History of the Inventory Designer: The personnel documents created in the personnel offices of the Reichsheer/Heer, Reichsmarine/Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe were collected centrally shortly after the war. However, large quantities had been lost in the war. The remaining documents were mainly collected in the Personenstandsarchiv II of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia in Aachen-Kornelimünster and supplemented by further personal documents. This institution has been taken over by the Federal Archives as the Central Central Documentation Office (CNS). The personal documents of the Generals and Admirals went from there in the 1970s to the Military Archives Department of the Federal Archives. The personnel documents of the naval officers up to the lieutenant captain went to the German office (WASt), where they are still today. The personal documents of the officers and civil servants of the Reichswehr and Wehrmacht kept in the CNS were taken over by the Department of Military Archives in 2005 and have been held there ever since. Further personal documents, in particular personal files kept in the personnel offices, form the holdings RW 59. Description of holdings: The contribution essentially follows Absolon, Wehrgesetz p.362-374 (see Lit. verz.): The personnel administration in the Wehrmacht took place at various locations ¿ at the military replacement posts, at the replacement troop units, at the field troop units and in the personnel offices of the high commandos. The following personal documents were kept: - at the military stations: Wehrstammkarte: created by the police registration office at the time of registration for each person liable for service or volunteer, sent to the Wehrbezirkskommando (WBK) with the Wehrstammrolle; basis for the patterning and enlistment or volunteer acceptance; was then pasted into the Wehrstammbuch Wehrstammrolle: Wehrstammbuch (Wehrstammbuch), created by the police registration office as an accompanying list of ten military tribe cards each: created by the WBK after the draft or acceptance of volunteers with the military tribe card glued in place and continued throughout the entire period of compulsory military service; the content corresponded to that of the military passport; during active military service at the military unit, otherwise part of the WBK tribe card index, or at the end of the compulsory military service of the Wehrmeldeamt (WMA); at the beginning of the war, the military records of the soldiers assigned to the Feldwehrmacht were sent from the last peacekeeping unit to the responsible military service stations; after the soldiers had left the Feldtruppe, the military records were returned to the WBK or WMÄ after the corresponding unit had been entered, and the health records were continued there: Created by the military alternative service office which carried out the first examination of a conscript or volunteer; continued by the medical service offices Use card: issued for each replacement reservist I according to the model or volunteer acceptance at the same time as the military record book; served in peace to classify the conscript of the status on leave (d.B.) in war; in peace the use card index was divided into inventory, mob and indispensability card index, in war into inventory, RAD and restricted card index Call-up card: supplement of the use card for the conscripts d.B. who were classified as soldiers or Wehrmacht officials in peace mobile - in the case of troops: military passport: from the 1st World War onwards: from the 1st World War The document was issued on April 1, 1936 at the time of the mustering or voluntary acceptance and handed over to the holder; documentary evidence of the military service relationship during the period of compulsory military service; in peace during the completion of the RAD and active military service, it was accepted, stored and continuously supplemented by the responsible office upon recruitment; upon dismissal it was handed back and remained with the holder even after the end of compulsory military service; The military passports of the fallen, the deceased, and the missing were sent to the military substitute service station; after the data had been transferred to the military tribal record book, they were sent to the surviving dependants or, if none could be ascertained, troop rolls remained in the military tribal record book: in peace by all units, in war only by spare troop parts set up and led; with transfers an excerpt from the trunk roll was attached to the remittance papers war trunk roll: The war roll sheets of the fallen, deceased, missing, wounded and transferred soldiers and supplementary army officials were completed and sent to the responsible military replacement service office, those of the active Wehrmacht officials were sent to the Wehrkreis or Luftgaukommando, which led the main personnel personnel to identity cards: there was 1) a blue troop identity card for soldiers and Wehrmacht officials, issued in peace, with a photograph (form A; for those called up for exercises without form B); on dismissal the form A identity cards were destroyed, the form B identity cards went to the responsible military service stations; 2) a brown service card for employees and workers at Wehrmacht service posts; 3) a white special card for entering specially guarded properties, buildings or facilities; 4) an orange service card with a black longitudinal line for non-German followers employed at Wehrmacht service posts Soldbuch: from the beginning of the war, they were handed over to the soldiers and Wehrmacht officials of the army and the Luftwaffe and continued on an ongoing basis; the previous troop passes were destroyed after the issue of the pay books; the pay books of deceased or dismissed soldiers, as well as those that had become unusable, were sent to the responsible military replacement service office for insertion into the pocket of the Wehrstammbuch; on reappointment, they could be issued again; in the event of a loss of rank, they were completed and a new one issued; on 16 March, the military and air force officers of the Luftwaffe were issued with a new one. In November 1943, the introduction of a photograph on the inside was ordered; employees and workers at Wehrmacht service posts as well as other members of the Wehrmacht following were not given any pay books; the country's own auxiliaries in the east were given bilingual identification books, which were to be kept like pay books - by the high commandos: Personnel files: The entire personnel administration of the officers was carried out by the Army Personnel Office (OKH/PA) or the Air Force Personnel Office (RdL and ObdL/LP). There were kept about every active officer identity papers (personal files), consisting of: - a copy of the identity document - the annexes to the identity document (all important documents such as recruitment procedures, documents, certificates, letters of commitment, decisions in matters of honour, complaints, special incidents) - the medical documents (medical records, medical certificates, lists of damage to services) - the assessments - various files of military