Original German WWII Luftwaffe Photo Album Featuring Numerous Disabled Soviet Tanks with Soldbuch – 144 Photos Original Items

Original Item: One-Of-A-Kind Set. This is a fascinating WWII Luftwaffe photo album, which looks to be almost entirely made of personal photos, with a few professional photos mixed in. It looks to have suffered some water damage at some point, and looks to have had some restoration done at some point, with photos re-attached using new corner tabs. There were also additional pages added, and it even came with a fantastic named Luftwaffe Soldbuch Payment & Identity book. There are also some photos that definitely look to have been added post war, so we assume that the owner added additional photos after the war ended.

The blue leatherette front cover features a silver embossed Luftwaffe Eagle in the center over Deutſches Luftwaffe in gold, with a Reichskriegsflagge Battle flag in the upper right. The title page shows a Luftwaffe unit standard, over Zur Erinnerung an mein Dienſtzeit (As a reminder of my service). There is also information regarding the manufacturer of the album. The album measures approximately 10 1/2″ x 7 1/2″, and features 23 original photo pages, some of which are separated by spiderweb pattern “onion skin” paper, which prevents sticking. After this are 8 additional modern pages that were added into the album, one of which holds the included Soldbuch part of this set. The album is still held together with the original red white and black tri-color cord. A total of 144 photographs fill this album, some held with the original period adhesive / corner tabs, while others were re-attached.

The included Luftwaffe Soldbuch zugleich Personalausweis (Paybook and Identity Card) is named to Feldwebel Franz Glander, born 31. 1. 18, and gives information regarding his service, which looks to have lasted almost the entire duration of the war, showing dates in 1939 up into late 1944. They were originally ranked Hauptgefreiter, then promoted to Unteroffizier in 1940 and later Feldwebel in 1943. There is lots of information in the book, including their gas mask training certificate, and so much more!

The photos in the album are however what really sets it apart. The early photos show training, parades, and deployment, however by the middle of the album, they show numerous battlefield photos, including many from the Eastern front of WWII, when Germany invaded the Soviet Union. There are some great pictures of an anti-tank artillery piece, showing Luftwaffe soldiers often wearing goggles, and even a rare picture of one wearing sunglasses.

After this are NUMEROUS photos of disabled Soviet armored vehicles and tanks! The Soviet Union deployed numerous different tanks, both those produced domestically and those produced by other Allied nations, which makes identification challenging, particularly if the tanks are significantly damaged. We believe there is a KV-1 from two angles, a disabled BT series tank with another type, a BT-5, and several other tanks. Most interestingly, there is a picture of German soldiers standing on a BRITISH MARK V tank! These WWI tanks were well obsolete by WWII, but they were put back into service due to the larger shortage in the early war period. Later pages show a disabled T-34 1941 tank, as well as a BT-7M tank. There is also a German WWII Panzer III tank, showing crew members on the top. There is also a Soviet PM M1910 Fluted barrel maxim machine gun shown. If you are really into tank identification, this album will be a fantastic opportunity!

Later pages show the change to winter in Russia, with some further battlefield scenes and pictures of utterly bombed out residential areas. Then there are some period photographs, which look to be U.S. photographs of Germany taken from air, some of which show U.S. bombers.

The album is a treasure-trove of images taken from the viewpoint of a young German soldier in the Luftwaffe, posted to the Eastern front. Historical records like this album have become priceless time capsules that provide an incomparable level of insight into the individual experience of the Second World War, now that over seventy years have passed. With the included soldbuch, there is really some great research potential in this album.

Comes more than ready for further research and display!

The older albums such as these usually withstand the ravages of time. The leather or fabric covers may wear, but the pages stay well intact. The black paper albums of the early 20th century are more fragile, while the glue from magnetic albums can damage photographs. And, as with all old photographs, keep albums in a safe, climate controlled environment.

The Luftwaffe was the aerial-warfare branch of the German Wehrmacht before and during World War II. Germany’s military air arms during World War I, the Luftstreitkräfte of the Imperial Army and the Marine-Fliegerabteilung of the Imperial Navy, had been disbanded in May 1920 in accordance with the terms of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles which banned Germany from having any air force.

During the interwar period, the German armed forces secretly trained pilots – in violation of the Treaty – at Lipetsk Air Base in the Soviet Union. With the rise of the NSDAP (in power from 1933) and the repudiation of the Versailles Treaty, the Luftwaffe’s existence was publicly acknowledged on 26 February 1935, just over two weeks before open defiance of the Versailles Treaty through the announcement of German rearmament and conscription on 16 March. The Condor Legion, a Luftwaffe detachment sent to aid Nationalist forces in the Spanish Civil War, provided the force with a valuable testing-ground for new tactics and aircraft. Partially as a result of this combat experience, the Luftwaffe had become one of the most sophisticated, technologically advanced, and battle-experienced air forces in the world when World War II broke out in 1939. By the summer of 1939, the Luftwaffe had twenty