Voldemārs Veiss (7 November 1899 – 17 April 1944) was a Latvian officer and prominent Nazi collaborator, who served in the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany. When Riga, the capital of Latvia, fell to the Wehrmacht on 1 July 1941, the Germans began forming self-defence and police forces. Veiss was appointed the commander of such a Self Defence organization. On 20 July the Nazis disbanded this organization and ordered the formation of auxiliary police forces instead, with Lt. Col. Veiss being appointed Chief of the Latvian Auxiliary Police. At the end of 1941, he became the First Deputy Director General of the Director General of the Interior when the Latvian Self-Administration was reorganized. Veiss funeral in Riga As early as autumn 1941 Latvian auxiliary police units, temporarily attached to the Wehrmacht, were first used in front line duties. This occasional employment continued until the 2nd Latvian Brigade was formed from six Latvian battalions, four of which had combat experience. At the end of April 1943 a three battalion formation fighting under the name of the Latvian Legion was withdrawn from the front line and renamed the 1st Volunteer Regiment of the SS (Latvian), with a change of Wehrmacht ranks to those of the Waffen-SS. Voldemārs Veiss was given command of this regiment, which was a part of the 2nd Latvian Brigade, and received the rank of Legion-Obersturmbannführer. In January 1944, Veiss became the first Latvian to receive the Knight’s Cross. On 17 April 1944, Veiss died from wounds he had suffered seven days prior. Original a little bigger than A5 size, rear has a street name and number in Riga.

Soldbuch to Alios Cadenbach from Koblenz area, Germany. Cadenbach served exclusively with the same unit, seeing its development throughout the war. He was enlisted in 1939, and seen the whole war… Artillerie Regiment 92  Panzer Artillerie Regiment 92 – Stabsbatterie Its worth noting, that the unit where armed with the famous Hummel! See Below… 20th Panzer Division  The 20th Panzer Division was formed on 15 October 1940 after the decision had been made to weaken the existing German tank divisions to create new ones. The new division drew units from various active and reserve units, among them the 19th Infantry Division which had been converted to a tank division itself, having become the 19th Panzer Division. Operation Barbarossa, 3 July 1941 Attached to Army Group Center, the division participated in the opening stages of Operation Barbarossa and remained in the front echelon of attack during the series of advances on Minsk, Smolensk and took part in Operation Typhoon, the failed attack on Moscow. It remained on the central front during the winter of 1941–42, engaged in defensive operations and retreat. In March 1942 it was withdrawn to Bryansk for refitting and a rest after heavy casualties during the winter that lead to disbanding of a number of its units. The 20th Panzer Division, consisting of just one of the nominal three tank battalions, remained in the central sector of the Eastern Front, taking part in the capture of Voronezh in mid-1942 but otherwise engaged in defensive operations. It took part in the defence of Orel in the winter of 1942–43 and, in July 1943, was part of the northern spearhead during the battle of Kursk. The rest of 1943 was spent in a long retreat between Orel, Gomel, Orsha, and Vitebsk. The 20th Panzer Division spent the winter of 1944 fighting in the Polotsk, Vitebsk, Bobruisk and Cholm areas. Having suffered heavy losses during the Red Army’s Operation Bagration, the division was sent to Romania for refitting in August 1944. In October, the division was sent to East Prussia, and then sent to Hungary on 6 January 1945, to partake in the Garam (S:Hron) battles raging in northern Hungary. It then retreated through Breslau, Schweinitz and Neisse in Silesia (now part of Poland). The division was transferred to Görlitz (east of Dresden on the post-1945 German frontier with Poland). On 19 April 1945, the division was involved in a counteroffensive west of Görlitz in the direction of Niesky, but disengaged three days later and retreated west. It counterattacked again in the Bautzen area, succeeding in relieving the local garrison at heavy cost to Soviet forces. By 26 April 1945, the division was situated northwest of Dresden; by 6 May it retreated south across the Czechoslovakian border. Some divisional elements surrendered to the Red Army near Teplice-Sanov (northwest of Prague), whilst the rest, including elements of Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 20. surrendered to the U.S. Army at Rokycany, (between Prague and Plzeň); they were handed over to the Soviet forces. Wounded during battle  Wounded December 1943 – 31b – Shrapnel Wounds. Equipment / Issued  P38 Walther Pistol, Spade, Winter Clothes. Führer Packet Medals / Awards  Eastern Front Medal Drivers Badge in Bronze Wounds badge in Black War Merit Cross with Swords (20th Panzer Division) Drivers Badge in Silver He made it right to the end of the war, the last stamp inside is the 12th of May 1945, in the rear of his Soldbuch is two pictures of his children and his POW Paper for demobilisation.    

Nice Original SS Drivers Licence for Erwin Harl from Hermannstadt, Germany. Born on the 26th of December 1924, he passed away in 1987 (see grave stone picture from web). He did his training with: SS Panzer Grenadier Ausbildung und Ersatz Batl 2 – Prag, they served to provide replacements to the SS Division Das Reich. Writing can be seen on the rear of the photograph, many of these were issued without a photo so this is a nice addition to any serious ID collection. As with all our items Postage is FREE Tracked Worldwide!

WWII Nazi Party Badge – RZM M1/128 Eugen Schmidthäussler, Pforzheim