Collaboration in the Holocaust: Crimes of the Local Police in Belorussia and Ukraine, 1941–44 [1st ed.] 978-1-4039-6371-0;978-1-349-62146-0

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Collaboration in the Holocaust: Crimes of the Local Police in Belorussia and Ukraine, 1941–44 [1st ed.]
 978-1-4039-6371-0;978-1-349-62146-0

Table of contents :
Front Matter ....Pages i-xx
The Soviet Occupation of Eastern Poland, 1939–41 (Martin Dean)....Pages 1-16
‘Operation Barbarossa’ (Martin Dean)....Pages 17-40
Mass Killings in the Autumn of 1941 (Martin Dean)....Pages 41-59
Local Police Organization, 1941–44 (Martin Dean)....Pages 60-77
The Ghetto ‘Liquidations’ of 1942–43 (Martin Dean)....Pages 78-104
Local Administration and Exploitation, 1941–44 (Martin Dean)....Pages 105-118
Partisan Warfare, 1942–44 (Martin Dean)....Pages 119-147
Post-War Fates of Collaborators and Survivors (Martin Dean)....Pages 148-160
Conclusion: Local Collaboration in the Holocaust (Martin Dean)....Pages 161-167
Back Matter ....Pages 168-241

Citation preview

COLLABORATION IN THE HOLOCAUST

Also by Martin Dean

AUSTRIAN POLICY DURING THE FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY WARS, 1796-99

Collaboration in the Holocaust Crimes of the Local Police in Belorussia and Ukraine, 1941-44 Martin Dean Applied Research Sclwlar Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Washington, DC

Palgrave Macmillan

Published in association with the UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

COLLABORATION IN THE HOLOCAUST

Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2000 978-0-312-22056-3 Copyright © 2000 by Martin Dean The assertions, arguments, and conclusions are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council or of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address: St. Martin's Press, Scholarly and Reference Division, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 First published in the United States of America in 2000 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. ISBN 978-1-4039-6371-0 ISBN 978-1-349-62146-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-62146-0 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Dean, Martin, 1%2Collaboration in the Holocaust : crimes of the local police in Belorussia and Ukraine, 1941-44/ Martin Dean. p. em. Includes bibliographical references and index. l. Jews-Persecutions- Belarus. 2. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)-Belarus. 3. Jews-Persecutions-Ukraine. 4. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)-Ukraine. 5. World War, 1939-1945-Collaborationists-Belarus. 6. World War, 1939-1945-Collaborationists-Ukraine. 7. Belarus- History-German occupation, 1941-1944. 8. Ukraine-History-German occupation, 1941-1944. 9. Be1arus-Ethnic relations. 10. Ukraine-Ethnic relations. I. Title. DS135.838D43 1999 940.53'18'09477-dc21 98-43119 CIP

Contents List of Photographs and Maps

vi

List of Tables

vii

Introduction

viii

Maps

xv

Acknowledgements

xviii

List of Abbreviations

xix

The Soviet Occupation of Eastern Poland, 1939-41 2

'Operation Barbarossa'

17

3

Mass Killings in the Autumn of 1941

41

4

Local Police Organization, 1941-44

60

5

The Ghetto 'Liquidations' of 1942-43

78

6

Local Administration and Exploitation, 1941-44

105

7

Partisan Warfare, 1942-44

119

8

Post-War Fates of Collaborators and Survivors

148

9

Conclusion: Local Collaboration in the Holocaust

161

Appendix A: Demography of the Holocaust in the East

168

Abbreviations for Notes and Archival Sources

171

Notes

173

Bibliography

212

Index

220

v

List of Photographs and Maps Photographs

Jewish work column in Mogilev Source: BA Koblenz 138-1083-25. 2 Handover to the civil administration in Minsk, 30 August 1941 Source: BA-MA Freiburg RH 22/225. 3 Gendarmerie of the Mir post in uniform, 1942 Source: Niedersd'chsisches Staatsarchiv in Oldenbourg, Best. 140-5 acc. 38/1997. 4 Schutzmannschaftsposten Sarig, Kiev district, 1942 Source: BA Koblenz, 73-46-41. 5 Jewish women and children guarded by local police prior to mass shooting, Sdolbunov district, Ukraine, October 1942 Source: USHMM W /S # 17877. 6 Jewish corpses from the mass shooting, Sdolbunov district, October 1942 Source: USHMM W /S # 17879. 7 Deportation of local inhabitants to Germany, 1942-43 Source: BA Koblenz 146-1542-lOa. 8 Anti-partisan action near Minsk, 1943 Source: BA Koblenz 70-43-52. Maps

