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<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=3 height=60 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <B>Useful Terms</B></div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=400 BGCOLOR="#444444" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=420 BGCOLOR="#444444" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <div> <B><U>Useful Personal Documentation Terms</U></B></div> <div> <B><U>Service Record</U></B> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF6600" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" ><B>(Wehrpas)</B></FONT> - The basic personal record of the members of the German Armed Forces is their service record. This is a book of passport size issued to them  at the time of their first physical examination for military service. It contains a complete record of their pre-military service in the German Labor Service (Reichsarbeitsdeinst), their military status at all times, and all their military activities until the expiration of their liability to military service. This book is in their personal possession only while they are in inactive status, and is retained at their company headquarters as long as they are on active status. In exchange for it as soldiers, they carry on their person a pay and identification book issued to them at the time of their first induction.</div> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" ><B><U>Paybook</U></B> </FONT><B>(</B><B>Soldbuch)</B><B> </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" >- The paybook of the German soldier is his official means of identification and contains, in addition to personal data, a record of all units in which he has served and their replacement affiliations; his clothing and equipment records, inoculations, hospitalization; his promotions, pay rate group, payments received from units other than his own, decorations, furloughs, and other data pertaining to his person or his active service. The paybook contains both the soldiers military registration number </FONT><I>(Wehrnummer)</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" >,</FONT> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" >under which his service record was issued to him before his actual induction, and the inscription and number on his identification disc </FONT><I>(Beschriftung und</I> <I>Nummer der Erkennungsmarke)</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" >. </FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" > </FONT></div> <div> <B><U>Identification Disc</U></B><B> </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF6600" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" ><B>(</B><B>Erkennungsmarke)</B></FONT>- The identification disc which the German soldier wears around his neck consists of two halves, both with identical inscriptions. It was issued to him by the unit (normally at company level) into which he was first inducted; both the name of that unit and the serial number under which the disc was issued to him are inscribed on it, as well as his blood type. Any unit, however, may issue a disc to a member who has lost his original one, with it's own name and a new serial number. </div> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" ><B><U>Unit Roster Sheet</U></B> </FONT><B>(</B><B>Kreigsstammrollenblatt</B><B>)</B> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" >- Every Field Army unit and those units of the replacement Army which are of Field Army or training type keep an individual roster sheet on every one of their members, containg the record of the individual's service in the unit. This sheet is to be closed upon termination of that service and then forwarded direct to the soldier's home recruiting station </FONT><I>(Wehrersatzdienststelle)</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" >, where his basic military records are kept. There are two differant forms: one for officers and officials of all ranks, the other for enlisted men.   </FONT></div> <div> <B><U>Basic Military Records</U></B> - At the time of the first physical examination when the service record <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF6600" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" ><I>(Wehrpas) </I></FONT>is issued to the soldier by his recruiting sub-area headquarters <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF6600" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" ><I>(Wehrbezirkskommando)</I></FONT>, the latter opens a corresponding basic military book <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF6600" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" ><I>(Wehrstammbuch)</I></FONT> for him, together with an accompanying health record book <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF6600" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" ><I>(Gesundheitsbuch)</I></FONT> and a classification card <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF6600" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" ><I>(Verwendungskarte</I><I>)</I></FONT>. His military registration card <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF6600" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" ><I>(Wehrstammkarte)</I></FONT>, which was made out by the police authorities as part of his military registration record <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF6600" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" ><I>(Wehrstammblatt)</I></FONT>, is pasted inside the front cover of the Wehrstammbuch. Actually, this card is an open envelope with the soldier's registration record on its face and containing a police report <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF6600" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" ><I>(Polizeibericht)</I></FONT> on his conduct prior to registration.</div> <div> <B><U>Military Registration Number</U></B><B> </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF6600" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" ><B>(Wehrnummer)</B></FONT> - This is determined at the time the Wehrpas is issued to the soldier; in other words, while he was still a civilian. He retains it permanently, regardless of whether he is in active service or not, as his identifying number with the authorities which administer the conscription laws. It normally consists of the following five elements (although there are some variations): <B>1.</B> Name of the Wehrbezirkskommando <B>2.</B> Last two didgets of the year of birth <B>3. </B>Number of military registration police precinct (in certain larger citiies, number corresponding to first letter of family name). <B>4. </B>Serial number of the conscription (or volunteer) roster sheet <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF6600" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" ><I>(Wehrstammrollenblatt) </I></FONT><B>5. </B>Number indicating registrant's place on that sheet (from 1 to 10)</div> <div> <B><U>Upkeep Of Military Records</U></B> - The basic military records accopany the soldier to his first induction unit, but upon transfer from it are returned to and kept at his home recruiting station <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF6600" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" ><I>(Wehrersatzdienststelle)</I></FONT>, which normally is a recruiting sub-area headquarters <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF6600" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" ><I>(Wehrbezirkskommando)</I></FONT> for officers or a subordinate military reporting office <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF6600" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" ><I>(Wehrmeldeamt)</I></FONT> for enlisted men. The soldier's unit roster sheets, which are closed and forwarded to his home recruiting station upon transfer from one unit to another, are filed in the inside rear cover pocket of his Wehrstammbuch. Since the autumn of 1944, the transfer into the Wehrstammbuch of entries from these and or other documents that are received for filing in the pocket was suspended until after the war; it was planned that the entires would then be made from the Wehrpas, which was kept up at all times by the unit in which the soldier is serving.