[Below: Okay since WWI was a rehearsal for WWII, let's start with a WWI soldier's identity book. Unlike the books of WWII, these had slipcases, as seen below. Also you'll note two tags, which I'm guessing were for the soldier's uniforms, which he never used, but kept them with his identification book. Click to see inside!]
[Below: Wow, this is neat, and quite old. It's a navy man's log book, detailing everywhere he sailed to and what captain and ship he was on. It was issued in 1889, the year Adolf Hitler was born, to H. Herber. He visited such far away places like Brazil, Nova Scotia, England, the USA (Boston & New York) and Portugal. Click to see inside!]
[Below: Okay, let's begin. This is from 1935. It says:
[Below: This little girl is so cute! Reverse of card. ]
[Below: This says:
The German People's List was an organization to classify people in newly annexed areas. This woman's surname is Janka, which seems to be Hungarian in origin, but also with Hebrew origins. She married a German with the last name Struensee...
Anyway, let's move on.
The stamp on the front (in Polish) in blue says:
This obviously meant that the ID was no longer valid, and it was turned in to the authorities for a new one. The triangle cut was done to invalidate the ID.
[Below: Okay this says:
Toward the bottom it says:
Above the photo it says:
[Below: Here is a DAF membership card, but it is to an 'Ambrosius' Mock, born in 1891. The card is from 1934, which would make him 43 years old when this card was issued. Could this Josef's father?]
[Below: Inside of DAF identification card. I wonder why no dues were ever paid?]
[Below: Josef himself.
[Below: This SS identification booklet belonged to János Kafalvi, a Hungarian Waffen-SS volunteer from Balatonalmádi, a town in Hungary. Click on image to see the full book. Most of it is empty, but I thought it would be of lasting interest to scan and post the whole thing here for research purposes.]
[Below: Deutsche Arbeitsfront (DAF - German Labor Front) Mitgliedsbuch (Membership book), 1939. Click on image to see the full book.]
[Below: Die Deutsche Arbeitsfront (DAF - The German Labor Front) Jahres Sportkarte (Annual Sports Card), 1940. Click on image to see the full book.]
[Below: Die Deutsche Arbeitsfront (DAF - The German Labor Front). 'Arbeit ist Schöpfung - Arbeit ist Disziplin' (Work is Creation - Work is Discipline), 1935-1944. I'm unsure why this work book is different than the red one above. Anyone know? Click on image to see the full book.]
[Below: This is a dues stamp sheet from the Reichsluftschutzbund (RLB), an organization in charge of air raid protection, precautions and training.]
[Below: An overprinted version from 1938. Click to see more.]
[Below: Here is a sheet from 1940-41. Click to enlarge.]
[Below: Here is another RLB tax stamp.]
[Below: This is a 'Kennkarte' (identification card). Front/back.]
[Below: This was issued to a woman named Cacilia Zimmicki from Bromberg (the Bromberg region was given to Poland after WWII). This card expired in 1949 (Gültig bis = date of expiry) and was issued in November 1944. Inside.]
[Below: This is a 'Führerschein' (driver's license). Front/back.]
[Below: This was issued in August 1938. Inside.]
[Below: This is a 'Kennkarte' (identification card). Front/back.]
[Below: This was issued in Hamburg in December 1940 and expired in December 1945. It's amazing how clear her fingerprints are. It is strange to think that those prints are unique, they have never been before and will never be after. Inside.]
[Below: This is a 'Kennkarte' (identification card). Front/back.]
[Below: The same woman as above! This was also issued in Hamburg, but in February 1942 and expired in February 1947. You'll notice she's been married and changed her last name to Paupel. Paupel... hmm... the driver's license above is to a man named Paupel. I obtained these items together so there is a good chance that the guy above is her husband. Inside.]
[Below: This is a 'Werkstattleiter Ausweis' (workshop manager ID card) from the Deutscher Luftsportverband, or DLV, (The German Air Sports Association) This was an organization founded in March 1933 for the training of military pilots. Front/back.]
