Wehrmacht Soldbuch opened in July of 1940. 

Issued to Obergefreiter Richard Sengle 

Frontline unit: 

Artillerie Regiment 85 (101 Jäger Division)

 

The regiment was divided into four divisions. The I. to III. Division were equipped with 7.5 cm I.FH and 10 cm cannons, the IV. Division was 15 cm. s.FH. The regiment was under the 101st Light Infantry Division. The regiment was trained on the heights of the Brody forest until the end of March 1941, when it was relocated to the area south of Graz.

On April 7, 1941, the regiment began the Balkan campaign. The regiment marched through Lower Styria and Slovenia via Marburg an der Drau, Pettau and Krapina to the Save west of Agram. The 101st Light Infantry Division was no longer used and on April 2, 1941, relocated back to the Prague area, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. After only a short stay, the regiment was transferred by rail via Kolin – Olmütz and Poprad to the Spiš around Käsmark. From here the regiment then marched to southern Galicia in the Neu-Sandez area. In mid-June it was moved to the area west of Przemysl. Here the regiment got ready for the attack on Russia. On June 22, 1941, the regiment broke through the Russian lines north of Przemysl. On June 28, 1941, there were fights at Rudki, which was followed by the breakthrough through the chain of lakes on both sides of Komarno. At the beginning of July 1941 there were persecution battles north of the Dniester near Chodorom, Halicz, Marjampol, Monasterzyska and Czortkow. On July 7, 1941, the Zburcz was crossed. The Stalin Line was reached at Jaltuszkoff by July 14, 1941 and broken through here on July 15 and 16, 1941. Then the Stalin line was rolled up southeast to Jaltuskoff. Fighting broke out at Myki, Maryanowka and Kopajgrod. After further pursuit battles, the Bug was crossed at Ladyshin on July 24, 1941 and the bridgehead there strengthened. From July 28, 1941, the road to Uman was approached in the direction of Gaiworon, which was reached on July 31, 1941. After the Battle of Golovanyevsk from August 6 to 8, 1941, the 101st Light Infantry Division became Army Group Reserve and was able to rest for a week.

 

Then the regiment marched to the Dnieper and forced the crossing over the river at Kremenchug between September 2 and 12, 1941. After the successful crossing of the river, pursuit battles followed, which led the regiment via Poltava to the Worskla. Subsequently, an advance was made to Bogoduchow. Defensive fighting broke out between October 13 and 16, 1941 near Murafa. Between October 17 and 27, 1941, the regiment and the division took part in the fighting and the conquest of the city of Kharkov. The Donets was reached by the end of October. Here the regiment strengthened the Staryj Ssaltoff bridgehead. At the beginning of December 1941 a march was made from Kharkov to Gorlowka. From January 6, 1942, heavy defensive battles broke out between Debaltsevo and Troitskoye. These dragged on in varying degrees until May 1942. On May 16, 1942, the regiment prepared to attack Isjum. Between May 17 and 19, 1942, the regiment managed to break through to the Donets. There were fights at Majaki, Chrestishche and Golaja Dolina. On May 19, 1942, there was fighting at Studenok. Defensive battles ensued between Raigorok and Ssemitschewo in the Donets Basin, which lasted until mid-June 1942. On June 22, 1942, the regiment then attacked the Donets between Oskol and Isjum as far as Podwyssokoje, and on June 24, 1942, Isjum was taken. The regiment was then transferred to the Ssiawiansk area to prepare for the breakthrough into the Donets Basin. On July 6, 1942, the 101st Light Infantry Division was renamed 101st Jäger Division. The first and second divisions were also re-armed to form the mountain division. The attack on southern Russia began on July 9, 1942 and led the regiment to the Kuban until August 7, 1942 and to the area around Maikop until mid-August. The regiment continued to advance into the Caucasus on both sides of the road to Tuapse. From October 3rd to October 14th, 1942 there was fighting over the Kurinkij Basin, on October 15th and 16th, 1942 the Yelissvaetpolsky Pass was stormed and the Shoamyan was taken afterwards. From October 20, 1942, the regiment had to defend itself at Zarya Gora and the Jelissavetpolsij pass. The positions reached in the Caucasus had to be held until January 15, 1943, when the retreat from the Caucasus to the Kuban bridgehead began. There were battles at Tochtamukai, Schendschij, Krasnodar, Auscheds, Ssadowij, Krimskaya and Novorossisk, among others. After the fighting in the Kuban bridgehead until July 15, 1943, the regiment took over a stretch of coast near Temryuk to secure the Taman peninsula. 

