanks, armored assaults, surrendering French and British troops, a ceremony awarding medals to the victorious SS troops, etc.

DAMALS is a book that belongs in the library of every historian of the period as well as those who collect the helmets, uniforms, weapons and fieldfear of the Waffen-SS.