Why German Soldiers Fought with their Sleeves Rolled up

To date, there are not so many people left who remember and saw with their own eyes the events of the Second World War, and you and I, the descendants, can only observe the events of those years from documentary chronicles, photographs, or from artistic paintings that were shot in Soviet Union or already in our time.

Surely, many of you have noticed how German soldiers appeared in newsreels with a proud expression on their faces, leisurely walking with an MP40 machine gun in their hands. And almost always their sleeves were rolled up to the elbow, while Soviet soldiers never did this.

What is the reason for such wearing of military clothes. I would like to note right away that in this situation we are not talking about any military traditions. It was all about the form itself.

The fabric from which the German uniform was sewn consisted of two-thirds of wool, the rest of viscose. The quality and characteristics of the appearance of the clothes were at a high level. In the cold season, in this form it was quite warm, but this plus turned into a minus at the same time. Heat transfer is disturbed in woolen products and because of this, it was very hot in a woolen military uniform in the warm season, unlike cotton clothes. Toward the middle of the war, the German uniform began to be sewn, it was from cotton, but the rolling up of the sleeves by the Wehrmacht soldiers on the tunic had already become a habit. Apparently, the charter did not prohibit such wearing of a military uniform, and the officers turned a blind eye to this. However, discomfort in warm weather is not the only reason for rolling up sleeves. We all know that natural wool is a rather prickly material, and those who have worn a wool sweater on their naked body at least once understand what is at stake and remember how the skin itches after that.

As for the soldiers of the Red Army, their uniforms were sewn almost entirely from cotton fabric, as a result of which it was much lighter and more practical. Cotton also breathed well, was a versatile fabric for heat and cold. Plus, the tunics of Soviet soldiers were distinguished by a special cut. The sleeves were slightly tapered, so rolling up the sleeves was quite difficult and impractical.

Source :
https://dzen.ru/media/id/5fdf902d0199050378ad334d/pochemu-nemeckie-soldaty-voevali-zasuchiv-rukava-60771d448fb1c273054dd6bb
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:German_troops_in_Russia_-_NARA_-_540156_(cropped).tif

SS Artillery in Finland

German Waffen-SS artillery (Nord Infanterie Geschutz platoon.) at Kokkosalmi, Kiestinki, 4 August 1941. Looks like they're on the training session.

Source :
http://sa-kuva.fi/neo?tem=webneoeng

Great Display of Firepower by LSSAH

Great display of firepower from the soldiers of Leibstandarte Division along fenced area of a Ukrainian farmhouse during Operation Barbarossa in 1941. If the sniper fire is not adequate, a few bursts from the MG 34 machine gun will suppress any enemy activity.

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/147862177882/great-display-of-firepower-from-the-soldiers-of

War Crime of Soviet NKVD

A member of the Leibstandarte Division photographed with a distraught crowd of women after seeing the piles of corpses of murdered people by NKVD in Lviv, late June 1941. From 22 June 1941 to 28 June 1941 before the German advance arrived, the Soviet NKVD brutally massacred over 4,000 of Ukrainian and Polish civilians and political prisoners in the city of Lviv. The NKVD committed many massacres in Eastern Europe, primarily Poland, Ukraine, the Baltic states, Bessarabia and other parts of the Soviet Union from which the Red Army was retreating in 1941.

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/147866015232/a-member-of-the-leibstandarte-division

SS Wiking Officers

    Wiking Division officers at the beginning of Operation Barbarossa in Ukraine, 1941. The man in the foreground is an SS-Hauptsturmführer, while on his right is an SS-Obersturmführer.

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/147908936532/5sswiking-wiking-division-officers-at-the

SS Car Passing Russian POWs

A Kfz. 15 medium cross-country personnel carrier from the Das Reich Division move past Red Army prisoners during Operation Barbarossa, area of Smolensk in the summer of 1941. The white letter ‘G’ indicates it belongs to Panzergruppe Guderian.

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/149195267632/a-kfz-15-medium-cross-country-personnel-carrier

Puppies of SS Soldier

During Operation Barbarossa in the summer of 1941, a Das Reich Division member makes new friends: two puppies!

