Schutzmannschaft

Last updated

Schutzmannschaft
Bundesarchiv Bild 121-1500, Ukraine, Ordnungspolizei, Rayonposten Sarig.jpg
German Order Police officer visiting the Ukrainian Schutzmannschaft unit in Zarig near Kiev, December 1942
ActiveFounded in July 1941 by Heinrich Himmler
CountryGerman-occupied Eastern Europe
Allegiance Ordnungspolizei
Type Auxiliary police
Size300,000

The Schutzmannschaft, or Auxiliary Police (lit. "protective teams, or guard units"; plural: Schutzmannschaften, [nb 1] abbreviated as Schuma) was the collaborationist auxiliary police of native policemen serving in those areas of the Soviet Union and the Baltic states occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II. Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS, established the Schutzmannschaft on 25 July 1941, and subordinated it to the Order Police ( Ordnungspolizei ; Orpo). [2] By the end of 1941, some 45,000 men served in Schutzmannschaft units, about half of them in the battalions. [3] During 1942, Schutzmannschaften expanded to an estimated 300,000 men, with battalions accounting for about a third, or less than one half of the local force. [4] [5] Everywhere, local police far outnumbered the equivalent German personnel several times; in most places, the ratio of Germans to natives was about 1-to-10. [6]

Contents

The auxiliary police battalions (Schutzmannschaft-Bataillonen) were created to provide security in the occupied territories, in particular by combating the anti-Nazi resistance. Many of these battalions participated in the Holocaust and caused thousands of Jewish deaths. Usually the battalions were voluntary units and were not directly involved in combat. In total, about 200 battalions were formed. [7] There were approximately 21 ethnic Estonian, [nb 2] [8] 47 Latvian, [9] 26 Lithuanian, [nb 3] [11] 11 Belarusian, [12] 8 Tatar, [12] and 71 Ukrainian [13] Schuma battalions. Each battalion had an authorized strength of about 500, but the actual size varied greatly. They should not be confused with native German Order Police battalions (SS-Polizei-Bataillone) which the Order Police formed between 1939 and 1945 and which also participated in the Holocaust. [14]

The Order Police organized the Schutzmannschaften by nationality: Belarusian, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, and Ukrainian. [15]

Formation

The Germans did not want to use local collaborators on a large scale as they were deemed to be unreliable and inferior ( Untermensch ). [16] However, the rapid German advance in the Eastern Front and manpower shortages forced Germans to reconsider. Therefore, on 25 July 1941, Reichsführer-SS Himmler authorized creation of Schutzmannschaft. [17] Initially, it was called Hilfspolizei, but Germans did not want to attach a reputable police title to this force. [2] Schutzmannschaften was an integral part of German police structure and dealt with variety of issues, including everyday crimes (except when concerning German citizens). [15] Initially, only a small fraction of local auxiliaries were armed. [6] Due to limited supervision, particularly in rural areas, members of Schutzmannschaften had considerable power and there were frequent complaints of corruption and abuse. [18]

Local policemen serving in Schutzmannschaften
at the end of 1942 [5]
TerritoryPolice
battalions		Police
stations		Shuma
Total		German
Orpo Police
Ostland 23,75831,80454,9844,442
Ukraine 35,00070,000105,00010,194
Military
administration		140,00014,194
Grand total [5] 299,98428,830

Initially, Schutzmannschaften was organized based on existing police structures and spontaneous anti-Soviet groups that formed at the start of the German invasion of the Soviet Union. [3] For example, in Lithuania, Schutzmannschaften absorbed units formed by the Provisional Government. Due to this legacy and its semi-military status, Lithuanians associated police battalions with their national aspirations of independent Lithuania. [19] This caused a rift within German ranks: ideologues like Hitler and Himmler saw no place for Baltic nationalism within the Greater Germanic Reich, but the Nazis needed local collaboration and had to maintain at least a shadow of national institutions. [3]

Local men joined Schutzmannschaften due to a variety of reasons. [20] A number of them had prior police or military experience and wanted a job which paid steady wages and provided food rations. Joining the German war apparatus also provided certain privileges and protections for the men and their families (for example, exemption from forced labor). [20] Pensions were available to family members of those killed in anti-partisan operations. [15] Others were motivated by ideological reasons (antisemitism, anticommunism, nationalism) or by opportunities to loot property of murdered Jews. Captured Soviet POWs saw Schutzmannschaften as a way to avoid concentration camps. Such considerations attracted criminals and other opportunists. [20] Most of them were young: in 1944, about half of Schutzmannschaften near Mir were under 25 years of age. [21] Germans complained about their lack of training, discipline, and in some cases refused to supply them with weapons. [3] During 1942, in compliance with orders to enlarge Schutzmannschaft, Germans began to force men to sign up for the service [22] and eliminated service term limits [15] (initially men signed up for one-year [17] or six-month [23] terms). There was a marked difference in attitudes of more enthusiastic early volunteers and later forced recruits. [24] To increase their reliability, Himmler ordered the organization of NCO training, [25] which would include political education, that lasted up to eight weeks. [21]

