Polezei Soldbuch

[reichpapers]

I originally purchased this Soldbuch due to the fact that the owner so clearly marked it as a Polezei Soldbuch. His clear attempt at covering the SS Soldbuch was a novelty in my eyes.

In the later parts of the war Himmler decided to make the Polezei part of the SS. Not liking this, the Polezei owners with SS Soldbuchs, removed the runes (In this case the owner penned Polezei in various areas). They wanted nothing to do with being known as SS.

The only issues that confuse me is the fact that
a. all of the ink stamps from Hamburg contain no swastikas.
b. the picture looks as if the swastika was removed from his police arm patch when taken.
c. The mention of Fire Police in the soldbuch

Now before you scream postwar, the date of issue was on January 1, 1945. Well before the end of the war. Any help would be appreciated.

[Angel Farré]

Perhaps this man was a member of the police still at service after 8 May 1.945 and this modifications were made in order to provide this forces with documents to show his status but removing all the "offending" svasticas and giving validity with the stamps shown in the cover, I have 23 Soldbuchs in my collection and I saw in the past over 100 and never see stamps in the fron cover, always inside the book.

I hope this can help you.

[reichpapers]

Would you say this is a postwar reissue, in which they showed the date (Jan. 1 1945) when his original was issued? All of the stamps in the book are identical. There was never a swatika/eagle type stamp inside.

[Angel Farré]

You must look where it was used and if this part of Europe was still on German hands, if not perhaps my hipotesis could be right. No other solution in my mind to this trouble. I have read in several books that Allied troops continue to use local police forces to mantain order in the recent liberated areas and I have seen several photos of german policemen wearing they uniforms with the only alteration of removing the eagle from caps and tunics well in the first months of 1.945 and after the surrender. Several Soldbuchs in my collection has been used well into 1.945, 1.946 and 1.947 for ID purpose and one of them retaining all his svasticas at the stamps. I don't want to say that the one you have has suffered this fate, but I feel this could be a good explanation for it. Be open to other opinions and look if he has awards entered and look at the stamps of validation of this awards, this could be also a clue to solve this little mistery. Keep me informed if you find more information not posted in the forum.

Thanks

[Angel Farré]

After talking about this with a frien he gave me a different opinion, perhaps this is an attempt from a local government to delete all sign of "nazis", but...

I think this is a good example of how a forum like this could help us with our common hobby

[reichpapers]

This is the rest of the info:

It was issued 26th January 1945 not the 1st (oops).

It was issued by Schutzpol. Abschen. Kdo. X
"FE abteilung"

Under this heading on page 4 "Für Freiwillige der Deutschen Polezei: Zuständige Personalbehörde:" is the date 1. IX. 39

KVK mit schwertern 5.8.43

He had a clothing issue on 12.2.45

Typhus shot on 26.8.43

and whatever this pic says:

[patrick h]

polizei soldbuch

hi there,i have a same kind of soldbuch,it has also on the frontcover a stamp.the stamp stands at the place were they wiped away the ss-runes.i don't think they wiped away the swastika on the photo,it was just a black swastika so you just can't see the swastika to good (that is what i see on mine soldbuch,i had to use glasses for searching the swastika)

[Rick Research]

The last entry says he was ONLY fit for war duty as a driver, assigned AS OF that date-- which is NOT the date the BOOK was issued, but the date he began his Luftschutzpolizei service at the Fire Police "FE" School in Hamburg-Wandsbek.

I have "identical" stamps from the Hanseatic City of Bremen to a former SHD senior NCO who re-retired as an ordinary auxiliary fireman, I forget the exact date in 1946 or 1947.

This older fellow must have been kept on after the war too, probably because a) they were older and local, so de-nazification was easy, and b) the young men hadn't gotten back home from POW camp or internment yet. Somebody STILL needed to fight fires, fix gas leaks, etc.

What you've got, I think, is a Year Zero ID from just after the war.

[McCulloh]

Interesting...

I have seen this Buch before! I believe bill Shea sold it @8 years ago along with @a dozen other similar Polezei buchs from Hamburg. Over the years i have noticed that Hamburg Police S-Buchs seem to be the most commonly seen in the USA for sale-leading me to suspect that somebody cleared out the Police archives in the early 1980s.
Also, Police in Hamburg were in the British zone and they most definetly kept the old government functionaires in place to keep things running up until the foundation of the BRD. I have seen films and many,many pictures of police wearing their old uniforms-swastikas removed right up to 1951. In Band of Brothers, (DVD) the last episode even has a "Chained Dog" still in uniform manning a VCP with a GI MP. They both get shot by a drunk replacement Paratrooper.
Read Brownings' "Ordinary Men"(which Goldhagen ripped off, in true Goldhagen style-like Pater like son), about the Reserve Police's role in the Holocaust in Poland and Germany. Notibly, a Soldbuch from one of the men convicted of war crimes in Hamburg in the 1960s was in the Gordon's medal catalogue @1996! It also had a "blank" cover.
Cheers,
JeMc