1 Polish eastern territories in 1939 2 Generalkommissariat Weij3ruthenien in 1942 3 Reichskommissariat Ukraine: Generalbezirke Volhynia-Podolia, Zhitomir,

Kiev and Nikolayev, 1942

vi

List of Tables 4.1 4.2 4.3 8.1 8.2 A.1 A.2 A.3

AA

A.5

Date of joining for the local police in the Mir rayon Age structure of the Mir rayon police unit, 1944 Occupations of 100 local policemen in the Baranovichi district Post-war fates of members of the Mir rayon police Destinations of (traced) Jewish survivors from Mir Jewish population of Novogrudok province, 1931 census Jewish population of eastern Poland, according to adjusted 1931 census figures Jewish population of Soviet parts of Ukraine, 1939 Jewish population of Soviet parts of Belorussia, 1939 First and Second Wave Jewish losses in WeifJruthenien and Volhynia-Podolia, 1941-43

vii

67 74 75 155 157 169 169 169 170 170

Introduction A definition of terror is when most crimes are committed by the police. In Belorussia and Ukraine this nightmare came true under German occupation: according to German book-keeping, more than a million Jews were shot by Himmler's police forces and their local collaborators in the east between 1941 and 1943. 1 Using considerable new evidence this book will examine how this little understood aspect of the Holocaust was implemented by local forces on the ground. The main focus of attention will not be the German units of the Security and Order Police, already familiar to students of Himmler's police structure. Instead research has been concentrated on the local police collaborators on duty in every Belorussian and Ukrainian town. Known to the Germans as the 'SchutzmannschaJt', they were recruited from volunteers at the start of the occupation. These men played an indispensable role in the killing process. In terms of police manpower involved in the atrocities in these areas, they outnumbered their Nazi German colleagues. The method of killing by mass shooting and the participation of men from the local population gives the Holocaust a unique character in these eastern territories. It differs considerably fom the impersonal mechanization of Nazi genocide, seen as characteristic of the death camps in Poland. Only a few kilometres from Sobibor and Treblinka, local policemen assisted in the mass shooting of their neighbours within earshot of their own homes. These massacres culminated in scenes of singular brutality, which could not be kept secret from the local population. Indeed many Christians profited directly from the slaughter. Whilst the events of the Holocaust provide the central concern, an effort has been made to examine the activities of the local police within the full context of Nazi occupation policies. In the east, the Holocaust did not take place in isolation, but formed an integral part of the dynamic relations between the occupying forces and the local population. As Bernhard Chiari has argued, local police service consisted primarily of routine guard duties and, increasingly from 1942 onwards, direct participation in the bitterly fought partisan struggle. 2 The implementation of anti-Jewish policies was only one of several tasks they had to fulfil. Questions regarding the nature and motivation of these collaborationist units can only be answered within the overall framework of the conflict behind the Front. Wartime events will be examined in more or less chronological order, to reflect how the different aspects of Nazi policy impacted upon each other. For instance the initial development of partisan resistance was closely related viii