Organization

The Schutzmannschaft comprised four sections: [26]

Police battalions

Organization

Men of the 115th Battalion (Ukrainian) Schutzmannschaft holding a flag with the coat of arms of Ukraine 115th Battalion of Ukrainian Shuma 1943.jpg
Men of the 115th Battalion (Ukrainian) Schutzmannschaft holding a flag with the coat of arms of Ukraine

Police battalions were divided based on their intended functions into five categories: [26] [27]

Each battalion had a projected number of four companies of 124 men each, one with a group of machine gun and three groups of infantry. [26] In reality, the numbers varied greatly between occupied territories. Baltic (Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian) battalions were commanded by a native, while Ukrainian and Belarusian battalions had German commanders. [26] The battalions did not have a prescribed uniform and often used uniforms from pre-war national armies. They were identified by a white armband which usually had the inscription Schutzmann, a service number and location. [3] In Directive no. 46, Hitler expressly prohibited Schutzmannschaft to use German badges of rank, the eagle and swastika emblem, or German military shoulder straps. However, members of Schutzmannschaften were eligible for various awards and decorations, including the Iron Cross and War Merit Cross. [28] Schutzmannschaften were generally armed with confiscated Soviet rifles and some officers had pistols. Machine guns were used in anti-partisan operations and mortars were employed in the later stages of the war. [29] In general, the battalions were poorly provided for, sometimes even lacking food rations, as priority and preference was given to German units fighting in the front lines. [30]

Battalion numbers

The Schutzmannschaft battalions were organized by nationality: Ukrainians, Belarusians, Estonians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Tatars. Germans attempted to organize police battalions in occupied Poland, but did not find volunteers and had to use force in forming the single Polish Schutzmannschaft Battalion 202. [31] The battalions were initially allotted numbers as follows (in brackets: re-allotted numbers in 1942; not all numbers were actually used): [32]

Activities and role in the Holocaust

The battalions were not confined to their locations and could be easily moved to locations far outside their home country. Since formation of the battalions was particularly slow in Belarus, many of them were first stationed there. [3] One of the first tasks of the battalions was mass execution of Jews. Attached to Einsatzgruppen as needed, the battalions rounded up, executed, and disposed of Jews. For example, it is estimated that Lithuanian Schutzmannschaft killed 78,000 Jews in Lithuania and Belarus. [33] The mass executions largely ceased by the end of 1941. By that time German advance into Soviet Union halted and Nazi officials considered using the battalions for more direct military duties. In particular, Franz Walter Stahlecker asked to relieve the 16th Army in the Demyansk Pocket. [3] However, Hitler refused. In Directive no. 46, dated August 1942, he agreed to strengthen and enlarge Schutzmannschaft, but to use it only for Nazi security warfare and other auxiliary duties behind the front lines. [34] Some battalions continued to participate in the Holocaust (guarding or liquidating Nazi ghettos). [35] About 12,000 men guarded forced laborers (Soviet POWs, civilians, Jews) working on the Durchgangsstrasse IV, a major road from Lemberg to Stalino (now Donetsk). [36] The issue of involving Schutzmannschaft in combat was revisited after the Battle of Stalingrad. Some Schutzmannschaft battalions in Estonia, Latvia, Ukraine and elsewhere were reorganized into Waffen-SS divisions wearing national insignia. [3]

Deserters were a constant problem for the battalions. For example, some 3,000 men deserted Lithuanian Schutzmannschaft between September 1943 and April 1944. [37] After the war, many former members of Schutzmannschaft fled to the West. A survey of about 200 men revealed that more than 30% had escaped from the Soviet zone. Western authorities showed much less interest in members of Schutzmannschaft than in German Nazis and did not prosecute them. [38] Soviet Union persecuted members of Schutzmannschaft, often sentencing them to death. For example, in Lithuania, 14 men were sentenced to 25 years in Gulag in 1948, 8 men were sentenced to death in 1962, one man executed in 1979. [39] After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, several former members of Schutzmannschaft were denaturalized by United States or Canada and deported back to their countries. [40]

