SS und Polizei: Myths and Lies of Hitler's SS and Police

by J. Lee Ready

  Over 400,000 Belgian men and women volunteered to work in Germany, of which 1,150 joined the German SS as reservists.

  With Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 the Devlag and VNV reconciled their differences and combined to recruit for the Flanders Legion to fight in Russia. Simultaneously Degrelle’s Christus Rex formed the Walloon Legion.

  By 1942 Belgian cooperation with the Germans was going so well that Hitler released 60% of his Belgian prisoners of war.

  In 1942 the round up of the nation’s Jews began. The arresting officers were members of the Belgian police, the Devlag’s SS, the SD and the Gestapo. The latter two contained many Belgians. Most of the Jews were initially taken to the transit camps at Malines, Huys and Breendonck, where they were guarded by Devlag’s SS and by Flemish members of the German SS KZL.

  Himmler initially did not want to confiscate the Devlag’s SS, as he had done the Dutch SS, preferring to try to convince its members to voluntarily transfer to his own SS. He had sent Brigadefuehrer Richard Jungclaus to them, who had done such a good job as his liaison officer with the Dutch SS. Then suddenly in October 1942 Himmler changed his mind and confiscated the organization.

  However, not all was rosy for the Nazis in Belgium. Anti-Nazi resistance was on the increase. The Belgian police and gendarmerie were both forced to take in more recruits to cope with ‘terrorist’ sabotage. When Communists began destroying warehouses of harvested food, the German Army established two militias, the Flemish Boerenwacht [Farm Guard] and the Walloon Garde Rural [Rural Guard] that together provided 60,000 armed sentries to protect food warehouses and barns at harvest time. Most of these volunteers were anti-Nazi, but they did not want to see their people starve.

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  France

  Following the French surrender in June 1940, and the return of Alsace and Lorraine to Germany, France was in the odd position of being cut into three, one portion including the city of Paris and the Atlantic coast being under German military government, one small portion being under Italian control, and the third portion consisting of an independent France with its capital at Vichy, and still in charge of a vast colonial empire, the second largest in history.

  Just days after this new partition in July 1940 the British began attacking French naval vessels and merchant ships wherever they found them. The government in Vichy considered this to be an act of war, and therefore France became a de facto partner with Hitler in his war against the British Empire and Commonwealth. Later in the year the British invaded the French colonies of Dakar [failing] and Gabon [successfully]. In 1941 the British conquered the French colony of Syria-Lebanon. Other colonies were bullied into declaring for the British cause. To put a legal face on it, the British had General Charles de Gaulle in their pocket, who had been Minister of War just before the French surrender in June 1940 and who now operated from London claiming to be the legitimate ruler of France.

  Naturally the French were anxious for the safety of their loved ones in the armed forces who were fighting the British, and as of June 1941 for those who were fighting on the Russian Front with the French Legion. But the latter conflict was geographically distant, whereas the ‘English War’ came home to the French people almost at once as British planes regularly bombed German installations in France. This especially hit home on 3 March 1942 when British planes bombed the Renault factory in Paris, killing 623 civilians and wounding 1,500.

  At the same time there was a guerilla war inside France, with rebels attacking installations of the Germans and Italians in those respective occupied zones and performing sabotage against facilities of the Vichy French government. The German Army could have handled this much better than they did, but mindlessly they insisting on arresting innocent people at random in retaliation for ‘terrorist’ incidents.

  Oddly enough German influence in the independent portion of the country [nicknamed Vichy France] was not necessary, for the Vichy government continually introduced draconian policies before the Germans could even suggest them. Himmler was quite pleased by the attitude of the French police both in the occupied zone and in Vichy France and he wanted control of that body. His method was as follows: in May 1942 he pretended to be publicly angry with the lax control of the French police in the occupied zone. To better control the situation Himmler brought in the German 4th Police Regiment. Furthermore he soon gained permission from Hitler to place one of his people at the helm of the French police in the occupied zone. His man on the ground would be Gruppenfuehrer Carl Oberg, the HSSPF for Belgium and Northern France. Ironically the Vichy government said little about this, but the German Army generals complained, declaring that Oberg would be too rough. Oberg fulfilled their expectations. He announced that if a forced laborer ran away from his job he would be shot if caught. If he could not be found, his nearest male relatives would be shot in his place.

