Hi
anyone know which SS commander was responsible for countering the incursion by the Kovpak partisan group into Galicia in February / March 1944?
bet wishes
Mike Melnyk
Kovpak partisans
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alan newark
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Re: Kovpak partisans
Alan Newark (07/11/11)
Privyet Herr Ghost
I had a dig around for you on the Kovpak / Carpathian front.
Seems that Kampfgruppe Beyersdorf was the main German force deployed to counter Kovpak’s incursion and one of many charged with military and rural security in the Galicia and Lublin districts.
Obergruppenfuhrer Wilhelm Koppe - who Yad Vashem identify as the second SS-Police leader to enforce Nazi racial policies in the Generalgovernment region, the first having been Obergruppenfuhrer Friedrich Kruger and the Governor General being, of course, Hans Frank - ordered the creation of Kampfgruppe Beyersdorf in February 1944. Its training, say sources below, began that month at Heidelager, a pivotal training base of the 14 Volunteer SS Grenadier Division.
Am confused for now because I know you as a well known author and authority on the Galicia division and because in a past Axis History forum you wrote:
‘...on 9th February 1944 HSSPf Koppe, contacted the commander of the Heidelager camp SS-Brigadeführer Voss by telephone who in turn passed on an order to the Galician Division that it was to immediately form a Kampfgruppe for Antipartisaneneinsatz (anti-partisan duties
‘It was intended to be used specifically to combat Soviet partisans of the 1st Sydir Kovpak Ukrainian Partisan Division under the command of Petro Vershigora which had penetrated the territory of the Generalgouvernement where it operated with impunity and spread fear amongst the civilian population.
‘The strength of the battle group was to be one infantry regiment and one detachment of light artillery supported by detachments of pioneers and anti-tank grenadiers.
‘The order which was ostensibly based on Himmler's personal instruction, further stipulated that the Kampfgruppe, which was to be placed under the jurisdiction of the SS and Polizei leader of the Generalgouvernement, was to be ready to march within 24 hours.
‘This unit became known as 'Kampfgruppe Beyersdorff' and was active from 16th February 1944 until 17th March 1944’....i.e. and bercause I naturally assume from this quotation that you would also know the ID of the German unit commander...
I therefore, forgive me, naturally assumed that you would know the name of the German commander...or have I missed a nuance in your question?
Three key German commanders in that Kampfgruppe were named by one website source below as:
‘The commander was the deputy commander of 14 Division, Col. Beyersdorf (deputy divisional commander for combating guerrillas)’
Sturmbannführer Bristot ( Infanterie Commander)
Sturmbannführer Mykola Palijenko (Artillerie Commander).
Two websites differ as to the ranks of Bristot and Palijenko, one giving them both the same rank of sturmbannfuhrer the other describing Bristot as a Captain and Palijenko as a major.
Many Kampfgruppe Beyersdorf soldiers may have been from the 14th Galicia Division, sic, but were, says a source below, themselves mostly ill-trained peasant Ukrainians lacking combat experience and not prepared to fight a partisan war, though some Internet forums / other Website sources repeat the claim that the Kampfgruppe, assisted by other German units in Galicia, soundly thrashed General Kovpak’s 1st Ukrainian Partisan Division and that Field Marshal Model thanked Koppe and Beyersdorf in person for their achievements.
Kampfgruppe Beyersdorf action and Intelligence reports would, if such could be found, reveal much about German methods and policies in countering Kovpak’s early-1944 expeditions into and around Galicia.
A source, below, says that the Kovpak partisan formation first appeared in Galicia in early February of 1944 in the area ‘east of Helm’.
Of the month-long Galicia anti-partisan campaign, the source says:
‘In February and March, the group took part in actions in the region Lubaczów - Bilgoraj - Zamosc - Bingley - Tarnogród - Cieszanów and in a rally against the Soviet partisans grouping Kowpaka Sidora (9 February - 9 March 1944)’. The biggest clash is said to have been around Chmielnik, where ‘several hundred’ Soviet partisans are said, by the above source, to have been routed by the otherwise not-too-successful German anti-partisan columns.
Soviet opinions about that period in Kovpak's military campaigning differ somewhat from the above claims. Aged 57 in 1944, Kovpak was an experienced commander and headed a force of over 1,500 partisans which at times included captured German tanks. He received a Hero of the Soviet Union award in 1942 and a second one, for his role and his troops performance in the Carpathian Mountains and in Galicia in Jully 1944.
According to a Wikipedia biography of Wilhelm Koppe he was born in Hildesheim, served in the First World War and from the earliest days of the Nazi regime was a steadily promoted local and regional Police and SS commander and government figure. He earned notoriety as a vigorous practitioner of Germany’s euthanasia programme and acquired concentration camp experience and experience of the mobile gassing vans programme which stood him in in good stead for his later role as a senior SS-Police official suppressing resistance and terrorising the civilian populace in Poland and Polish – West Ukraine.
Wikipeida continues:
‘On 30 January 1942 he was promoted to SS-Obergruppenführer, and in October 1943 he replaced Friedrich Wilhelm Krüger as Höhere SS und Polizeiführer in the General Government with headquarters in Kraków. He also held the position of state secretary on the issues of security (Staatssekretär für das Sicherheitswesen) in the General Government, and was involved in the operations of Chelmno extermination camp and Warsaw concentration camp as well as operations against the Polish resistance.
'He organized the execution of more than 30,000 Polish patients suffering from tuberculosis, and ordered that all male relatives of identified resistance fighters should be executed, and the rest of their family sent to concentration camps.
‘The Polish Secret State ordered his death, but an assassination attempt failed. He was wounded by Kedyw unit - Batalion Parasol in "Operation Koppe" (Akcja Koppe) part of "Operation Heads" on 11 July 1944 in Kraków.[3]
'With the Eastern Front approaching Poland, Koppe ordered all prisoners to be executed rather than freed by the Soviets.
‘In 1945 Koppe went underground and assumed an alias (Lohmann, his wife's surname) and became a director of a chocolate factory in Bonn, Germany[4]. In 1960 he was arrested but released on bail on 19 April 1962. His trial opened in 1964 in Bonn. He was accused of being accessory to the mass murder of 145,000 people.
‘The trial was adjourned due to Koppe's ill health and in 1966 the Bonn court decided not to prosecute and Koppe was released for medical reasons.[1] [5] The German government refused a Polish request for extradition. Koppe died in 1975 in Bonn’.
A volatile region, Galicia, say appended and other sources, and as you well know, but for benefit of other site users, was a ethnically, culturally and politically much divided region in 1944.
It had fiercely self-reliant and self-contained Polish-, Ukrainian-, Hungarian-, Yiddish- and Russian-speaking communities who were also subject to the parallel demands, recruitment, cruelty and depridations of nationalist fighters from the Armia Krajowa, a Polish and Polish-Ukrainian movement, and from various bands which later united and became one of various Ukrainian nationalist groups.
Chief among these being the UPA – which Kovpak-led partisan and security units also fought and which late in the war signed an alliance with the Germans against the Red Army and fought the latter war, under Soviet occupation, until the 1950’s - - and the OUN...
Kovpak’s partisans are said by various observers and critics to have ‘terrorised the local population’ while civilians were undoubtedly caught between the rock of reprisals and punitive measures by assorted partisan and underground resistance groups and the violence, oppression and torture of the German anti-partisan formations.
I will have a go at trying to dig up some operational of / regarding the Kampfgruppe Beyersdorf and some more biographical information about its commanders.
Meantime, I have below appended most source references and excerpted items regarding the above information. Hope it helps.
Alan Newark
Copyright: 07 November 2011:->
******************************************************************************************************************************
Khttp://zweiter- weltkrieg-lexikon.de/index.php/Waffen-SS/SS-Divisionen/14.-Waffen-Grenadierdivision-der-SS-Galizien.html
14 Galician SS Volunteer Division
Name during the war
April 1943: SS Volunteer Division Galicia
October 1943: 14 Galician SS Volunteer Division
July 1944: 14 Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (Galician No. 1)
Nov. 1944: 14 Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (Ukrainian No 1)
April 1945: first Division of the Ukrainian National Army
Kampfgruppe "Beyersdorf"
The battle group "Beyersdorf" was formed in early February 1944, under the command of SS-Oberguppenführer Wilhelm Koppe.
