SA (Sturmabteilungen/ Storm Division) brown uniform shirt with 2 detachable collars

Brown uniform shirt with two collars worn by members of the SA [Sturmabteilung/ Stormtroopers]. This Nazi Party paramilitary organization, also called Brownshirts to echo Mussolini's Blackshirts, was founded by Hitler in 1920, and led by Ernst Rohm. The Stormtroopers were known for their brutality and violence and were potent instruments of street terror during Hitler's rise to power. By the early 1930s, SA membership reached three million, and outnumbered the German Army. After Hitler became Chancellor in 1933, the SA's demands for political power and the placement of fanatical Nazis in all key positions threatened Hitler's plans for German expansion and he turned against them. Between June 30 and July 2, 1934, the Nazi Party leadership, on Hitler's order, purged the SA leadership to end the embarrassing conduct and political intrigues. The SA would remain a popular and murderous wing of the Nazi Party, but it would no longer be an independent political force.