The Dead Head: What's Its Story? Ancient symbolism and transformation of meanings
After the Second World War, the opinion was fixed that the emblem of the skull with crossed bones was paraphernalia of the SS troops. Indeed, their battle hymn contains the words: We are always ready for battle, if we are called into battle by runes and a dead head, they had corresponding images on their helmets and caps, and one of the divisions had a similar name.
But the history of this emblem is much longer, and only among the Nazis did it become a symbol of intimidation, and earlier it was completely different. The fact is that in many ancient cultures the skull and bones symbolized the ability to rebirth, fortitude and vitality, were considered the personification of military valor, self-sacrifice in the name of the Motherland and faith in victory, as well as the protection of ancestors.
Let us recall, for example, that the Slavic god Yarila was depicted with ears of corn in his right hand and a dead head in his left, which is by no means accidental. The Russian knight Peresvet in the famous battle on the Kulikovo field went to a duel with Chelubey without armor, in clothes marked with a dead head (then she was called Adamova).
And the ancient god Thor, according to legend, had a ring of pure silver in the form of a wreath of oak leaves, on which a swastika, a dead head and runic inscriptions were carved. In addition, when the baths killed one of the characters in Edda, Mimir and sent his head to the gods, Odin preserved it with a spell and even gave the ability to speak, and then consulted if necessary. And on ancient gems, the image of bearded heads growing out of the ground and broadcasting something to a bowed figure is often found.
A. S. Pushkin in the Young Lady-Peasantk mentions: He wore a black ring with the image of a dead head, Ruslana organizes a meeting and dialogue with her. The death's head is found in Russian fairy tales, for example, about Eruslan Lazarevich. And in the Melanesian legend, the hero, lost, finds himself in a hut, where he finds two corpses, takes their skulls, washes them, and after that they tell him the way.
At the funeral of the Prussian king Frederick Wilhelm I, the Knights' Hall of his palace was draped with cloths with a skull embroidered with silver thread (albeit without the lower jaw) and crossed bones, and then two regiments of Life Hussars were formed in memory of the deceased, bearing the same emblem. Later it appeared in the attributes of other military units.
During the First World War, Totenkopf, i.e. The head of death was the emblem of the elite units of the German army, it was also chosen by the German Luftwaffe ace pilot Georg von Hantelmann. And the chevrons of the Women's Death Battalion under the command of the Knight of St. George, Maria Bochkareva, were adorned with an Adam's head, just like the shoulder straps of the Shock Sea Death Battalion. The Bulgarian Order For Bravery of that time even had a degree: With a skull.
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During the Civil War, it was used on the insignia of the Kornilov regiment and the banners of General Krasnov; in 1923 she appeared in the attributes of Hitler's stormtroopers, and then, in 1934, appeared on the standards of tank forces and in the same year on SS helmets and caps, as well as on the uniforms of militia fighters, city police and Danzig coast guard workers.
In addition, Himmler instituted an award ring for the SS, adorned, in keeping with the legendary Odin's ring, with runes, oak leaves and a dead head, which, while not being a state decoration, was nevertheless highly regarded. They were issued until 1944, during which time about 14,500 copies were awarded.
But in other countries, this symbol was used. And if his presence in the uniform of Mussolini's bodyguard detachment can be explained by solidarity with the ideology of German fascism, then this argument is completely inapplicable to British submariners, Polish tankmen, Finnish cavalrymen, French police officers from the security service, as well as a number of American special forces, etc. … Is not it?..