Customer Reviews

Papers Please!: Identity Documents, Permits and Authorizations of the Third Reich

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This study of the arcane field of identification documents in the Third Reich is a remarkably solid and detailed contribution to its subject. The book is produced on photographic plate paper and the illustrations of the various examples-the German Army Soldbuecher, the Wehrmacht Drivers' Licenses, the Arbeitsbuecher (Employment Idenfication Documents), the Hunting Permits, the members-artists, actors, composers, puppeteers! of the Reichskulturkammer, the German Red Cross IDs-are lavishly illustrated and expertly glossed and elucidated. One example concerns the Soldbuch of which the joint authors, Ray and Josephine Cowdery, write as follows: "While American and English speakers would probably assume a `Soldbuch' to be a `pay book' in which a solder's monthly pay was recorded, the name Soldbuch in German is applied to the authority itself; in other words, the holder of a Soldbuch had the authority to draw pay. Little or no `pay' was ever recorded in it in most cases." The authors travelled in the old German Democratic Republic, observed that every time they "crossed the border we entered a perceptible time warp in identity documentation. The East German police were operating their border crossing stations according to policies and procedures that had been established during the Third Reich." Highly recommended for the buff, the collector, and all those with a taste for what C.P. Snow once termed "old brandy"-the rare, the off-beat and the esoteric.

Not only is this book a must for every reenactor (usually required to have reproduction documents), this book should be required reading for anyone interested in how the German people were well organized during WWII. Plenty of color photos of documents and detailed line-by-line descriptions. This book will also give an idea of daily life in Germany and the strict control placed on the civilian population as well. If you ever run across an old German document at a flea market or an auction... or if you are a WWII German reenactor, this book will provide plenty of information. I highly recommend this book.

This book gives you a good overview and is a ecxellent starting point for anyone who wish to research in the german ID cards, and togehter with German Third Reich Era Documents, Volume Two: Military Documents it gives a detailed overview of the pappers used by the third reich.

This book started me on the road to collecting these types of documents and now I can't stop. Before you go and buy your first soldbuch, or whatever, get this book so you know what you're looking at. Absolutely great descriptions, pictures, charts, etc...

This book is a classic and always will be. It is certainly not the "end all" study guide for Third Reich documents and identity papers, but it's an outstanding guide to the basic papers and books collectors will commonly encounter. The illustrations are great, the text is sometimes brief but it's enough, and the overall quality of the book is superb. If you're going to start collecting German identity papers, this one is going to be very useful indeed.

This product is invaluable to the re-enactor, which I am one. When presenting things as they were, the correct documents are absolutely necessary. I must add that it could be a little more "photo friendly" when it comes to the "overall" documents, but, that is counting stitches.
An absolute MUST for historical libraries!

This is a great book for collectors or historians interested in the Third Reich era. This book delivers an interesting look into the everyday life of citizens of Germany during the Nazi regime. It also shows how well the German government controlled the comings and goings of citizens and those who are not citizens. I only with our country would put some of these practices into effect to help eliminate the illegal alien problem we have. It was almost impossible for someone to sneak into Germany that didn't belong there, as the introduction states. All the old WW II movies showing spies with fake German documents was hollywood fiction. Great book, get it.