# Have the SS Totenkopfring rings ever been found? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 1, 2021, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-the-ss-totenkopfring-rings-ever-been-found/947738 "2021-08-01T01:13:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2021, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-the-ss-totenkopfring-rings-ever-been-found/947738/1 "2021-08-01T01:13:17Z")
This is very weird. I stumbled across this wikipedia article: > **[SS-Ehrenring](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS-Ehrenring)** > > The SS-Ehrenring ('SS Honour Ring'), unofficially called Totenkopfring (i.e., "Skull Ring", literally 'Death's Head Ring'), was an award of Heinrich Himmler's Schutzstaffel (SS). It was not a state decoration, but rather a personal gift bestowed by Himmler. It became a highly sought-after award, one which could not be bought or sold. The SS Honour Sword and SS Honour Dagger were similar awards. > The ring was initially presented to senior officers of the Old Guard (of whom there were fewer than ... It outlines how Himmler had a special “death’s head ring” made for valued members of the SS, which he presented to them. Then, in the waning days fo the war, Himmler directd that all the rings be returned to him: > [@](#): > > In October 1944, Himmler ordered that further manufacture and awards of the ring were to be halted.[[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS-Ehrenring#cite_note-McNab-1) Himmler then ordered that all the remaining rings, approximately 11,500, be blast-sealed inside a hill near Wewelsburg.[[3]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS-Ehrenring#cite_note-Clarke_occult_roots-3) By January 1945, 64% of the 14,500 rings made had been returned to Himmler after the deaths of the “holders”.[[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS-Ehrenring#cite_note-McNab-1) In addition, 10% had been lost on the battlefield and 26% were either kept by the holder or their whereabouts were unknown. Have the rings ever been found, hidden in the hill? (and yes, the echoes of the Seven and the Nine are a bit spooky.) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2021, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-the-ss-totenkopfring-rings-ever-been-found/947738/2 "2021-08-01T01:20:52Z")
They’re probably aboard that Nazi gold train in the Polish tunnel. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2021, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-the-ss-totenkopfring-rings-ever-been-found/947738/3 "2021-08-03T16:57:22Z")
In the sense that not all of them were sealed into the hill, sure. There are apparently a bunch out there that were recovered from the battlefield, captured SS men, etc… [SS Totenkopf (Death’s head) ring taken from an SS officer by a liberator and later given to a Holocaust survivor - Collections Search - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (ushmm.org)](https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn6275) In the sense of finding the ones they buried in the hill, I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2021, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-the-ss-totenkopfring-rings-ever-been-found/947738/4 "2021-08-04T01:35:52Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > (and yes, the echoes of the Seven and the Nine are a bit spooky.) Worried about Nazi Ring Wraiths? ---
**Author:** ![2\_More\_Bits](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2_more_bits/32/4148_2.png) [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2021, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-the-ss-totenkopfring-rings-ever-been-found/947738/5 "2021-08-04T12:29:48Z")
No help to the OP but [here’s a song about the subject.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRwR1kuejRE) ---
**Author:** ![HeweyLogan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heweylogan/32/547_2.png) [@HeweyLogan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeweyLogan)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2021, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-the-ss-totenkopfring-rings-ever-been-found/947738/6 "2021-08-04T16:16:42Z")
Oddly enough I just saw a good documentary on this very subject - [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/deGAMLWW_BA/hqdefault.jpg "SS Death's Head Rings - A Nazi Treasure Mystery") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deGAMLWW_BA) Guy seems to think they’re at the bottom of a lake. ---
**Author:** ![thdudescar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thdudescar/32/4638_2.png) [@thdudescar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thdudescar)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2021, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-the-ss-totenkopfring-rings-ever-been-found/947738/7 "2021-08-05T13:59:44Z")
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. ---
**Author:** ![HeweyLogan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heweylogan/32/547_2.png) [@HeweyLogan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeweyLogan)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2021, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-the-ss-totenkopfring-rings-ever-been-found/947738/8 "2021-08-06T04:19:33Z")
You bet. And I thought the same thing too, very interesting. The guy (Mark Felton) has all kinds of deep dive documentaries on WWII topics on his channel, all of them equally well done, IMO. Glad you liked it. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2021, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-the-ss-totenkopfring-rings-ever-been-found/947738/9 "2021-08-06T05:24:28Z")
I hope you said that in an Arte Johnson - German helmet and matching accent way, as you peered through the shrubbery. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2024, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-the-ss-totenkopfring-rings-ever-been-found/947738/10 "2024-05-08T19:35:00Z")
I wonder if GIs brought any home.