The aim of the battle group was to proceed against the marauding guerrillas of the Soviet General Kovpak. The guerrilla group of the General Kovpak was not only against the deutschn units, but also terrorized the Ukrainian civilian population. The task force consisted of a light artillery unit un your Infantry Regiment, supported by engineer units and antitank guns. Furthermore, came to a light battery with howitzers. Thus, the battle group was the Entry is mobile and well armed. The infantry units were led by Sturmbannführer Bristot artillery and land characteristics of Sturmbannführer M. Palijenko.
In the months following the battle went against the group in front of mobile guerrilla group and was supported by German police units. The result of this operation was the complete destruction of General Kovpak partisan group. Field Marshal Model, personally thanked the task force for the successful operation.
******************************************************************************************************************************http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cac ... g8qtT_008g
According to Yad Vashem, Koppe was the second SS-Police Obergruppenfuhrer to control the enforcement of Nazi racial policies in the General Government, the first such officer being Friedrich Kruger
****************************************************************************************************************************
http://wap.sspeiper.borda.ru/?1-3-40-00000007-000-0-0
Forum extract:
Snarka: Places of Interest. Generally, it is difficult to get used to this view, it is very much in conflict with the Soviet stereotypes. For example:
http://ssgalicia.onestop.net/kampfgruppen.html
KAMPFGRUPPE «BEYERSDORF» The Kampfgruppe «Beyersdorf» was formed in early February 1944 under the order of SS-Oberguppenfuehrer Wilhelm Koppe.
It was supposed to be used against marauding partisan group led by the Soviet General Kovpak. Kovpak's partisans were known to terrorise the countryside and immediate action had to be taken to protect the inhabitants of the area.
The Kampfgruppe was composed of light artillery detachment and a strong infantry regiment supported by anti-tank and engineer troops. A light howitzer battery was added making the group well armed and highly mobile. The infantry was commanded by Sturmbannfuehrer Bristot, and the artillery by Sturmbannfuehrer M. Palijenko.
For a period of one month, the battle group carried out operations against the mobile partisan bands, along with the German police and other Army units. As result the partisan band of Gen. Kovpak was fully destroyed and the Kampfgruppe was personally thanked by the Field Marshal Model for their efforts and gallantry. In general, the irony is that the Kovpak guerrillas terrorized the population and kampfgruppa division of Galicia destroyed them heroically. And saved neschastnoe population. And Field Marshal Model personally delivered them to thank for their efforts and for its chivalry.
Very similar to the typical emprise: wound up in the woods tiger who terrorized the population. A knight went into the woods and killed the lion. At the request of the workers ... Conclusion: The usual. Life is strange. It is black as soot and white as snow, but depending on your point of view, they are swapped. SHOCK.
Maurise: freethinker, the text of the oath I had somewhere. I am now if I find, then zaposchu here. redline, if you want to translate from Ukrainian - I will translate, for free do it :-) KAMPFGRUPPE «BEYERSDORF» Ooh .. battle group Beiersdorf :-) And by him I have something :-) The fact that the partisans of SA Kovpak indeed some of the ... um ... robbed rural products. It should be noted that not everywhere red partisans greeted with open arms.
Local communities are often caught between two fires: on the one hand the Germans, who just that - throw repress the other - come at night guerrillas who have to give and food, and clothing.
And again, God forbid, learn German.
In addition, the region in question is generally very difficult, politically and ethnically. In early February 1944 in the area east of Helm broke the 1st Ukrainian Partisan Division S. Kovpak.
Additionally, in the area since 1943, has intensified the Ukrainian-Polish conflict. Here troops acted AK ("Home Army") and "Battalions Hlopskih" (underground organization later became part of the AC), who robbed the local Ukrainian population and not only plundered. When arrived here yet, and Soviet partisans, the local population was quite "fun."
At the end of 1944 from the division soldiers "Galicia" formed a battle group, commanded by Major and Major N. Baersdorfa Palienko. This group, numbering about 1,000, cleared a good portion of Kholmshchyna partisans and Polish, and Soviet. By the way, this is in the memories of teammate of Kovpak, P. Vershigory ( N.B. Mike..from Alan..Vershigora was Kovpak’s Intelligence Officer).
redline: Maurise, no thanks, no need to translate. I see you have a lot of things have to Ukrainian formations. It is commendable that people are engaged in an interesting topic and gather information, including from primary sources.
******************************************************************************************************************************
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... 1&t=152479 V. Confirmation of the Existence of a 31st SD Punitive Detachment
Forum exceprt:
One of Littman's more controversial allegations is that members of the 14th SS, while serving in other units prior to their posting to the Galicia division, committed war crimes. He cites as one example the existence of the "31st SD Punitive Detachment." Crossing referencing Littman's work with other published sources, this is what I found:
31st SD Punitive Detachment
aka 31. Schutzmannschafts-Bataillon der SD
aka UKRAINIAN SELF-DEFENSE(see note 10, below) LEGION
aka VOLYN BATTALION
Littman mentions the following about this unit
Privyet Herr Ghost
I had a dig around for you on the Kovpak / Carpathian front.
Seems that Kampfgruppe Beyersdorf was the main German force deployed to counter Kovpak’s incursion and one of many charged with military and rural security in the Galicia and Lublin districts.
Obergruppenfuhrer Wilhelm Koppe - who Yad Vashem identify as the second SS-Police leader to enforce Nazi racial policies in the Generalgovernment region, the first having been Obergruppenfuhrer Friedrich Kruger and the Governor General being, of course, Hans Frank - ordered the creation of Kampfgruppe Beyersdorf in February 1944. Its training, say sources below, began that month at Heidelager, a pivotal training base of the 14 Volunteer SS Grenadier Division.
Am confused for now because I know you as a well known author and authority on the Galicia division and because in a past Axis History forum you wrote:
‘...on 9th February 1944 HSSPf Koppe, contacted the commander of the Heidelager camp SS-Brigadeführer Voss by telephone who in turn passed on an order to the Galician Division that it was to immediately form a Kampfgruppe for Antipartisaneneinsatz (anti-partisan duties
‘It was intended to be used specifically to combat Soviet partisans of the 1st Sydir Kovpak Ukrainian Partisan Division under the command of Petro Vershigora which had penetrated the territory of the Generalgouvernement where it operated with impunity and spread fear amongst the civilian population.
‘The strength of the battle group was to be one infantry regiment and one detachment of light artillery supported by detachments of pioneers and anti-tank grenadiers.
‘The order which was ostensibly based on Himmler's personal instruction, further stipulated that the Kampfgruppe, which was to be placed under the jurisdiction of the SS and Polizei leader of the Generalgouvernement, was to be ready to march within 24 hours.
‘This unit became known as 'Kampfgruppe Beyersdorff' and was active from 16th February 1944 until 17th March 1944’....i.e. and bercause I naturally assume from this quotation that you would also know the ID of the German unit commander...
I therefore, forgive me, naturally assumed that you would know the name of the German commander...or have I missed a nuance in your question?
Three key German commanders in that Kampfgruppe were named by one website source below as:
‘The commander was the deputy commander of 14 Division, Col. Beyersdorf (deputy divisional commander for combating guerrillas)’
Sturmbannführer Bristot ( Infanterie Commander)
Sturmbannführer Mykola Palijenko (Artillerie Commander).
Two websites differ as to the ranks of Bristot and Palijenko, one giving them both the same rank of sturmbannfuhrer the other describing Bristot as a Captain and Palijenko as a major.
Many Kampfgruppe Beyersdorf soldiers may have been from the 14th Galicia Division, sic, but were, says a source below, themselves mostly ill-trained peasant Ukrainians lacking combat experience and not prepared to fight a partisan war, though some Internet forums / other Website sources repeat the claim that the Kampfgruppe, assisted by other German units in Galicia, soundly thrashed General Kovpak’s 1st Ukrainian Partisan Division and that Field Marshal Model thanked Koppe and Beyersdorf in person for their achievements.
