Translation help

[bsmith56]

Hello! So I recently sent a request to the WAST for my Panzer-Lehr Normandy KIA Soldbuch, and I got this letter back in the mail today. I am not fluent in German but from what I can make out they want me to send them my book or something? I really don't want to send them my Soldbuch and I probably won't... I know a number of you speak German and I would be eternally grateful if someone could translate this for me. I don't necessarily need a word for word (but it would be nice!), but I just want to know what they are asking me/telling me! You can PM if you don't want to post it her for some reason. Thanks a lot!

[Gerdan]

They (WASt) tell you that their job is to help people researching the military situation/facts of their own situation (or that of their family members) and not to help military collectors to identify the owner or the circumstances of their collected military objects.
Furthermore the Berlin data privacy protection does not allow them to give these information to other persons than the owner or his family.
Their job is also to lead back private property of the soldiers to their families. So they request you to sent the Soldbuch of the soldier Feldhaar directly to the WASt in Berlin. Then they could give it back to the family of Feldhaar.

I hope I could give you a short synopsiy of the letter.

Gerdan

[kuratorium]

... and don´t forget to send your Soldbuch to WAST properly insured , to avoid his losing

[Jochen1000]

The WAST was never any help to me. Unlike others here I always received only their message about what is NOT their job. And it is particularly not their job to help us collectors.

Anyway, their request to send them your soldbuch is new I think. Maybe a trick to fend off interested collectors? I would not send them the SB, I think as long as they don't get anymore request from you they will be perfectly happy (no offence to any civil servants intended )

[bsmith56]

Ha, well I guess my research attempt turned out to be a waste and I don't think I'll ever send them another request! I am not going to send them my book... That sounds like a real bad idea. I highly doubt they will be a good custodian of it.

I've seen a few people who actually got a tracing request on a particular soldier back from them... Did they just word their request in a way that they couldn't tell they were a collector or something?

And thank you Gerdan for your translation help.