Ranks

Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian [41] Ukrainian, Belarusian [42] Equivalent in the
Ordnungspolizei [41] [42] 		Equivalent in the
Army [41] [42]
(June 1942)(November 1942)(June 1942)(Later)
SchutzmannSchutzmannSchutzmannSchutzmannAnwärterSchütze
UnterkorporalOberschutzmannUnterkorporalUnterkorporalUnterwachtmeisterGefreiter
VizekorporalRevieroberschutzmannVizekorporalVizekorporalRottwachtmeisterObergefreiter
Korporal HauptschutzmannKorporalKorporalWachtmeisterUnteroffizier
Vizefeldwebel StabsschutzmannVizefeldwebelVizefeldwebelZugwachtmeisterFeldwebel
KompaniefeldwebelRevierstabsschutzmannKompaniefeldwebelKompaniefeldwebelHauptwachtmeisterOberfeldwebel
Zugführer LeutnantZugführerLieutenantLeutnantLeutnant
OberzugführerOberleutnantOberzugführerStarshiy LieutenantOberleutnantOberleutnant
Kompanieführer HauptmannKompanieführerKapitanHauptmannHauptmann
BatallionsführerMajorBataillonsführerMayorMajorMajor
OberstleutnantOberstleutnantOberstleutnant

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Schutzmann and Schutzmannschaft should not be translated literally. It is an old-fashioned German word for police, which was adopted to distinguish the indigenous police from the German police. [1]
  2. ↑ 26 battalions were planned for Estonia, but only 21 were actually formed. [8]
  3. ↑ The short-lived 13 battalions of the Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force were numbered as Schutzmannschaft battalions 241–243 and 301–310, but the force is usually not included in discussions about the Lithuanian Schutzmannschaft. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Final Solution</span> Nazi plan for the genocide of Jews

The Final Solution or the Final Solution to the Jewish Question was a Nazi plan for the genocide of individuals they defined as Jews during World War II. The "Final Solution to the Jewish question" was the official code name for the murder of all Jews within reach, which was not restricted to the European continent. This policy of deliberate and systematic genocide starting across German-occupied Europe was formulated in procedural and geopolitical terms by Nazi leadership in January 1942 at the Wannsee Conference held near Berlin, and culminated in the Holocaust, which saw the murder of 90% of Polish Jews, and two-thirds of the Jewish population of Europe. The Final Solution did not, however, include the hundreds of thousands of Jews killed by Romanian forces. By far the greatest extermination of Jews by non-German forces, this genocide was "operationally separate from the Nazi Final Solution".

The Lithuanian Activist Front or LAF was a short-lived, Lithuanian underground resistance organization established in 1940 after Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union. The goal of the organization was to liberate Lithuania and re-establish its independence. It planned and executed the June Uprising and established the short-lived Provisional Government of Lithuania. The Government self-disbanded and LAF was banned by Nazi authorities in September 1941. LAF remains controversial due to its anti-Semitic and anti-Polish positions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hans-Adolf Prützmann</span> German Nazi, Higher SS and Police Leader, SS-Obergruppenführer

Hans-Adolf Prützmann was among the highest-ranking German SS officials during the Nazi era. From June 1941 to September 1944, he served as a Higher SS and Police Leader in the occupied Soviet Union, and from November 1943 was the Supreme SS and Police Leader in Ukraine. He oversaw the activities of the Einsatzgruppen detachments that perpetrated the Holocaust in the Baltic States and Ukraine. After being captured at the end of the Second World War, he committed suicide.

In World War II, many governments, organizations and individuals collaborated with the Axis powers, "out of conviction, desperation, or under coercion." Nationalists sometimes welcomed German or Italian troops, believing they brought liberation from colonization. The Danish, Belgian, and Vichy French governments attempted to appease or bargain with the invaders, in hopes of mitigating harm to their citizens and economies. Some countries cooperated with Italy and Germany because they wanted to regain territory lost during and after the First World War or which their nationalist citizens simply coveted. Others, such as France, already had strong fascist movements and/or anti-semitic sentiment, which the invaders validated and empowered. Individuals such as Hendrik Seyffardt in the Netherlands and Theodoros Pangalos in Greece saw collaboration as a path to power in their country. Others believed that Germany would prevail, and either wanted to be on the winning side, or feared being on the losing one.

