As in the Reich, so Posts of the higher SS- and Policefuehrer were established in the newly occupied Eastern territories.
Under the designation “security”, Himmler gained thereby, as already previously under the army, now a special status in regard to the civilian administration as well, and thereby freedom of movement for his executive plans. Foundation for this was the “Decree of the Fuehrer on the securing by police of the newly occupied Eastern territories”, which decree – as already mentioned on p 110 f, regarding the transition of administration of the occupied sections of the Soviet Union to civil administration originated 17 July 1941. Doc vol V p 539
With this decree, the securing by police of the newly occupied Eastern territories was turned over to the Reichsfuehrer SS and Chief of German Police (Himmler). He was empowered to give the Reichs commissars orders in this area. Only when it concerned orders of a general nature or of fundamental political importance, did he have to transmit these through the Reichs minister for the occupied Eastern territories (Rosenberg), but not if was a matter of urgent national security.
Each Reichs commissar receives a “higher SS- and police chief”, (HHSSPF) directly and personally under him, in some degree as representative of Himmler. Directly under the HHSSPF of the occupied Eastern territories were the SS – and Police Leaders (SSPF). Each of the 4 general regions in the occupied Eastern territories had an SSPF.
As the Chief of the German Order Police (Orpo) was subordinate to the Reichsfuehrer SS (Himmler), so, in the East, the Commandant of the Orpo there, the DbO was subordinate to the HSSPF, and the Commander of the Orpo (KdO) was subordinate to the SSPF. This hierarchy was valid only for operations above the local level. Subordinate to the KdO, in their turn, were the Commander of the Gendarmerie (KdGend) and the Commander of the Schutpolizei (KdSchupo). There were, however, only officials of the KdGend in the rural districts of Belarus, as, for example, in Lida. 9 Ks 1/61 LG Koblenz p 26
The office of HSSPF in the region of the Reichs commissariat for the Eastern territories was held until 15 November 1941 by SS-Obergruppenfuehrer and General of the Police Pruetzmann, then by SS-Obergruppenfuehrer Franz Jeckeln.
SSPF for Belarus at the general commissariat for Belarus in Minsk (Kube) was, from August 1941 to July 1942, SS-Brigadefuehrer u. Generalmajor of the Polide Zenner, then Brigadefuehrer Chimana and form 4 November 1942 SS-Brigadefuehrer, later SS-Obergruppenfuehrer and General of the Police and Waffen-SS von Gottberg. 9 Ks 1/61 LG Koblenz p 25 “On the history of the Orpo” part II p 54
KdO for Belarus was, from about October/November 1941 Generalmajor of the Police Herf, later von Heimburg. 9 Ks 1/61 LG Koblenz p 27 vol 10 p 1399 (Ueck)
The affairs of the KdGend, subordinate to the KdO, were directed to about February 1942 by the witness and then Hauptmann of Gendarmerie Hoepfner, then to July 1942 by the witness and then Oberst of Gendarmerie Diermann. Vol 14 p 1934 (Diermann), vol 18 p 2554 (Hoepfner)
The scope of the KdGend in Minsk was 10 Gendarmerie districts, among them that of Lida. The 10 Gendarmerie districts within the general commissariat Belarus were grouped into Main Genardarmerie Squads in Minsk, Vilejka, and Baranovichi. The gendarmerie district Lida was, to Auguat 1943, part of the Main Gendarmerie Squad Baranovichi. The Hauptmanschaftsfuehrer of the Gendarmerie in Baranovichi was, in the years 1941/42, Hauptmann Hildebrandt, whose service has not been confirmed. In August 1943 the Main Gendarmerie Squad Baranovichi was split, and an new Main Squad formed in Lida. It consisted of the Lida Gendarmerie and that of Novogrudok. Hauptmanschaftsfuehrer of the Gendarmerie in Lida was the witness and then Hauptmann of Gendarmerie Gieschen. Doc vol II p 152, vol 4 p 689 (Bockhacker), vol 4 p 774 (Riedel), vol 5 p 866 (Gieschen), vol 23 p 3139 (Wester)
According to the cited Fuehrer decree of 17 July 1941, every regional commissar was supplied with an SS-und Polizeigebietsfuehrer (Gendarmeriegebietfuehrer), who reported to him personally. Doc vol V p 359, “On the history of the orpo” part II p 54.
The position of this Polizeigebietsfuehrer in the East corresponded to that of a Gendarmeriekreischef in Germany. Vol 5 p 867 (Gieschen), vol 10 p 1399 (Ueck)
As Table II of the Fuehrer decree of 1 April 1944 on the hierarchy of the general district Belarus, by the Reichs Commissariat for the Easter territories shows, the decree of 17 July 1941 on the police security of the newly occupied Eastern territories remained in effect uninterruptedly to 1944. Doc vol III p 186
KdS (Command of the Security Police and the SD) Belarus
In the pacified newly occupied Eastern territories with civil administrations, the Einsatzgrupped became more or less sedentary when the Front ceased to advance (Winter 1941 to Spring 1942).
