Penalty Division 999

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Probation Units
Probation Battalion 999
999. Africa Light Division

active October 1942 to May 5, 1945 (surrender)
Country Flag of Germany (1935–1945) .svg German Empire
Armed forces Wehrmacht
Armed forces army
Branch of service infantry
structure No uniform structure
garrison Baumholder
Second World War Africa campaign

Fight against partisans in the Balkans.
German-Soviet war

The penal division 999 was a special unit of the army of the German armed forces established in October 1942 . It was part of an overall system of probation units that put the military penal system at the service of warfare. The "conditionally unworthy of military service" who had previously been excluded from service in the Wehrmacht should be used for service. "Unworthy of military service " was anyone who was sentenced to a prison sentence and who did not have civil rights or who was deprived of military status by a military court judgment. At the disposal of the Wehrmacht High Command(OKW) of October 2, 1942, the unworthiness for military service was revoked for the duration of the war. Tens of thousands of men fit for military service were affected by this change. The association had a total strength of about 37,000 men, of which about 9,000 belonged to the permanent staff.

The term “penal battalion 999” was already widespread during the war, but “penal division 999” would be factually correct, because a division has 10,000 to 30,000 men, a battalion only 300–1200 men. In 1959 a novel by the bestselling author Konsalik was published with the title Strafbataillon 999 ; the work was filmed in 1960.

The forced recruits, especially active anti-Nazis , usually continued their resistance work in the Wehrmacht.

The first deployment of the troops took place in the spring of 1943 as "Africa Brigade 999" in the battle for Tunisia with a troop strength of 16,000 soldiers. Many of them defected to the Allied troops during this mission.

It was soon withdrawn from the Eastern Front after numerous defectors had reached the Red Army .

In Greece and Yugoslavia, a very active resistance struggle developed from the ranks of the 999s. In September 1944 by the Wehrmacht Falk Harnack and Gerhard Reinhardt , launched under the German troops in Greece Rally Anti-Fascist Committee for a Free Germany (AKFD), whose fighters came predominantly from 999 units took active part in the armed resistance in the Greek Liberation Army (ELAS ) part.

history

Establishment of the probation unit

A circular issued by the High Command of the Wehrmacht on April 11, 1942, stipulated that men who had lost their military status due to a criminal judgment by a civil court could now also be used for military service. In a circular from the Führer Headquarters dated December 9, 1942, the drafting of unworthy of defense is justified with a corresponding mood among the people. The letter speaks of the fact that the population does not understand that unworthy of defense people are neither used for military service nor used for other services. In fact, unworthy of defense have so far been able to spend their time relatively quietly in their homeland. In view of the fact that they could also have been used in work details outside the Wehrmacht, for example , it seems unlikely that this was the main motivation for drafting the people concerned. We must also disregard those men who were still imprisoned in a prison or a concentration camp . Their share in the "probation men" was about 30 to 40 percent. The decisive reason for the deployment of unworthy of defense was probably the great demand for "human material". The fighting on the Eastern Front in particular was very costly; the Nazi regime was evidently forced to fall back on this group of people.

From April 1942, the Wehrmacht began to set up the first so-called “WU teams” (“WU”, i.e. “unworthy of defense”) within the regular troop units. The order to set up a separate association was issued on October 2, 1942. From October 15, 1942, unworthy of military personnel were drafted into him. Because of their planned first deployment site, the troop was named "Africa Division 999". The number 999 was chosen to express the distance to the regular infantry divisions. For the duration of their deployment, the members of the association were declared "conditionally worthy of military service". The men were promised that they could regain their full military worth if they proved themselves “before the enemy”. For those who had been drafted straight from custody, the remaining sentence was only suspended until the end of the war.

Composition of the probation unit

The "probation men" of the parole troops 999 were almost exclusively people who had not previously been a member of the armed forces and who had lost their military status due to a civil court judgment. You can roughly distinguish between two groups: The one, larger group was that of the common criminals, who made up about 70 percent of the 999s. The remaining 30 percent were mostly people who supposedly or actually practiced opposition to National Socialism and were therefore persecuted. Paragraph 13e of the Defense Act regulates the loss of military status for those who had been convicted of "acts against the state". There were many overlaps and borderline cases between the two groups. For example, a crime could also have been politically motivated. Some people classified as criminals by Nazi criminal law would not be considered criminals by today's standards. B. regarding violations of the Nuremberg Laws . Some of the men were transported directly from the penal system to the troops. Should not be confiscated a. Homosexuals and traitors . Jews , Gypsies and people without German citizenship were also excluded . A comparatively very small number of the men were former Wehrmacht soldiers who had lost their military status as a result of a military court judgment. Although the Probation Force 500 was actually intended for them , they came to the Probation Force 999 (due to certain "special provisions" which are unknown).

