This set of badly moth-eaten shoulder boards for an SS Standartenfuehrer were found folded inside a soft back 1944 employee's handbook for the WaffenWerk Bruenn A.G. (Brno), along with his SD Dienstausweisen for the years of !940, 1942, qnd 1944. His records obtained from the Berlin Document Center micro-film at NARA show that he was an engineer by training. He may have once been over security at Brno. The records show that he was awarded the SS Ehren Ring and SS Ehren Degen. The black underlay on the boards has a lot of mothing and the green overlay is almost eaten away.
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Don Bible -
SS Standartenfuehrer boards top
Top of boardsDon Bible -
SS Shoulder boards
The small soft-cover handbook with the ID cards and boards inside was fastened closed with an old paper clip. The pieces were found in Prague, a short distance from the old Gestapo Headquarters there, which still stands near the Wencelas Square. It is used as a government ministry building. The book was found by a Ukrainian work crew doing renovations to a flat. The book had been hidden in a secret place in an unused doorway connecting two rooms.
A Czech WWII historian learned of the find and acquired it from the work crew. I learned of it through two Czech friends, one living in CZ and one in North America). They knew of my interest and helped me make a deal with the Czech owner after several months of correspondence.
As I have two matching sets of warrant discs and 1944 ID cards, I was able to make a minute comparasion in order to verify originality.
As the ID cards were for 1940, 1942 and 1944, they had three different signatures of the heads of SD and Sipo. The 1940 card has a Himmler facsimilie signature, the 1942 card has the Heydrich facsimilie signature and the 1944 card has the Kaltenbrunner facsimilie signature.
The signature of the card's owners matchs perfectly with his signature found on his records in the BDC filmed on micro-film by the U.S. National ArchivesDon BibleComment
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SS shoulder boards
<TABLE class=ev_msg_rowcolor2 id=post_1960092994 style="WIDTH: 100%" cellSpacing=0 align=center><TBODY><TR><TD>I forgot to say that the name of the SS man was Standartenfuehrer Walter Sohst, about whom I have been able to learn only a little. His BDC records end with the year 1943. I do not know at this time what happened to him. He held both the Iron Cross first and second class from WWI. He was an engineer by training. He was divorced.
He is mentioned in the book "Hitler's Enforcers" by George C. Browder, as a liason man in Berlin for Himmler and Heydrich, for several months before they moved their headquarters there from Munich.
</TD></TR><TR><TD> </TD><TD><TABLE class=ev_msg_userstats_table cellSpacing=0><TBODY><TR><TD width="80%"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Don BibleComment
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Very interesting story, and a nice find. Just goes to show, stuff is still being found.
Wonder how much other stuff is hidden in houses in Europe.
LewisComment
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What a really great find and interesting story. Congratulations.
"Activity! Activity! Speed! I greet you."
-Napoleon to Massena, advancing on Landshut, April 18, 1809
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Don-
Incredible story. If at all possible, I'd really like to see the Dienstausweis!
Congrats!
RobComment
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Thanks for the comments. More research is being attempted on Walter Sohst at this time along with some translations being done. When that is completed a story will be written and published about the hidden ID cards (Dienstausweisen) and shoulder boards. I don't want to show the ID cards until that is done.
The Czech Republic, especially the western part (Sudetenland) has been the source of much interesting material since a lot of the old restrictions were relaxed after the government changed in recent years.
Hundreds of thousands of German troops including SS and Polizei (Kripo and Gestapo) beat a hasty retreat through that area in early May of 1945, trying to stay ahead of the Russians and cross back into Germany to surrender to the Americans or British.
In the vicinity of the demarcation line between the Russians and American-British forces, German military and civilians fleeing westward overan the area. There was an effort among many of those gathered there to rid themselves of any and all SS insignia, and police identification before surrendering. Much of it was buried, and is today sometimes found by those using metal dectors.
By the same token, some of those who had been living in Prague and other cities during the "Protektorate" period, ridded themselves of polizei identification and insignia, before attempting to flee the city. This is probably how the Walter Sohst ID cards and boards came to be hidden and left there.
Any new documented information concerning SS Standartenfuehrer Sohst that anyone might have would be welcome. At this time only the information in the Dienstalterlist and the Berlin Document Center Records is known to me.Don BibleComment
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Great story, thanks for sharing it.Comment
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the 3 SD Dienstausweisen of SS Standartenfuehrer Sohst
A few persons have expressed privately that they would like to see the three ultra-rare SD Identification cards (Dienstausweisen) of SS Standartenfuehrer Walter Sohst, that were found a few months ago in Prague hidden with his shoulder boards. The cards are for the years of 1940, 1942, and 1944. and show Sohst in uniform (with hat with Totenkopf, in the 1944 photo).
I have no plans to publish another book at this time, and will not place the scans of the cards on the Internet. The pictures and story of Sohst, including what happened to him at war's end, have been accepted by the British militaria magazine The ARMOURER, for publication in the September issue. If anyone wants to see the cards and read about them, they will be available in the September issue. The Armourer website to inquire about a subscription or perhaps a single issue is www,armourer.co.ukDon BibleComment
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Don-Originally posted by Don Bible View Post
Thanks so much for the heads up, but more so for making images of these super-rare ID's available to the general collecting community. As an Ausweis collector, I can truly appreciate how significant a find this was - the story alone on how the ID's were hidden and then, years later, rediscovered is enough to get ones heart rate up. I can't wait to see that article
Thanks again,
RobComment
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Don - Thanks for that interesting story along with the photos. I'm sure that you are right about things still to be discovered in the Czech Republic. In 1992 I spent a week in Prague doing research at the Military Archive, that I understood was formerly the HQ of the secret police. One of my minders was an older fellow who once advised the North Korean military and was stationed north of the DMZ. This man told me that he was certain that there were chests of SS documents buried in the forests. They even gave me a private office to use for the week that belonged to an officer who was away on leave. (see pic below) I was alone in a room with boxes of original period documents. I was never searched upon leaving the building. Considering the consequences of being caught, it was easy to resist the slight temptation to take away a souvenir.
JohnComment
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SS Standartenfuehrer boards
John, thanks for the interesting reply. The Czech Republic is a fascinating place with a lot of discoveries yet to be made I think. It is really a unique area with so many police and SS trying to leave ahead of the Russians in May of 1945. I once visited a Czech friend who had an entire bedroom full of glass cases filled with his metal detector finds. Nothing was for sale. Among the things I viewed were two SS Honor Rings he had dug, along with parts of anti-partisian badges and other rare items that had been partly destroyed by the acid soil. He had hundreds of gold and silver rings.
John your picture reminded me of one of my own made in the same building as yours. The lady in the middle was a college student in 1938,who made the mistake of demonstrating against the occupation of her country. She ended up in Buchenwald. The gentleman in the dark sweater is Czech author Jaroslav Cvancara, and on the left yours truly.Don BibleComment
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Walter Sohst SD ID cards (three) 1940, 42, 44
To Rob Johnson and others who expressed an interest in seeing the three SD "Dienstausweisen", 1940, 1942, 1944, with facsimilie signatures of Himmler, Heydrich, and Kaltenbruner.... The story and full color pictures of the three ID cards are in the center-spread of the just published September-October issue The ARMOURER militaria magazine. The web site address is in an earlier posting on this thread.
Thanks for your interest.
Don Bible
www.armourer.co.ukDon BibleComment
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