In these areas, the Einsatzgruppen active there and their commandos, by and large held the offices “Befehlshaber der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD” (BdS) [literally, ‘he who has the orders’], on a par with Reichs commissars, and at the level of general commissar, the offices of “Commanders of the Sipo & SD” (KdS).
Thus in Riga part of the staff of Einsatzgruppe A evolved into “BdS Ostland” under Dr. Stahlecker (fell March 1942), who simultaneously remained Chief of Einsatzgruppe A.
In the region of interest here, the general commissariat Belarus, (Minsk) from November to December 1941, the Sonderkommando a b (Einsatzgruppe A) , reinforced by parts of Einsatzkommando 8 (Einsatzgruppe B), divisions of other Commandos of Einsatzgruppe A and new arrivals from Germany were redefined as KdS Belarus with headquarters in Minsk.
This office was headed from about the end of March 1942 to March 1943 by Obersturmbannfuehrer Strauch, who died in a Belgian prison 15 September 1955.
The KdS Post Belarus was divided into several SD outposts and substations. Already in Fall 1941, there was an SD outpost in Baranovichi. This outpost was later called “Command of the Security Police and the SD-Belarus – Baranovichi Outpost”. Further substations were opened in Vilejka (Feb 1942), Slonim (Fall 1942 as substation of the Baranovichi outpost), Hansevichi (Aug 1942), Glebokie (about May 1943), Voloshin (Summer 1943) and only in Fall 1943 in Lida. (Led by SS-Obersturmfuehrer Hoehn). Until then the region Lida was part of the SS-outpost Baranovichi. The outpost in Baranovichi remained, after being folded into the KdS Minsk, largely autonomous, which was due primarily to the great distance between Baranovichi and Minsk, but also because the KdS Post in Minsk was still a provisional one, when the already established SD outpost Baranovichi was made part of the KdS Minsk. Vol 1 p 80, 82, 86, vol 14 p 2007 f (Heuser)
In spring 1942 the SD Outpost Baranovichi consisted of about 15 members of the Waffen-SS plus a few criminal officials and Stapo members. Further, a unit of about 30 Lithuanian men in brown uniforms, led by a Lithuanian officer, was assigned to it. Vol 4 p 695, vol 16 p 2312 ff (Welke)
The leader of the SD outpost Baranovichi was SS-Untersturmfuehrer Amelung, from fall 1941 to April 1942, but who remained at the outpost afterward and was generally regarded – at least by his inferiors at the outpost – as the real chief. His successor, SS-Obersturmfuehrer Gruenzfelder, was killed 9 June 1942. Thereupon Amelung took over leadership again to October 1943. Amelung’s successor ([Amelung] died in Paderborn 19 December 1954) was Renndorfer, who was sentenced to 5 years’ imprisonment for accomplice to murder (1943) by the verdict of the Landgericht Muenchen I of 21 January 1966. Vol 1 p 75 (Jumtow), vol 4 p 695 (Welke), vol 12 p 1772 (Broecker) , Verdict LG Muenchen I 113 Ks 1/65
As the SD outposts or substations were divided into, in part, SD and Gestapo, and anyway the field gray uniforms of the Waffen-SS, the Sipo and the SD were practically indistinguishable, outsiders simply called the members “SS” or “SD” or even “Gestapo”. Vol 14 p 2008 (Heuser)
With the construction of the KdS station in Minsk and the SD outpost in Baranvichi, the systematic annihilation of Jews began in earnest in Spring 1942 at the latest. Already before this, in Minsk, 4,000 to 6,000 Jews were murdered from 7 to 11 November 1941, and on 14 November 1941 in Slonim alone, which at the time belonged, as did Lida, to the SD outpost Baranovichi, about 9,000 Jews were shot. Verdict 9 Ks 1/61 LG Koblenz p 31 ff
These executions were carried out by the SD outposts, which were staffed largely the now stationary Einsatzgruppen and Einsatzkommandos, and who now continued their work of annihilation. 141 Js 173/61 StA Hamburg Bl. IV, doc vol II p 145
The execution commandos consisted in part of members of the SD stations, in the main however of foreign auxiliaries (militias), predominantly Lithuanian and Latvian volunteers was well as units of the local Orpo. Krausnick p 377, Reitlinger, “The Final Solution” p 217 f.
As carrying out these mass executions – as particularly emphasized on
page 192 of the EK 3 report cited in this indictment – had to be appropriately
planned and organized (capturing and registering the Jewish skilled labor
to be spared, their identification by appropriate paperwork and later selection,
involving the police in driving the Jews together and keeping them confined,
selecting the execution site, excavating the graves, obtaining chloride,
collecting and moving, among other things, the clothing of the executed
Jews, etc), the SD made frequent use of the assistance of the civil administration,
which was better acquainted with local conditions, so too in Lida.
Doc vol III p 193, vol 12 p 1743 (Broeker), vol 14 p 2007 (Heuser), vol
16 p 2218 (Wilke), vol 16 p 2227 f (Schlegel), vol 16 p 2231 ff (Kraft),
vol 16 p 2285 (Borrmann), vol 16 p 2314 ff (Welke), doc vol III p 197 –
199, doc vol IX p 800 ff.
Copyright © 2000 Irene Newhouse
HTML by Irene Newhouse