Kampfgruppe Beyersdorf action and Intelligence reports would, if such could be found, reveal much about German methods and policies in countering Kovpak’s early-1944 expeditions into and around Galicia.
A source, below, says that the Kovpak partisan formation first appeared in Galicia in early February of 1944 in the area ‘east of Helm’.
Of the month-long Galicia anti-partisan campaign, the source says:
‘In February and March, the group took part in actions in the region Lubaczów - Bilgoraj - Zamosc - Bingley - Tarnogród - Cieszanów and in a rally against the Soviet partisans grouping Kowpaka Sidora (9 February - 9 March 1944)’. The biggest clash is said to have been around Chmielnik, where ‘several hundred’ Soviet partisans are said, by the above source, to have been routed by the otherwise not-too-successful German anti-partisan columns.
Soviet opinions about that period in Kovpak's military campaigning differ somewhat from the above claims. Aged 57 in 1944, Kovpak was an experienced commander and headed a force of over 1,500 partisans which at times included captured German tanks. He received a Hero of the Soviet Union award in 1942 and a second one, for his role and his troops performance in the Carpathian Mountains and in Galicia in Jully 1944.
According to a Wikipedia biography of Wilhelm Koppe he was born in Hildesheim, served in the First World War and from the earliest days of the Nazi regime was a steadily promoted local and regional Police and SS commander and government figure. He earned notoriety as a vigorous practitioner of Germany’s euthanasia programme and acquired concentration camp experience and experience of the mobile gassing vans programme which stood him in in good stead for his later role as a senior SS-Police official suppressing resistance and terrorising the civilian populace in Poland and Polish – West Ukraine.
Wikipeida continues:
‘On 30 January 1942 he was promoted to SS-Obergruppenführer, and in October 1943 he replaced Friedrich Wilhelm Krüger as Höhere SS und Polizeiführer in the General Government with headquarters in Kraków. He also held the position of state secretary on the issues of security (Staatssekretär für das Sicherheitswesen) in the General Government, and was involved in the operations of Chelmno extermination camp and Warsaw concentration camp as well as operations against the Polish resistance.
'He organized the execution of more than 30,000 Polish patients suffering from tuberculosis, and ordered that all male relatives of identified resistance fighters should be executed, and the rest of their family sent to concentration camps.
‘The Polish Secret State ordered his death, but an assassination attempt failed. He was wounded by Kedyw unit - Batalion Parasol in "Operation Koppe" (Akcja Koppe) part of "Operation Heads" on 11 July 1944 in Kraków.[3]
'With the Eastern Front approaching Poland, Koppe ordered all prisoners to be executed rather than freed by the Soviets.
‘In 1945 Koppe went underground and assumed an alias (Lohmann, his wife's surname) and became a director of a chocolate factory in Bonn, Germany[4]. In 1960 he was arrested but released on bail on 19 April 1962. His trial opened in 1964 in Bonn. He was accused of being accessory to the mass murder of 145,000 people.
‘The trial was adjourned due to Koppe's ill health and in 1966 the Bonn court decided not to prosecute and Koppe was released for medical reasons.[1] [5] The German government refused a Polish request for extradition. Koppe died in 1975 in Bonn’.
A volatile region, Galicia, say appended and other sources, and as you well know, but for benefit of other site users, was a ethnically, culturally and politically much divided region in 1944.
It had fiercely self-reliant and self-contained Polish-, Ukrainian-, Hungarian-, Yiddish- and Russian-speaking communities who were also subject to the parallel demands, recruitment, cruelty and depridations of nationalist fighters from the Armia Krajowa, a Polish and Polish-Ukrainian movement, and from various bands which later united and became one of various Ukrainian nationalist groups.
Chief among these being the UPA – which Kovpak-led partisan and security units also fought and which late in the war signed an alliance with the Germans against the Red Army and fought the latter war, under Soviet occupation, until the 1950’s - - and the OUN...
Kovpak’s partisans are said by various observers and critics to have ‘terrorised the local population’ while civilians were undoubtedly caught between the rock of reprisals and punitive measures by assorted partisan and underground resistance groups and the violence, oppression and torture of the German anti-partisan formations.
I will have a go at trying to dig up some operational of / regarding the Kampfgruppe Beyersdorf and some more biographical information about its commanders.
Meantime, I have below appended most source references and excerpted items regarding the above information. Hope it helps.
Alan Newark
Copyright: 07 November 2011:->
******************************************************************************************************************************
Khttp://zweiter- weltkrieg-lexikon.de/index.php/Waffen-SS/SS-Divisionen/14.-Waffen-Grenadierdivision-der-SS-Galizien.html
14 Galician SS Volunteer Division
Name during the war
April 1943: SS Volunteer Division Galicia
October 1943: 14 Galician SS Volunteer Division
July 1944: 14 Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (Galician No. 1)
Nov. 1944: 14 Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (Ukrainian No 1)
April 1945: first Division of the Ukrainian National Army
Kampfgruppe "Beyersdorf"
The battle group "Beyersdorf" was formed in early February 1944, under the command of SS-Oberguppenführer Wilhelm Koppe.
The aim of the battle group was to proceed against the marauding guerrillas of the Soviet General Kovpak. The guerrilla group of the General Kovpak was not only against the deutschn units, but also terrorized the Ukrainian civilian population. The task force consisted of a light artillery unit un your Infantry Regiment, supported by engineer units and antitank guns. Furthermore, came to a light battery with howitzers. Thus, the battle group was the Entry is mobile and well armed. The infantry units were led by Sturmbannführer Bristot artillery and land characteristics of Sturmbannführer M. Palijenko.
In the months following the battle went against the group in front of mobile guerrilla group and was supported by German police units. The result of this operation was the complete destruction of General Kovpak partisan group. Field Marshal Model, personally thanked the task force for the successful operation.
******************************************************************************************************************************http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cac ... g8qtT_008g
According to Yad Vashem, Koppe was the second SS-Police Obergruppenfuhrer to control the enforcement of Nazi racial policies in the General Government, the first such officer being Friedrich Kruger
****************************************************************************************************************************
http://wap.sspeiper.borda.ru/?1-3-40-00000007-000-0-0
Forum extract:
Snarka: Places of Interest. Generally, it is difficult to get used to this view, it is very much in conflict with the Soviet stereotypes. For example:
http://ssgalicia.onestop.net/kampfgruppen.html
KAMPFGRUPPE «BEYERSDORF» The Kampfgruppe «Beyersdorf» was formed in early February 1944 under the order of SS-Oberguppenfuehrer Wilhelm Koppe.
It was supposed to be used against marauding partisan group led by the Soviet General Kovpak. Kovpak's partisans were known to terrorise the countryside and immediate action had to be taken to protect the inhabitants of the area.
The Kampfgruppe was composed of light artillery detachment and a strong infantry regiment supported by anti-tank and engineer troops. A light howitzer battery was added making the group well armed and highly mobile. The infantry was commanded by Sturmbannfuehrer Bristot, and the artillery by Sturmbannfuehrer M. Palijenko.
For a period of one month, the battle group carried out operations against the mobile partisan bands, along with the German police and other Army units. As result the partisan band of Gen. Kovpak was fully destroyed and the Kampfgruppe was personally thanked by the Field Marshal Model for their efforts and gallantry. In general, the irony is that the Kovpak guerrillas terrorized the population and kampfgruppa division of Galicia destroyed them heroically. And saved neschastnoe population. And Field Marshal Model personally delivered them to thank for their efforts and for its chivalry.
Very similar to the typical emprise: wound up in the woods tiger who terrorized the population. A knight went into the woods and killed the lion. At the request of the workers ... Conclusion: The usual. Life is strange. It is black as soot and white as snow, but depending on your point of view, they are swapped. SHOCK.
