Looking around on the militaria markets one often find Erkennungsmarken (dog tags) for sale. Many collect these items but it is also the one object that can with a high degree of certainty identify a fallen soldier , so know what you buy , do not support graverobbing. Here is a little write-up made by Andris Lelis who has a passion for Erkennungsmarken.
You need to trust , or better, know the seller, and learn how Erkennungsmarke from dead look , but it is hard to learn if you don't dig those dead. In WWI dog tag types were changed several times , and when changed , the whole unit was issued new tags and old ones were thrown out , many of them being broken before. Another time when they were thrown out was when Erkennungsmarke was full , in WWI all history of transfers of soldier was written on his Erkennungsmarke , when his new unit didn`t have place on the Erkennungsmarke to write on it issued a new one and threw out the old one.
If we talk about WWII Erkennungsmarke , it becomes interesting. You can find one half of Erkennungsmarke , you can
find whole Erkennungsmarke , you can see whole Erkennungsmarke made of two halves, or you can see it broken in small pieces.
If you see a half with one hole, you can be 95% sure that it doesn`t come from grave robbing. Erkennungsmarke of dead soldier was broken in two halves , half with one hole goes to headquarters as proof of death , there it was registered and thrown out. Half with two holes stays with body , when it stays with body for some 60 or more years , most likely it will become very corroded , but it depends on the soil , zinc ones usually are very corroded with body and for exhumation workers they are hard to read.
If we talk about WWII Erkennungsmarke , it becomes interesting. You can find one half of Erkennungsmarke , you can
find whole Erkennungsmarke , you can see whole Erkennungsmarke made of two halves, or you can see it broken in small pieces.
If you see a half with one hole, you can be 95% sure that it doesn`t come from grave robbing. Erkennungsmarke of dead soldier was broken in two halves , half with one hole goes to headquarters as proof of death , there it was registered and thrown out. Half with two holes stays with body , when it stays with body for some 60 or more years , most likely it will become very corroded , but it depends on the soil , zinc ones usually are very corroded with body and for exhumation workers they are hard to read.
If dead soldier have only half, most likely it means that he is registered as KIA. Full ones can be found with MIA soldiers. But.... Now starts the history lesson about which is very rarely written in history books. Before going to POW camps after capitulation and in POW camps many soldiers decided to throw out their Erkennungsmarke , usually they are in much better
condition than the ones coming from bodies and graves. They threw them away unbroken, broken in two parts and throwing them in different directions, breaking in many small pieces , throwing them in fire and doing other awful
things to them , sometimes it is very hard to find all parts of Erkennungsmarke.
And knowing that, look at the location of seller, if he is from Latvia, most likely tag comes from a capitulation place ,
here graverobbing is a rare thing , but of course , sometimes it happens. If seller is from Danzig (Gdansk), it may be such tag as well , Stalingrad (Volgograd) or Koenigsberg (Kaliningrad), may be or may be not, I don't suggest to buy tags from Russia. From Germany, most likely comes from capitulationsites as well.
-Andris Lelis
condition than the ones coming from bodies and graves. They threw them away unbroken, broken in two parts and throwing them in different directions, breaking in many small pieces , throwing them in fire and doing other awful
things to them , sometimes it is very hard to find all parts of Erkennungsmarke.
And knowing that, look at the location of seller, if he is from Latvia, most likely tag comes from a capitulation place ,
here graverobbing is a rare thing , but of course , sometimes it happens. If seller is from Danzig (Gdansk), it may be such tag as well , Stalingrad (Volgograd) or Koenigsberg (Kaliningrad), may be or may be not, I don't suggest to buy tags from Russia. From Germany, most likely comes from capitulationsites as well.
-Andris Lelis
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