</div> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" >The Wehrersatzdienststelle is the home recruiting station of all Germans who are subject to conscription and therefore is responsible for all members of the German Armed Forces, including volunteers, regardless of whether they serve in the Heer, Luftwaffe, Kreigsmarine or Waffen-SS. The Wehrstammbuch of naval personnel, however, is kept by their ownhome base replacement units. It does not contain any unit roster sheets </FONT><I>(Kreigsstammrollenbl</I><I>ätter)</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" >, as these are replaced, in the Navy, by a conduct book </FONT><I>(</I><I>Führungsbuch)</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" > for enlisted men which follows them from unit to unit, as does their Wehrpas.  The health record book </FONT><I>(Gesundheitsbuch)</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" >, which otherwise is kept at the Wehrersatzdienststelle together with  the Wehrstammbuch, is in the personal possesion of naval personnel as is, of course, their paybooks. </FONT></div> <div> Before 1944, the classification card <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF6600" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" ><I>(Verwendungskarte)</I></FONT> was used for entering the soldier's training record  and was forwarded to his first field unit for inspection, to be returned within 3 days to the home recruiting station. Since the autumn of 1944, the card has not been sent to the field; but the same purpose is served by the detailed training record sheets <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF6600" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" ><I>(Ausbildungsnachweis)</I></FONT>, introduced in 1943, which the soldier, upon his transfer to the field, carries in the pocket of his paybook; it is supposed to be destroyed by the field unit, but this is not always the case. Records particular to the Waffen-SS are the SS basic record card <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF6600" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" ><I>(SS-Stammkarte)</I></FONT>, which follows the soldier from unit to unit as does his Wehrpas, and the SS control card <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF6600" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" ><I>(SS-</I><I>Überwachungskarte)</I></FONT>, which is kept by his SS replacement unit and never follows him to the field.</div> <div> <B><U>Officers Records</U></B> - Officers, in addition to the basic records described above have a personal record folder <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF6600" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" ><I>(Personalnachweis)</I></FONT>. In the Navy, which has no unit roster sheets for either officers or enlisted men, the officer's Personalnachweis takes the place of the enlisted men's Führungsbuch. Otherwise, the officer's Personalnachweis normally is kept in several copies, which may be found at the replacement unit of his peacetime unit; at the corps area headquarters <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF6600" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" ><I>(Wehrkreiskommando)</I></FONT>, at the Army Personnel Office <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF6600" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" ><I>(Heerespersonalamt)</I></FONT>; or in the case of reserve officers at their recruiting sub-area headquarters <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF6600" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" ><I>(Wehrbezirkskommando)</I></FONT>.<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF6600" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" ><I> </I></FONT>In case of discharge or death, one copy is in all cases forwarded to the Armed Forces Welfare and Pension Office <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF6600" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" ><I>(Wehrmachtf</I><I>ürsorge und Versorgungssamt)</I></FONT> accompanied by the officer's medical record papers <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF6600" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" ><I>(Krankenpapiere)</I></FONT>.</div> <div> <B><U>Punishment Records</U></B> - An individual excerpt from the punishment book <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF6600" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" ><I>(Auszug aus dem Strfbush)</I></FONT> is forwarded upon transfer of an enlisted man, together with his Wehrpas, whereas the punishment record of an officer appears in his character and efficiency report <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF6600" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" ><I>(Beurteilungsnotiz)</I></FONT>. In the event of a disciplinary reduction in rank, the soldier's Soldbuch, Wehrpas, and Kriegsstammrollenblatt are closed by his unit and forwarded, for filing in the Wehrstammbuch pocket, to his recruiting station, which issues a new Wehrpas. The unit itself issues a new Soldbuch at once, and a new Kreigsstammrollenblatt is opened which, , in the case of a former officer, must be of the enlisted man type. The reduction is entered only on the closed Kreigsstammrollenblatt. The records of a degraded regular Air Force officer must be requested  from the Air Force Personnel Office. In the Navy, the Personalnachweis  of a degraded officer is closed, the reduction having been entered on it, is sent to his home recruiting station, and is replaced by an enlisted man's  Führungsbuch; whereas the Führungsbuch of a degraded noncommisioned officer is continued after the reduction has been entered. In no case is the reduction entered in either the old or the new Soldbuch or Wehrpas.</div> <div> <B><U>Termination of Service</U></B> - The Wehrpas is given to the soldier upon his honorable discharge from active service, even when such a discharge is temporary (e.g. for occupational reasons). In the latter case, his Soldbuch  is returned to him in exchange for the Wehrpas when he is recalled to active duty. Otherwise the Soldbuch and all other basic military records remain on file at his home recruiting station. Discharged soldiers are given a discharge certificate <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF6600" FACE="Swis721 Ex BT" ><I>(Entlassungschein)</I></FONT>. </div> <div> In case of death, all basic military records of the soldiers are filed by the home recruiting station except his Wehrpas, which was given to the next of kin. A report of death and burial, together with the broken-off lower half of his identiity disc and a description of the grave, is sent to the Armed Forces Information Bureau for War Casualties and Prisoners of War, which is the only agency authorized to handle inquiries. However, the Waffen-SS had its own information bureau. </div> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#FF6600" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>