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/150000281492/during-operation-barbarossa-in-the-summer-of-1941

Das Reich Division On The Way to Smolensk

An advance party from the Das Reich Division en route to Smolensk pass through a Soviet village during Operation Barbarossa in the summer of 1941. The vehicle with the Das Reich Wolfsangel symbol and tactical sign on the front left is a Sd.Kfz.10 towing a 3.7 cm Pak 36 anti-tank gun. The division was part of Generalfeldmarschall Fedor von Bock’s Heeresgruppe Mitte (Army Group Centre) and took part in the great encirclement battles during the first weeks of Soviet campaign.

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/150141395887/an-advance-party-from-the-das-reich-division-en

Das Reich Soldiers Marching Through the Burning Soviet Village

Das Reich Division soldiers photographed marching through a Soviet village with their two 7.5 cm leIG 18 light howitzers during Operation Barbarossa in 1941. Stalin’s scorched earth policy can be seen in the background.

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/150186588847/das-reich-division-soldiers-photographed-marching

SS Reich Soldiers Seeking Cover in Russia

On leaving the Soviet village near Yelnya, the SS-Division "Reich" troops were fired on. forcing the men to seek cover in a ditch near the road. This photograph was taken during Operation Barbarossa in 1941. The battle around Yelnya (30 August - 8 September 1941) was the first substantial reverse that the Wehrmacht had suffered during Barbarossa. Nazi propaganda presented the retreat as a planned operation. For its part, Soviet propaganda hailed the offensive as a major success and wanted to draw worldwide attention to it. Thus, the Yelnya battle was the first occasion on which foreign correspondents in the Soviet Union were allowed to visit the front. Seven of eight of them visited the area between 15 and 22 September 1941. In the words of British war correspondent Alexander Werth, the battle was built up in the Soviet Press "out of all proportion to its real or ultimate importance".

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/150187757932/on-leaving-the-soviet-village-the-das-reich
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yelnya_Offensive
http://histomil.com/viewtopic.php?t=3918&start=4010

Das Reich Battles Their Way in Russia

An advance party from the Das Reich Division has encountered another Soviet defensive position during Operation Barbarossa in 1941. The men dismount from their vehicles to move forward in open formation.

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/150224587347/an-advance-party-from-the-das-reich-division-has

Das Reich Soldiers During Barbarossa

A group of soldiers from the Das Reich Division stopped to consult a map and conduct a radio check during Operation Barbarossa in 1941.

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/150836145637/a-group-of-soldiers-from-the-das-reich-division

Face of War

Portrait of a Totenkopf Division soldier in the battlefield during Operation Barbarossa in 1941.

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/150921014022/portrait-of-a-totenkopf-division-soldier-in-the

German Soldier Greeted by Civilian

A German soldier from Heeresgruppe Nord (Army Group North) is lifted aloft by a deliriously happy population of Riga on 2 July 1941, following the Latvian capital’s liberation from the hated Soviet occupation.

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/150922853087/5sswiking-a-german-soldier-from-heeresgruppe

Totenkopf Soldiers with Civilian

The men from the Totenkopf Division giving humanitarian aid to the poor and affected people in the Baltic states, as they push towards Leningrad during Operation Barbarossa in 1941.

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/150930177887/the-men-from-the-totenkopf-division-giving

Red Army Personnel Being Searched by SS

Red Army soldiers and personnel being searched by soldiers of the Totenkopf Division in Demyansk area during Operation Barbarossa in the autumn 1941. Some of them were dressed in civilian clothes to escape captivity.

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/150981836312/red-army-soldiers-and-personnel-being-searched-by

German and Italian Officers in the Ukrainian Church

Fascist Italian Army officers (left) and a German Wehrmacht Gebirgsjäger (alpine soldier, right) officer stand in front of the battle-scarred Russian Orthodox Church of the Holy Virgin in the town of Staromykhailivka as inquisitive local children look on from behind. Staromykhailivka and the surrounding region would become part of Reichskommissariat Ukraine in September 1941; a German civilian administration created for the pacification of the region and the exploitation of its resources and people for German benefit. Staromykhailivka, Stalino Oblast (now, Donetsk Oblast), Ukraine, Soviet Union. October 1941.

Source :
http://bag-of-dirt.tumblr.com/post/141452565105/fascist-italian-army-officers-left-and-a-german

German Soldier with a Destroyed T-34

A German soldier is photographed next to a destroyed Soviet T-34 medium tank on a road near the Russian town of Luga during Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, and just prior to the Siege of Leningrad. Luga, Leningrad Oblast, Russia, Soviet Union. July 1941.

Source :
http://bag-of-dirt.tumblr.com/post/142706882910/a-german-soldier-is-photographed-next-to-a