444th Security Division (Wehrmacht)

The 444th Security Division was a German infantry division during World War II .

Division history

Division zbV 444

In October 25, 1939 a division zbV 444 was set up in Darmstadt in military district XII . In mid-March 1941, the company was renamed the 444th Security Division .

444th Security Division

The division was set up on March 15, 1941 near Ohlau in Silesia in military district VIII from the staff of division zbV 444 and parts of the 221st Infantry Division . The division was during the whole war mainly on the eastern front , in the region of Southern District of Southern Army Group allocated for backup tasks in the rear army area used. From September onwards, there will be a different combination with other units to combat partisans, which culminates in the murder of the Jewish population of Zaporozhye with around 3700 dead.

From November 1941 the division was ordered to set up Turkic units from within the prison camps. In November 1942, a Turkestan regiment was created for the division. At the beginning of January 1943, now in Army Group A , six Kalmuck cavalry squadrons were placed under the command of the division as a Kalmuck detachment. In February it was subordinated to the 4th Panzer Army, then to the Hollidt Army Department and its successor, the 6th Army . During this period, the division's security measures, which are described as incapable of combat, took place between Rostov and Mius .

At the beginning of 1944 both security regiments were separated and in May 1944 the division was completely dissolved.

Commanders

Major General Alois Josef Ritter von Molo : until April 1941
Lieutenant General Wilhelm Rußwurm : April 1941 to February 1942 (to the 403rd Security Division )
Lieutenant General Helge Auleb : February 1942 to March 1942
Major General / Lieutenant General Adalbert Mikulicz : March 1942 until dissolution

structure

1942

Reinforced Infantry Regiment 360 (from the 221st Infantry Division, later to the 111th Infantry Division and as a Security Regiment 360 in the 454th Security Division )
Guard Battalion 708
2nd / Artillery Regiment 221 (from the 221st Infantry Division)
State Rifle Regimental Staff 46
Divisional News Section 828
Cossack Hundred 444 (to the 454th Security Division)
Panzer company 445 made of captured tanks
Turkestan Hundred 444
Division units 360

1943

Security Regiment 46 (early 1944 to Korück 558 of the 8th Army )
Security Regiment 602 (early 1944 to Korück 558 of the 8th Army)
News Department 828 (November 1941 from Feld-Nachrichten-Kommandantur 44)
Commander of Divisional Supply Forces 360

literature

Samuel W. Mitcham (2007). German Order of Battle. Volume Two: 291st - 999th Infantry Divisions, Named Infantry Divisions, and Special Divisions in WWII. PA; United States of America: Stackpole Books. Pp. 124 + 125, ISBN 978-0-8117-3437-0 .

Web links

Organizational History of 371st through 719th German Infantry, Security and Panzer Grenadier Divisions 1939–1945 (PDF; 394 kB), Nafziger Collection, Combined Armed Research Library.
Division staff zbV 444 / 444. Security division on EHRI portal from the Federal Archives

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b David Motadel : For Prophets and Leaders: The Islamic World and the Third Reich . Klett-Cotta, 2017, ISBN 978-3-608-10978-8 ( limited preview in Google book search).
↑ Michael Schwartz: Functionaries with a past: The founding board of the Federal Association of Expellees and the "Third Reich" . Walter de Gruyter, 2013, ISBN 978-3-486-71745-7 , p. 396 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
↑ Erich Hesse: The Soviet Russian Partisan War 1941 to 1944 in the mirror of German combat instructions and orders . Musterschmidt-Verlag, 1993, ISBN 978-3-7881-1410-7 , pp. 129 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
^ Ernst Rebentisch: The Combat History of the 23rd Panzer Division in World War II . Stackpole Books, 2012, ISBN 978-0-8117-4641-0 , pp. 242 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
↑ ^a ^b Kurt Mehner: The secret daily reports of the German Wehrmacht leadership in the Second World War. 4. November 1, 1941 - May 31, 1942 . Biblio-Verl., 1992, ISBN 978-3-7648-1787-9 , pp. 385 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).

[:0-1] David Motadel : For Prophets and Leaders: The Islamic World and the Third Reich . Klett-Cotta, 2017, ISBN 978-3-608-10978-8 ( limited preview in Google book search).

[2] Michael Schwartz: Functionaries with a past: The founding board of the Federal Association of Expellees and the "Third Reich" . Walter de Gruyter, 2013, ISBN 978-3-486-71745-7 , p. 396 ( limited preview in Google Book search).

[3] Erich Hesse: The Soviet Russian Partisan War 1941 to 1944 in the mirror of German combat instructions and orders . Musterschmidt-Verlag, 1993, ISBN 978-3-7881-1410-7 , pp. 129 ( limited preview in Google Book search).

[4] Ernst Rebentisch: The Combat History of the 23rd Panzer Division in World War II . Stackpole Books, 2012, ISBN 978-0-8117-4641-0 , pp. 242 ( limited preview in Google Book search).

[:1-5] Kurt Mehner: The secret daily reports of the German Wehrmacht leadership in the Second World War. 4. November 1, 1941 - May 31, 1942 . Biblio-Verl., 1992, ISBN 978-3-7648-1787-9 , pp. 385 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).