[Below: This was issued in 1936 but unfortunately Mr. Erich Saak ripped out his photo. Inside.]
[Below: This is a 'Kennkarte' (identification card). It looks like some genius tried to 'denazify' the swastika. You see this a lot on ID books, postage stamps and official papers of any kind that were used after the war. Front/back.]
[Below: This was issued in October 1940 and expired in October 1945. Inside.]
[Below: This is a 'Kennkarte' (identification card). Front/back.]
[Below: This was issued Hamburg in June 1941 and expired in June 1946. Inside.]
[Below: This is an 'Ausweis' (ID) from the Reichs-Rundfunk. The Reichs-Rundfunk (Reich Broadcasting Corporation), was a national network of German regional public radio and television broadcasting companies. This was issued in Danzig in 1944. Front/back.]
[Below: This is a membership card from the 'Reichsluftschutzbund' (Reichs Air Protection Organization. Mitglied = Member. This is from 'Bayern' (Bavaria). At first I was wondering why do they 'x' out the Herrn for Mr., yet the person's name is Arnold? But then I realized it must be her husband's name? Like how they used to say 'Mrs. so-and-so (husband's name)'. Front.]
[Below: This was used in 1936-37. This has an interesting tax stamp you don't see that often. Reverse.]
[Below: Another membership card from the 'Reichsluftschutzbund' (Reichs Air Protection Organization. This one is also from 'Nordbayern' (North Bavaria). Front.]
[Below: This has no stamps at all. Reverse.]
[Below: And yet another membership card from the 'Reichsluftschutzbund' (Reichs Air Protection Organization. This one is from 'Nordbayern' (North Bavaria). Front.]
[Below: This also has no stamps at all. Reverse.]
[Below: This is a 'Führerausweis' (Driver's license) from 1938 'Für Einzelwanderer ungültig!' (Invalid for single hikers!) 'Reichsverband für Deutsche Jugendherbergen Landesverband' (Reich Association for German Youth Hostels National Association). This license was given to a nineteen-year-old named Ursula. Front/reverse.]
[Below: Inside.]
[Below: Another card from Ursula. Wow, this is cool. This says 'Hitlerjugend Gebiet 6 Nordmark' (Hitler Youth Area 6 Nordmark). And 'Gesundheitspass' (Health passport). Front.]
[Below: Ursula Stövhase. Cool NSDAP stamp. Reverse.]
[Below: And another card from our girl Ursula. This is a 'Versicherungskarte' (insurance card) from 1936-37 for the BDM. Front.]
[Below: Five cents a month. Sounds like a great deal. Reverse.]
[Below: This is a 'Mitglieds - Ausweis der Hitler-Jugend' (Membership Card of the Hitler Youth), more specifically, BDM (Bund Deutscher Mädel, or League of German Girls). Front/reverse. Click to see more!]
[Below: This says 'Reichsverband für Deutsche Jugendherbergen' (Reich Association for German Youth Hostels). The purple stamp is pasted over an orange stamp. This has some pretty cool ink stamps. Front.]
[Below: Oh neat, she's cool looking. I love these ink stamps. Inside.]
[Below: This looks like it went through a war! Oh that's right, it did! This says 'Nationalsoz. Deutsche Arbeiterpartei Ortsgruppe' (National Soc. German Workers' Party Local Branch) and 'Angang zur Mitliedskarte' (Attachment to Membership Card). Front.]
[Below: An assortment of NSDAP stamps overprinted 1941-1943. These stamps also exist without an overprint. Note that there are two variations of 1941 overprints, one is bold and the other is not. These variations can mean different prices, sometimes a variation can mean thousands of dollars of difference in price. You'll also note that the 1942-1943 stamps aren't canceled with an ink stamp (who knows why they didn't cancel them?). The prices of new and used stamps can be very, very different as well. Sometimes it is nearly impossible to find a new, uncanceled stamp of a certain type. And then again another stamp might be very, very rare to find canceled. For example, there are a few Third Reich stamps that were produced during the final days of WWII. It is a matter of debate whether these stamps were ever legitimately used. Used copies exist, even on envelope, but many people think they might be forgeries. Of course, these stamps here are fairly common, however. Reverse.]
