Reserve Police Battalion 101

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Reserve Police Battalion 101 was a paramilitary unit of the Ordnungspolizei in National Socialist Germany , which was set up in Hamburg . The battalion was deployed in World War II and was actively involved in the Holocaust . Members of this association were directly involved in the murder of at least 38,000 Jews. They also participated in the deportation of at least 45,000 Jews to the extermination camps . The battalion became known to the public in the 1990s through publications by the historian Christopher Browning and, based on this research, was also used as a case study by Daniel Goldhagen and Stefan Kühl .

history

Reserve Police Battalion 101

The Ordnungspolizei was formed in 1936. To support the Wehrmacht in the event of war, they had to set up police battalions, which gave up their trained teams to form further battalions and filled them up with drafted reservists. Police Battalion 101 was formed in Hamburg in 1939.

During the attack on Poland , the battalion crossed the border at Opole in September 1939 and advanced via Częstochowa to Kielce . It remained there for the time being and in the area around the city and in Kielce itself was responsible for the capture of dispersed Polish soldiers, the collection of military equipment left behind by the Polish army and the guarding of prisoner-of-war camps.

On December 17, 1939, the battalion returned to Hamburg. It had to surrender 100 professional police officers and were replaced by middle-aged reservists who were then trained.

From May 1940 the battalion (now Reserve Police Battalion 101 ) was deployed in the Warthegau in Posen and in the area around the city. It initially took part in “resettlement campaigns” with which the Polish rural population was to be systematically expelled from the “annexed eastern regions” of the empire. Of 58,628 people, 36,972 were robbed of their homes and 22,000 fled. The first excesses and killings took place, to which the elderly and the sick fell victim. In Poznan, the battalion made firing squads available for the execution of 100–120 Poles. After the evictions were completed, “pacification actions” were carried out in the region, during which 750 Poles were captured.

From November 28, 1940 to May 1941, the battalion was deployed to guard the Litzmannstadt ghetto .

In May 1941 the battalion was transferred back to Hamburg. A comprehensive reorganization took place here by June 1942: it had to hand over the personnel recruited before the start of the war to other units and received newly drafted reservists to replenish it.

From mid-October 1941 to the end of February 1942 the battalion was involved in extensive deportations of Jews from Hamburg: on October 25, 1941, 1,034 Jews left the city with the Litzmannstadt ghetto as their destination. On November 8, 1941, 990 Jews were deported to Minsk . 408 Hamburg Jews were also brought to Minsk on November 18, 1941, along with 500 Jews from Bremen . On December 4, 1941, 808 Jews followed, this time to Riga .

From June 1942, the battalion was again deployed in Poland in the Generalgouvernement . On June 20, 1942, it was moved from Hamburg to Zamość , where it arrived on June 25, 1942. It was in Biłgoraj as well as in Frampol , Tarnogród , Ulanów , Turobin , Wysokie and Zakrzów. First of all, Jews had to be captured here and brought to transit ghettos, presumably those in Izbica and Piaski . Individual executions took place that affected sick and elderly Jews.

III. Battalion of the Police Regiment 25

In July 1942, in the course of a restructuring of the police associations, the Reserve Police Battalion 101 in III. Renamed the 25th Battalion of the Police Regiment .

On July 13, 1942, the battalion moved into Józefów . It deported all Jews capable of working to Lublin , while all other Jews, mostly women, children and toddlers, were shot in a nearby forest (→ Józefów massacre ). 1500 people fell victim to the police unit. The special thing about this massacre, which distinguishes it from all others of the Nazi era, is the meticulous documentation of the exemption from or the voluntary nature of the murder. So Major Trapp stepped in front of his troops with tearful eyes, explained the order, went on to say that he did not like it, but that it was an order. Finally, he offered that those who felt they could not do the job could step forward and then not have to attend with impunity. A dozen men stepped forward who did not participate in the massacre and were also not punished.

A few days later, the battalion was to take part in an action against Jews again, this time in Aleksandrów . It initially received orders similar to those in Józefów. However, the Jews who had already been captured were all released again on the orders of the battalion commander.

On July 20, 1942, the battalion was relocated to the northern section of the Lublin district, where it was responsible for the area of ​​the Puławy , Biała Podlaska and Radzyń districts. As early as the beginning of August 1942, the police unit in Parczew was removing around 300 to 500 Jews and driving them to a forest area near the city. There they were handed over to an SS unit.

On August 17, 1942, the battalion raged in Łomazy . Here it was involved in the murder of 1,700 Jews. With further measures in the following days, the unit killed 20 to 30 Jews in the same place.

In Parczew, the battalion searched the ghetto on August 19, 1942, captured 3,000 Jews and deported them to the Treblinka extermination camp . A few days later, the 2,000 remaining Jews followed them with the same goal.