Introduction

ix

to the German treatment of Soviet prisoners of war. Occasional breaks will be made in the narrative to permit particular aspects, such as local police organization and German economic exploitation, to be analysed in greater depth. The opening chapter briefly examines the Soviet occupation of eastern Poland in 1939-41 (see Map 1), in order to set the scene prior to the German invasion. Soviet behaviour not only fuelled local anti-communist resentment, to the detriment of the Jews, but provided a foretaste of the terror to come for Poles and Jews alike. 'Operation Barbarossa' is described in Chapter 2 on the basis of contemporary German reports and the recollections of local inhabitants; the development of Nazi genocide in the east came in a series of intensifying steps. Initial restrictions against the Jews and 'intelligentsia' actions were followed from August 1941 by a 'First Wave' of mass killings, as Himmler extended the group of victims to include women and children and brought in further units to support the Einsatzgruppen operations. A detailed case study of the SS Cavalry Brigade in the Pripyet marshes will demonstrate how the initial transition to genocide operated in practice. By the autumn of 1941 all four Einsatzgruppen were engaged in the mass shooting of Jews. This 'First Wave' of killings is outlined in Chapter 3. The role of the local police was generally a supporting one alongside units of the Order Police, Waffen SS and Wehrmacht, which also particpated in the slaughter. In some local massacres, however, such as those in Mir, Jody and Borisov in Belorussia, local policemen played a particularly active role. This is illustrated by detailed court testimony given recently regarding the massacre on 9 November 1941 in Mir. Harsh measures against Soviet prisoners of war also served as a warning to the entire population as to what they could expect from German rule. Over the winter of 1941-42 the German Order Police incorporated the local police volunteers into Himmler's police structure as uniformed Schutzmannschaften. With this now more reliable instrument in each locality, German police leaders cleared the remaining ghettoes of Belorussia and Ukraine during the course of 1942-43. In Chapter 4 the organization of the local police will be examined closely. Particular attention will be given to the background, recruitment and duties of the Schutzmanner on the basis of extensive new sources. The events of the 'Second Wave' killings are not well-known, partly due to the shortage of contemporary German documentation. In the former Polish areas, however, the death toll was greater during this 'Second Wave' than during the 'Einsatzgruppen' killings of 1941. 3 Chapter 5 will concentrate on the implementation of the ghetto 'liquidations' in 1942 and 1943. Examples are taken from the Zhitomir and Nikolayev regions in Ukraine, as well as Slonim and Nesvizh in Belorussia. An overview will also be given of the

x

Introduction

pattern of killings around Glubokoye (east of Vilnius) to the north and in the region of Volhynia-Podolia. Particular attention will be paid to the active role of the local police in these final 'liquidation' actions and especially in the subsequent tracking down of Jews in hiding. The Nazis placed considerable reliance on the loyalty and initiative of local police collaborators during this phase of the Holocaust. German economic exploitation is examined in Chapter 6, primarily for its effects on the population as a whole. Requisitions, deportations and forced labour were all enforced with local police support. These measures contributed to the development of partisan warfare from the summer of 1942, which in turn influenced the prospects for Jewish survival and resistance in the forests. Interpretations of German administration in the east, concentrating on the plans for reform discussed at the higher levels, should be contrasted with the reality of exploitation, corruption and even demoralization in the local offices. In Chapter 7 the brutal reprisals against partisan families conducted by the police are set against the realities of Soviet partisan tactics and the complexities of the rival nationalist partisan organizations. The actions of local policemen towards victims other than Jews must be taken into account in assessing their behaviour. The experiences of Jewish partisans in the forest are also assessed. Open conflicts between Ukrainians, Poles and Lithuanians towards the end of the occupation demonstrate another form of 'ethnic cleansing', which developed in the 'power vacuum' left by declining German influence in 1943. Civilians bore the brunt of the casualties in these bitter partisan struggles. As a postscript in Chapter 8, the escape routes and post-war fates of local policemen are contrasted with the experiences of Jewish survivors. In the turmoil of post-war resettlement, perpetrators and victims often took similar paths after the war. Unfortunately the rivalries of the Cold War denied justice to both victims and perpetrators. Finally the nature and significance of local police collaboration in the Holocaust is summarized in the conclusion. The geographical area of this study is bounded effectively by those regions of Belorussia (Generalbezirk Weij3ruthenien) and Ukraine (Generalbezirke Volhynia-Podolia, Zhitomir, Kiev and Nikolayev), which were brought under German civil administration by the end of 1941 (see Maps 2 and 3).4 Together these regions had a population in excess of 10 million inhabitants, of which approximately 7 per cent were Jews. Much of this area was Polish territory until 1939; certain differences can be observed between the attitude of the population in the former Polish areas and those who had experienced some 20 years of Sovietization. In this study most of the detailed research has been conducted in the former Polish areas. However, a few examples have also been taken from the former Soviet areas for comparison.

