WWII Nazi German War Merit Cross with Swords named to a Waffen SS Totenkopf member. The grouping consist of 1) CASED WAR MERIT CROSS 1ST CLASS, 1939 WITH SWORDS 52. Die struck, zinc construction bravery award with a silver wash is in the form of a Maltese style cross with a circular centerpiece with an embossed, canted, swastika encircled by an oak-leave wreath to the obverse. The swords, indicating bravery, emanated upwards between the arms of the cross. The background field of the obverse centerpiece is smooth while the arms of the cross have a pebbled background field with raised, smooth, outer edges. The plain, reverse has a soldered, solid style hinge on an oval base plate, a broad, tapered, vertical "Coke " bottle pin and a heavy soldered catch also on an oval base plate all intact. The reverse of the cross is well marked with the manufacturer’s LDO code, "52", indicating manufacture by Gottlieb & Wagner. The award comes housed in a roughly, 7cm square, 2cm thick, pressed cardboard and wood construction case with a black, simulated grained leather covering. The top lid of the case has an impressed, silvered outline of the War Merit Cross with swords. The interior of the top lid is lined in white satin while the interior bottom of the case has a vertical cut-out to secure the hinge, pin and catch assembly of the badge. One of the harder makers to find. 2) WAR MERIT CROSS 1ST CLASS 1939, WITH SWORDS, AWARD DOCUMENT.  Roughly, 8 1/4" x 5 7/8", (21cm x 15cm), mid-weight paper document with black, printed Gothic/Fraktur script and typed in particulars. The script indicates that, SS Obersturmbannfuhrer Michael Reuter 3. SS-Panzer-Div. Totenkopf, was awarded the War Merit Cross 1st Class in the field on "21.4.1943".