I have been corresponding with fellow forum member Brandon Smith over the past week - he's just twenty-two. Brandon and I both live on the coast - just different ones - he's in Washington and I'm in New Jersey. Brandon told me that the very first Soldbuch he ever bought (oddly enough from a dealer in New Jersey), but it never arrived, something that is happening more and more often because of the lower hiring standards of the United States Postal Service. After corresponding with Brandon, I thought it would be interesting to start a thread about your first Soldbuch or Wehrpaß and tell how you became interested in German Ausweise (IDs).
I have been collecting German items with my father for nearly thirty-seven years. At a show in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in 1975 or 1976, we met militaria dealers Joan and Dave Panettiere. Joan was German and Dave was an American (Dave has since passed away and I do not know Joan's status). Joan and Dave always offered some good items, primarily badges and insignia, that they brought back from Germany. My father and I always bought something small from them at every Allentown show. At one show, we noticed they were offering a Wehrpaß for $35. Joan explained to us what a Wehrpaß was at the time and from then on, I was hooked on the human side of the war and became an avid collector of Soldbücher and Wehrpässe.
Today I introduce Gefreiter Franz Köhler, who was drafted into the Army after serving in the Reichsarbeitsdienst. He served with Infanterie Regiment 109 and Infanterie Regiment 228 and earned the Infantry Assault Badge and the Iron Cross 2nd Class before he was killed in action in Russia on 5 March 1942 at the age of twenty-eight. Köhler was posthumously awarded the Eastern Front Medal. Köhler's movie star looks and subtle smile have always been a reminder to me of how many young soldiers were cut down in the prime of their life.
Barry
I have been collecting German items with my father for nearly thirty-seven years. At a show in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in 1975 or 1976, we met militaria dealers Joan and Dave Panettiere. Joan was German and Dave was an American (Dave has since passed away and I do not know Joan's status). Joan and Dave always offered some good items, primarily badges and insignia, that they brought back from Germany. My father and I always bought something small from them at every Allentown show. At one show, we noticed they were offering a Wehrpaß for $35. Joan explained to us what a Wehrpaß was at the time and from then on, I was hooked on the human side of the war and became an avid collector of Soldbücher and Wehrpässe.
Today I introduce Gefreiter Franz Köhler, who was drafted into the Army after serving in the Reichsarbeitsdienst. He served with Infanterie Regiment 109 and Infanterie Regiment 228 and earned the Infantry Assault Badge and the Iron Cross 2nd Class before he was killed in action in Russia on 5 March 1942 at the age of twenty-eight. Köhler was posthumously awarded the Eastern Front Medal. Köhler's movie star looks and subtle smile have always been a reminder to me of how many young soldiers were cut down in the prime of their life.
Barry
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