Duties of Wehrmacht Kompanie Clerks

[Chris Pittman]

In response to some questions about Kompanie paperwork and the duties of Wehrmacht clerks, I translated a few paragraphs from the book “Hilfsbuch fuer den Hauptfeldwebel” by Hans Roedel. Although published in 1942, this text almost certainly dates from the pre-war period, with its references to the Truppenausweis which was replaced in fall 1939 with the Soldbuch. And of course, the reality of war meant that the clerks in the Schreibstube (literally “writing room,” in this sense the orderly room, or the office in charge of paperwork) had to face a huge array of different duties and responsibilities. But despite this, the text gives a good overview of what Wehrmacht unit clerks were expected to do, and of the types of paperwork seen as necessary for the functioning of a Kompanie. I have retained the German terms for specific documents, ranks and positions. I have posted it here:

http://www.intrenches.com/schreibstube.htm

In the future I plan to translate some more information from this book with specifics about the various types of files and lists maintained by the unit- the Truppenstammrolle, personal papers, the Krankmeldebuch, the Strafbuch, etc.