Original German WWII Luftwaffe Soldbuch Soldier Identity & Pay Book of Battle of Berlin Veteran Oberleutnant Kurt Cordes with Translated Summary

Original Item: One-of-a-kind. This is a fantastic genuine German WWII Luftwaffe Soldbuch issued to Kurt Cordes, who looks to have enlisted as at the lowest rank of Flieger, but rose to the rank of Oberleutnant during the end days of the war and participated in the Battle of Berlin. This was one of the final battles of the war, when the German capitol of Berlin was captured by the Soviet Red Army.

Cordes was born 28. 8. 11, and the book indicates he was issued the soldbuch 32. Juli 1940 . His picture is attached to the inner cover with a hollow rivet as used by the Luftwaffe. We can see in the picture that he held the NCO rank of Unteroffizier (Sergeant) when the picture was taken, so it was probably taken during 1942, when he held the rank of Unteroffizier der Reserve. As is standard, Page 1 gives his promosion progression, which is as follows:

- 1. März 1941 - Gefreiter
- 1. April 1942 - Uffz. d. Res.
- 1. April 1945- Fur. d. Res.

This rank listed is the abbreviation for Fahnenjunker der Reserve, or Reserve Ensign / Officer Candidate. Page 2 gives more personal information, including the issuing stamps, and page three indicates the units he was stationed in, with the last entry on 19. 4. 45 indicating he had been promoted to Oberleutnant. 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! They both have the same text, but are in different sizes / formats, and read as follows:

Kurt Cordes, born in 1911, entered the Luftwaffe in July 1940, After initial training at Tempelhof Airfield in Berlin, he was assigned to the School Company of the LW Weather Service in Berlin from November 1940 to April 1941, then to the Office for Luftwaffe Officer Aspirants. In April 1942, Cordes transferred to the Luftwaffe Technical Preparatory School in the Wedding district of Berlin. This was a school for teenagers destined for Luftwaffe service once they reached the age of 18. He remained here for most of the war, until he was transferred to the Stab of Einsatz Bataillon König, probably in March 1945 when military units in the Berlin area were scoured for replacements. This was, one of several names used for Kampfgruppe Konig, part of Panzergrenadier Division Kurmack. The last dated entry in his Soldbuch is for a promotion to the rank of? on April 19, 1945, the day before the final Soviet attack to capture Berlin. Four days after the Russian offensive on Berlin began, as the Kurmark Division was engaged in heavy fighting, he managed to get himself admitted to Sub-Hospital Klieken, in the town of Klieken about fifty miles southwest of Berlin, for treatment of both a bone disorder and recurring syphilis. He was discharged from the hospital on April 29. American troops captured the town the next day and he became a prisoner of war.

The notation on page 22 reads: "One free furlough trip to the family residence on July 25, 1942."

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 to the cover, for the most part. As we often see, additional pages have been inserted and glued into the book.

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.