The second of two recent additions to my growing collection of German identity documents. This one belonging to a gentleman named Rolf. Neither I nor the seller was able to read his surname.
This is another very interesting wehrpaß. It seems that Rolf served in the Reichsarbeitsdienst for the early years of the war before joining the Wehrmacht in November 1941. He served in a number of Panzer Regiments on the Ostfront, and would have experienced both the advance into and the retreat from Russia. Rolf received extensive weapons training, becoming proficient in the use of the K98 rifle, the MG 34, the Czech MG 37, The Luger P08 and Walther P38, as well as the MP40 and MG42.

He also received heavy weapons training, to include multiple variations of the KwK [Kampfwagenkanone]. Namely the 3.7cm, 5cm and 7.5cm variations. He was also trained in the use of the Granatwerfer 8cm Mortar. Going on this training, it would be reasonable to guess that Rolf was a Panzer crewman for at least part of his service in Russia.

He was unfortunately killed on the 2nd of February 1944, near Dubno in Ukraine. The seller states his cause of death was a shot to the head. This resonates with me quite heavily, as he was my age - 22 - when he died. How privileged I am today, that I live in a time of relative peace.

Some preliminary research leads me to believe he was a casualty of the Battle of the Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle…erkassy_Pocket

A nice wehrpaß to a ‘Panzer Man’ and a sobering reminder of the cost of war. I shall continue to collect these. They serve as comprehensive records of those who lived and died in the Second World War. These KIA Wehrpaß in particular serve almost as small paper tombstones. As long as these documents survive, the memory of those lost remains.

Regards, B.B.