Original Item: One-Of-A-Kind. In the German military system, the Soldbuch (pay book) was the soldier 's identity card and at the same time proof of the items of clothing and equipment, wages (sold) and food received. It doubled as an identity card to civilian police officers, but not as a passport, and was also the combatant 's identity card required under international wartime law.
The Wehrmacht's pay book was also the soldier's identity card . Among other things, it contained the following headings: Personal data, unit of troops, addresses of the next of kin, proof of clothing and equipment, special clothing notes, proof of ownership of weapons and equipment, vaccinations, prescription glasses, admission to a permanent, field, war or reserve hospital Identification of the reason (cf. the German Wehrmacht 's list of diseases), proof of salary, awards, leave of absence for more than five days.
A passport photo was attached to the inside of the front of the cover, the back of the cover was designed as a folding pocket for inserting leaflets. From 1942 onwards, the leaflet Ten Commandments for Warfare for German Soldiers was included with the Soldbuch.
This is a fantastic genuine WWII German Soldbuch, issued to Reinhold Pieth. It features his photograph and signature on the inside of the front, and helps trace his progress in the Navy through the war. We can see that the book was first issued on 5 November 1943, and that Hirsch was enlisted in the Kriegsmarine and was assigned to the Headquarters Company, Navy High Command in Berlin in April 1944. He was promoted to Seaman 2nd Class (Matrosengefreiter) in June 1944. In September 1944 he was transferred to the 2nd Company, 3rd Naval Construction Reserve Battalion in Berlin-Charlottenburg. He was issued field gray uniform items in February 1945. The other entries are about uniform/equipment issue and exchanges, family leave and receiving family support payments from his home county. Pieth would more than likely have been involved in the Battle of Berlin in April/May 1945. The first pages of the book have all the proper stamps and signatures.
Overall condition is good and many pages have handwriting or ink stamps, meaning this has some excellent further research potential. These are exceptionally rare and difficult to find with this much information!
More on the German Soldbuch:
The Soldbuch served the soldier as a personal identification document in wartime and as an authorization to receive pay from his own or outside pay-stations. In addition, it was identification for rail travel, detached service, leave, and for receiving mail. The Soldbuch was always carried by the soldier on his person in a tunic pocket. Leaving the book in one's baggage or in one's quarters was not permitted. The careful preservation of the book was in the best interest of the owner. The Soldbuch had to be kept in an orderly fashion. The owner must see to it, that all changes in pay due to transfer or promotion are immediately entered by his responsible duty station. The Soldbuch was an official document. Entries were only to be made by a Wehrmacht duty station. Making unauthorized changes is punishable as falsification of official documents. The loss of a Soldbuch was to be reported as soon the loss is discovered to the holders unit or duty station, and the issue of a new Soldbuch will be requested.
