Nazi German Schneider Family Document Archive WWII Third Reich Ration Cards Arbeits-Pass Hildesheim

Excellent original family document grouping spanning the final years of the Third Reich and the immediate post-WWII period, preserved together in an old “Kleiderkarte” document booklet/folder. The papers relate to members of the Schneider family of the Hildesheim/Steinberg area and provide a fascinating snapshot of civilian employment, clothing rationing, food distribution, and everyday life during and after WWII.

This is particularly desirable as a family-associated grouping rather than a collection of unrelated loose ration cards. Several documents bear Stadt Hildesheim, LWA Hannover, Arbeitsamt Hildesheim, and Steinberg markings, stamps, handwritten entries and official seals.

The grouping includes, among other items:

• Arbeits-Pass for Alfred Schneider, born 31 October 1895, issued by Arbeitsamt Hildesheim on 30 August 1947. His occupation appears to be listed as Schlosser (locksmith/metal fitter), with employment as a Montagemeister or assembly foreman/master.
• Employment record / Beschäftigungs-Nachweis associated with Alfred Schneider.
• Fourth Reich Clothing Card – Vierte Reichskleiderkarte for Alfred Schneider, bearing LWA Hannover and Stadt Hildesheim stamps. The Fourth Reich Clothing Card was a wartime textile-rationing document; museum examples are dated to the 1943–44 period.
• Fourth Reich Clothing Card for Emilie Schneider, born 22 January 1897, with Hildesheim markings and a 1 March 1944 validity stamp.
• Fifth Reich Clothing Card – Fünfte Reichskleiderkarte, issued for a younger Schneider family member and marked Stadt Hildesheim.
• Large folding clothing ration/points cards containing extensive printed tables showing the point requirements for shirts, underwear, stockings, trousers, jackets, work clothing and numerous other textile goods. Wartime clothing cards operated on a points system, with points surrendered when regulated textiles were purchased.
• 71–74 Haushaltsausweis für entrahmte Frischmilch – household ration document for skimmed fresh milk, issued by Stadt Hildesheim, retaining numerous period stamps and entries. Particularly striking is the printed German state eagle and swastika at the upper left.
• Bescheinigung for Emilie Schneider, certifying completion of a questionnaire registering men and women aged 14–65, dated 1945, with official stamp and signature.
• Reverse of the certificate carries an Arbeitsbefreiungszeugnis / Certificate of Exemption from Work, stamped Arbeitsamt Hildesheim.
• Postwar Haushalts-Ausweis issued by Stadt Hildesheim – Kreisernährungsamt, dated 1 January 1949.
• The household card continues with monthly Steinberg issue markings extending through 1949 and 1950, nicely demonstrating that rationing and controlled distribution continued well after Germany’s 1945 surrender. Food rationing in what became West Germany was not finally abolished until 1950.
• Original gray Kleiderkarte protective folder advertising an Hildesheim men’s and boys’ clothing business, still holding the collection together.

The wartime documents are excellent examples of the extensive rationing system imposed on German civilians. Clothing rationing was introduced in 1939, and surviving Reichskleiderkarten document how increasingly scarce textiles were allocated through government-controlled points and purchase authorization.

What makes this grouping especially interesting is its continuity from wartime Germany into the postwar period. The collection follows the same family through wartime Reichskleiderkarten and ration documents, the upheaval of 1945, the 1947 Arbeits-Pass, and later Hildesheim ration documentation extending into 1950. Hildesheim archival collections likewise preserve employment and administrative records spanning the wartime and immediate postwar years.

All pieces show authentic age and use, including toning, staining, folds, handwriting, stamps, edge wear and other handling consistent with documents that were actually carried and used. The wartime milk ration card has particularly noticeable wear and folds. Please examine all photographs carefully for exact contents and condition.

A very strong named German family archive that would display exceptionally well and offers much more historical context than an individual ration card.

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