Hitler's Police Battalions

When German forces swarmed across Eastern Europe, the Uniformed Police (Ordnungspolizei) along with the SS and Gestapo followed close behind and played a central role in World War II and the war in the East from 1939-1945. Beginning with the invasion of Poland, the Uniformed Police were charged with following the army to curb resistance, pacify the countryside, patrol Jewish ghettos, and generally maintain order in the conquered territories. Edward Westermann examines how this force emerged as a primary instrument of annihilation, responsible for the murder of hundreds of thousands of the Third Reich’s political and racial enemies. In Hitler’s Police Battalions he reveals how the institutional mindset of these “ordinary policemen” allowed them to commit atrocities without a second thought. A very comprehensive study.

Edward B. Westermann
Hardcover 256 pages 2005