Original Czechoslovakian WWII Přilba vz. 32 “M32” Steel Combat Helmet – Complete Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. The M32 helmet or Přilba vz. 32, also known as M32/34, is a military steel combat helmet used by Czechoslovakia from its adoption in 1932 to its annexation by NSDAP Germany in 1939. The helmet was also used by the Slovak Republic and Finland among other countries.

The helmet is noted for its simplistic design compared to other helmets of its time, being described by collectors as a distinct egg shape. The liner contains five leather pads attached directly to the shell by means of a single split pin for each pad, and the leather chinstrap (canvas chin straps were also known to be used) attaching by the same means on opposite sides of the shell. The basic coloring of the shell was a greenish brown, post Second World War the helmets still being used would commonly be painted black and used with fire brigades and civil defense, much like this example here.

This helmet saw initial service before, during and after WWII. All original components are still present and without damage, however, the helmet was painted black for post war use, but the original color can still be found on the interior. The exterior was painted black and has CSR painted in white with a half circle painted above the letters. We believe this to be for the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. The Czechoslovak Republic or Fourth Czechoslovak Republic existed between 1948 and 1960 in Czechoslovakia. Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was the official name of the country from 1960 to 23 April 1990. From 1948 until the end of November 1989, the country was under Communist rule and was a satellite state of the Soviet Union.

This helmet is in wonderful condition and is worthy of being added to any eastern bloc collections!

Czechoslovakia, or Czecho-Slovakia, was a sovereign state in Central Europe, created in October 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary.

In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland became part of Germany, while the country lost further territories to Hungary and Poland. Between 1939 and 1945 the state ceased to exist, as Slovakia proclaimed its independence and subsequently the remaining territories in the east became part of Hungary, while in the remainder of the Czech Lands the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was proclaimed. In October 1939, after the outbreak of World War II, former Czechoslovak President Edvard Beneš formed a government-in-exile and sought recognition from the Allies.

After World War II, the pre-1938 Czechoslovakia was reestablished, with the exception of Carpathian Ruthenia, which became part of the Ukrainian SSR (a republic of the Soviet Union). From 1948 to 1989, Czechoslovakia was part of the Eastern Bloc with a command economy. Its economic status was formalized in membership of Comecon from 1949 and its defense status in the Warsaw Pact of 1955. A period of political liberalization in 1968, known as the Prague Spring, was violently ended when the Soviet Union, assisted by some other Warsaw Pact countries, invaded Czechoslovakia. In 1989, as Marxist–Leninist governments and communism were ending all over Eastern Europe, Czechoslovaks peacefully deposed their socialist government in 17th November 1989 in the Velvet Revolution, state price controls were removed after a period of preparation. In 1993, Czechoslovakia split into the two sovereign states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia.