Germany, Heer. A Wehrpaß & Soldbuch To Sudetendeutscher Gefreiter Max Metzner (Pow Guard In Norway)

The Wehrpaß is dated to Belzig (south of Berlin) on July 18, 1939. It is a type 2 specimen, measuring 105x146mm, near very fine condition with scuffing, creasing, and light warping of the cover. The Soldbuch is dated to Strausberg (east of Berlin) on October 4, 41. Measuring 103x143mm, fine condition with scuffing, fraying, and creasing of the cover, some damage to the spine, and light discolouration due to water damage on the inside.

Footnote: Max Metzner was born on November 13, 1904 in Hennersdorf, Sudetenland (present-day Jindřichov near Krnov, northeastern Czech Republic). He served in the Czech army between 1924-1926. Metzner was drafted into the Wehrmacht in October of 1941 and placed in the 2nd Company of Landesschützen Replacement Battalion 3. In November, he was transferred to Landesschützen Battalion 310, serving as an occupational force in Poland. Metzner was promoted to Oberschütze on April 1, 1943 and to Gefreiter (Lance Corporal) on July 1 of the same year. Between March 1944 and May 1945, he served in the 2nd Company of Kriegsgefangenen-Arbeits-Bataillon (POW Labour Battalion) 187 in occupied Norway. These POW Labour units used Russian prisoners as slave labourers in the building of infrastructure and fortifications in the largely underdeveloped and empty Norwegian landscape. In an ironic twist, after the end of the war Metzner ended up as a POW in Norway himself, in the vicinity of Trofors. An entry in his Soldbuch states that in June of 1945, Metzner still illegally possessed 1100 Norwegian Kroner (equivalent of 627 Reichsmark), which were subsequently confiscated by the Allied forces. An entry in his Wehrpaß states that he was rejected from repatriation to Czechoslovakia.