The Lithuanian Security Police (LSP), also known as Saugumas, was a local police force that operated in German-occupied Lithuania from 1941 to 1944, in collaboration with the occupational authorities. Collaborating with the Nazi Sipo and SD, the unit was directly subordinate to the German Kripo. The LSP took part in perpetrating the Holocaust in Lithuania, persecuting Polish resistance and communist underground.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ukrainian collaboration with Nazi Germany</span>

Ukrainian collaboration with Nazi Germany took place during the occupation of Poland and the Ukrainian SSR, USSR, by Nazi Germany during the Second World War.

The Lithuanian TDA Battalion or TDA, was a paramilitary battalion organized in June–August 1941 by the Provisional Government of Lithuania at the onset of Operation Barbarossa. Members of the TDA were known by many names such as Lithuanian auxiliaries, policemen, white-armbands, nationalists, rebels, partisans, or resistance fighters. TDA was intended to be the basis for a future independent Lithuanian Army, but it was soon taken over by Nazis and reorganized into the Lithuanian Auxiliary Police Battalions. The original TDA eventually became the 12th and the 13th Police Battalions. These two units took an active role in mass killings of the Jews in Lithuania and Belarus. According to the Jäger Report, the TDA battalion's members killed about 26,000 Jews between July and December 1941.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Holocaust in Belarus</span> Overview of the Holocaust in Belarus

The Holocaust in Belarus refers to the systematic extermination of Jews living in the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic during its occupation by Nazi Germany in World War II. It is estimated that roughly 800,000 Belarusian Jews were murdered during the Holocaust. However, other estimates place the number of Jews killed between 500,000 and 550,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ukrainian Auxiliary Police</span> Ukrainian collaborationist police units during World War II

The Ukrainian Auxiliary Police was the official title of the local police formation set up by Nazi Germany during World War II in Eastern Galicia and Reichskommissariat Ukraine, shortly after the German occupation of the Western Ukrainian SSR in Operation Barbarossa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belarusian Auxiliary Police</span> Military unit

The Belarusian Auxiliary Police was a German force established in July 1941 in occupied Belarus, staffed by local inhabitants, considered collaborationist. In western Belarus, auxiliary police were formed in the form of Schutzmanchaften units, while in the east they were formed in the form of Ordnungsdienst.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Latvian Auxiliary Police</span> Latvian collaborationist police units during World War II

Latvian Auxiliary Police was a paramilitary force created from Latvian volunteers and conscripts by the Nazi German authorities who occupied the country in June/July 1941. It was part of the Schutzmannschaft (Shuma), native police forces organized by the Germans in occupied territories and subordinated to the Order Police. Some units of the Latvian auxiliary police were involved in the Holocaust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schutzmannschaft-Brigade Siegling</span> Military unit

Schutzmannschaft-Brigade Siegling was a Belarusian Auxiliary Police brigade formed by Nazi Germany in July 1944 in East Prussia, from six auxiliary police battalions following the Soviet Operation Bagration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">German occupation of Lithuania during World War II</span> Period of Lithuanian history from 1941 to 1945

The military occupation of Lithuania by Nazi Germany lasted from the German invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, to the end of the Battle of Memel on January 28, 1945. At first the Germans were widely welcomed as liberators from the repressive Soviet regime which occupied Lithuania prior to the German arrival. In hopes of re-establishing independence or regaining some autonomy, Lithuanians organized a Provisional Government. Thousands of Lithuanian nationalists then cooperated with the Generalkommissariat, jointly killing almost 200,000 Jews, which marks the highest death rate proportionally in any country during the Holocaust.

RollkommandoHamann was a small mobile unit that committed mass murders of Lithuanian Jews in the countryside in July–October 1941, with an estimated death toll of at least 60,000 Jews. The unit was also responsible for many murders in Latvia from July through August 1941. At the end of 1941 the destruction of Lithuanian Jewry was effectively accomplished by Hamann's unit in the countryside, by the Ypatingasis būrys in the Ponary massacre, and by the Tautinio Darbo Apsaugos Batalionas (TDA) in the Ninth Fort in Kaunas. In about six months an estimated 80% of all Lithuanian Jews were killed. The remaining few were spared for use as a labor force and concentrated in urban ghettos, mainly the Vilna and Kaunas Ghettos.

Estonian Auxiliary Police were Estonian collaborationist police units during World War II.

Ukrainian People's Militsiya or the Ukrainian National Militsiya, was a paramilitary formation created by the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) in the General Government territory of occupied Poland and later in the Reichskommissariat Ukraine during World War II. It was set up in the course of Operation Barbarossa, the 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union.

