Dave�s idea of �Friends of Heinrich Himmler� works for me. If you look at the list of known gifts from Himmler some went to individuals who were given SS rank, but were involved in something other than direct �SS� activities and were more political in nature.
As far as �freebies" from Eickhorn is concerned that is a possibility. Although the RZM had considerable influence with later M1933 daggers which were made to more or less to its standards and price controls. And any extraordinary economic benefit to Eickhorn would have to have come from unbranded M1936 production.
Also interesting I think is information that was developed by Joe Wotka. In 1938 (and earlier) the company that had the inside track for SS approved sword blades was Krebs. And it was an appeal from Pack filed with the Reich Equalization office for Public Contracts that ultimately allowed other makers to compete. And there was �pay back� from the RFSS - with Pack also being virtually excluded with other items they formerly made.
So obviously Himmler was not above playing favorites when it came to items made for the SS. And extorting concessions from Eickhorn cannot be discounted out of hand. If they did or not I think is an unknown at moment - but is something that could be looked at in parallel with the timeline for the daggers. FP