On August 25 and 26, 1942, the battalion brought 11,000 Jews from the Międzyrzec ghetto to Treblinka. In the process, 960 Jews lost their lives in the city.

On September 22, 1942, the battalion shot and killed 200 to 300 Jews from the village and its surroundings in Serokomla , nine kilometers north-west of Kock .

In the course of a "retaliatory measure", 78 Poles and 3 so-called bandits were shot on September 26, 1942 in Talcyn. Since the order demanded the murder of at least 200 people, the battalion moved into Kock and killed 180 Jews from the local ghetto.

In the last week of September 1942 and at the beginning of October, the battalion prepared extensive deportations of Jews to the extermination camps. First, the remaining Jews from Biała Podlaska were brought to the Międzyrzec ghetto, then from the Radzyń region, directly from Komarówka Podlaska , Wohyń and Czemierniki to the same ghetto and the Łuków ghetto .

Also at the beginning of October 1942, the "assembly point" (ghetto) Końskowola was cleared by the battalion. About 500 to 1000 Jews were herded into a Lublin labor camp, 100 of whom were killed during the march. 800 to 1000 other Jews were immediately taken to a forest area and murdered there. A total of 1,100 to 1,600 Jews were victims of the police battalion.

On October 1, 1942, the battalion cleared the Radzyń ghetto and deported 2,000 Jews to the Treblinka extermination camp. One day later, units of the battalion shot 100 Jews in Parczew. On October 5, 1942, 5,000 Jews were transported from the Łuków Ghetto to Treblinka by the battalion. Three days later, 2,000 more Jews from the same ghetto followed to Treblinka. On October 6 and 9, 1942, it deported several thousand Jews from the Międzyrzec ghetto, with at least 150 Jews falling victim to the police. The evacuated Międzyrzec ghetto was the target of deportations from the Radzyń ghetto on October 14 and 16, 1942, before these people were taken to extermination camps by the battalion on October 27 and November 7, 1942. On November 6, 1942, the Kock police unit brought 700 Jews to the Łuków ghetto, with numerous executions in Kock. A day later, 3,000 Jews were deported from the Łuków Ghetto to Treblinka, 40 to 50 Jews being killed in the village. On November 11, 1942, the battalion police murdered another 200, and on November 14, 1942, executions took place again.

In order to keep the evacuated area “free of Jews”, searches of forests began in autumn 1942. In an "action" in October 1942 in the Parczew area, 50 Jews were killed. There were 500 in the entire operational area of ​​the battalion. In the spring of 1943, another "action" took place in which the battalion combed forests in the region around Parczew. The battalion discovered 100 to 200 refugee Jews and Russians who were immediately executed. The unit also carried out measures against the “labor Jews” deployed on the farms in the region: On the one hand, it was checked whether there were Jews among them who had fled the deportations. On the other hand, “working Jews” were killed when the respective landowner no longer needed their labor. During these measures, which the battalion members called "Jewish hunts", the police forces murdered a total of around 1,000 people.

On May 1, 1943, the battalion began to clear the ghetto in Międzyrzec. 3000 to 5000 Jews were deported, with a small group being taken to the Majdanek forced labor camp . The majority, however, was transported to the Treblinka extermination camp. Another 1,000 Jews were brought to Majdanek by the battalion on May 26, 1943, so that only 200 Jews remained. About 20 to 30 of them managed to escape, while 170 were shot on July 17, 1943. At the beginning of November 1943, the battalion moved into Lublin. On November 3, 1943, the harvest festival began . The police unit was initially used to deport 13,000 Jews from labor camps in and around Lublin to the nearby Majdanek concentration camp. There were thus between 16,500 and 18,000 Jews in the camp. At the same time, the murder of the rounded up Jews began in the Majdanek concentration camp with the participation of the battalion.

The next day, November 4, 1943, the battalion was transferred to the Poniatowa camp and killed 14,000 Jews.

The battalion was then used against partisans and at the front. It suffered heavy losses.

Known members of the battalion

The following four battalion members were named by Browning in his book, all other perpetrator names are pseudonyms:

  • Major Wilhelm Trapp (1889–1948), battalion commander from September 1939 - unknown
  • Captain Julius Wohlauf (1913–2002), company commander of the 1st Company
  • Lieutenant Hartwig Gnade, company commander of the 2nd Company
  • Captain Wolfgang Hoffmann (1914–1989), company commander of the 3rd Company

War Crimes Investigation

Proceedings were initiated against the battalion commander, a company commander, a main sergeant and another member of the Reserve Police Battalion 101 in Poland in 1948 and the accused were extradited. On July 6, 1948, a trial took place in Siedlce for the execution of 78 Poles, which resulted in two death sentences, including those against the battalion commander, and two further sentences of three and eight years in prison, respectively.

