Original Item: One-of-a-kind Set. This is a great German WWII Era Wehrpaß Identification Book, issued 29. 4. 39 in Rendsburg and named to Obergefreiter Jürgen Harms, an NCO involved in local defense during the war. It even still has his picture in the book, held in place by the correct hollow rivets. During the NSDAP period many new types of identification were required, both for civilians and military personnel, both as a method of control and to help protect vital parts of the German war machine. These books often recorded quite a bit about the owners life, much more than just their basic information. These Wehrpaß identification books were required beginning in 1935 with the beginning of conscription in NSDAP-ruled Germany, and all eligible males were required to get one.

Harms was one such individual, and the book gives the pertinent information about his life, as well as his parentage, religion, and so forth. These documents make great translation projects, but in this case the Wehrpaß came with a translation and service summary, the highlights of which are as follows:

- During WWII Harms was drafted 29 April 1939 at the recruiting sub-district Headquarters in Rendsburg. There he was found fit for limited service in the field, and classified as someone under 35 who had not been trained.
- The next year on 2 September 1940 he was officially recruited, entered training, and at the end of the month took his oath to join the armed forces.
- His service record mainly includes being part of the training staff, and then assignment to numerous local defense units, sometimes as part of the repair and maintenance platoons.
- For a time Harms saw service in Romania, and was awarded the 2nd Class Medal for the Campaign Against Communists by the Romanian Government.
- Towards the end of the war he was transferred to a field replacement battalion, and saw service in various eastern front locations.

A really great document from the WWII Era, full of research potential!

Of note: some of the writing in this book is in Kurrentschrift, an older form of Germanic script writing, which is why the all the "u" letters are written as "ŭ". In this script the lowercase "n" and "u" are identical, so the latter gets the arc shaped mark over it. This is not indicative of an umlaut or other diacritical marking.