Maurise: freethinker, the text of the oath I had somewhere. I am now if I find, then zaposchu here. redline, if you want to translate from Ukrainian - I will translate, for free do it :-) KAMPFGRUPPE «BEYERSDORF» Ooh .. battle group Beiersdorf :-) And by him I have something :-) The fact that the partisans of SA Kovpak indeed some of the ... um ... robbed rural products. It should be noted that not everywhere red partisans greeted with open arms.
Local communities are often caught between two fires: on the one hand the Germans, who just that - throw repress the other - come at night guerrillas who have to give and food, and clothing.
And again, God forbid, learn German.
In addition, the region in question is generally very difficult, politically and ethnically. In early February 1944 in the area east of Helm broke the 1st Ukrainian Partisan Division S. Kovpak.
Additionally, in the area since 1943, has intensified the Ukrainian-Polish conflict. Here troops acted AK ("Home Army") and "Battalions Hlopskih" (underground organization later became part of the AC), who robbed the local Ukrainian population and not only plundered. When arrived here yet, and Soviet partisans, the local population was quite "fun."
At the end of 1944 from the division soldiers "Galicia" formed a battle group, commanded by Major and Major N. Baersdorfa Palienko. This group, numbering about 1,000, cleared a good portion of Kholmshchyna partisans and Polish, and Soviet. By the way, this is in the memories of teammate of Kovpak, P. Vershigory ( N.B. Mike..from Alan..Vershigora was Kovpak’s Intelligence Officer).
redline: Maurise, no thanks, no need to translate. I see you have a lot of things have to Ukrainian formations. It is commendable that people are engaged in an interesting topic and gather information, including from primary sources.
******************************************************************************************************************************
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... 1&t=152479 V. Confirmation of the Existence of a 31st SD Punitive Detachment
Forum exceprt:
One of Littman's more controversial allegations is that members of the 14th SS, while serving in other units prior to their posting to the Galicia division, committed war crimes. He cites as one example the existence of the "31st SD Punitive Detachment." Crossing referencing Littman's work with other published sources, this is what I found:
31st SD Punitive Detachment
aka 31. Schutzmannschafts-Bataillon der SD
aka UKRAINIAN SELF-DEFENSE(see note 10, below) LEGION
aka VOLYN BATTALION
Littman mentions the following about this unit
- * Filled with OUM-M members (see 1, below)
* First CO was Hauptsturmfuhrer Assmus, (see 2, below) KIA by Polish partisans between Volhynia & Krakhov
* Second CO Major Ewald Biegelmeyer
* Absorbed the Chelm Self Defense Unit and Police Battalion 207 (see 3, below)
* Ukrainian Chief of Staff Col. Pyotr Dyachenko (see 4, below)
* Dec 1943 Unit participated in massacre of Pidhaitsi & Lutsk ghetto (see 5, below)
* March 1944: May have operated with 14th SS KG Beyersdorff (see 6, below)
* May have participated in the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising (see 7, below)
* Feb/March 1945 May have been incorporated into the 14th SS (see 8, below) where Dyachenko became a regimental officer (see 9, below)- Footnotes:
6. Logusz documents the formation and deployment of KG Beyersdorff
N.B.:...entry by A.N., (Michael Logusz's Galicia Division (Schiffer Military History, 2000)
***************************************************************************************************************************
http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grupa_Bojowa_SS_Beyersdorf
Mark Jasiak - "The position and fate of the Ukrainians in the General Government (excluding Galicia) during the German occupation," in:
"Poland-Ukraine. Difficult Questions", Volume 4, ISBN 83-908944-4-4
SS Battle Group "Beyersdorf" (German SS Kampfgruppe "Beyersdorf") - a group fighting for special tasks, formed in early February 1944 at a training camp Heidelager of Ukrainian volunteers, aimed at training 14 SS Grenadier Division .
Was formed on the SS-Obergruppenführer Wilhelm Koppe . Her task was to combat the guerrillas on the border of Galicia district and the Lublin District of the General Government and Reichskommissariat Ukraine .
Group consisted of about 2,000 soldiers, consisted of a single extended Squadron of the two battalions of infantry, light artillery squadron, plutonium bomb, antitank artillery platoon, group communication and taborowego branch, a total of about 2,000 soldiers. The commander was the deputy commander of 14 Division, Col. Beyersdorf (deputy divisional commander for combating guerrillas), commander of the infantry captain. Bristot, artillery commander, Major Mykola Palijenko .
In February and March, the group took part in the action in the region przeciwpartyzanckiej Lubaczów - Bilgoraj - Zamosc - Bingley - Tarnogród - Cieszanów and rally against the Soviet partisans grouping Kowpaka Sidora (9 February - 9 March 1944).
Beyersdorf Group was not prepared to act Counterinsurgency, consisted mainly of Ukrainian recruits with no experience of combat. The group consisted mostly of marches in the footsteps of the retreating guerrillas. To the only major clash took place near the village of Chmielnik, where the group broke up several hundred Soviet partisans, however, incurring large losses.
The group was disbanded 30 March 1944 , and the soldiers returned to their home 14 Division.
[ edit ] Literature
• Mark Jasiak - "The position and fate of the Ukrainians in the General Government (excluding Galicia) during the German occupation," in: "Poland-Ukraine. Difficult Questions", Volume 4, ISBN 83-908944-4-4
Categories :
• Battle Groups
• 14 SS Grenadier Division
******************************************************************************************************************************
http://atethepaint.blogspot.com/2010/04 ... n-war.html
Alan Newark (07/11/1)
Hi...
Excellent, very interesting and informative site.
My pet topic is the 1945 mutiny and partisan campaign on the Dutch island of Texel by the Wehrmacht's 822nd Georgia Infanterie Battallion.. the June 1945 evacuation of the Georgian survivors to Wilhelmshaven and their subsequent August 1945 repatriation, via East Germany to Soviet custody (all help offered willingly and warmly accepted; reciprocal help guaranteed.
Today, I am also interested, helping an associate, in information about the 1st Ukrainian Partisan Division force under General Kovpak which in early 1944 entered Galicia and was subjected to a month-long campaign of German counter-partisan activity led by the Kampfgruppe Beyersdorf of the 14th Galicia SS Volunteer Division.
Information about partisan and German operations in that campaign, with special focus on Soviet and German commanders and German units, would be especially welcomed.
I hope that someone can help my searches and again say Well Done on a good site well produced.
Poka
Alan Newark ([email protected])
- Footnotes:
www.dpcamps.org (1st Vice-President)
Re: Kovpak partisans
Hello Alan,
I must complement you on such a detailed and informative reply. It is a great pity that despite being so well written and composed with references to some excellent detailed accounts, my question remains unanswered.
During my 15 years of research on the Galician Div for my first book I exhausted every known source to answer that question. Since the publication of my book in 2002 and my continuing work on my second more detailed study of the Galician div, now in progress, I have once again drawn a blank.
The activities of KGr Beyersdorff were well known to me when I published my first book from the following 3 sources:
German documents including the daily situation reports from the locailty in which the unit operated
interviews with veterans of the unit
reference material including various published accounts of participants
Since that time I have obtained additional documents from archives in Ukraine and additional hitherto unknown first had accounts from participants inlcuding from Beyersdorff's personal aid, but I am none the wiser. I have tried further soruces in Poland, Ukraine, Germany and the US but to no avail. I need a name.
The only thing I know for sure is that overal direction of the campaign was the "resposibility of a Polizei general who was based in Peremyshl".
And there is the rub. I cannot find out who was based in Peremyshyl at that time. Koppe? Prutzmann? it could have been either or maybe someone else.
Once again, you have obvioulsy put a lot of time and effort into your post which would be of considerable value to anyone wishing to acquaint themselves with the topic. any more thoughts I would be delighted to read them
my very best wishes
Mike Melnyk
I must complement you on such a detailed and informative reply. It is a great pity that despite being so well written and composed with references to some excellent detailed accounts, my question remains unanswered.
During my 15 years of research on the Galician Div for my first book I exhausted every known source to answer that question. Since the publication of my book in 2002 and my continuing work on my second more detailed study of the Galician div, now in progress, I have once again drawn a blank.
