"Your Papers Please" ..... the Deutsches Reich Kennkarte
Hello chums,
I only pick up 'bibs n' bobs' these days, and they have to be interesting in some way - so when I saw this Kennkarte ( Identity card ) recently I had to grab it.
I'll tell you why..... Its not for anyone special, nor a soldier but it does have some interesting aspects to it so I thought it may be worth showing.
The Kennkarte was the basic identity card in use during the Third Reich era and were introduced in 1938. Normally issued by the police they had the issuing office and stamps on them and EVERY citizen was expected to produce theirs if asked. They were valid for FIVE years and so most have dates on them extending beyond the reich's demise in 1945.
A good breakdown of what was in them was done some years ago by forum member 'goodoldgermany' (not active since 2016) Presentation: Kennkarte
Alfred Rudolf Dems?? ( unsure ) was born on 4th October 1906 and this kennkarte was issued just a month after the war in Europe ended in 1945 ( 13th of June in fact ) and as it was valid for 5 years, has an expiry date of 13 June 1950.
BUT, as identification documents WERE certainly needful in the shambles of post war Germany - and existing cloth material kennkartes had to be used, BUT couldn't bear the Nazi swastika ...what to do??
Well, the cover was easy - just blank out / denazify the eagle but what of the issuing stamps?
The solution was just as easy - just cut the swastika bit out of the rubber stamps - that way the stamp could still be inked and used - but the wreath would have a blank / white hole in it.
And that's what you see here - the stamps are blank in the centre where the rubber was cut away and no ink was present... pretty neat eh?
So there you have it - TR documents WERE used - up until 1951 when the Personalausweis replaced them....
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