The Litauische Bau-Bataillonen or Lithuanian Construction Battalions were five auxiliary pioneer battalions of the Wehrmacht during World War II. Formed in 1943, they consisted mostly of conscripted Lithuanians with only a small number of Germans. In total, about 2,500–3,000 men served in the battalions. They were attached to German engineering units under the Army Group North. They were sent to the Eastern Front where they constructed and repaired roads, bridges, bunkers, anti-tank obstacles, and other military fortifications. They were labor units though they engaged Soviet partisans on several occasions. A few times, Lithuanian formations were used to plunder and burn Russian villages according to German scorched earth tactics. The battalions were disbanded and absorbed by various other units in 1944.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lithuanian Auxiliary Police Battalions</span> Lithuanian collaborationist police units during World War II

The Lithuanian Auxiliary Police Battalions were Schutzmannschaft battalions formed during the German occupation of Lithuania between 1941 and 1944, with the first battalions originating from the most reliable freedom fighters that were disbanded following the anti-Soviet Lithuanian June Uprising in 1941. Lithuanian activists hoped that these units would be the basis of the reestablished Lithuanian Army and commanded by the Lithuanian Provisional Government. Instead, these units were placed under the orders of the SS- und Polizeiführer in Lithuania. The battalions were charged with internal security duties and engaged in anti-partisan operations in the Wehrmacht's rear areas, e.g. Ukraine, Belarus, Poland and Northwest Russia.

10th Lithuanian Police Battalion was a Lithuanian auxiliary police battalion first formed in August 1941 and disbanded on 31 January 1943. The original 10th Battalion is known to have partaken in the Holocaust. A new battalion with the same name was formed after a few months and was renumbered as 256th Lithuanian Police Battalion.

Wartime collaboration occurred in every country occupied by Nazi Germany during the Second World War, including the Baltic states. The three Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, first invaded and occupied by the Soviet Union in summer 1940, were later occupied by Germany in summer 1941 and incorporated, together with parts of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic of the U.S.S.R., into Reichskommissariat Ostland. Collaborators with Germany participated in the Eastern Front against the Soviet Union, as well as in the Holocaust, both in and outside of the Baltic States. This collaboration was done through formal Waffen-SS divisions and police battalions, as well as through spontaneous acts during the opening of the war.

References

  1. ↑ Brandon & Lower 2008, p. 268.
  2. 1 2 Schiessl 2009, p. 39.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Breitman 1990.
  4. ↑ Dean 2003, p. 60.
  5. 1 2 3 Arad 2009, pp. 107–108.
  6. 1 2 Browning 2002, p. 257.
  7. ↑ Stankeras 2008, p. 459.
  8. 1 2 Jurado & Thomas 2012, p. 12.
  9. ↑ Jurado & Thomas 2012, p. 20.
  10. ↑ Bubnys 1991.
  11. ↑ Jurado & Thomas 2012, p. 36.
  12. 1 2 Abbott 1983, pp. 15–16.
  13. ↑ Abbott & Pinak 2012, p. 38.
  14. ↑ Goldhagen 2007, pp. 181–282.
  15. 1 2 3 4 Dean 2003, p. 69.
  16. ↑ Schiessl 2009, p. 38.
  17. 1 2 Arad 2009, p. 106.
  18. ↑ Dean 2003, pp. 70–71.
  19. ↑ Bubnys 1998, pp. 133–134.
  20. 1 2 3 Schiessl 2009, pp. 41–43.
  21. 1 2 Dean 2003, p. 73.
  22. ↑ Dean 2003, pp. 66–67.
  23. ↑ Bubnys 1998, p. 116.
  24. ↑ Dean 2003, p. 72.
  25. ↑ Arad 2009, p. 109.
  26. 1 2 3 4 Abbott 1983, p. 15.
  27. ↑ Stankeras 2008, p. 465.
  28. ↑ Bubnys 2017, p. 304.
  29. ↑ Dean 2003, p. 68.
  30. ↑ Bubnys 1998, pp. 126–127.
  31. ↑ Niewiński 2005, p. 491.
  32. ↑ Stankeras 2008, pp. 464–465.
  33. ↑ Bubnys 2000, p. 32.
  34. ↑ Dean 2003, p. 66.
  35. ↑ Schiessl 2009, p. 46.
  36. ↑ Angrick 2008, pp. 212, 218.
  37. ↑ Bubnys 1998, p. 138.
  38. ↑ Rudling 2011.
  39. ↑ Stoliarovas 2008, pp. 63–64.
  40. ↑ Stoliarovas 2008, pp. 65–66.
  41. 1 2 3 Niglas & Hiio 2006, p. 833.
  42. 1 2 3 Mollo 1992, pp. 24–26.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.