Police Battalion 309
| Police Battalion 309 | |
|---|---|
| Polizei-Battalion 309 | |
| Active | 1941–45 |
| Country |  German Army (Wehrmacht) command |
The Police Battalion 309 (Polizeibattalion 309) was a formation of the
mass murders and was responsible for large-scale crimes against humanity
targeting civilian populations.
Background and formation
The German
occupation of Czechoslovakia. Police troops were first formed into battalion-sized formations for the invasion of Poland, where they were deployed for security and policing purposes, also taking part in executions and mass deportations.[1]
Twenty-three
death squads of the SS, and the Organisation Todt, the military construction group. Twelve were formed into regiments, three battalions each, and designated as Police Regiments Centre, North, South, and Special Purpose. Nine, including Police Battalion 309, were attached to security divisions of the Wehrmacht.[2] The goals of the police battalions were to secure the rear by eliminating the remnants of the enemy forces, guarding the prisoners of war, and protecting the lines of communications and captured industrial facilities. Their instructions also included, as Daluege stated, the "combat of criminal elements, above all political elements".[3]
Police Battalion 309 was subordinated to the
221st Security Division.[4] Comprising about 550 men, the battalion was raised from recruits mobilised from the 1905–1915 year groups. They were led by career police professionals, steeped in the ideology of Nazism, driven by anti-semitism and anti-Bolshevism.[5] The 221st Security Division itself was formed in June 1941. Police Battalion 309 was its only motorised formation.[4]
Great Synagogue, Białystok crime
On the morning of June 27, 1941,
burned to death. The Nazi onslaught continued with the grenading of numerous homes and further shootings. As the flames from the synagogue spread and merged with the grenade fires, the entire square was engulfed. On that day, some 3,000 Jews lost their lives. [6]
(Archive from Geocities)
Aftermath
The Order Police as a whole had not been declared a criminal organisation by the Allies, unlike the SS, and its members were able to reintegrate into society largely unmolested, with many returning to police careers in Austria and West Germany.[7]
See also
References
- ^ Showalter 2005, p. xiii.
- ^ Westermann 2005, pp. 163–164.
- ^ Westermann 2005, p. 165.
- ^ a b Westermann 2005, pp. 163–165.
- ^ Westermann 2005, p. 15.
- ^ Raiha, Evelyn. The Holocaust
- ^ Westermann 2005, p. 231.
Bibliography
- Blood, Phillip W. (2006). ISBN 978-1-59797-021-1.
- Persico, Joseph E. (22 October 2002). Roosevelt's Secret War: FDR and World War II Espionage. ISBN 0-3757-6126-8.
- ISBN 978-0-7006-1724-1.
- Smith, Michael (2004). "Bletchley Park and the Holocaust". In Scott, L. V.; Jackson, P. D. (eds.). Understanding Intelligence in the Twenty-First Century: Journeys in Shadows. Routledge. ISBN 0714655333.
- Westermann, Edward B. (2005). Hitler's Police Battalions: Enforcing Racial War in the East. Kansas City: ISBN 978-0-7006-1724-1.
Further reading
- Beorn, Waitman Wade (2014). ISBN 978-0674725508.
- ISBN 978-0-253-35328-3.
- ISBN 9780674025776.