On September 13, 1943, the regiment was transferred across the Crimea to the Votan position south of Zaporozhye. On September 19, 1943, the defensive battle over the Wotan employment began. In November 1943 defensive battles followed on the lower Dnieper on both sides of Berislav. At the beginning of January 1944 the regiment was relocated to the Vinnitsa area. Heavy offensive and defensive battles broke out here, including in the places Komarow, Voronowzy, Latanzy, Potoki, Schenderiwka and Rotmistriwka. The fighting in the Vinnitsa area lasted until March 1944. This was followed by retreat and boiler fighting as part of the 1st Panzer Army near Vinnitsa, Brailoff, Bar, Novaya-Uschiza, Kamenez-Podolsk and Uszieocko. On April 10, 1944, the attack battles began over the Stypa and the Dnjetr at Wozilow, Snowidow and Isakow, which dragged on until April 20, 1944. This was followed by fighting in the forest northwest of Zukow near Brotniki, which was followed by fighting near Peczeniyzn. From July 16 to 27, 1944, the regiment took part in the Battle of Lemberg and then in the defensive battles south of the Dniester. On August 8, 1944, the settling over the Carpathian Mountains began, followed by fighting at Turka. On September 20, 1944, the Turka position had to be given up. The regiment withdrew across the Carpathian ridge to the defensive position northwest of Ungvar, which was reached on October 28, 1944. Via Jeszenö, Szobranc and Michalowec it went to the Gisela position near Kosice until December 10, 1944. From December 27, 1944 to January 12, 1945 the regiment moved to the area south of Schemnitz east of the Gran Valley. From the middle of the month there were heavy defensive battles that brought the regiment to Altsohl, the Grantal and Neusohl in March. In March 1945 and April 1945 the regiment was fighting in the Great Tatras in the Neusohl area. At the end of April 1945 the regiment was relocated to the Malacky area west of the Little Carpathians. Further fighting broke out on the west bank of the March and in the Marchfeld, and the retreat continued via Angern, Prottes and Matzen. At the beginning of May 1945 the regiment stood at Hollabrunn and returned to Nesselbach via Horn, Weitra, Deutsch-Beneschau, Kaplitz and Rosenberg. Here the regiment came into American captivity.

Awards:

Eastern Front Medal

Black Wounds Badge 

Kuban Arm Shield 

Issued: K98. 

He was wounded in December of 1943, although his wounds pages are not inside the Soldbuch (price reflects this) its still a highly desirable Eastern Front Campaign, and the entries for the Kuban Medal are not seen so often. 

A fact worth noting for the film fans among us, The 1977 movie “Cross of Iron”, based on the book “The Willing Flesh” by Willie Heinrich, directed by Sam Peckinpah is inspired by the authors service in 101. Jäger-Division.

 

 

Adolf Hitler signed and dedicated Mein Kampf. This 1937 two volume set of Mein Kampf is a special gift edition, or the “Geschenkausgabe” edition in hardback cloth. The dedication is what makes this particular example extra special. Hitler wrote three lines to Joseph Schuster which reads:

 

” To fellow Party Member,

J. Schuster

In Memory of our common battle for Germanys greatness.

A. Hitler, November 1937 ”

 

Joseph Schuster was the Gauleiter of Brooklyn, New York and was a member of the German American Bund, the German-American Pro-Nazi organisation that consisted only of American citizens of German descent. The main goal of this organisation was to promote the National Socialist Germany of Adolf Hitler. It was founded in 1936 and dissolved in 1941, after the USA went to war with Germany. On August 12, 1935 the New York World telegram reported that there were 1,100 Nazis in Ridgewood, Brooklyn, but “to most of them, the American Nazi movement offers simply another of those sociable Vereins they can never resist joining.” There were two main organisations: the Friends of the New Germany, headed by Joseph Schuster: and the breakaway American National Socialists League established in January 1935, headed by Anton Haegele. According to William Birnie in the same newspaper on August 14, Nazism offered two attractive features to German Americans who might have had no interest in spreading Nazi propaganda: first, they supported the war on the American boycott of German goods and services; second, they offered an extensive program of social and athletic activities.

For more information please see the following links:

https://www.qchron.com/qboro/i_have_often_walked/nazis-in-ridgewood-rallied-for-hitler/article_3b3ac484-3347-5a91-b364-76264c5d6495.html

https://www.bklynlibrary.org/blog/2013/02/22/nazism-1930s-brooklyn

A signed Mein Kampf dedicated to an American is an extremely rare item and we’ve never had one in our possession before.

