SS Soldbuch worse for wear!

[Ian Jewison]

Here is a new addition but in very poor condition!
The Soldbuch photo has been eaten away and all entries are very faint. The paper is brittle to touch so this one will be scanned and perhaps never touched again!

From the photo it is clear that he is wearing a black Panzer uniform with EK II. Faintly his ranks can be seen as SS Unterscharführer and promoted to SS Oberscharführer 1.1.1944. Other information is virtually impossible to read.

[Ian Jewison]

The Soldbuch was issued during 1943 from SS Panzer Ersatz Regiment. Again not much to read but it can be seen he was born 30.5.1920 in Graz.

Confirmation of his promotion to SS Oberscharführer on page 3.

[Ian Jewison]

Units that are clear are Panzer replacement and training units. Nothing can be seen in field units....

[Angel Farré]

Ian, I have told you hundreds of times that you can't clean the documents with the washing machine, or this time you forget it into one of your pockets?

I hope you haven't pay to much for it, but still an original SS Soldbuch.

Angel

[Ian Jewison]

Interesting document promoting Schäffer to officer candidate (SS Führerbewerber) and entitling him to wear the badge of this rank.

I take it this means Officer Candidate loops on the shoulder boards?....Gary?

[Ian Jewison]

Promotion to SS Junker whilst serving with SS Panzer Training and Replacement Battalion 5 in Ellwangen.

[Ian Jewison]

Remnants of an order Kampfgruppe "Heinrich......."
Division Potsdam has been disbanded through destruction? and to report to the next SS unit.

[Ian Jewison]

Transfer orders for Herr Schäffer and Uscha. Major to II Bataillon, Regiment "Holzer" dated 7.4.1945.

[Ian Jewison]

Herr Schäffer as he was.........

[Ian Jewison]

Unfortunately the Gräbersuche is down at the moment but Herr Schäffer was killed Arpil 1945...if I remember correctly 20th and is buried in the former East Germany.

Next task is to try and find out what these units from 1945 were.

Regards, Ian

[Angel Farré]

Is the award page readable or only wonder what he earned apart from the EKII?

Ian after seeing how you destroy pieces we, (god and I) have decided that you must send me your collection for safekkeping.

Jokes out, what happened to this documents? poor storage or a washing accident?

Angel

[Ian Jewison]

The documents were found on his body and he was not found until 1950 apparently! Don't know if this is true or not but the documents are very fragile.

The award page is unreadable. There are two authorising stamps for awards and possibly the first entry is for EK II (can sort of make Kl. out!).....maybe the second is for the wound badge as there is an entry for being him being with a Genesendung Kompanie.

There are also some poor condition photos showing two EK I winners.....whether or not it is him I can not tell!!!!

Heres the award page......or lack of it!

[Angel Farré]

I have a Soldbuch founded in a farm in France some years ago (Ican't remember when, I must check my notebooks) and has minor water damage and an angle eaten by a mouse or rat, but is readable at 95%. Truly if it was buried for 5 years and in contact with a body it's normal such degradation, humidity and heat from the bodies putrefaction sealed the future of the papers from this soldier.

Who sells you this group? Rare to find such dug up relics, normally helmets, medals, beltbuckles and weapons are found, but rarely I see documents and/or cloth items.

Angel

[erichcraciun]

Excellent lot Ian! As Angel questions, yes there are documents still dug up and 'readable'. For example a lot of the paperwork for the book, Kampf und Untergang der 32. SS Freiw. Grenadier Div. 30. Januar' by Michaelis was found in a document crate at a battlefield location in Eastern (Mittel) Germany.

Erich Craciun

[FCG]

My friends in Volgograd (Stalingrad) unearth documents on the steppe to this day. They found a legible propanda leaflet in the remnants of a greatcoat last year, and the remnants of at least one Soldbuch (in fragments).

Photos of some of the relics (not the Soldbuch) are posted at:

www.stalingrad-info.com