Identity Card

[dante]

Please could anyone help with translation, Was he Freikorps and any other interesting facts (if there any) as ever thanks, Paul

[Naxos]

Military passport transfer of the Vizefeldwebel (Sergeant) (Unteroffizier is crossed out) Wilhelm Heinrich Severin, class of 1914

Hardy

Edited October 28, 2007 by Naxos

[dante]

Please could anyone help with translation, Was he Freikorps and any other interesting facts (if there any) as ever thanks, Paul

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[dante]

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[dante]

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[Guest Rick Research]

From the pages you have shown, Wilhelm Heinrich Severin served mainly in RIR 83 1914-16, then Machine Gun Comp/RIR 32 1916 until wounded in right calf and foot by "G.G." (R. ifle G. renade?), then hospitalized, ending the war in 3rd Replacement MG Comp of XI Army Corps. Re-hospitalized March-April 1919, and discharged 31 January 1920.

He had also been hospitalized for fever in December 1915.

EK2 22.10.15, Hessian Bravery Medal 4.1.17

Gefreiter 25.7.15

Unteroffizier 7.11.15 (page showing how he entered service in 1914 not shown above)

Vizefeldwbel 26.7.17

fought all over Eastern and Western Fronts.

No Freikorps. Not sure if he was considered Provisional Reichswehr, but do not see any indication of serving in one of their units, or an entry for a long service medal. Given his units, I'd have expected something from Waldeck or Saxe-Meiningen, but he must have been a Hessian national by birth.

[Andwwils]

Which scan shows the award dates for the EKII and Hessian Tapferkeit Med.? In box 9 I can make out the EK entry, but no date. My eyes are burning just a tad from all the squinting. This man did well promotions-wise, making Vizewebel as a 1914 volunteer (?).

Edited October 29, 2007 by Andwwils

[Naxos]

Which scan shows the award dates for the EKII and Hessian Tapferkeit Med.? In box 9 I can make out the EK entry, but no date. My eyes are burning just a tad from all the squinting. This man did well promotions-wise, making Vizewebel as a 1914 volunteer (?).

the underlined reads:

Verliehene Ehrenzeichen: EK 2.Kl 22.10.15 und Hess. Tapferkeits Medaille 4.1.17

Regards, Hardy

[dante]

the underlined reads:

Verliehene Ehrenzeichen: EK 2.Kl 22.10.15 und Hess. Tapferkeits Medaille 4.1.17

Regards, Hardy

Guys, as ever many thanks for all your help, Paul

[bob lembke]

These Militaer=Paesse are potentially tremendous historical resources, but due to their distribution all over the place, since they were eventually given to the soldier upon discharge and then blown about by the winds of chance, their systematic use is very limited. I have found that study of even two or three of these from a given unit clarifies many details about the organization and history of that unit. My hope is that some day there could be some sort of index of these Paesse in the hands of various collectors who would be willing to share or swap copies of their Paesse for research purposes. One collector has put a list of some of his Paesse on line; as far as I know this is the only effort in this direction.

This sort of effort would be, of course, all the more useful since most of the original records of most of the German WW I forces were destroyed in the bombing of the Prussian archives in WW II. (Is there any truth to the claims that some of these records are actually now surfacing, since they were carted off to the lair of the Big Bear, not destroyed in the war?)

Every collector has his own purposes; personally, I am more of a collector of information, rather than artifacts and objects. So many collectors of Paesse would not be interested in such a cooperative effort, but I think many would. Several very kind collectors have given me copies of interesting Paesse that I have used in my research on German storm units, and I have happily provided them with copies of other interesting Paesse, upon occasion. A central index of these documents would be great. Possibly there would be a system by which collectors providing copies to researchers would then earn credits to in turn obtain copies from other cooperating collectors. We mostly like to hoard our little treasures, I fear, but there are many generous collectors generously sharing their jems.

A similar resource are award documents, which provide less information than Paesse, but are very interesting and also useful.

Bob Lembke

[bob lembke]

Paul;

A very nice Pass; as you see just chock full of information. I assume that, between the German and in particular the Suetterlin and Kurrent script systems, you can't read the blessed thing. I don't think that there is a lot of collecting of Paesse in the US, for this reason.

You asked about Freikorps. I have a remarkable Pass, of a NCO in the field artillery, with a rich and decorated career, who then joined a Freikorps, and then later the Reichswehr. All three services are recorded in one Militaer=Pass. I have never seen or heard of another example of such a document. Certainly my father's Freikorps service is not recorded in his Pass.

Bob Lembke