Original German WWII Kriegsmarine Soldbuch ID & Payment Book of Eastern Front Veteran MaschinistMaat Kurt Wacek with Translated Summary

Original Item: One-of-a-kind. This is a fantastic genuine well-used WWII German Kriegsmarine Soldbuch, issued to Maschinist Kurt Wacek, who by the end of his service would be promoted through the enlisted ranks to MaschinistMaat (Machinist's Mate), equivalent to a U.S. Navy Petty officer, third class with a machinist specialty. He saw service on the Eastern Front during WWII, first on sea, but then later was recalled for land service as German forces retreated back to the homeland. We very rarely have soldbuchs from naval veterans, and it has the correct Kriegsmarine marking at the bottom of the cover.

Wacek was born 20. III. 21 (20 March 1921), and the book indicates he was issued the soldbuch 5. Mai 1941. His picture is on the inner cover, secured with staples on the top and bottom. It has the correct ink stamps, but like other stamps in the book, they have had the Reichsadler written over with pencil or pen. As is standard, Page 1 gives his rank progression, page 2 has personal information, and page 3 indicates the units he was stationed in. There is also a page inserted on top of page 3, which gives more information about his unit.

The handwriting in the book, like many we see, is written in period script, which is unfortunately very hard to decipher. However, this book came with two copies of a translated summary of his service, though for some reason they have his first name listed as "Karl", though it is clearly "Kurt". They both have the same text, but are in different sizes / formats, and read as follows:

Karl Wacek, a resident of Vienna, entered the German Navy in May 1941. After training in Kiel where he was rated as a machinist, he was assigned to the Harbor Command in Odessa on the Black Sea in June 1942. He remained here until transferred to Mine Sweeping Flotilla 30, based in Sevastopol, September 1943. Transferred to the 31st Escort Flotilla, also based in Sevastopol, on June 1, 1944, he was hospitalized only a few days later for scabies. Released on July 8, 1944, he returned to duty with the 31st Flotilla, but managed to escape to debacle in the Crimea, returning to Lubeck on September 1, as indicated by the validation stamp from 9/1/44 on page 20: validation for entry from Fehmarn, a small island in the Baltic near Lübeck.

October found Wacek at the Naval School in Kiel, where he was issued a gas mask and cape on October 23. By December he was with the newly raised Naval Rifle Battalion 304, later renamed Marine Rifle Regiment 1, with whom he served for the remainder of the war. Part of the 1st Naval Division, it fought in Pomerania, near Stettin, from February through April 1945, after which it withdrew westwards to British captivity. Wacek was a PoW of the British in the Naval PoW Camp Wilhelmshaven until his release in May 1946.

Wacek did not receive any awards during his service, but he did receive a Führer package on April 3, '44, from Wehrmacht HQ in Vienna while home on leave.

Overall condition is very good and many pages have handwriting or ink stamps, meaning this has some excellent further research potential. The book shows wear and staining, however the pages are still attached together with the original staples, though the cover is detached and also shows taped repairs.

These are exceptionally rare and difficult to find with this much information!

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.

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.