  However, there were moral limits even in Oberg’s conscience, and he sent Untersturmfuehrer Theodore Dannecker back to Himmler, because of the man’s rabid anti-Semitism.

  Yet most of the public’s anger was directed against their own Vichy government, for it was the Vichy French government that had created forced labor in the first place, sending some of these unfortunates to work in Germany!

  As a result of the changing situation the French police had to take in more recruits to accomplish the many extra duties it had to perform, such as sentry duty and round ups of immigrant Jews. For special duties the police created fifty-seven 200-man companies of GMR - Groupes Mobiles des Reserves.

  Meantime German organizations were also seeking French recruits. The NSKK soon took in 2,000.

  Bad news came on 5 November 1942. The French garrison in Madagascar surrendered to the British after a long campaign. Then three days later a massive armada of British and American troops invaded the French colonies of Morocco and Algeria. For three days there was bloody fighting, and then suddenly the French commanders in those lands not only surrendered, but actually joined the Allies!

  By coincidence French Premier Laval, Mussolini and Hitler were in conference when the news reached them of the French betrayal in Algeria. Mussolini was livid. Hitler went berserk, ranting and raving about French cowardice and treachery. Laval could but sit back in embarrassment. In response both Hitler and Mussolini ordered their armed forces to invade the unoccupied zone of France. The Italians rushed in to grab the Riviera and the island of Corsica. German troops took the remainder. There was no opposition from the Vichy French armed forces.

  Immediately behind the German Army the SD and Gestapo flowed southwards into the newly occupied zone [Vichy France] and began setting up their witch hunt operations. They also recruited many more French men and women as employees and informers. Furthermore, Himmler sent a temporary SS einsatzkommando under Sturmbannfuehrer Walther Rauff to the French colony of Tunisia in North Africa. Once in Tunisia he and his staff tried to set up an SS RSHA operation and he talked big about deporting the local Jews, but nothing really came of it. The saving of Tunisia’s Jews was in no small measure due to Generalfeldmarschal Erwin Rommel, the most influential German in the colony. Rommel never cooperated with the SS if he could help it. He had a good personal aide, Army Leutnant Alfred Berndt. Rommel liked this ebullient Silesian whose home had been annexed by Poland in 1923, but he did not trust him, because he knew Berndt was a Nazi party author, a propaganda radio announcer and a reservist oberfuehrer in the SD, and Rommel suspected that everything he said in private was being reported by Berndt to Himmler.

  Though the Germans had physically entered Vichy France, they did not replace the government. Again there was no need, as it was so compliant. However, Hitler did order the French Army in Vichy to be disbanded, though he allowed a few ceremonial troops and he kept the Gendarmerie [military police]. Hitler stole the aircraft of the French Air Force, but did allow them to keep their anti-aircraft flak batteries in order to help fight off attacks by Anglo-American bombers. Hitler also tried to grab the French Navy, but
he gained few vessels because most either defected to the British or scuttled themselves.

  To help keep law and order in these trying times the French government asked Joseph Darnand to form a new security unit – the Milice. He was an odd choice, for Darnand was a hero who had fought the Germans in 1940, had been captured, but had then escaped. He accepted the appointment and formed the Milice as an anti-terrorist light infantry unit of 29,000 volunteers including 200 Arabs. One of his volunteers was Jean Bassompierre, a veteran of the 1940 campaign against the Italians, who had then joined the French Legion to fight on the Russian front. Darnand sent a team to Tunisia to liaise with the Germans and Italians and help them gather more Arab recruits.

  Darnand’s first major operation was an invasion of the Haute Savoie, a district technically controlled by the Italian Army, but in reality a hotbed of anti-Nazi resistance. Attacking with 4,500 Milice and GMR Darnand broke the back of the band and arrested thousands of suspects.

  As in Belgium, Communists began destroying foodstuffs. The Vichy French government responded by creating the Harvest Guards.

