I agree, Paul. What attracted these people into the SS was a mystery. Maybe it's the ideological power, or maybe its symbolic force, or maybe their socio-political conditions, or maybe all of these factors that gathered these people outside Germany under the banner of the SS like a huge magnetic force. It was a tragedy that they were mesmerized to believe what would turn out to be an illusion - the rule of the whole of Europe by the Germanic races. The SS was a political as well as a sort of religious organization that utilized its peculiar symbols (like runes) to manipulate the minds of people. And the abundance of these symbols created the rich variety of its uniforms, accouterments and insignia to suit our collecting interest. To me, the SS encompasses all the human experiences from its height to its depth - the glory and the defeat, heroism and viciousness, etc - in their extremes. It's a modern saga from which we can lean a lot today. It's really fascinating.
BTW, that portrait is certainly very attractive, Darryl. Congratulations on your acquisition of it!
Shu