Introduction

xi

The research has consisted primarily of a number of local case studies, which lay down several patch-work squares over this vast territory. Considerable use has been made of personal eye-witness testimony, mainly from post-war legal investigations: the history of local collaborators can only now be written, with the aid of their own trial records. The triangle of perpetrators, victims and bystanders has been completed where possible, in order to present a kaleidoscopic picture of events, seen from several perspectives at once. The opening of the Soviet archives since 1989 has provided a wealth of new captured German documentation, especially with regard to the German administration and police forces. The collections in Moscow, Minsk, Brest and Zhitomir have been used extensively, as well as the excellent resources now on microfilm at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. Reference has been made to the relevant secondary literature to assist in explaining the overall framework of the occupation. In presenting the story an effort has been made to permit the sources to speak for themselves within the framework of a closely argued narrative. Given the nature of the subject and the sources used, the methodology can perhaps best be described as 'forensic history': explaining the processes involved through a meticulous presentation of the evidence from local investigations. It is in the wealth of detail opened up by numerous personal descriptions that the reliability of the sources can be tested. Particular emphasis has been placed on exploiting a broad range of contrasting material. Conflicting accounts have been directly compared, testing each against the totality of evidence available. In some respects my research reflects the criminal investigations from which much of the information has been derived. The study of history is inherently a branch of detective work, following promising leads in the archives, in order to establish the relevant facts. By recounting in detail the crimes committed by the local police, it is possible to analyse the structure and nature of this organization. A profile can be drawn up of the men serving within the police ranks. Recruitment, motives and even post-war fates are examined by studying testimonies and data assembled for numerous local collaborators. As the last legal proceedings draw to an inevitable close, it is time for history to evaluate the part played by the Schutzmanner in the Holocaust from the considerable sources now available. The extensive use of historical testimonies collected primarily for legal purposes raises certain questions of methodology. In most instances the full names of both witnesses and perpetrators have necessarily been concealed. Much new evidence from communist investigations has been examined and subjected to careful comparison with the other available sources. With regard to the statements by eye-witnesses, there is in most cases little doubt that the events described actually took place. Certain systematic errors can be

xii

Introduction

detected, however, for which allowances have to be made: for example, details regarding dates and numbers are sometimes inaccurate due to memory lapses or mistakes made in the transcription of the statement. Many witnesses clearly lacked specific knowledge about the particular units involved and are unable to identify the perpetrators clearly. Nevertheless it is often remarkable how much detail can be recalled, even more than 50 years after the event. Naturally the evidence of perpetrators must be treated with particular care and can only be used reliably when corroborated independently, or for matters not related to questions of personal guilt or innocence. The motives of the perpetrators can only be assessed from a sensitive analysis of all available sources. Ultimately it is not possible to know precisely what was going on in the minds of the killers; the conclusions of historians on such matters must be regarded cautiously as informed speculation rather than facts. For many understandable reasons the history of the collaborationist local police in the occupied Soviet Union has been largely neglected hitherto. Whilst doggedly prosecuting all collaborators as traitors at home, the Soviet government was reluctant to acknowledge publicly the scale and extent of collaboration with the German invaders. Emigre historians, for similar if opposite motives, have preferred to play down the active collaboration of individuals in German police atrocities, stressing instead the frustrated aims of nationalist groups for independence. Local participation in the Holocaust in countries such as Lithuania and Ukraine remains a sensitive issue, demanding carefully chosen words from those holding the highest offices of state. 5 In view of the importance of the topic, one of the aims of this work is to fill what remains a large gap in the literature, using a very broad base of source material. Our current understanding of the Holocaust still owes an enormous debt to the seminal work of Raul Hilberg, who provided the first detailed history of the Holocaust on the basis of captured German documentation. 6 In recent years his ground-breaking research has been carried forward by many scholars, most notably Christopher Browning, who has made a series of significant contributions on the subject.? As the recent pioneering studies of the German historians Dieter Pohl and Thomas Sandkuhler for the regions of Lublin and Galicia in the General Government have shown, the implementation of genocide on the local level was often a complex process involving both personal initiatives and pragmatic considerations. 8 A number of young German scholars are currently piecing together many of the remaining fragments on the basis of the new material now available from the Soviet and German archives. 9 Of most importance to this study have been the detailed local testimonies available for several locations in Belorussia and Ukraine. These permit a