  To prevent an Anglo-American invasion of the French west coast the Germans began creating the Atlantic Wall, a series of bunkers and command posts. It was built by 165,000 Frenchmen, 18,000 Arabs, 15,600 Germans and 94,000 others. These figures include volunteers and forced labor, but do not count slave workers.

  The German Army employed 190,000 French men and women - ‘hiwis’ in all but name. In fact the German 715th Security Division did register its Arab employees as hiwis, but not its French workers.

  By 1943 the SS RSHA [SD, Gestapo and Kripo] had increased its surveillance in France a hundred fold by recruiting French employees. E.g. in the Loire district the Gestapo spied on the people with 15 Germans and 300 French, and in Marseilles they tried to keep the lid on that city’s gangsters and Communists using 50 Germans and 1,000 French. By late 1943 the Gestapo had 32,000 French employees - detectives, guards, technicians and administrative staff. The SD and Kripo also used French personnel. The SD even set up a Breton unit in Brittany to hunt ‘terrorists’. Though politically French, the Bretons are culturally a Celtic people, and many speak Breton.

  New Year’s Day 1944 was important for Darnand. The Germans were so impressed with his Milice that they agreed they could operate anywhere in France, and furthermore Darnand was placed in charge of all French security formations including the police, GMR, Milice and Gendarmerie. Himmler was not happy. He had lost control of the French police, so he tried to influence Darnand by honoring him with the rank of Obersturmbannfuehrer in the Allgemeine SS. More and more Frenchmen were breaking the race barrier to enter the SS.

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  Chapter Thirty

  HIMMLER’S EMPIRE

  At the end of 1943 Hellmich was replaced as inspector of osttruppen, no doubt to his relief. His replacement was Generalleutnant Ernst Kuestring, who was himself a Russian Volksdeutsch. He soon found that of the 600,000 men currently hunting anti-Nazi partisans in the Soviet Union, 480,000 of them had once been citizens of that nation.

  He also found that the osttruppen were rapidly being shipped to the far corners of Hitler’s Reich including Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy and Yugoslavia.

  By the end of 1943 about 200,000 osttruppen acknowledged the ULA – Ukrainian Liberation Army as their political representation, and 80,000 recognized the ROA – Russian Liberation Army. The Cossack National Council claimed 25,000 members. By this date other ‘nations’ also had political councils representing their interests in Berlin, including the Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Byelorussians, Caucasus Moslems, Estonians, Georgians, Kalmyks, Latvians, Lithuanians, Tatars of the Crimea, Tatars of the Volga, and Turkestanis, to name but the largest ones. Some councils had sub-councils representing smaller ethnic groups. Himmler had liaison officers with all of these. Himmler intended to get his ‘foot in the door’. It was not enough that Himmler had control over some of their personnel, namely those in SS or police units. He wanted them all.

  Bronislaw Kaminski had been driven from his autonomous state of Lokot by the Soviet advance in late 1943, and his militiamen and their families had trudged with him in retreat until they reached Byelorussia. They brought with them field artillery and tanks. Once in Byelorussia the German Army authorized him to set up house, and in return he would keep the region free from partisan activity. By now Himmler had his eye on Kaminski‘s men.

  Himmler also took notice of the Mongols. These were men from the Buryat region of the Soviet Union drafted to fight for Communism. But when the Germans captured some of them they found the Mongols to be very susceptible to German recruiters, who informed them that if they fought for Hitler they would be treated as well as Germans and would be allowed to practice their Buddhist faith. Many agreed and were soon placed on sentry duty in France as the Mongol Legion. Not all of these Mongols were Buryats. Soviet impressment gangs had often illegally crossed into Mongolia and China to grab young men.

  The Kalmyks, who had also been driven from their homeland, were now operating as the Kalmyk Cavalry Corps in Byelorussia.

  There were many Cossack units, the 1st Cossack Cavalry Division of the German Army being the largest. Almost every senior German headquarters in the east now had Cossack sentries, and all of the German cavalry units, including the 8th SS Florian Geyer Cavalry Division, had some Cossack osttruppen and hiwis.

  The largest of the Caucasus Moslem formations was the 450th Regiment currently fighting partisans in Byelorussia.