The activities of KGr Beyersdorff were well known to me when I published my first book from the following 3 sources:
German documents including the daily situation reports from the locailty in which the unit operated
interviews with veterans of the unit
reference material including various published accounts of participants
Since that time I have obtained additional documents from archives in Ukraine and additional hitherto unknown first had accounts from participants inlcuding from Beyersdorff's personal aid, but I am none the wiser. I have tried further soruces in Poland, Ukraine, Germany and the US but to no avail. I need a name.
The only thing I know for sure is that overal direction of the campaign was the "resposibility of a Polizei general who was based in Peremyshl".
And there is the rub. I cannot find out who was based in Peremyshyl at that time. Koppe? Prutzmann? it could have been either or maybe someone else.
Once again, you have obvioulsy put a lot of time and effort into your post which would be of considerable value to anyone wishing to acquaint themselves with the topic. any more thoughts I would be delighted to read them
my very best wishes
Mike Melnyk
-
alan newark
- Supporter
- Posts: 161
- Joined: Fri Nov 15, 2002 9:00 am
- Location: England, UK
- Contact:
Re: Kovpak partisans
Dear Mike
Many thanks for your own response and for the kind words therein. Bless and muchos gracias. Appreciated.
I must also apologise for the delay in replying. Thought I had replied earlier but must have got distracted by my continuing efforts to find info of use to your search. Apologies.
Below are the reply of David Hogan, Editor of The Holocaust Chronicle, and a copy of the relevant section of my reply to his message.
As my reply to him shows, I have steadily plodded on on your behalf and, if only to educate myself , i.e. you might already have exhausted these, have sought to identify / will develop and explore local and regional sources about any senior German Police commanders during Peremyshyl's 1944 German occupation era.
That is, of course, if you wish me to do so...
A follow-up message coming...
Best...Al:->
************************************************************************************************************************
To: [email protected]
Subject: Holocaust Chronicle query
From: [email protected]
Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:26:40 -0600
Dear Mr. Newark--
Unable to answer your query regarding Pereshemyl.
Suggest you contact the USHMM in Washington.
Sincerely,
David J. Hogan
Editor-in-Chief, The Holocaust Chronicle
************************************************************************************************************************
Hi, David
Many thanks for your reply and the USHMM suggestion. Well done on your Soviet partisans' site /pages.
I ran a search of the USHMM archives and nothing of any immediate use emerged but once I entered the town's previously - noted Polish name a few general entries popped up and I was able to follow various trails which led to a site which in turn led me, through judicious key-word selection, to a site about the town under Soviet and German occupation.
Nothing on that site about 1944 Police generals in the town or any refs to the early-1944 anti - Kovpak partisans / 1st Ukrainian Partisan Division operations in the region.
However, there are lots of refs to earlier German (sic) Police, Sipo-SD, SS ,GPK formations and personnel, with refs to Kracow HQs, etc., which should help narrow the field further.
With the help of my Rough Guide to Poland I have identified the location of the town's Regional Museum and am now trawling for Museum and further local / regional contact details.
So..thank you for the tip and maybe I will find what author Mike Melnyk is looking for.
Alan Newark
34 Rossefield Parade
Leeds
West Yorkshire
LS13 3RW
England - UK
Correct contact details:
Tel: +44 (0)113 2177333
Mobile: +44 (0)7927695640
E-mail: [email protected]
CC: [email protected]
Many thanks for your own response and for the kind words therein. Bless and muchos gracias. Appreciated.
I must also apologise for the delay in replying. Thought I had replied earlier but must have got distracted by my continuing efforts to find info of use to your search. Apologies.
Below are the reply of David Hogan, Editor of The Holocaust Chronicle, and a copy of the relevant section of my reply to his message.
As my reply to him shows, I have steadily plodded on on your behalf and, if only to educate myself , i.e. you might already have exhausted these, have sought to identify / will develop and explore local and regional sources about any senior German Police commanders during Peremyshyl's 1944 German occupation era.
That is, of course, if you wish me to do so...
A follow-up message coming...
Best...Al:->
************************************************************************************************************************
To: [email protected]
Subject: Holocaust Chronicle query
From: [email protected]
Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:26:40 -0600
Dear Mr. Newark--
Unable to answer your query regarding Pereshemyl.
Suggest you contact the USHMM in Washington.
Sincerely,
David J. Hogan
Editor-in-Chief, The Holocaust Chronicle
************************************************************************************************************************
Hi, David
Many thanks for your reply and the USHMM suggestion. Well done on your Soviet partisans' site /pages.
I ran a search of the USHMM archives and nothing of any immediate use emerged but once I entered the town's previously - noted Polish name a few general entries popped up and I was able to follow various trails which led to a site which in turn led me, through judicious key-word selection, to a site about the town under Soviet and German occupation.
Nothing on that site about 1944 Police generals in the town or any refs to the early-1944 anti - Kovpak partisans / 1st Ukrainian Partisan Division operations in the region.
However, there are lots of refs to earlier German (sic) Police, Sipo-SD, SS ,GPK formations and personnel, with refs to Kracow HQs, etc., which should help narrow the field further.
With the help of my Rough Guide to Poland I have identified the location of the town's Regional Museum and am now trawling for Museum and further local / regional contact details.
So..thank you for the tip and maybe I will find what author Mike Melnyk is looking for.
Alan Newark
34 Rossefield Parade
Leeds
West Yorkshire
LS13 3RW
England - UK
Correct contact details:
Tel: +44 (0)113 2177333
Mobile: +44 (0)7927695640
E-mail: [email protected]
CC: [email protected]
www.dpcamps.org (1st Vice-President)
Re: Kovpak partisans
. 
best wishes
Mike MelnykHello Alan
once again thank you for the reply. To my mind this is exactly what forums like this should be for - pooling resources and answering questions.
Earlier this year I finally definitively resolved after 15 years, a similar question that hitherto no one could answer so the chances of me striking lucky with this one must be slim. 2 questions answered in one year would be a tall order!
I shall continue to look as I always do and any light you can throw on the subject would certainly help. There must be others with related interests who would find this info useful and informative, but I won't hold my breath
best wishes
Mike MelnykHello Alan
once again thank you for the reply. To my mind this is exactly what forums like this should be for - pooling resources and answering questions.
Earlier this year I finally definitively resolved after 15 years, a similar question that hitherto no one could answer so the chances of me striking lucky with this one must be slim. 2 questions answered in one year would be a tall order!
I shall continue to look as I always do and any light you can throw on the subject would certainly help. There must be others with related interests who would find this info useful and informative, but I won't hold my breath
-
alan newark
- Supporter
- Posts: 161
- Joined: Fri Nov 15, 2002 9:00 am
- Location: England, UK
- Contact:
Re: Kovpak partisans
Mike
Na zhdarovye
Two questions answered in a year WOULD be a good outcome, I agree.
Meantime, on the Russian version of Wikipedia I found the following refs to books/films written and produced by Veshigora, Kovpak's, as we know, Deputy Commander and Chief Intelligence Officer...who himself became a Major-General in 1944 and was that year also awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union medal.
I will have my Moscow reseaux, :->, check them out. You might want to do same same. The titles might have the answer to your question:
Extract from ru.wikipedia's bio piece about P.P. Veshigra:
'.. a documentary novel, "People with a clear conscience" ( 1946 ). Despite the fact that the book won an award, and later, under pressure from critics, the author had to subject it to processing in the spirit of the semi-official view of the war ( 1951 ).
The book "People of good conscience," which has been repeatedly praised. V. A. Kaverin , offers in its original wording, "an interesting and apparently authentic story» (Struve) on the fighting in the enemy rear. Tale, sustained as a first-person narrative, in its time was very popular, due to tension and stylistic clarity, it belongs to the part of Soviet literature on the war, which is taken seriously. In the revised version of some parts of the story - especially about planlessness guerrilla actions - acquire a completely opposite meaning. [4]
Author of "War creativity of the masses" ( 1961 ) on the history of the partisan movement and co-author of "Guerrilla Raids" ( 1962 ).