Among the political 999ers there were members from almost all groups that National Socialism viewed as hostile. There were communists , social democrats , clergymen and also Jehovah's Witnesses there . In addition, some renegade National Socialists were drafted. When setting up this troop, it was calculated to be able to monitor “politically unreliable” people better and, if necessary, “sort them out”. Merging with the criminals could mean that any inappropriate attitudes were neutralized. It was not uncommon, for example, that oppositional conspiracies of politicians within the units were betrayed by criminal comrades and thus thwarted. For the permanent staff of the unit, preference was given to choosing men who were considered politically reliable by the responsible authorities. Many of them were already active in National Socialist organizations before the war. In the further course of the war, however, it was interpreted as a punitive transfer if soldiers were transferred to the permanent staff of the 999s.

In total, the parole troops had 999 about 28,000 "conditionally worthy" members, plus the regular staff of about 9,000 men. With a total strength of 37,000 soldiers, this association was numerically stronger than the probation force 500.

Locations and character of the missions

The first place where the association was set up was the Heuberg military training area near Stetten am kalten Markt . From December 17, 1943, the units of Battalion 999 were only set up at the Baumholder military training area (in what is now Rhineland-Palatinate ). The troops were to be deployed for the first time in North Africa , which is why they were initially referred to as "Africa Brigade 999". However, on January 1, 1943, she was first sent to Belgium as an occupation force . From there she was moved to southern France on February 12, 1943 . From March 9, 1943, the 999ers began to be transferred via Italy to Tunis . After the Axis' defeat in North Africa (capitulation on May 13, 1943), the force was reorganized, strengthened and relocated to Greece and the Balkans . There she was again used as an occupation force or has been in the partisan fighting and fortifications used. Three fortress infantry battalions 999 were also deployed on the Eastern Front, while one was stationed in the West. In addition, two construction pioneer battalions 999 were formed from men unfit for the front. The units in Africa and on the Eastern Front suffered very high losses. The Africa Brigade 999 was wiped out in May 1943, the three fortress infantry battalions deployed in the Soviet Union 999 in August 1944. Nevertheless, most of the units of the parole group 999 had at least at times significantly lower risk areas than those of the parole group 500, so that one can assume that that the service in the 999ers claimed fewer deaths in comparison. The Wehrmacht leadership initially rated the deployment of the parole troops 999 very positively. The division commanders of the 999 Africa Brigade were of the opinion "that the former unworthy of military service [...] did an excellent job." This view changed when it became clear in the further course of the war that the "political" 999s in particular were viewed as unreliable had to. The 3rd division of 999 was deployed in Greece in February 1943 to fight partisans, which was particularly useful for the political mass desertions . The department was therefore relocated to Rhodes on June 18, 1943 to secure the island , where it was closed and taken prisoner by the British on May 9, 1945 .

Treatment of soldiers and inappropriate behavior in the force

The probation battalions 999 were in some areas equal to regular units. The permanent staff was asked to face the soldiers in a militarily correct manner, as their "honest will to probation" should be assumed. Verbal abuse, abuse and torture were to be avoided, but contemporary witnesses report that these provisions were ignored, so that one can see that the service in this troop was overall much harder than in regular units. In the case of “strict duty” there were severe restrictions on the granting of vacation and going out. Correspondence was subject to stricter censorship than with regular units, at least during the training .

This was ordered in a special ordinance that did not exist for the 500 parole troops. In addition, both food and clothing for the recruits were inadequate or insufficient.

