Germany, Wehrmacht. A POW Photo Album, with Plaque

(Fotoalbum eines Kriegsgefangenen mit Plakette). A pair of Wehrmacht prisoner of war (POW) commemorative items, including:

1. A photo album, constructed of a card stock binding with a faux black leather exterior liner, the spine perforated with four eyelets reinforced with metal grommets, looped through with a drawstring which maintains the album’s structural integrity, the cover bearing a decal and silvered inscription of “EHREN-CHRONIK” (“HONOUR CHRONICLE”), the interior content consisting of seven black card stock pages separated by wax paper liners, pasted with 25 period photographs depicting Wehrmacht (primarily Heer and Kriegsmarine) inmates of an Allied POW camp, consisting of group shots of personnel in uniform (some continuing to wear decorations), as well as theatrical productions put on by the inmates with a variety of interesting costumes, all unmarked, the album measuring 23 cm (w) x 30 cm (h), one photo has detached and a small number of others are missing, an interesting account of POW life in what appears to be a Canadian camp, in near extremely fine condition.

2. A 1945 commemorative plaque, constructed of bronze, the obverse bearing a central raised depiction of Collège Moderne et Technique de Reims (the schoolhouse where the German instrument of surrender was signed), above an inscription of “CAPITULATION DU REICH” (“SURRENDER OF THE REICH”), and circumscribed by a dedication for the 8 May 1945 surrender, the reverse bearing a foundry mark and suspension loop, measuring 13.5 cm in diameter, in extremely fine condition.