From 1958 onwards, members of the battalion were investigated in the Federal Republic , of which 14 were eventually charged. The trial at the Hamburg Regional Court ended in April 1968 with five convictions and six further convictions. In the appellate court, two convictions were converted into convictions without the imposition of a sentence, and the sentences imposed on two defendants were reduced.

documentary

The documentary Radikal Böse by Stefan Ruzowitzky tries, on the basis of Christopher Browning's account, to fathom the psychological motivation of the members of the task force to participate in the murders or, like a few, to refuse.

The ZDF documentary “Offenders without remorse” also deals in a section with the Reserve Police Battalion 101 with regard to the question of how the circumstances influence offender behavior.

literature

  • Jan Kiepe: The reserve police battallion 101 in court. Nazi perpetrators in self-portrayal and external portrayals . (Publications of the Hamburg working group for regional history, 25). LIT-Verlag, Hamburg (amongst others) 2007, ISBN 978-3-8258-0523-4 .
  • Stefan Kühl : Completely normal organizations. On the sociology of the Holocaust . Suhrkamp, ​​Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-518-29730-8 .
  • Paul Dostert: The Luxembourgers in Police Battalion 101 and the murder of Jews in Poland. In: Hémecht , vol. 552, 2000, pp. 81-99.
  • Christopher Browning : Just normal men: the Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the “Final Solution” in Poland . Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1993, ISBN 978-3-498-00569-6 (American English: Ordinary men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the final solution in Poland . New York 1992. Translated by Jürgen Peter Krause).
  • Daniel J. Goldhagen: Hitler's Willing Executors: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust . Siedler, Berlin 1996, ISBN 978-3-88680-593-8 (American English: Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust . New York 1996. Translated by Klaus Kochmann).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Christopher R. Browning: Ordinary Men. The Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the “Final Solution” in Poland . Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag, Reinbek bei Hamburg, 5th edition 2009, p. 189.
  2. ↑ Stefan Klemp: "Not determined". Police Battalions and the Post War Justice. A manual . Essen, 2nd edition 2011, p. 226
  3. ↑ a b Christopher R. Browning: Quite normal men , p. 59.
  4. ↑ Christopher R. Browning: Just Normal Men , pp. 59-61.
  5. ↑ Christopher R. Browning: Quite Normal Men , p. 62.
  6. ↑ Christopher R. Browning: Quite normal men , pp. 62f.
  7. ↑ Christopher R. Browning: Quite Normal Men , p. 63.
  8. ↑ Christopher R. Browning: Quite normal men , p. 84 f.
  9. ↑ Christopher R. Browning: Just Normal Men , pp. 86-104.
  10. ↑ http://www1.uni-hamburg.de/rz3a035//police101.html/ ( Memento from March 12, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  11. ^ Image of Science: THE FOUR ROOTS OF EVIL , edition: 3/2005, page 58
  12. ↑ Christopher R. Browning: Quite normal men , pp. 103f.
  13. ↑ Christopher R. Browning: Quite Normal Men, p. 114.
  14. ↑ Christopher R. Browning: Just Normal Men , p. 127.
  15. ↑ Christopher R. Browning: Just Normal Men , pp. 114–125.
  16. ↑ Christopher R. Browning: Quite normal men , p. 127f.
  17. ↑ Christopher R. Browning: Quite normal men , p. 128ff.
  18. ↑ Christopher R. Browning: Quite normal men , p. 136f.
  19. ↑ Christopher R. Browning: Quite normal men , pp. 140f.
  20. ↑ Christopher R. Browning: Quite Normal Men , p. 146.
  21. ↑ Christopher R. Browning: Quite Normal Men , p. 158.
  22. ↑ Christopher R. Browning: Quite normal men , p. 146ff.
  23. ↑ a b Christopher R. Browning: Quite normal men , p. 168.
  24. ↑ Christopher R. Browning: Quite normal men , pp. 169f.
  25. ↑ Christopher R. Browning: Just Normal Men , p. 189.
  26. ↑ Christopher R. Browning: Just Normal Men , p. 180.
  27. ↑ Christopher R. Browning: Quite Normal Men , pp. 184-186.
  28. ↑ Christopher R. Browning: Just Normal Men , pp. 186-188.
  29. ↑ Christopher R. Browning: Quite Normal Men , p. 190.
  30. ^ Christopher R. Browning: Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland . HarperCollins, New York 2017, ISBN 9780062303035 , foreword.
  31. ^ A b c Wolfgang Kopitzsch : Fighting gangs, shooting hostages, resettlements, final solution - Hamburg police battalions in World War II . In: perpetrators and victims under the swastika . Circle of Friends to Support the Schleswig-Holstein Police, Kiel 2001, ISBN 978-3-00-008063-0 , pp. 247-273. ( Online )
  32. ↑ Christopher R. Browning: Completely Normal Men , p. 191.
  33. ↑ Christopher R. Browning: Quite normal men , pp. 192f.