Memorial on the "Russenfriedhof" in Stetten on the cold market

One can assume that many soldiers in the unit actually have a "willingness to try". This is especially true for the "criminals". In fact, there were quite a few cases in which full military worth was regained. The relationship between the “political” and “criminal” soldiers was bad, as the “criminals” appeared more frequently as informers. Due to the high number of "political" in the parole troops 999, anti-fascist resistance played an important role. As a rule, this was expressed in the form of desertion . Particularly during the operations in the Balkans and in Greece , some 999 people managed to overflow to the local partisan units . There were also cases in the battalions stationed on the Eastern Front in which 999s defected to the Red Army. In the course of the war, such incidents increased more and more, so that the Wehrmacht leadership was forced to remove many "political" 999s from the troops. They were returned and some of them were interned in Buchenwald concentration camp . The increasing unreliability of the parole troops 999 was probably the trigger for the fact that the replacement brigade 999 was disbanded on September 18, 1944. This means that the already existing battalions were no longer reinforced. The final dissolution of the unit, which at that time only consisted of five men, took place on May 1, 1945. As with the Probation Force 500, inappropriate behavior was often punished with the death penalty. 37 soldiers were executed during the training on the Heuberg alone, in Baumholder there were 29 men. Death sentences were also carried out in the units in the field. So far, no information or estimates are available about the total number of 999 people executed.

Commanders

Division members

(The length of service in brackets)

literature

  • Hans Burckhardt, Günter Erxleben: Penal Division 999. Experiences and reports from the anti-fascist resistance struggle. German military publisher , Berlin 1965.
  • Hans Burckhardt, Günter Erxleben , Kurt Nettball: The one with the blue glow. About the anti-fascist resistance in the 999 formations of the fascist German Wehrmacht (1942–1945). 2nd corrected edition. Military publishing house of the German Democratic Republic , Berlin 1986.
  • Christiane Goldenstedt: Albert Goldenstedt - A Delmenhorster in the anti-fascist resistance. Oldenburger Studien 89, Oldenburg 2019, ISBN 978-3-7308-1552-6 .
  • Hans-Peter Klausch : The history of the probation battalions 999 with special consideration of the anti-fascist resistance. 2 volumes. Pahl-Rugenstein Verlag, Cologne 1987, ISBN 3-7609-5245-3 ( Pahl-Rugenstein-Hochschulschriften Gesellschafts- und Naturwissenschaften 245), (At the same time: Oldenburg, Univ., Diss., 1987).
  • Hans-Peter Klausch: The 999s. From Brigade "Z" to Africa Division 999. The probation battalions and their part in the anti-fascist resistance. Röderberg-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1986, ISBN 3-87682-818-X .
  • Ursula Suhling: 999 criminal soldiers - deported from the Hanover train station . Hamburg anti-fascists in Wehrmacht uniform . VSA, Hamburg 2014. ISBN 978-3-89965-613-8 .

