An Ostarbeiter's

Employment Identification Document


This is an Arbeitsbuch Für Auslãnder (Workbook for Foreigners), an employment identification document for a foreign worker.  Shown above is the front cover.

Here is the back cover with the bearer's signature.

Of medium size - 4 3/4" x 5 3/4" (105mm x 150mm) closed - the document's cover was card stock.

The text was pre-printed and filled in by the employer and issuing agency.

The document was retained by the employer until the worker was released or transferred.

All workers in Hitler's Germany had employment identification documents similar to these.  The difference in the contents of the Ausländer (foreigner) book was that page 2 contained a photograph of the worker, while no photo was required in the domestic booklet.


Opening the document again shows the State insignia and document title.


The message on the inside cover is from Fritz Sauckel, Hitler's General Plenipotentiary for Labor Utilization.


P R E F A C E

Like the Germans, both white-collar and blue-collar foreign workers are,

through their employment in the Greater German Reich,

serving the rebuilding of Europe and the struggle for the essential prerequisites

for a happy future and for the welfare of the peoples in the European living space.

The foreign worker must always be conscious of this duty and this distinction.

His utilization, his work achievement, and his attitude are based on this idea.

THE GENERAL PLENIPOTENTIARY

FOR LABOR UTILIZATION

NOTE: At the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial, Sauckel was found guilty on two counts: War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity.  He was hanged on October 16, 1946.



WORKBOOK

FOR FOREIGNERS

(Ordinance of May 1, 1943)

The woman's name is Tanja Hudenko

(It appears to be a Germanized spelling of her name on this page - the signature is in Cyrillic as she was from Ukraine).



Her photo, with issuing agency's stamps.  Note that she is wearing the OST patch.  She was required to wear this always.

I do not know the significance of the 602 tag.



1

Country of Origin:

Occupied Eastern Territory

2

Date of Birth:

14 January 1922

3

Place of Birth:

Makarowka

 

District:

Jwamwskij

4

a) Citizenship:

Undeclared - Eastern Worker

 

b) Nationality:

(blank)

5

a) Marital Status:

Single

 

b) Number of Minor Children

(blank)



6 Knowledge of German Yes
7 Home Address Makarowka

District: Jwamwskij

Region: Kiev



9 Place of residence during the work activity Widand Post Ebersbach


Occupational Training
d Agricultural or Industrial Knowledge A few years in agriculture


Nature of Prior Employment
Agricultural laborer

from

1937

to

1942



Occupational Group 1

Occupational Type A2c

Issued on: 11 November 11 1943

LABOR EXCHANGE KEMPTEN

BY ORDER

Meyer 
(SIGNATURE)


1

Name and Location of the Activity

2

Nature of the Activity

3

a) Employment Start Date

b) Employment Approved Until

Karl Buhler

Widand Post Ebersbach

Farming

a) 15 May 1942

b) Revoked by the Labor Exchange



4

Nature of the Employment

(as precisely as possible)

5

a) Employment End Date

b) Certification of the Labor Exchange

6

Signature

of the Employer

Agricultural Laborer

a) February 28, 1945

b) (blank)

Karl Buhler

Widands Post Ebersbach


The following paper insert was included in the book:


Notice

In case the work relationship is terminated,

the work book, following completion of the formalities on page

10 therein, is to be sent in to the Labor Exchange.

The book is not to be handed out to the

foreigner until the receipt of further instructions.


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(Translation courtesy of Bill Bradley.)