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Original period photographic album belonging to Feldwebel (non-commissioned officer) and officer candidate Heinz Church, a member of a German Army (Heer) infantry regiment during the Second World War.
The collection contains 153 original photographs and 4 death notices, documenting aspects of the owner’s military service and his death during the German campaign on the Eastern Front.
The photographs include views of a Polish city, possibly Warsaw, together with military scenes and Polish armoured vehicles captured by German forces. Particularly noteworthy are photographs showing Polish TKS tankettes and Renault FT tanks, both types employed by the Polish Army during the September 1939 campaign.
The album retains four death notices relating to Heinz Church, recording his death on 1 August 1941, aged 26, in a military hospital in the East. According to the notices, his death occurred “suddenly and unexpectedly”, although this wording does not establish the precise cause of death.
The documents state that he was buried in the military cemetery of honour at Borissow (Borisov, present-day Belarus), a town east of Minsk occupied by German forces during the 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union.
The death notices describe him as having died in his 27th year of life, a German expression meaning that he was 26 years old and had not yet reached his 27th birthday.
The collection provides a documentary record of a German non-commissioned officer during the early years of the Second World War, combining photographs associated with the Polish campaign, captured armoured vehicles and personal documentation concerning his death on the Eastern Front.
Identification: Original Second World War photographic album belonging to Feldwebel and officer candidate Heinz Church of a German infantry regiment. Contains 153 photographs and 4 death notices. Includes views of a Polish city, possibly Warsaw, captured TKS tankettes and Renault FT tanks. The owner died on 01.08.1941, aged 26, in a military hospital on the Eastern Front and was buried in the military cemetery of honour at Borissow.
