SS Dagger No. 81 852 pictured on p. 189 in
Exploring the Dress Daggers and Swords of the German SS by Thomas Wittman.
Ross J. Kelbaugh Collection

 
Among collectors of World War II relics, many have known the frustration in trying to link the identity of the original owner with his serial number found stamped on a German SS dagger. Until now the only source for this information has been the periodic Dienstalterslistes or rank lists for full time officers that were published from 1934 until 1944. These numbers have been compiled and published through the efforts of a dedicated Canadian researcher and, along with the reprinted original lists, have been the only resources available for trying to match numbers with owners. But even these records are incomplete since no lists are known to have been published in 1939, 1940 and 1945. And if the holder of your number was not an officer (below the rank of lieutenant), it has been assumed that you would probably never know his identity.

Through my diligent search of captured German records in the archives of the Berlin Document Center, more than 77,000 numbers of SS personnel below the rank of Obersturmfuehrer ( First Lieutenant) have already been located and the numbers continue to grow weekly. Several original owners of daggers published in the standard references by Thomas Wittman and Thomas Johnson as well as those offered for sale on dealer websites or listed in online dagger forums have already been discovered. As a service to the collecting community, I offer you a free check of my databank to see if I have uncovered the owner of your dagger. Just click on the link below to email me your dagger's number along with your contact information and I will let you know if I have found your SS-Mann. If not, I will keep your number on file and contact you if his number is eventually discovered. If I have his number, I offer you a choice of several reasonably priced options that will help your build your documentation for your investment. You can click on the "Services" tab above to learn more about them.  So what do you have to lose?  Contact me by clicking on the link below and we will get back to you shortly to let you know if we can add a new dimension your dagger.