The Wehrnacht Army White Summer Tunic of Generalmajor Hellmuth Stieff
From the estate of Generalmajor Hellmuth Stieff; His tunic is fabricated from a white cotton-rayon blend. The shoulders are adorned with Generalmajor shoulder boards incorporating two rows of fine silvered aluminum wire, flanked by a row of gold-coloured bullion wire on either side, in an interwoven braided pattern, the loop at the shoulder end creating a button hole for the gilt aluminum button with a pebbled upper, the sides and underside in red wool, secured in place by a red rayon strap. There is a dual hook and eye at the opening of the collar, ensuring a snug fit at the neck line. There are four pockets on the front, one on each breast and larger ones at the waist on both sides, each designed with a decorative pleat and gilt metal buttons with pebbled uppers, each of which is maker marked with the initials "BSW" on an inverted cloverleaf (Gebruder Schweiger, Wien) on the reverse, and are held in place by rings on the underside and embedded in the pleat. The right breast above the pocket is enriched with an Army breast eagle insignia, in die-stamped gilt bronze, held in place via two horizontally-aligned vertical loops in white threading. Also, there are two vertically-aligned horizontal loops in white threading on the right breast, the top one on the pocket and the bottom one on the body of the tunic, where an award once resided. There are four horizontally-aligned vertical loops in white threading above the left breast pocket where a ribbon bar once resided. The left breast pocket has a row of two vertically-aligned horizontal loops on the pleat, flanked by two vertically-aligned horizontal loops on either side, the top loop of each side pair on the pocket itself and the bottom loop on the body of the tunic, all three positions where awards once resided. The front has a vertical row of eight gilt metal buttons with pebbled uppers, also maker marked with the initials "BSW" on the reverse, held in place by rings on the underside and visible on the inside of the tunic. The sleeves have French cuffs, the right cuff held in place via stitching in two locations, the stitching on the left cuff having come away. The rear of the tunic is single-vented, with two gilt metal buttons with pebbled uppers just above the venting, with S-shaped wire bases on the underside. The inside of the tunic has padded shoulders and has a white cotton name tag inscribed in red embroidered running script "H. Stieff" sewn in place in the collar. The tunic measures 430 mm across the shoulders and 590 mm in length overall, exhibiting very light soiling overall. Extremely fine.
Hellmuth Stieff (1901–1944) was a Major General and resistance fighter involved in the 20 July plot. Born in Deutsch Eylau (modern day Iława, northern Poland), he was educated at the Infantry School in Munich, where he graduated from in 1922 as a Lieutenant. Starting in 1927, he served in the Reichswehr General Staff. In 1938, Stieff joined the Coordination Department of the Wehrmacht General Staff where he excelled at organisational tasks. From the beginning, Stieff hated the way that the Nazis conducted their warfare, “without regard for humanity and simple decency”, a statement he wrote in a letter to his wife from Warsaw in November 1939. In October 1942, he was appointed Chief of Organisation at the Supreme Army Command, even though A.H. was strongly opposed to the idea, calling him a “poisonous little dwarf”. His own strong feelings regarding the lack of ethics concerning the Nazi ideology, and probably Hitler’s personal hatred towards him, led to Stieff joining the German resistance in 1943, after being approached by Henning von Tresckow (1901–1944), the driving force of the resistance. Due to his position, Stieff was able to accumulate various explosives that he passed on. He even offered to assassinate A.H. in a suicide attack, since he had regular access to the Führer. But when eventually pushed, he shied away and refused, which convinced Stauffenberg, that he had to kill A.H. himself. In February 1944, Stieff was promoted to Major General, one of the youngest Generals of the army. After the failed 20 July plot, Stieff was captured by the Gestapo and tortured for information, yet he would not give up any names of co-conspirators, even after several days. He was ousted from the army, tried as a civilian, and sentenced to death on August 8, 1944. Due to a personal request by A.H., the sentence was carried out by hanging just one hour after the trial. Stieff was a recipient of the German Cross in Gold and both Classes of the Iron Cross.