How mistakes are made?

[JUNGCO]

Now it's ß!

[Admiraal]

Here a small mistake made in the field:
On the verwundetenzettel he is named Willy Zeh and on the Entlaust paper he is called Willi Zeh:

[Jonathan M]

Thanks guys, guess everyone is guilty of typos!

[Trebes]

Concerning the "Weihs" and "Röhsler" transcription, the clerk did not know that there is something like a "long s".
Take a look at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_s
This long s is very easily mixed up with "h", because there is no difference in handwriting. So it's Rössler and Weiss.
To make things even more complicated, long s + normal s sometimes replaces "ß", sometimes means "ss".
Further information here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%9F
Sorry for that scholarly remarks,
Trebes

[Jean-Loup]

How assumtions are made.
I sometimes see cases when people (including myself) try to link named items to a soldier buried in a military cemetery. This has its risks, as sometimes, there are surprising cases of men having the exact same names. Below is a case I just happened to notice today at the Draguignan American Cemetery. There are two James White's buried side by side! What are the chances of that, you wonder. Well, it ends up happening more often then you would expect.

[herkules]

spelling properly

Gentlemen,

yes I agree to a certain extend :

Up to the 30ties people / even officials either used the

Latin script form or the "Sueterlin" or as your samples show both

at the same time..

One has to differentiate between the sharp "s" which is written

(sorry my keboard is English and thus difficult to explain)

almost like a B with a longer "base line" (base line : I plus a 3)

and a normal "s" ..

there is definitely no "long s" in neither script..

( it sounds like a "long s" when there is a vocal in front of the s )

when one writes in "Sueterlin script" the "sharp s almost looks like

an "h" plus an "s" (hs)

so, as we can see ,should there be someone not very familiar with

those different ways of writing, we encounter these "problems"..

Believe you me ...my family name over the centuries and now living in Malta

had to face exactly the same problem ( Name: v. Schloss..originally written

with a "sharp s "

When a double s (ss) is used the pronounciation remains the same like with

a "sharp s"

That's in most cases why we have discrepancies...

a soldier has to call out his name and the desk clerk decides...

in the military one hardly complains ....

as I said, the pronounciation is the same...

I hope I managed to -at least - point out some of the particulars

of spelling / writing in those days..

Let me tell you...even when reminding authorities (Malta) on how

they should spell my name...... waste of time !!

Could it be similar in the military in times of war..??

regards

wolf

[alexjwelirang]

Hi guys, where can I find a recipient list like the one for Rößler and his DKG? Also is the Kriegsstammrollenblätter a database where information can be found? Or is it another set of documents that would be nice to compliment a soldbuch/wehrpaß? Many thanks for replies!

[PanzerElite]

i have seen for 3 times of wrong typing in the formal DK document !
If i can remember 2 of 3:
name: ZIMMERMANN ---- > ZIMMEFMANN
date: OKTOBER ---> OKLOBER
and some small mistake in the personal ausweis and some mistake about the unit in the awarding documents!

[David Fettes]

It happens because either people dont listen, cannot read the hand writing or just dont care because of the amount of paperwork that needs filling in.

For example my own surname Fettes, it is either pronounced wrong or written wrong.

My brother and I went to the same school over a 10 year period (he was there for the first 5, then myself after) We had the same teachers, same headmaster, same secretary etc etc yet week after week, letters where comming to the house with the name spelt wrong. Fetts, Fettis, Phettes, Phetts and so on. It seemed to be never the same, two weeks running. I remember one of the best ones was Phetiz.