Unusual German "Scrapbook" (collection, ornate, military, bit)

[pinetreelover]

I am helping a friend clean out her father's home and we came across a leather bound album that seems to be some sort of a "scrapbook" where several pages are written on at the beginning and the remainder of the album is blank.

The written pages all have a person's name as well as their rank in the German army or air force at the top and then hand written in German and in very ornate calligraphy are statements about the person indicating how they died in military action. There is also an iron cross with a swastika at the top of each page.

My friend does not want to keep this album but is curious as to what it is and if there is any place that she could donate it who might appreciate its historical content. Her father's home is full of antiques and old books but this is not book that she had ever seen before nor had she had an opportunity to ever ask her father about it. Clearly, she is a bit unsettled about it and would like to do the right thing with it whatever that might be.

[thinkalot]

Originally Posted by pinetreelover

I am helping a friend clean out her father's home and we came across a leather bound album that seems to be some sort of a "scrapbook" where several pages are written on at the beginning and the remainder of the album is blank.

The written pages all have a person's name as well as their rank in the German army or air force at the top and then hand written in German and in very ornate calligraphy are statements about the person indicating how they died in military action. There is also an iron cross with a swastika at the top of each page.

My friend does not want to keep this album but is curious as to what it is and if there is any place that she could donate it who might appreciate its historical content. Her father's home is full of antiques and old books but this is not book that she had ever seen before nor had she had an opportunity to ever ask her father about it. Clearly, she is a bit unsettled about it and would like to do the right thing with it whatever that might be.

Why would she be unsettled? It is her family history. 2 of my friends fathers fought for Germany in WW2 and 1 friend is a widow of a German soldier. They have never hesitated to talk about it.

[my54ford]

The scrip is more than likely sutterlin. Is there anything embossed in the leather? Scrap books as you describe were part and parcel of many Soldat's remembrances...I have several in my collection. But I concur with the previous poster, nothing to be unsettled about......

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%BCtterlin

[pinetreelover]

Thanks for the background information. The script isn't Sutterlin, but in looking at that page, I figured out that it is definitely fraktur. The book is embossed with what I think is 1939 in an art-deco type font.

I think the reason my friend is unsettled about this is she knows very little about her father's family history so it just seemed surprising to come across.