Introduction

xiii

perception of the implementation of policy on the ground which was not previously possible. Existing studies of German occupation policy in the east, such as the classic work of Alexander Dallin or the analysis of reform attempts by Timothy Mulligan, have concentrated on high-level policy.lo The records they examined consisted mainly of the correspondence of senior figures in the local administration with their superiors in Berlin. It is only recently, through the innovative research of Bernhard Chiari for Belorussia, that a more detailed analysis of the everyday experiences of the local population has been attempted. 11 The personal recollections of individuals give the traumatic experiences of the war a more immediate impact. Essential to a full understanding of the Holocaust is also the viewpoint of the victims. The stories of the survivors are doubly important, not only as vital evidence of what happened, but in order to understand their unique perspective: many felt themselves to be virtually isolated from the population as a whole. Some of the foremost accounts have been written by people who themselves survived Nazi persecution: most notably the excellent studies by Shmuel Spector for Volhynia, but also vital contributions by Shalom Cholawsky and Hersh Smolar for Belorussia. The books of Necama Tec on Oswald Rufeisen and the Bielski partisans have provided a particular inspiration through their sophisticated analysis oflocal events on the basis of oral testimony. 12 The considerable reliance of Himmler on local participation in the Holocaust and the overall significance of the 'Second Wave' of total 'liquidations' in 1942-43 are both important aspects, which have been much underestimated by Holocaust historians in the past. In 1942 and 1943 German police organizations and their collaborators killed in excess of half a million Jews, mostly by shooting, within the 1940 borders of the Soviet Union. By providing detailed information on both the organization and timing of the Holocaust, this book will provide further impetus to the growing historical debate on how the Holocaust was implemented in the east. In view of the inevitable problems involved, it should be noted that the statistics presented are given as an accurate representation of the information found in the available sources. Demographic data and reports on the number of victims for any particular action, however, are in most cases only estimates. The figures are intended to give an impression of the scale of the events described, but should be treated with a degree of caution. A precisely accurate figure is unfortunately not to be expected. Ultimately, the history of local collaboration in the Holocaust cannot be written in terms of the number of victims; it consists rather of the cumulative experiences of numerous individuals. How did they react under the terrifying circumstances of Nazi genocide and partisan war? Using their own words, this book attempts to present the viewpoint of ordinary people living in the villages, many of whom experienced the horrors of the Holocaust and the realities of police brutality in their own front yard.

xiv

Introduction

Notes 1. 2. 3. 4.

5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

R. Headland, Messages of Murder, p. 105 gives a minimum figure of 1 152 000 on the basis of Gennan reports for the period up to December 1942. B. Chiari, 'Deutsche Herrschaft', pp. 181-9. See Table A.5 in the Appendix. An anglicized version of the Russian name has been used for most places purely for reasons of convenience. The tenn Belorussia has been retained, rather than the modem Belarus, which dates only from very recent usage. The tenn 'eastern Poland' refers to the inter-war Polish borders and is used purely historically. See, for example, F. Golczewski, 'Entgegen dem Klischee'. R. Hilberg, The Destruction of the European Jews. See for example, C. Browning, The Path to Genocide; C. Browning, Ordinary Men; and C. Browning, Fateful Months. T. Sandkiihler, 'Endl6:~ung' in Galizien; D. Pohl, Nationalsozialistische Judenverfolgung; D. Pohl, Von der 'Judenpolitik' zum Judenmord: Der Distrikt Lublin des Generalgouvernements 1939-44. See, especially the forthcoming dissertations of C. Gerlach (Einsatzgruppe B), A. Angrick (Einsatzgruppe D) and C. Dieckmann (Lithuania). A. Dallin, German Rule in Russia; T. P. Mulligan, The Politics of Illusion and Empire. B. Chiari, 'Deutsche Herrschaft'. S. Spector, The Holocaust of Volhynian Jews, 1941-44; H. Smolar, The Minsk Ghetto; S. Cholawski, Soldiers from the Ghetto; S. Cholawsky, The Jews of Bielorussia during World War II; N. Tec, In the Lion's Den; N. Tec, Defiance: The Bielski Partisans.

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