"Carpathian Raid" ( 1950 ) and "Raid on the San and the Vistula" ( 1959 ) was the final book of the epic "People with a clean conscience."
In 1960 published a collection of short stories, "Ivan-hero" in 1962 - the novel "sweet home".
In 1980 based on his "guerrilla" works was postalen film " From Bug to the Vistula "(starring - Mihai Volontir )'.
Hope above opens a new trail for you.
Poka, Al :->
Na zhdarovye
Two questions answered in a year WOULD be a good outcome, I agree.
Meantime, on the Russian version of Wikipedia I found the following refs to books/films written and produced by Veshigora, Kovpak's, as we know, Deputy Commander and Chief Intelligence Officer...who himself became a Major-General in 1944 and was that year also awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union medal.
I will have my Moscow reseaux, :->, check them out. You might want to do same same. The titles might have the answer to your question:
Extract from ru.wikipedia's bio piece about P.P. Veshigra:
'.. a documentary novel, "People with a clear conscience" ( 1946 ). Despite the fact that the book won an award, and later, under pressure from critics, the author had to subject it to processing in the spirit of the semi-official view of the war ( 1951 ).
The book "People of good conscience," which has been repeatedly praised. V. A. Kaverin , offers in its original wording, "an interesting and apparently authentic story» (Struve) on the fighting in the enemy rear. Tale, sustained as a first-person narrative, in its time was very popular, due to tension and stylistic clarity, it belongs to the part of Soviet literature on the war, which is taken seriously. In the revised version of some parts of the story - especially about planlessness guerrilla actions - acquire a completely opposite meaning. [4]
Author of "War creativity of the masses" ( 1961 ) on the history of the partisan movement and co-author of "Guerrilla Raids" ( 1962 ).
"Carpathian Raid" ( 1950 ) and "Raid on the San and the Vistula" ( 1959 ) was the final book of the epic "People with a clean conscience."
In 1960 published a collection of short stories, "Ivan-hero" in 1962 - the novel "sweet home".
In 1980 based on his "guerrilla" works was postalen film " From Bug to the Vistula "(starring - Mihai Volontir )'.
Hope above opens a new trail for you.
Poka, Al :->
www.dpcamps.org (1st Vice-President)
-
alan newark
- Supporter
- Posts: 161
- Joined: Fri Nov 15, 2002 9:00 am
- Location: England, UK
- Contact:
Re: Kovpak partisans AND ? [b]Ukrainian Defense Battalions[/b]
Unusually detailed short article, machine translation, about: Ukrainian Defense Battalions
(All info and views welcomed...Also, were any of these generally used by SS/Waffen-SS or, specifically, were any of the security regiments used by 14th SS Galicia Division's 'Kampfgruppe Beyersdorf' in its Feb-March 1944 ops against 1st Ukrainian Partisan Division, especially around Peremyshl area of Polish Eastern Galicia?; A.N.)[/b]
*****************************************************************************************************************************
From: http://www.eurasia.com
Ukrainian Defense Battalions
Ukrainian Battalion was the name given to the first local security force in Ukraine during the Second World War as a military unit in support of the Axis.
BACKGROUND
Ukrainian Battalion history dates back well before the occupation of Ukraine by the Axis.
During the Polish campaign in 1939, had already participated in several Ukrainian nationalist Polish Galicia, who gave very good results to the Third Reich military. When in 1941 the independent Ukraine, represented by the Union of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), realized that the war between the Axis led by Germany and the Soviet Union was inevitable, contacted Berlin to offer assistance.
Adolf Hitler, more favorable to the incorporation of Ukraine as a colony of the Reich, broken at first aid. But many German commanders knew it would be very necessary, so that the Secret Service (Abwehr), gave its own authorization. Recruitment into the Ukrainian areas of Poland occupied by the Government General, which conducted the commander Erwin Scholtz Brandenburg Regiment. Ukrainians gathered 15,000 volunteers fall within the Battalion Nachtigall and Roland Battalion.
There was also a group of guerrillas who were fighting at that time in the Soviet rear Volhynia and Polesie. The Abwehr was quick to recruit for their cause. The name of this organization was Polesiano Sich, who headed Taras Borovets with more than 10,000 troops Ukrainians.
Instruction is conducted in different places. Nachtigall Battalion was at Neuhammer, Silesia. The Battalion did in Saubersdorf Roland, near Vienna in Austria. The Sich Polesiano, Germanic still out of reach to be in Soviet territory, was composed virtually the 213th German Security Division.
On June 18, 1942 was declared the overall movilizanción Ukrainian nationalist forces, which left Germany en route to the border with the Soviet Union. Nachtigall Battalion integrated into the 1st German Mountain Division, was transported to Pantalowice in the General Government of Poland and then to Radymno. Roland Battalion was located in Romania's ally in the German Army XI.
Counting forces Nachtigall and Roland battalions plus Polesiano Sich, the Ukrainians that participate in Operation Barbarossa, amounted to 25,000 men, and that without interpreters, consultants, reporters, messengers and porters who were already part of the German Army .
Operation Barbarossa
On June 22, 1941, the two battalions Nachtigall and Roland Ukrainians crossed the border with the Soviet Union from Poland and Romania, just while the Sich Polesiano launched an intensive guerrilla campaign in the rear.
A special mission of infiltration have to make the Roland Battalion. Ukrainian soldiers in German uniforms crossed the enemy's rear and slipped behind the retreating Red Army. Germans dresses mingled with the Russians, which obviously attracted the attention of a Soviet officer asked why they wore those clothes. As they were Russian-speaking Ukrainians and a perfect excuse themselves by saying they were a special detachment of the NKVD to infiltrate the German lines, but with the chaos they had given orders to withdraw. He believed it and left them alone. Walking with the Soviet column, surprisingly ended up in the fortified town of Przemsyl, its original purpose. In when the doors were closed Ukrainian nationalists drew their weapons and began firing at the crowd all desprevinidos Soviet soldiers. Przemsyl nationalists fell, causing the Russians to surrender.
For taking the city of Lvov, the Ukrainian Nachtigall Battalion did something similar. But this time received no orders from the Germans, since these were advanced to take the city, because the Soviet NKVD was emptying prisons and prisoners running in droves to Ukrainian politicians. Nachtigall Battalion Lvov could enter without problems defeating the Soviet garrison weak. But what his eyes saw was regrettable, had arrived late, because the prison had been emptied and 4,000 corpses lay murdered.
The day after Operation Barbarossa, the June 23, the Roland Battalion established a bridgehead on the River San and progressed through Bessarabia towards Tiraspol. One of the last actions of these volunteers was cleaning it made two battalions in the woods near Tarnopol and Vinnitsa.
The performance of Polesiano Sich was also spotless. As the Germans advanced fighting the Red Army, the Ukrainian Sich Polesiano finished with the laggards and partisans in the two regions of Volhynia and Polesie whole.
A problem they had is that Ukrainian units exceeded their functions. From June 30 to July 12, the Battalion Nachtigall Lvov proclaimed Ukraine's independence, something that did not please the Germans, the Ukrainians forced to disband and give up his political instigator, Yaroslav Stetsko. Furthermore, in November 1941, the Sich Polesiano authorized the independence of the Republic of Olveks, who suffered the same fate as its predecessor. These events forced the Germans to dissolve all Ukrainian formations in the Eastern Front and to send to the headquarters in Frankfurt and the Oder River in Germany.
Ukrainian Battalions
Officially, November 6, 1941, Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler approved the project to create the Ukrainian Defense Battalion (Bataillon Ukranische Schumannschaft) and police regiments (Polizei Regiment Schutzen).
Following the breakdown of Roland and Nachtigall Battalions plus Polesiano Sich, the majority of its members were framed in the new Ukrainian Defense Battalions. The recruitment was intensive throughout Ukraine, it was propaganda to recruit Ukrainians in Kiev, Kharkov, Zhitomir, Nikolaev, Simferopol, Stalin, Rostov, Volhynia, Dnipropetrovsk and Chernigov. Because of the German Governor in Ukraine, Erich Koch, the recruitment could have been more numerous, but much reduced antiucraniana political volunteering. Still enrolled a total of 70,759 Ukrainians as police and gendarmes.
