SOLDBUCH AND LETTER FROM MITTLEBAU CONCENTRATION CAMP GUARD

SOLDBUCH AND LETTER FROM MITTLEBAU CONCENTRATION CAMP GUARD

Rare, fine content copy of a Mittlebau concentration camp guard's soldbuch, 54pp. issued to SS-Rottenfuhrer Adolf Michalek on March 31, 1945. The front flyleaf bears his photo, and the third page has his identifying characteristics and his signature. Born May 22, 1922, Michalek - issued Wehrnummer 12/31/2 - had served with the SS reserves near the Polish city of Breslau, then had been transferred to Mittlebau on March 31 of that year. He died in a military hospital in Hamburg on April 26, 1945. Sold with a separate T.L.S. from Michalek likely sent one day after his transfer to Mittlebau, 1p. oblong 8vo., "O.U" ["Billet" or "Temporary Lodging"], April 1, 1945, writing in part to a fellow SS Sturmbann at the camp: "...Instead of taking an oath, I declare that the equipment and clothing I have received will be returned to the KL. Auschwitz..." Michalek signs at the conclusion. Further research shows that several hundred SS guards had been transferred to Mittlebau from Auschwitz throughout the latter half of the war, with many former guards from Auschwitz being promoted to high-ranking positions from February to March 1945; direct proof of Michalek's involvement at Auschwitz, however, is not present in the documentation itself. Just days after this soldbuch had been issued, the advancement of US troops led to rapid and brutal evacuation of most of the Mittelbau camps, resulting in the deaths of 8,000 prisoners. Both documents in very good condition.