RUSSIAN "POA" VOLUNTEER SLEEVE SHIELD 1st PATTERN
This is a very nice and desirable Russian POA Volunteer Sleeve Shield. It’s the early Bevo type, machine woven with a medium gray rayon backing. The Cyrillic letters "POA" on the shield ("ROA", in Latin letters) stand for the Russian Army of Liberation, also known as the Vlasov Army, which was officially formed in Autumn 1944. These were anti-Communist Russian volunteers who fought with the German armed forces. After the war, the survivors of this Army were branded as traitors, and were executed or sentenced to imprisonment.
This Russian POA volunteer sleeve shield has never been sewn on a uniform, or even folded. It’s tightly woven and textbook in all aspects. The condition is near mint.
A desirable piece of foreign volunteer insignia, in nearly perfect condition.