Courtesy of the Bundesarchiv Militärarchiv Freiburg, here is the Karteikarte with the basic info on the original owner of this dagger. There are few times when one can make such a statememt with certainty...and
this is the thrill that keeps one going
Leutnant der Reserve [Erwin] Groke, of Infanterie Regiment 50 (as shown on the inscription) was born on the 15th June 1915. Was promoted to Lt d. R. on January 1st 1939, with a seniority number among leutnants promoted on that date of 590. he was then promoted to Oblt. d. R on the 1st of Aug. 1941 with a seniority number of 100. He was finally promoted to Hauptmann (aktiv) on the 1st of November 1943, while the division was at Nikopol. As shown under "Truppenteil" the Inf Reg 50 became Grenadier Regiment 50. This happened in October 1942.
The info on this card is held at Freiburg as part of the Kriegsreserve kartei files and is not available to the public or published anywhere.
Reverse of the card
As an aside, going back to the Sutterlin discussion above, note the change in the "d" from the 1939 note Lt d. R. to the 1941 Oblt. d. R.
