The Police Regiment South (Polizei-Regiment Süd) was a formation of the German Order Police, the German national uniformed police force, during the Nazi era. During Operation Barbarossa, it was subordinated to the Schutzstaffel (SS) and deployed in German-occupied territories, specifically the Army Group South Rear Area. In July 1942, its three constituent battalions were redesignated as the 10th Police Regiment.
Alongside the Einsatzgruppen detachments and the 1st SS Infantry Brigade, it perpetrated mass murder in the Holocaust and was responsible for large-scale crimes against humanity targeting the civilian population. The scope of the regiment's operations was known to British intelligence from August 1941, but for reasons of national security these materials were not released until 1993.
Background and formation
The German Order Police (Ordnungspolizei) was a key instrument of the security apparatus of Nazi Germany. In the prewar period, Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS, and Kurt Daluege, chief of the Order Police, cooperated in transforming the police force of the Weimar Republic into militarised formations ready to serve the regime's aims of conquest and racial annihilation. Order police units participated in the annexation of Austria and the occupation of Czechoslovakia. Police troops were first formed into battalion-sized formations for the invasion of Poland, where they were deployed for security and policing purposes, also taking part in executions and mass deportations.
Twenty three Order Police battalions were slated to take part in the 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union, known as Operation Barbarossa. Nine were attached to security divisions of the Wehrmacht, three for each Army Group Rear Area. Two battalions were assigned to support the Einsatzgruppen, the mobile death squads of the SS, and the Organisation Todt, the military construction group. Twelve were formed into regiments, of three battalions each, and designated as Police Regiments South, North, Centre, and Special Purpose.
Police units assigned to the Wehrmacht security divisions and the Einsatzgruppen were motorised, while those formed into regiments were not. The goals of the police battalions were to secure the German army's rear-area by eliminating the remnants of enemy forces, guarding prisoners of war, and protecting lines of communications and captured industrial facilities. Their instructions also included, as Daluege stated, the "combat of criminal elements, above all political elements".
Police Regiment South was formed in June 1941 by combining Police Battalions45, 303, and 314 under the command of Hermann Franz, a career policeman who had previously served in the Order Police in occupied Poland. The battalions were led by career police professionals, steeped in the ideology of Nazism, driven by anti-semitism and anti-Bolshevism. When it crossed the German-Soviet border the regiment came under the control of Friedrich Jeckeln, the Higher SS and Police Leader (HSS-PF) for Army Group South in Ukraine.
Operational history
Early killing operations
Upon formation, while still in occupied Poland, Police Battalion314 participated in round-ups of Polish civilians for deportation to slave labour in Germany. The regiment's actions quickly escalated to genocide when in the occupied Soviet Union. It began executing Jewish women and children in July 1941. On 22July, Police Battalion 314 killed 214 Jews in a settlement near Kovel, including entire families. Police Regiment45 murdered the entire Jewish population of Shepetovka while stationed there between 26July and 1August. The orders came down from the regimental commander, who was acting on orders from Heinrich Himmler.
During the summer months, the battalion took part in joint actions with the 1st SS Infantry Brigade of the Waffen-SS, both providing support and undertaking independent killings. The brigade's report of 19August to the Command Staff Reichsführer-SS (SS operational staff set up for the invasion) noted that Police Battalion314 had executed 25 Jews and 16 Ukrainians. The same report noted that Police Battalions 45 and 303 and the SS brigade jointly participated in "combat of gangs". The 22August report stated that Police Battalion 314 shot 3 "partisan women", 19 "bandits", and 537 Jews. The 21August report detailed the battalion's killing of 367 Jews in a "cleansing action" while securing German supply lines, while the 22August report noted that the unit executed 28 Ukrainians on charges of "arson". In the last week of August the battalion killed a further 294 Jews.