Wehrpaß 136th Jager.... questions

[Wartime Collectables]

I picked this up without research and am trying to decipher the script and learn the man's fate. Happy to post more pics if needed but in the interest of space just posting enlistment details and pages I don't understand. Your help greatly appreciated! Here is what I have so far, and feel free of course to correct any errors!
Edwin Berreitter b. 26 April 1914, Enlisted Innsbruck 1 Aug. 1938, Gebirgs Jager Regt. 136
1.8.41 Feldwebel, 1.1.42 Leutnant, 1.5.42 Oberleutnant
Iron Cross IInd Class Oct. 10, 1941, Black Wound Badge Nov. 7, 1941
Last entry 6.5.42

A bit of unit history....from the web,
Raised on 1st August 1938 from the Tyrol Jäger-Regiment of the Austrian Army in Innsbruck. The Regiment was put under the 2. Gebirgs-Division. The 2. Gebirgs-Jäger-Division saw action in Poland in September 1939, Norway from early 1940 until December 1941. Then it was moved to Lapland where it stayed until late 1944. It was then moved to Norway and Denmark. The unit finished the war in southern Germany. The Gebirgs-Jäger-Regiment 136 was a part of 2. Gebirgs-Jäger-Division throughout the war.

[TWS]

He is not listed on the Volksbund grave site registry. Possibly survived the war.

[Wartime Collectables]

I know KIA material is more interesting and collectible and I collect U.S. Purple Hearts. But when I noted no entries after that early date, and looked at his young face... It really hit hard. Hope he made it.

[hucks216]

Without seeing any other pages I would say that he was badly wounded in May 1942 and never saw action again, either being kept in training units back in Germany or discharged from service. His promotion to Oberleutnant was actually in July 1943 but it has been backdated to May 1942.
Can you show pages 12, 23, 24 & 25 and possibly 38 (if it has any entries written on it) please?

[BrodieBartfast]

KIA Wehrpasses are fairly easy to identify, as there's usually an entry noting the date and circumstances of the soldier's death. If he had been killed in action, there would be a note of it in his Wehrpaß. Most of these entries record the cause of death as a shot to the heart or head, as these would imply a swift death. In some cases, the truth was rather more upsetting. As these documents were returned to the family of the fallen soldier after the fact, along with any decorations he had earned, it was apt not to accurately record so grisly a demise.

Here is such an entry, in one of a few KIA documents I own. It records the date of his death as the 10th August 1941, and lists the cause as a shrapnel hit to the spine. (Implying a swift and painless death, as mentioned above). The word you're looking for in these entries is 'Gefallen', in this case at the end of the first paragraph.



Regards, B.B.

[Wartime Collectables]

Thank you all!

[hucks216]

Are there any entries on pages 24 & 25 and at the bottom of page 38?

From the images above, he could well of been killed as if he was discharged there would (or should) be entries showing the progression from units to being discharged.

What is his surname, I can't read it?

[Witt]

This is a very nice wehrpaß, thank you for sharing. There is an unfortunate explanation for this example. Edwin Berreitter never left the Eastern Front; he was shot in the stomach on the Eismeer Front, some 100km west of Murmansk on 5 May 1942.






Name: Edwin Berreitter
Rank: Leutnant
Unit: Stab I./Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 136
Date of birth: 26.4.1914
Place of birth: Algund
Death/missing date: 5.5.1942
Death/missing place: Titowka-Liza

Gefallen: bauch schuß

He was originally buried in the Kriegerfriedhof Parkkina that was outside Petsamo, Finland (Petschenga, Russia). Here lied more than 10,000 Germans.



His surname and place of birth are misspelled on the Volksbund. He is now buried at the cemetery in Petschenga not far from his original resting place.