Schutzmannschaft-Brigade Siegling (also German: Schutzmänner-Brigade Siegling; lit. 'Siegling's Auxiliary Police Brigade') was a Belarusian Auxiliary Police brigade formed by Nazi Germany in July 1944 in East Prussia, from six auxiliary police battalions (60th and 64th Belarusian and the 57th, 61st, 62nd and 63rd Ukrainian) following the Soviet Operation Bagration.[1]
| Schutzmannschaft-Brigade Siegling | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Armoured vehicle of the Belarusian Schutzmannschaft-Brigade Siegling | |
| Active | July – August 1944 |
| Country |  Nazi Germany |
| Type | Auxiliary police |
| Role | Nazi security warfare |
| Size | Brigade |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Hans Siegling |
Background
editMost members of the Schutzmannschaft-Brigade Siegling originated from the pro-Nazi Belarusian Home Defence (BKA).[1] The total number of soldiers evacuated by the Nazis to East Prussia from across Belarus during the Soviet advance might have reached 10,000. They regrouped northeast of Warsaw in German-occupied Poland, under the command of SS-Obersturmbannführer Hans Siegling who was also the SS and police leader of Generalbezirk Weissruthenien. The new Brigade consisted of four rifle regiments as well as artillery and cavalry units.[1] It was renamed by Himmler in August 1944, as the 30th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS.[2][unreliable source?]
It consisted of men from the German-occupied territories of the Soviet Union, mainly from Belarus, including whole local military headquarters (Kommandantura) of Belarusian Home Defence and members of Andrey Vlasov's Russian Liberation Army, but also units of the German Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo), Sicherheitsdienst (SD), and Ordnungsdienst from the area.[1]
By November 1944, the battalion whose formation started in August originally – as the Schuma Brigade Siegling – was transported to France as the 30th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Russian).[1] While in France, the brigade remained under the leadership of Hans Siegling. By 10 February 1945 the formation was nearly wiped out by mass Belarusian desertion and by the Allies.[1] Only one regiment was left. Some reinforcements came from other formations, but not enough. The battalion was renamed again as the 30th SS Grenadier Division (1st White Ruthenian) or Weißruthenische Nr. 1 (in German),[3][unreliable source?] but in April 1945, it was entirely disbanded.[4][unreliable source?]
Formation of Schuma Brigade Siegling
edit
The German forces along with the Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Russian collaborators under the German command were pushed out of the Byelorussian SSR during the Soviet Operation Bagration of August 1944. They gradually retreated west from the GK Weißruthenien (as it was called then) toward occupied eastern Poland between June 22 and August 19.[1] Dozens of units remained scattered around. The German forces included remnants of the SiPo, SD, and Ordnungsdienst. Among them, were also units of Byelorussian Home Defence (BKA) and the Belarusian Kommandantura personnel. At the end of June 1944, the SS commander Curt von Gottberg issued an order to create the Schutzmannschaft-Brigade Siegling which by July 20 was formed and prepared for duty.[1]
The formation of the brigade's four regiments was completed by July 31 – all four regiments, named after their commanders, were stationed at that time in different places:
- 1st Regiment at Grady (Sturmbannführer Hans Österreich)
- 2nd Regiment at Stawicz (commander Sturmbannführer Helmuth Gantz)
- 3rd Regiment at Czartoriak (commander Sturmbannführer Wilhelm Mocha)
- 4th Regiment (commander Sturmbannführer Ernst Schmidt)
- An artillery unit was stationed at Suliny
The brigade also had a cavalry unit. The approximate number of the personnel is estimated as follows: up to 6 thousand auxiliary Ordnungspolizei, 2,000 SD men, and up to 8,000 members of the BKA. They were spread over many locations in East Prussia.
.jpg)
Schutzmannschaft-Brigade Siegling in its full formation operated in Belarus from late July 1944.[5][unreliable source?] In August 1944 (possibly earlier) an order was issued to form a division formation from Brigade Siegling - thus all personnel were transferred from the rank-and-file of the Ordnungspolizei formations to the SS command. Under the new leadership, the brigade was renamed the 30th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Russian) on August 18, 1944. The Division was composed of the following regiments:
- Waffen-Gren.Rgt. d. SS 75 (russ. Nr. 4)
- Waffen-Gren.Rgt. d. SS 76 (russ. Nr. 5) (consisted of three battalions each)
- Waffen-Artillerie-Rgt d. SS 30 (russ. Art.Rgt. 2) (consisted of three artillery batteries)
- Replacement Regiment
The combat-ready units of the Brigade Siegling were transferred to France to participate in operations against the French Resistance.
The transfer of all units in a brigade-size formation to France was decided under the general command of Obersturmbannführer Hans Siegling.[1] Siegling led dozens of Nazi security warfare operations in Belarus since 1941 as the commander of the 57th Auxiliary Police Battalion.[6][3][unreliable source?]
On 6 August 1944, the unit received an order to take part in the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising, however, the idea was abandoned.[1] Instead, it was used from August 12 in East Prussia for the harvest collection. Some combat-ready units of the brigade were transferred to France in August 1944 to fight against the French Resistance.
War Crimes
editIn February 1943 members of the 57th Auxiliary Police Battalion under Hans Siegling were involved in a massacre of Jews and Russian Partisans in February 1943 in a cowshed in Salihorsk, Belarus. On 11 August 1973, a military court in Minsk sentenced 4 Belarusian members of the 57th Battalion to death for killing the partisans.[7]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rein 2011, pp. 367–371.
- ^ Marcus Wendel (7 July 2013). "Schutzmannschaft Bataillone". Axis History. Archived from the original (Internet Archive) on January 6, 2014. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
Complete list including extensive collection of sources used.
- ^ a b G.P (2010). "Re: Hans Seigling". Himmler 1944 speech. The German Police.com. Archived from the original (Internet Archive) on July 17, 2011. Retrieved 2013-06-24.
Career highlights including his Schutzmannschaft Bataillon in Riga.
- ^ Georg Tessin, Verbande und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939-1945 Vierter Band: Die Landstreitkrafte 15—30 Frankfurt/Main: Verlag E. S. Mittler & Sohn GmbH, 1970. See: Lexikon.
- ^ C. Alexandre T. Zorzetti (June 25, 2016). "Collaborationist Belarusian paramilitary groups - The III Reich" [Almanaque dos Conflitos]. Grupos paramilitares bielorrussos colaboracionistas - III Reich. Almanaque dos Conflitos (in Portuguese).
- ^ One of the reasons for the transfer to France – apart from other military objectives – was that Schuma suffered from persistent desertion. For example, once they acquired military weapons, the local Poles left en masse and joined the underground Armia Krajowa among other Polish anti-Nazi resistance forces, to attack their yesterday masters.
- ^ Axis History Forum 1973/1974 War Crimes Trial In USSR
Bibliography
edit- Rein, Leonid (2007). "Untermenschen in SS Uniforms: 30th Waffen-Grenadier Division of Waffen SS". The Journal of Slavic Military Studies. 20 (2): 329–345. doi:10.1080/13518040701378360. ISSN 1556-3006. S2CID 144741225.
- Rein, Leonid (2011). "Chapter 8: Military-Police Collaboration in Byelorussia". The Kings and the Pawns: Collaboration in Byelorussia during World War II. Berghahn Books. ISBN 978-0857450432.
- Bishop, C. (2006). Zagraniczne formacje SS. Zagraniczni ochotnicy w Waffen-SS w latach 1940–1945 (in Polish). Warszawa.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)