  By late 1943 Himmler in his capacity as Reichsfuehrer of the SS controlled perhaps 750,000 SS personnel of which 280,000 were non-German. About 25,000 of his SS were Dutchmen serving in the Allgemeine SS, SS RuSHA, SS WVHA, SS RSHA, SS KZL and Waffen SS. Wagner’s 4th SS Nederland Panzergrenadier Brigade was transferred from anti-partisan operations in Yugoslavia to Russia in early 1944.

  The SS also had about 9,000 Norwegian members in the various branches. Following some combat in Yugoslavia the Norwegians of the 11th SS Nordland Division began to form up for combat in Russia. The 6th SS Nord Mountain Division also contained some Norwegians. They were still fighting an inglorious and under-reported war in the Arctic Circle. The Norwegian ski expert Hauptsturmfuehrer Gus Jonassen was killed in a battle there that did not even make the newspapers.

  About 5,000 Danes had joined the SS or had been conscripted into it. Having fought in Yugoslavia, the Danes of the 11th SS Nordland Division were on their way to Russia.

  Around 7,500 Belgians were now serving in the SS, of which a third were members of the 6th SS Langemarck Sturmbrigade and another third were in the 5th SS Wallonie Sturmbrigade. The remainder served in various SS departments.

  By now upwards of 50,000 Frenchmen were serving the SS in some capacity, including those in the SS Charlemagne Sturmbrigade, which was on its way to Russia.

  The 14th SS Galizien Infantry Division was coming together nicely. Its new commander was Obergruppenfuehrer Fritz Freitag, a fellow of school master appearance with thick glasses, but these Ukrainians looked more towards Hauptsturmfuehrer Dimitri Palijiv, the senior Ukrainian, as their real leader. Himmler also controlled the thousands of Ukrainian hiwis serving the SS, most notably as camp guards. Moreover, in 1943 once Ukrainian membership in the SS was approved, many a Ukrainian joined the SS as a reservist, meaning that he could keep his ordinary job, whether it be office employee or industrial worker or hiwi in a labor camp. Many Ukrainians who had been conscripted by Fritz Sauckel’s Forced Labor Office to work in factories in Germany also now joined the SS reserves. Wearing a little SS pin on their overalls enhanced their chances of promotion wonderfully. Other Ukrainian workers in Germany sought to improve their lot by less Nazi means, such as becoming reservist firemen. Of course, some Ukrainians became full-time members of the SS.

  The 3rd SS Estnische Grenadier Brigade now had a strength of 6,500 Estonians and was manning part of the River Nevel line in northern Russia. Himmler decided he could make a
division out of this unit, so at the end of 1943 he conscripted all male Estonians born 1915 to 1924 [soon changed to 1904 to 1926, i.e. currently aged 17 to 39] in order to expand the brigade into the 20th SS Estnische Grenadier Division. The German Army’s 658th, 659th and 660th Estonian Battalions that had started out as part of Army Group North’s Sicherungabteilungen and had seen plenty of anti-partisan warfare were also transferred to this new division. Himmler also conscripted all ex-NCOs of the Estonian Army up to age 55 and all ex-officers up to age 60. The Estonian Army had been disbanded by the Soviets in 1940. Only those Estonians performing essential war-related duties were immune from this draft. Of course most of the conscripts were angry at being drafted, but they were at least now fighting for their own country, because Hitler was now promising the Estonians an independence of sorts.

  SS recruitment brochures in Germany were still describing the SS officer as a young Aryan Nazi idealist. None of them said he could be a sixty-year old Estonian draftee! The lies continued.

  The 15th SS Lettische Infantry Division, led by Oberfuehrer Herbert von Obwuerzer, was almost finished with its training, but the SS recruiters found they had insufficient volunteers to fill the second Latvian division that they had promised Himmler, even after drafting in some men from the schumas. Therefore, in late 1943 the SS formally conscripted all Latvian males born 1915 to 1924, unless already serving in a useful capacity. Within a month they altered the age limit to 1904 to 1926 [currently aged 17 to 39]. By this method the Waffen SS was able to completely man the 19th SS Lettische Infantry Division. Its commander would be Oberfuehrer Heinrich Schuldt. Some of his cadre would come from the 2nd SS Motorized Brigade.