Partners in Genocide: The German Police and the Wehrmacht in the Soviet Union
Title:
Partners in Genocide: The German Police and the Wehrmacht in the Soviet Union
Author:
Westermann, Edward B.
Appeared in:
The journal of strategic studies
Paging:
Volume 31 (2008) nr. 5 pages 771-796
Year:
2008-10
Contents:
In the Soviet Union, SS and police forces adopted the strategy of the direct approach as the keystone of German security policy in the occupied territories. Operating in conjunction with Wehrmacht units and indigenous auxiliaries, Reich Leader of the SS and Chief of the German Police Heinrich Himmler's Uniformed Police (Ordnungspolizei) battalions, became essential instruments in the subjugation, exploitation, and pacification of the German rear areas. This essay examines the cooperative relationship that developed between SS and police forces, the Wehrmacht, and indigenous auxiliaries during the German anti-partisan campaign in the East. On the one hand, the cooperation of the police with the German armed forces reflected a true 'inter-agency' approach to counter-insurgency warfare; an approach formalised in policy agreements between both organisations prior to the 1941 invasion of Russia and cemented in combined operations aimed at Soviet partisans and their supporters. On the other hand, this analysis of combined operations between German SS and police and Wehrmacht forces offers further evidence of the key role played by the German Army and Air Force in the anti-partisan campaign, and ultimately genocide.
Journal description