GR translation: getting to recognize faces, coughs, pairs of boots on new owners

[Mike Jing]

V669.18-25, P682.24-31   He is rubber-stamped on hands, forehead, and ass,
deloused, poked, palpated, named, numbered, consigned, invoiced, misrouted,
detained, ignored. He passes in and out the paper grasp of Russian,
British, American and French body-jobbers, round and round the occupation
circuit, getting to recognize faces, coughs, pairs of boots on new owners.
Without a ration card or Soldbuch, you are doomed to be moved, in lots of
2,000, center to center, about the Zone, possibly forever.

Here, I assume "owners" means owners of the pairs of boots. The published
translation interpreted it as owners of Thanatz's person, i.e.
the body-jobbers, which I don't think is correct. Instead, I understand
these "faces, coughs, pairs of boots on new owners" are about his fellow
DPs. Moreover, the published translation thinks "faces" and "coughs" are
modified by the adjective phrase "on new owners" along with "pairs of
boots", which doesn' make sense to me. Am I right about this?