Movies

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hans-Peter Klausch: The Probation Troop 500. Bremen 1995, p. 81.
  2. ↑ Christian Blees: The soldiers with the blue bill. - "Unworthy of military service" in Penal Division 999 ; Deutschlandradio, Feature com May 26, 2009 (manuscript)
  3. ^ Exhibition "Who were the 999s?" Of the AG der 999 im DRAFD e. V.
  4. ↑ Hans-Peter Klausch: The history of the "probation battalions" 999 with special consideration of the anti-fascist resistance . Cologne 1987 (Pahl-Rugenstein-Hochschulschriften Gesellschafts- und Naturwissenschaften, Vol. 245), p. 64
  5. ↑ Hans-Peter Klausch: "Unworthy of the military": the probation battalions 999 and the problem of desertion as a form of anti-fascist resistance . In: Fietje Ausländer (Ed.): Traitors or role models? Bremen 1990, pp. 157-179 (DIZ-Schriften Vol. 2), pp. 160-161
  6. ^ Klausch, Probation Battalions ; P. 63.
  7. ↑ Klausch, unworthy of defense ; P. 159.
  8. ^ Klausch, Probation Battalions , p. 851.
  9. ↑ Hans-Peter Klausch: The Baumholder military training area - location of the parole troops 999 . In: Hans-Georg Meyer (Ed.): The time of National Socialism in Rhineland-Palatinate . Mainz, pp. 112-122., Here p. 113.
  10. ^ Klausch, Probation Battalions ; P. 80.
  11. ^ Rudolf Absolon: Military Law and Military Service . Boppard am Rhein 1960 (Writings of the Federal Archives, Vol. 5), p. 115.
  12. ^ Fritz Wüllner: The Nazi military justice and the misery of historiography. Baden-Baden 1991, p. 716.
  13. ↑ Hans-Peter Klausch: The 999s . Frankfurt am Main 1986, p. 25.
  14. ↑ Klausch, unworthy of defense ; P. 163.
  15. ↑ Reich Ministry of the Interior (ed.): Reichsgesetzblatt. Part 1st year 1935. Berlin 1935, p. 610.
  16. ↑ Klausch, unworthy of defense ; P. 163; Klausch, probation battalions ; P. 106.
  17. ^ Franz W. Seidler: The military jurisdiction of the German armed forces . Munich [u. a.] 1991, p. 81.
  18. ^ Manfred Messerschmidt : The Wehrmacht Justice 1933-1945 . Paderborn 2005, p. 383.
  19. ↑ Klausch, 999 ; P. 25.
  20. ^ Klausch, Probation Battalions ; P. 106; Garbe, Detlef: Between resistance and martyrdom. Munich 1999 (Studies on Contemporary History, Vol. 42), p. 393.
  21. ↑ Klausch, Baumholder ; P. 113.
  22. ↑ Messerschmidt, pp. 386-387.
  23. ↑ Seidler, Military Jurisdiction ; P. 81.
  24. ↑ Klausch, 500 ; P. 81.
  25. ^ Georg Tessin : Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen SS in World War II 1939–1945 ; Volumes 9 and 13; Osnabrück 1974, 1976, Vol. 13, pp. 200-203.
  26. ^ Klausch, Probation Battalions ; Pp. 261-266, p. 268.
  27. ↑ Klausch, Baumholder ; P. 113.
  28. ↑ Tessin, Vol. 13, pp. 200–204.
  29. ↑ Klausch, Baumholder ; P. 117.
  30. ↑ Tessin, Vol. 13, pp. 200–203.
  31. ^ Klausch, Probation Battalions ; Pp. 854-855.
  32. ↑ quoted from: Klausch, Probation Battalions ; P. 377.
  33. ^ Klausch, Probation Battalions ; Pp. 171-172.
  34. ↑ Jörg Kammler et al. : I'm tired of butchering and overflow . Fuldabrück 1997 (Kasseler Quellen und Studien Vol. 6), p. 188; Klausch, unworthy of defense ; P. 167.
  35. ^ Klausch, Probation Battalions ; Pp. 185-186.
  36. ↑ Klausch, 500 ; P. 166.
  37. ^ Klausch, Probation Battalions ; Pp. 153-154; Pp. 125-126.
  38. ↑ Klausch, unworthy of defense ; P. 169.
  39. ↑ Messerschmidt, pp. 385-387.
  40. ↑ Klausch, 500 ; P. 218.
  41. ↑ Gerhard Paul: "They just disappeared at night" . In: Norbert Haase et al. (Ed.): The other soldiers. Destruction of military strength, refusal to obey and desertion in World War II . Frankfurt am Main 1997, pp. 139–156, p. 143, p. 150.
  42. ^ Klausch, Probation Battalions ; Pp. 696-697, pp. 694, pp. 996-997.
  43. ↑ Klausch, Baumholder ; P. 121.
  44. ↑ Messerschmidt, pp. 388-390.
  45. ↑ Klausch, 500 ; P. 490, note 72.
  46. ↑ See Hans-Peter Klausch : Hermann Bode (1911–1944): A Braunschweig city councilor in the fight against fascism and war ; Berlin 2003. Wolfram Wette : The betrayed ; in: Die Zeit from April 24, 2008. Helmut Kramer : Hermann Bode: A Braunschweig city councilor in the fight against National Socialism and war ; in: Lively critical community. Church from below. Alternatives from / for the Braunschweiger Landeskirche , issue 127, October 2009, pp. 7–11.
  47. ↑ Bernd-Rainer Barth :  Schnitzler, Karl-Eduard von . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 2. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .
  48. ^ CV of Fritz Wandels on Stadtwiki Reutlingen with specified references
  49. ↑ See also: Conditionally worthy . In: Der Spiegel 20/1988 of May 16, 1988.
  50. ↑ Contains a list of 407 named victims with prison sentences and life dates.