Require help Identifying a Document

[415]

I have a copy of a document of a relative who was in the SS and I'm wondering if anyone could identify it for me. Thanks.

Chris

[Mark C. Yerger]

One of the front/file cover pages from his Personalakte (personnel file) folder before others such as a Stammkarte (officers only), Lebenslauf, and others would be filed. Yours shows he was promoted to Unterscharführer. Inside documents were more specific if he had them, generally EM and NCO files were small with a lack of overall date/unit data unless they won a KC or GC, compared to officers. Number at the top is a file number, not his SS number.

[max history]

One of the front/file cover pages from his Personalakte (personnel file) folder before others such as a Stammkarte (officers only), Lebenslauf, and others would be filed. Yours shows he was promoted to Unterscharführer. Inside documents were more specific if he had them, generally EM and NCO files were small with a lack of overall date/unit data unless they won a KC or GC, compared to officers. Number at the top is a file number, not his SS number.

Mark,
This is not a file cover....it's too small. If I remember correctly, it's a file index card. I saw many of them in the SS personal files at the Bundesarchiv.
Max.

[Mark C. Yerger]

I have numerous officer Personalakte file copies with it glued or paper clipped as a cover. Same difference. Files with one it is the first item and the first place to record a death in most cases if records keeping kept up with events.

Below one for an officer KIA as the front file item, does show is SS number.

I assume the one being asked about in the thread died due to the line drawn through it and the V in the lower right

[max history]

Mark,
These cards are obviously too small to be a cover page. They are index cards, some of which were utilised post-war as information for files by sticking (usually paper clipped--as evidenced by many having the rust marks of metal paperclips) on a blank cover sheet of a file. Their main original use was as index cards and they were almost certainly used as a replacement marker when the file was removed, until its return. In the original SS personal files held by the former BDC, large numbers of these index cards were loose inside the actual files. I saw literally hundreds of them.
I venture to suggest that the xerox copies you have may well have been constructed as such for the purpose of copying post-war.
Regards,
Max.

[Bill Hughes]

index cards

Interesting information!

I picked these upa few years ago, I don't know if they were period or a postwar organiaztion. Possibly a temopary file? I ahve a pile of them somewhere,but had a few filed in my collection of Death Notices. Some of the cards had just newspaper clippings while others had newspaper clipping and typed info. Some of the cards were used on both sides and in the newspaper clipping,someone elses info was on the reverse.

A couple of examples, index card for a SS officer killed in Poland 5.9.39 and a newspaper clipping for a SS-Rotenfüher a Panzer Commander killed in Normandy? Seems strange for a lower rank,but you panzer enthusists would know better, I also assume that the obits were done by the family.

[415]

Thanks for your help you guys. My relative who this belonged to survived the war and didn't pass away until 1987. Thanks.

Chris

[max history]

Thanks for your help you guys. My relative who this belonged to survived the war and didn't pass away until 1987. Thanks.

Chris

Chris,
I'm not surprised your relative survived. Most of these cards had coloured diagonal lines printed across them, but I don't know what the various colours signified. The most common colour was dark red.
I believe the "V" Mark refers to is actually a tick and not a letter "V" (for verstorben.) Usually, when a SS member died, his record cards had a coloured crayon or pencil line drawn diagonally across the front and in some cases death was signified by a cross from corner to corner.
Max.

[415]

Thanks for the addional info Max.

Chris

[Mark C. Yerger]

Max

Of course could be they were attached as I only received thousands of paper copies.

I'd be interested in knowing about the colors system as everything xeroxes in back and white. As this gentleman's relative survived the war the color coding would have a lot of use, though on microfilm or xeroxes the color can't be seen.

Off the top of my head I can't think of examples of someone who was alive with the bar on that document as they aren't dated for data entry. For my use they honestly had no data of use not available in more detailed forms.