Unfamiliar handwriting is so difficult

On handwritten documents, oi am unable to determine the letters, especially capitals. I am from the US, and have lots of genealogy research done here. The older letters are in a different script than todays, but I am familiar with them from school and family. Is there any kind of reference available so we can see the standard form for each letter.

Sorry if this seems like a whine, I just want to be better able to transcribe documents. Thanks!

Thank you for your participation and your question. Handwritten documents are indeed often difficult to read. The clothing storage room cards come from different concentration camps, so they were filled out by different people. Unfortunately, there are no standard examples.
However, you can view and compare most of the documents in our online archive. For example, the clothing storage room cards from the Auschwitz concentration camp. https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/de/archive/1-1-2-1_8002000
You can find information about the subcollections under „Info“ in the data entry tool.
I hope I was able to help you. Please feel free to contact me or the helpful users in the forum if you have any further questions.
All the best,
Franziska

You can also check the archive to see if there is a card of the prisoner in block letters.
And maybe this translation will help you : Teaching script - Wikipedia

There is a glossary in the „info“ section (abbreviations and symbols) at the bottom of the input screen which also shows examples of standard Sütterlin letters. Maybe this helps a bit. However, the handwriting will always remain a challenge.
Sometimes I help myself by searching the Arolsen Archive for the prisoner number. It is easier to decipher the handwriting if there are other recorded documents in block letters for the prisoner there.
Regards,
Christiane

1 „Gefällt mir“

Maybe some documents are written in Sütterlin script, an ancient German writing style, here is a transcription:

Sometimes you may also find entries written in a mixture of Latin and Sütterlin characters.

2 „Gefällt mir“