In order to purchase this item, it is required to contact us first via email in order to process your payment accordingly, it is marked as Out of Stock but we have this in our Archive and the listing will be updated as soon as it is sold. 

The item can also be brought to a Militaria show in Europe if you want to personally inspect or pay for it. Next show: Ciney Belgium April 2022

This item comes with a COA from the Experts at Militaria Berlin, please see the photos. 

 

 

 

Soldbuch to Frederich Eberlein He was born in 1900 into a Protestant family, and was a teacher in his civilian life and was married. His Soldbuch was issued in July 1944 with a driving unit. Frontline units: Heeres Flakartillerie Brigade 505  His last unit in 1945 was: 1 Armee Korps z.b.v Kraftfahr Ersatz A.A 13 (Division Number 413)  The division moved into a defensive section on both sides of Aschaffenburg and secured the Main Line here. However, the division was completely unsuitable for defense, so that on March 26th, American units were able to cross the Main via a railway bridge south of Schweinsheim that had not been blown up and form a bridgehead. Division No. 413 was unable to remove this, which is why the 36th Volksgrenadier Division was brought in for support. Division No. 413 then took over the defense of the Hanau – Aschaffenburg – Miltenberg section with all the troops in it for defense. It turned out, however, that there were no troops at all in the Hanau – Aschaffenburg area. The division then withdrew to the east in the Coburg area. Here the division received the order to advance from the Coburg area via the Schleussingen-Römhild line in the direction of Meiningen into the flank of the advanced Allied units in order to cut off supplies. However, the division’s attacks did not penetrate. By April 10, 1945, the division’s battle front had already been split into small groups by the advance of several armored spearheads. These stood individually, without connection to the division, in a defensive battle against strong Allied forces that advanced eastwards via the Schleussingen – Hildburghausen – Rodach line. At noon that day, the combat group of the division headquarters was pushed back by a tank attack on the eastern edge of the Callenberg Forest. Towards evening the combat group had to retreat to Coburg. Of the units subordinate to the division, generally only the command staffs with insignificant troops remained after the fighting for Coburg. The division formed three combat groups from this, but they were only able to block the routes of retreat against weak enemy forces in order to slow the enemy advance. The combat groups went over the line Sonnenberg – Steinach – Neuhaus – Lichte – Graefenthal through the Thuringian Forest and from there to the east behind the Saale near Saaldorf and north of Hof to Posseck. There were no battles, but the combat groups were repeatedly attacked by enemy armoured reconnaissance troops and then had to evade quickly. At Posseck, the staff collected scattered people and the remains of various associations and branches of service. In addition, the division was assigned an assault gun platoon, which made effective anti-tank defense possible for the first time. It was also possible to delay the opponent’s action against Bad Elster for three days through the stubborn defense of Gottmarsgrün and Rosbach. On April 19, the front could be extended to the north via Bergen, thus establishing a connection with its northern neighbour, the 347th Infantry Division. In the meantime Bad Elster had been declared a hospital town. Accordingly, the enemy pressure shifted to Bergen-Arnsgrün. After heavy artillery fire with simultaneous tank attack, the height of Bergen was lost. On April 22, 1945, the defensive front was withdrawn from the Freiberg – Arnsgrün – Bärenloh line to the Marieney – Leubetha – Jugelsburg line, leaving battle outposts in place, and extended southwards via Raunergrund to the Bad Brambach – Fleissen road. From April 22, 1945, enemy activity in the newly occupied position subsided. Only gradually did the enemy pressure increase to such an extent that the battle outposts had to be withdrawn from the HKL. On April 28, 1945, the division was subordinated to the Schmidt Police Regiment in the Muldenberg – Schöneck area. On May 4th, the enemy attack began on the division’s HKL, which had been breached in several places after a short time. At 16.15 the enemy penetrated Klingenthal and attacked the heights of Aschberg – Obersachsenberg – Grünberg – Neudorf. By 5 p.m. the enemy armored forces were in possession of these high positions. The middle of the division withdrew to the woodland east of these heights. During the night the remainder of the division returned to the Sauersack – Frühbuss line. In this line, the division went into captivity on May 8, 1945. He was issued rifles and pistols as late as April 1945! He was captured and sent to a POW camp in France, (PG 363281). A nice Drivers licence with photo, he was allowed to drive interestingly motors vehicles that were operated by generators!