Groups:
Kiev group = 13 016 (3552 policemen and gendarmes 9464)
Volhynia Group = 11 870 (2317 policemen and gendarmes 9553)
Stalino Group = 10,200 (3,000 police and 7,200 gendarmes)
Group Dnienpropetrovsk = 7886 (886 officers and 7,000 gendarmes)
Group Simferopol = 7.114 (679 policemen and gendarmes 6468)
Group Chernigov = 6147 (1 733 policemen and gendarmes 4414)
Group Zhitomir = 5682 (538 policemen and gendarmes 5114)
Group Nikolayev = 5646 (700 policemen and gendarmes 4946)
Rostov Group = 1,800 (1,500 officers and 300 gendarmes)
Group Kharkov = 1366 (761 officers and 605 gendarmes)
Total = 70 759 (15 666 policemen and gendarmes 48,764)
Defensive battalions:
Kiev = 112/113/114/115/116/117/118/119/120/121 Battalion Group
Volhynia = 101/102/103/104/105/106/107 Battalion Group
Stalino = 157/158/159/160/161/162/163/164/165 Battalion Group
Battalion Group Dnienpropetrovsk = 129/130/131
Simferopol = 147/148/149/150/151/152/153/154/155/156 Battalion Group
Chernigov = 136/137/138/139/140 Battalion Group
Zhitomir = 108/109/110 Battalion Group
Nikolayev = 122/123/124 Battalion Group
Rostov = 166/167/168/169 Battalion Group
Kharkov = 143/144/145/146 Battalion Group
Police Regiments:
31 th Regiment of Police "Schutzen Polizei Regiment 31 / Milizia Regime 31"
32 th Regiment of Police "Schutzen Polizei Regiment 32 / Milizia Regime 32"
33 th Regiment of Police "Schutzen Polizei Regiment 33 / Milizia Regime 33"
34 th Regiment of Police "Schutzen Polizei Regiment 34 / Milizia Regime 34"
35 th Regiment of Police "Schutzen Polizei Regiment 35 / Milizia Regime 35"
36 th Regiment of Police "Schutzen Polizei Regiment 36 / Milizia Regime 36"
37 th Regiment of Police "Schutzen Polizei Regiment 37 / Milizia Regime 37"
The uniform of the members of the Ukrainian Defense Battalion was made with old clothes black clothing German National Socialist Party (NSDAP), which added a neck cuff and dark green. On aplatanado caps carried the Ukrainian trident emblem patch on his left arm a swastika with the words "Treu Gehorsan Tapies (Leal, Bravo Compliant)." As a combat uniform for the volunteers used the classic green-gray German campaign with Ukrainian nationalist symbolism.
The primary mission of which is blamed Ukrainian Defense Battalions was the custodian and maintenance of the railway line between Kiev and Kharkov, ie, nearly 1,400 miles where they had to fight from 1942 to 1943 against Communist partisans. Also did security work in the cities and towns, and the police control of some villages suspected. Another important action of the Ukrainian Defense Battalion's contribution was a victory over the Bolsheviks in Sidor Kovpak guerrillas in Galicia during the summer of 1943.
(All info and views welcomed...Also, were any of these generally used by SS/Waffen-SS or, specifically, were any of the security regiments used by 14th SS Galicia Division's 'Kampfgruppe Beyersdorf' in its Feb-March 1944 ops against 1st Ukrainian Partisan Division, especially around Peremyshl area of Polish Eastern Galicia?; A.N.)[/b]
*****************************************************************************************************************************
From: http://www.eurasia.com
Ukrainian Defense Battalions
Ukrainian Battalion was the name given to the first local security force in Ukraine during the Second World War as a military unit in support of the Axis.
BACKGROUND
Ukrainian Battalion history dates back well before the occupation of Ukraine by the Axis.
During the Polish campaign in 1939, had already participated in several Ukrainian nationalist Polish Galicia, who gave very good results to the Third Reich military. When in 1941 the independent Ukraine, represented by the Union of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), realized that the war between the Axis led by Germany and the Soviet Union was inevitable, contacted Berlin to offer assistance.
Adolf Hitler, more favorable to the incorporation of Ukraine as a colony of the Reich, broken at first aid. But many German commanders knew it would be very necessary, so that the Secret Service (Abwehr), gave its own authorization. Recruitment into the Ukrainian areas of Poland occupied by the Government General, which conducted the commander Erwin Scholtz Brandenburg Regiment. Ukrainians gathered 15,000 volunteers fall within the Battalion Nachtigall and Roland Battalion.
There was also a group of guerrillas who were fighting at that time in the Soviet rear Volhynia and Polesie. The Abwehr was quick to recruit for their cause. The name of this organization was Polesiano Sich, who headed Taras Borovets with more than 10,000 troops Ukrainians.
Instruction is conducted in different places. Nachtigall Battalion was at Neuhammer, Silesia. The Battalion did in Saubersdorf Roland, near Vienna in Austria. The Sich Polesiano, Germanic still out of reach to be in Soviet territory, was composed virtually the 213th German Security Division.
On June 18, 1942 was declared the overall movilizanción Ukrainian nationalist forces, which left Germany en route to the border with the Soviet Union. Nachtigall Battalion integrated into the 1st German Mountain Division, was transported to Pantalowice in the General Government of Poland and then to Radymno. Roland Battalion was located in Romania's ally in the German Army XI.
Counting forces Nachtigall and Roland battalions plus Polesiano Sich, the Ukrainians that participate in Operation Barbarossa, amounted to 25,000 men, and that without interpreters, consultants, reporters, messengers and porters who were already part of the German Army .
Operation Barbarossa
On June 22, 1941, the two battalions Nachtigall and Roland Ukrainians crossed the border with the Soviet Union from Poland and Romania, just while the Sich Polesiano launched an intensive guerrilla campaign in the rear.
A special mission of infiltration have to make the Roland Battalion. Ukrainian soldiers in German uniforms crossed the enemy's rear and slipped behind the retreating Red Army. Germans dresses mingled with the Russians, which obviously attracted the attention of a Soviet officer asked why they wore those clothes. As they were Russian-speaking Ukrainians and a perfect excuse themselves by saying they were a special detachment of the NKVD to infiltrate the German lines, but with the chaos they had given orders to withdraw. He believed it and left them alone. Walking with the Soviet column, surprisingly ended up in the fortified town of Przemsyl, its original purpose. In when the doors were closed Ukrainian nationalists drew their weapons and began firing at the crowd all desprevinidos Soviet soldiers. Przemsyl nationalists fell, causing the Russians to surrender.
For taking the city of Lvov, the Ukrainian Nachtigall Battalion did something similar. But this time received no orders from the Germans, since these were advanced to take the city, because the Soviet NKVD was emptying prisons and prisoners running in droves to Ukrainian politicians. Nachtigall Battalion Lvov could enter without problems defeating the Soviet garrison weak. But what his eyes saw was regrettable, had arrived late, because the prison had been emptied and 4,000 corpses lay murdered.
The day after Operation Barbarossa, the June 23, the Roland Battalion established a bridgehead on the River San and progressed through Bessarabia towards Tiraspol. One of the last actions of these volunteers was cleaning it made two battalions in the woods near Tarnopol and Vinnitsa.
The performance of Polesiano Sich was also spotless. As the Germans advanced fighting the Red Army, the Ukrainian Sich Polesiano finished with the laggards and partisans in the two regions of Volhynia and Polesie whole.
A problem they had is that Ukrainian units exceeded their functions. From June 30 to July 12, the Battalion Nachtigall Lvov proclaimed Ukraine's independence, something that did not please the Germans, the Ukrainians forced to disband and give up his political instigator, Yaroslav Stetsko. Furthermore, in November 1941, the Sich Polesiano authorized the independence of the Republic of Olveks, who suffered the same fate as its predecessor. These events forced the Germans to dissolve all Ukrainian formations in the Eastern Front and to send to the headquarters in Frankfurt and the Oder River in Germany.