personnel files: For this purpose, the staffs of the respective units kept further copies of the personnel records with annexes, assessment drafts and supply procedures ¿ the so-called troop personnel files. The units joining the field army handed over these troop personnel files to the responsible spare troop units, for the officers from the battalion commander upwards to the responsible deputy general commandos; offices which were dissolved also handed over their troop personnel files to the deputy general commands; the troop personnel files of the Luftwaffe generally went to the Luftgaukommando responsible for the last peace site; The registration of changes in the troop personnel files was suspended during the war and was to be carried out after demobilisation; in the event of dismissal from active military service and in the event of death, the sick and care papers and a completed copy of the identity document with other documents were to be sent to the responsible Wehrmacht welfare and care office. The personnel files and personnel records of the officers d.B. and z.V. were kept and kept at the responsible military service stations. Wehrmacht officials kept ministerial files, main files and leaflets (side issues). Ministerial files: These were led and contained by the army administration office (OKH/VA), and/or by the air force personnel office (RLM/LP) with service beginning: - the proof of identity - the declaration of membership of political parties, lodges and other organisations - the declaration of military service - orders to convene, appoint, transfer, etc. - Determination of the seniority - other exchanges of correspondence in special attachments: - Examination papers and minutes of the result - the assessments - the criminal service matters main files: The main files with pre-stitched evidence of illness were kept at the military district and air district commandos, with any earlier personnel files of other places as supplements. Collections of sheets (supplements): The subordinate departments and generally the staffs and units kept only collections of sheets or supplements, consisting of a third copy of the identity card, the holiday certificate, the medical record and the correspondence produced there, via the civil servants in their area. The personnel files of the professional non-commissioned officers were kept by their responsible units and were kept during the war by the replacement troops. The personnel files of the employees and workers of the Wehrmacht were kept at the employment offices, the work books at the location wage offices. From 29 June 1944, the personal files of retired followers were to be destroyed after three years. The inventory RW 59 also contains the documents and finding aids (card indexes) for the awarding of orders and decorations, as they were mainly kept by the Army Personnel Office. These documents and finding aids had been gathered together by the Central Proof Office (CNS) to process corresponding inquiries. Parts had also been taken over from the stock RH 7 of the Federal Archives Military Archives as "permanent loans". These documents were transferred back to RH 7 in 2005 after the dissolution of the CNS. The rest of the collection (177 AU) is divided into two parts: Award proposals (69 AE) and general files from various bodies on various aspects of the award system as well as on holders of certain orders (108 AE). Due to the complex reference system of the CNS, it was decided to preserve this remaining collection as a whole within the RW 59 collection and to refrain from taking over the larger part of it to RH 7, as a separation from the remaining CNS documents would have made it too difficult to provide further information. The award proposals in RW 59 are therefore to be regarded as complementary to those in RH 7. In general, the finding aids in RW 59 can be used as evidence of the following main awards: Iron Cross 1st and 2nd Class (2nd Class not continuous), Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross in the different levels, War Merit Cross 1st and 2nd Class, Knight's Cross of the War Merit Cross, German Cross in Silver, German Cross in Gold, Close Combat Bracelet in Gold, Air Force Cup of Honour, Air Force Bowl of Honour, Picture of the Reichsmarschall in Silver Frame, Mention in the Army Official Gazette, Mention in the Navy Official Gazette, Mention in the Official Gazette of Honour, Mention in the Official Gazette of Honour of the Navy, Mention in the Official Gazette of Honour in Silver Frame, Mention in the Official Gazette of Honour in Silver Frame, Mention in the Official Gazette of Honour in Silver Frame, Mention in the Official Gazette of Honour in Silver Frame, Mention in the Official Gazette of Honour in Silver Frame, Mention in the Official Gazette of Honour in Silver Frame, Mention in the Official Gazette of Honour in the N. Especially for the final phase of the war, however, even the highest awards are likely to have gaps in tradition. The third part of the collection RW 59 contains a collection on military law and the organization of the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS (215 AE), which has been compiled in the CNS. This collection essentially contains original documents which were taken from the original provenances by Rudolf Absolon in his function as director of the CNS for the production of the work "Die Wehrmacht im Dritten Reich" (The Wehrmacht in the Third Reich) and which had been newly formed as a handset structured according to subject matter. Content characterization: This inventory includes the Wehrmacht documents collected by the Central Proof Office (CNS), which it needed to deal with personal inquiries. These documents had been taken from their original provenances by the CNS. In addition, the holdings also include the Wehrmacht's human resources department, which was prepared by the CNS itself, and the CNS's filing of research enquiries on certain persons regarding presumed or actual membership in the Wehrmacht. After the documents had been transferred to the Federal Archives and Military Archives, it was decided to preserve this collection as a collection, since a division of the documents into their individual provenances and a separation from the actual CNS documents would have considerably jeopardised the further provision of information. Only the documents of the RH 7 holdings (Army Personnel Office) received from the CNS by the military archives as "permanent loans" and clearly delineated were returned to it. The inventory RW 59 in its present form is therefore an archival result of the decades of activity and working method of the CNS, which must necessarily be preserved in order to maintain the further ability to work in this area. State of development: The inventory consists on the one hand of important working materials for the department and on the other hand of personal documents. A use is therefore only possible via the specialist department. Pre-archival order: Until 2005, the files were kept at the ZNS in Aachen-Kornelimünster. During this time, only rudimentary archival inventories were created. Scope, explanation: 2500 AU Citation method: BArch, RW 59/...