[Below: This 'Ausweiskarte' (ID card), used in 1943-44, says 'für kulterelle Veranstalungen und Studentische Dienstpflicht' (for cultural events and student service). On the left, which is the back of the book, it says 'Nur für Studentenführung' (for student leadership only) and 'für Mangelware' seems to mean 'for scarce goods'. Not sure what this means exactly. Also on the bottom it says 'Kein amtlicher Ausweis' which means 'not an official ID'. Front/back.]
[Below: This says 'Institut für Leibesübungen' (Physical Education Institute). Reverse.]
[Below: This is a 'Militär-führerschein' (Military driver's license) issued to Walter Stemmler. Walter was a part of the Pioneer Battalion (1./P1.35). Front/back.]
[Below: Ahh, here we get to see Walter, a nice looking young man sporting his Wehrmacht uniform. Here we see this was issued in 1936. No swastikas on the ink stamps? I feel robbed! Someone is going to have to go to Auschwitz for this. Inside.]
[Below: This is a Kennkarte (Identification card). It has been 'denazified' by the Allies after WWII. They didn't do a very good job, however, as the swastika is still very visible. Front/back.]
[Below: Oddly this opens up to another page identical to the cover page. This has also been 'denazified'. Inside.]
[Below: Look who we have here! It's Walter from above! Our Wehrmacht military driver. He survived the war! It is now June 9, 1945. Walter now sports a spiffy suit and tie and is looking very handsome. Inside.]
[Below: This is a 'Mitgliedsausweis' (Member card) to a German Jiu-Jitsu club. This is very curious and not something you see very often. Nazi ninjas! Front/back.]
[Below: This is from 1933, our man Horst only lasted for six months apparently... he quit when he found out he was learning JEW-JITSU!!! Inside.]
'Deutscher
Reichsbund für Leibesübungen
Mitgliedkarte Nr.19248 /V
(für kinder unter 14 Jahren)'
(German Reich Association for Physical Exercise
Membership card Nr.19248 /V
(for children under 14 years).
Front of card. ]
'Ausweis
der
Deutschen Volksliste'
(Identity card
of the
German People's List)
'Wymiany
dokonano'
(Exchange was done)
Front of ID.]
'Der Inhaber dieses Ausweises ist in die
Deutsche Volksliste'
(The holder of this pass is in the
German People's List)
'Die Zweigstelle
der Deutschen Volksliste'
(The branch of the
German People's List)
'Nur gültig mit Lichtbild'
(Only valid with photo)
Also of note is that we can see from the ink stamps that they say 'Bromberg'. Bromberg is where the atrocity referred to as 'Bloody Sunday' occurred (September 3-4, 1939). Bromberg was a yet another German city/territory stripped from Germany after WWI by the Versailles Treaty. That said, Blood Sunday was where hundreds of German civilians were murdered by Polish soldiers retreating from the approaching German army. Why they did this is hotly debated, but one popular version was it was instigated by Jews. The victims were buried by their murderers in mass graves, which the Germans exumed after they gained control of the territory. There are pictures online of the exhumations... horrible and sad pictures of women and children's rotted corpses...
Reverse of ID.]
'Es wird hiermit bestätigt, das der auf dem Lichtbild dargestellte inhaber dieses Ausweises seit 18.8.37 das Gymnasium in Bingen a/Rhein besucht.'
(It is hereby confirmed that the holder of this ID card shown in the photo has been attending the grammar school in Bingen a/Rhein since August 18, 1937.)
Note the ink stamps says 'Gymnasium und Realschule', meaning high school and junior high school. The 'realschule', is a secondary school with an emphasis on practical curriculum.]