Ukrainian Battalions
Officially, November 6, 1941, Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler approved the project to create the Ukrainian Defense Battalion (Bataillon Ukranische Schumannschaft) and police regiments (Polizei Regiment Schutzen).
Following the breakdown of Roland and Nachtigall Battalions plus Polesiano Sich, the majority of its members were framed in the new Ukrainian Defense Battalions. The recruitment was intensive throughout Ukraine, it was propaganda to recruit Ukrainians in Kiev, Kharkov, Zhitomir, Nikolaev, Simferopol, Stalin, Rostov, Volhynia, Dnipropetrovsk and Chernigov. Because of the German Governor in Ukraine, Erich Koch, the recruitment could have been more numerous, but much reduced antiucraniana political volunteering. Still enrolled a total of 70,759 Ukrainians as police and gendarmes.
Groups:
Kiev group = 13 016 (3552 policemen and gendarmes 9464)
Volhynia Group = 11 870 (2317 policemen and gendarmes 9553)
Stalino Group = 10,200 (3,000 police and 7,200 gendarmes)
Group Dnienpropetrovsk = 7886 (886 officers and 7,000 gendarmes)
Group Simferopol = 7.114 (679 policemen and gendarmes 6468)
Group Chernigov = 6147 (1 733 policemen and gendarmes 4414)
Group Zhitomir = 5682 (538 policemen and gendarmes 5114)
Group Nikolayev = 5646 (700 policemen and gendarmes 4946)
Rostov Group = 1,800 (1,500 officers and 300 gendarmes)
Group Kharkov = 1366 (761 officers and 605 gendarmes)
Total = 70 759 (15 666 policemen and gendarmes 48,764)
Defensive battalions:
Kiev = 112/113/114/115/116/117/118/119/120/121 Battalion Group
Volhynia = 101/102/103/104/105/106/107 Battalion Group
Stalino = 157/158/159/160/161/162/163/164/165 Battalion Group
Battalion Group Dnienpropetrovsk = 129/130/131
Simferopol = 147/148/149/150/151/152/153/154/155/156 Battalion Group
Chernigov = 136/137/138/139/140 Battalion Group
Zhitomir = 108/109/110 Battalion Group
Nikolayev = 122/123/124 Battalion Group
Rostov = 166/167/168/169 Battalion Group
Kharkov = 143/144/145/146 Battalion Group
Police Regiments:
31 th Regiment of Police "Schutzen Polizei Regiment 31 / Milizia Regime 31"
32 th Regiment of Police "Schutzen Polizei Regiment 32 / Milizia Regime 32"
33 th Regiment of Police "Schutzen Polizei Regiment 33 / Milizia Regime 33"
34 th Regiment of Police "Schutzen Polizei Regiment 34 / Milizia Regime 34"
35 th Regiment of Police "Schutzen Polizei Regiment 35 / Milizia Regime 35"
36 th Regiment of Police "Schutzen Polizei Regiment 36 / Milizia Regime 36"
37 th Regiment of Police "Schutzen Polizei Regiment 37 / Milizia Regime 37"
The uniform of the members of the Ukrainian Defense Battalion was made with old clothes black clothing German National Socialist Party (NSDAP), which added a neck cuff and dark green. On aplatanado caps carried the Ukrainian trident emblem patch on his left arm a swastika with the words "Treu Gehorsan Tapies (Leal, Bravo Compliant)." As a combat uniform for the volunteers used the classic green-gray German campaign with Ukrainian nationalist symbolism.
The primary mission of which is blamed Ukrainian Defense Battalions was the custodian and maintenance of the railway line between Kiev and Kharkov, ie, nearly 1,400 miles where they had to fight from 1942 to 1943 against Communist partisans. Also did security work in the cities and towns, and the police control of some villages suspected. Another important action of the Ukrainian Defense Battalion's contribution was a victory over the Bolsheviks in Sidor Kovpak guerrillas in Galicia during the summer of 1943.
www.dpcamps.org (1st Vice-President)
Re: Kovpak partisans
hi Alan
to resolve this question in what I have found to be the most effective way, I generally choose likely candidates and go from there. Searching endless German documents on the off chance that a name is mentioned has not been very productive for me in the past. Prutzmann seems to me to be the most likely candidate. It cannot have been Koppe because he did not issue tactical orders or concern himself with re-supply etc, so Prutzmann is my starting point.
I have German reports about the anti-partisan actions in the area in which KGr Beyersdorff was operating, which origanated from the Polish Archive in Lublin but most are addressed to the Kommandeur der Ordnungspolizei Lublin. Reports were also sent to the Kommandeur der ORPO in Cracow, but I know for sure that the "polizei general" in question was based in Peremysyl. The question is was Prutzmann in Peremyshyll in Feb/March 1944?
best wishes
Mike
to resolve this question in what I have found to be the most effective way, I generally choose likely candidates and go from there. Searching endless German documents on the off chance that a name is mentioned has not been very productive for me in the past. Prutzmann seems to me to be the most likely candidate. It cannot have been Koppe because he did not issue tactical orders or concern himself with re-supply etc, so Prutzmann is my starting point.
I have German reports about the anti-partisan actions in the area in which KGr Beyersdorff was operating, which origanated from the Polish Archive in Lublin but most are addressed to the Kommandeur der Ordnungspolizei Lublin. Reports were also sent to the Kommandeur der ORPO in Cracow, but I know for sure that the "polizei general" in question was based in Peremysyl. The question is was Prutzmann in Peremyshyll in Feb/March 1944?
best wishes
Mike
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alan newark
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Re: Kovpak partisans
Nu shto, Mike
Hi..Wee delay...sorry for that.
I see what you say about style and technique and about physical requests by you with results, inconclusive, which led to reports ref Orpo Kommandeur HQs in Lublin and Krakau. I see, also, your comment that you think the most likely candidate is Prutzmann. A Axis History contributor has suggested Karl Brenner.
I can, and do, often employ a chosen candidate search techinque but am also, dare I use the word, famed for employing not quite a scatter- gun technique but one based, using available factual historical evidence, carefully compared anecdotal evidence and, also, at times, my own journalistic / researcher's inspired hunches, upon intuitively selected key words.
By steadily, a bit like a slide rule, in fact, either widening or narrowing the scope of both the candidate search and the key word search I find that, while it may take dedication, patience and time, I can often blaze new and productive trails and can often resolve long-standing mysteries and conumdrums. Can't always do so and would never claim to do so 100% but a lot of the time I D0 get results.
So, no promises here either but if you remain happy for me to sniff around and to employ my methodology in this matter I am happy to continue. As I said previously. if the process educates me and others then it is worth the labour involved.
If and when I throw in the towel it will be after a hunt steadfastly pursued and invested with my best possible effort.
Besten
Al:->
Hi..Wee delay...sorry for that.
I see what you say about style and technique and about physical requests by you with results, inconclusive, which led to reports ref Orpo Kommandeur HQs in Lublin and Krakau. I see, also, your comment that you think the most likely candidate is Prutzmann. A Axis History contributor has suggested Karl Brenner.
I can, and do, often employ a chosen candidate search techinque but am also, dare I use the word, famed for employing not quite a scatter- gun technique but one based, using available factual historical evidence, carefully compared anecdotal evidence and, also, at times, my own journalistic / researcher's inspired hunches, upon intuitively selected key words.
By steadily, a bit like a slide rule, in fact, either widening or narrowing the scope of both the candidate search and the key word search I find that, while it may take dedication, patience and time, I can often blaze new and productive trails and can often resolve long-standing mysteries and conumdrums. Can't always do so and would never claim to do so 100% but a lot of the time I D0 get results.
So, no promises here either but if you remain happy for me to sniff around and to employ my methodology in this matter I am happy to continue. As I said previously. if the process educates me and others then it is worth the labour involved.
If and when I throw in the towel it will be after a hunt steadfastly pursued and invested with my best possible effort.
Besten
Al:->
www.dpcamps.org (1st Vice-President)