Angel, unfortunately there was no Wehrpass and no Soldbuch to be had in this group. There is more HJ documentation as well as two RAD albums and a few other items. It is often a question of where and who captured the soldiers as to whether the Soldbuch and Wehrpass still is in their posession. I was visited by a former Panzer commander (Pz Rgt 24) who was captured by the Americans in Bavarian and he said the first thing they took was his Soldbuch but he was allowed to keep a vehicle, his sidearm and his men a couple of rifles (to protect from marauding and displaced persons!) and were interned at a Bavarian farm. He stated that he never got his Soldbuch back, but his capture was like vacation and he even took photos while a POW!
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Another great find! Many of the old soldiers I met and became friends with while in Germany, have since died and of course their relatives have thrown everything away. You are so lucky!
JeffComment
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Jeff, some of our "deliverers" here are actually trash pickers who sort the paper waste that is separated here. You can often see where a photo album has been partially crushed due to the mechanism in the back of the trucks which compress the material. You would not believe what is thrown away and it is often SS or Panzer (which is mistaken for those who have no idea!), since SS is the worse thing that a German could have for a relative the way it is currently viewed here. This is once again due to lack of knowledge of the subject. I spoke with one of my contacts who almost cried after a woman had given him the Bundeswehr Fallschirmjäger album of her deceased husband (a higher officer with many 1957 style decorations!). She had thrown all of his Wehrmacht photo albums, documents and decorations due to their Nazi origin! For this reason it is unusual to find such large and untouched groups here any more.Comment
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