WWW.ORDNUNGSPOLIZEI.

ORG

MASSIMO ARICO

.:.

"Besonders schwere Einsätze bevorständen"

genocidal debut for the Polizei-Bataillon 307
Brest-Litowsk, 13 July 1941

Nach meinen eigenen Gedanken,

im Zusammenhang mit meinen damaligen Handeln befragt,
muss ich ganz offen erklären,
dass die Handlungsweise jedes einzelnen von uns
der eines Mörders gleichkommt.

Heinrich Meier, Polizei-Bataillon 307

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Sheine Feige Janowich was her name, and she was a Jewess.
She was born in Brest Litowsk in 1886, and in Brest Litowsk she found her death, 55 years
later.
Nothing remain of her, no pictures, nor someone able to remember her voice, but just a short
remembrance, few rows written on a document filed in the archives of the Yad Vashem 1.
We know, instead, the facts that led to her death: her death and that of other 4.000 Jews, that
day in Brest Litowsk, on 13 July 1941.

I THE FACTS
Ancient Tsarist border town, located at the confluence of the rivers Bug and Mukhavets, the city
of Brest Litowsk fell into German hands in the hours following the beginning of Barbarossa,
thanks to an action of the 45.ID of the Wehrmacht and the consequent withdrawal of the Soviet
garrison within the walls of the citadel, built on the river islands.
Of the about 50.000 inhabitants reported by the Polish census of 1931, more than 21.000
formed a traditional Jewish community 2, dating back to the mid of XIV Century, mainly of
Hasidic observance and employed in trade and craft. This community, following the subsequent
historical events, grew in number, probably in proportion with the general level of the
population in town, that in September 1939, was around 60.000 inhabitants.
All of them, and especially the Brisker Jews, saw with apprehension the entrance in town of the
first German troops, between 22 and 23 June 1941.
In the days immediately following, while fightings were not yet ceased in the area of the citadel
3, a police battalion entered the town, that together with other two units, was part of a
regimental group, directly subordinated to the HSSPF Erich von dem Bach 4.

Officers of the PB 307 - Courtesy S.Campbell

This battalion was the Polizei-Bataillon 307 of Lubeck,
formed in Autumn 1940, but that, for several months,
had already had the "opportunity" to familiarize with
"racism, ethnic cleansing, ghettoization and
compulsory work" in the area of Biala Podlaska 5: all of
this, obviously, was directly proportioned with the level
of violence of 1940, that was in no way comparable
with the genocidal catastrophes that followed the
outbreak of Barbarossa 6.
The battalion, organized on three companies, was
under the orders of Maj. Theodor Stahr, with Oltn.
Hans-Albert Salzinger in both roles of Battalion
Adjutant and commander of the 3/307. We know also
the names of some of the officers, among which Oltn.
Siegfried Klocker, commander of the 2/307, as well as
two platoon-leaders: Ltn. Friedrich Niehoff (of the
1/307) and Ltn. Max Kayser (of the 3/307) 7.

We have no precise information instead, about the

political reliability of the battalion's personnel –
recruited among the classes 1909-1912 – but just
minor details about some of the officers, five of which
were also enlisted in the SS (the three company
commanders and two platoon-leaders) 8.
As for the rest, it is not particularly significant, in our
opinion, the fact that those officers were also members of the Party, as well as, probably, a
high pergentage of the ranks and files. In this way, we have no details that allow us to consider
the battalion as an ideologized unit 9.

However that may be, the battalion was at disposal of the HSSPF von dem Bach and, therefore,
was not formally subordinated to any of the Wehrmacht commands, except for specific and
temporary tactical needs. In such a context, it entered Brest Litowsk between 2 and 3 July 1941
10 and for several days it was engaged in security roles, during which it remained involved in

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the executions of alleged spies, snipers "plunderers", Political Commissars and some women
11. During this period it was temporary attached to the 221 Sicherungs-Division.

Men of the Polizei-Bataillon 307 - Courtesy S.Campbell

Actually, the real genocidal debut
for the Polizei-Bataillon 307
occurred during the week between
6 and 13 July 1941 or, more
probably, in between Sunday 13
and Monday 12, and it took the
shape of a slaughter, meticulously
planned and executed, and far
different from the massacre of
Bialystok of 27 June, that instead,
had been so improvised and
chaotic: in the case of Brest
Litowsk infact, the town was
subdivided in sectors, each
assigned to a battalion company
and rounded-up in succession; in
this way, in the course of two or
three days, more than 4.000
victims were smoothly carried to death 13, with pauses among the executions, frequent
rotations of the personnel of the firing squads and suspensions to allow the rations to the
policemen, to which were also distributed strawberries with milk and other delicacies 14.
In short, all those episodes of criminal "creativity" that had "enlivened" the slaughter of
Bialsytok not happened, but instead everything was carried out according to a multi-stage plan,
precise and orderly, and giving the arrested Jews – mostly men between 16 and 60 – the
reassurance that they would have been transferred to work in Germany.

I.A. 1/POLIZEI-BATAILLON
Between 7 and 8 AM, while a part of the company was engaged in cordoning the perimeter of
its sector, the personnel of a platoon carried out an house-to-house search, rounding-up the
Jews and gathering them in the middle of the street. After which the victims, placed in groups
of 50 and unaware of their fate, were escorted to a square, close to the jail, where they
remained in wait until the rounding-up was completed.
Towards midday, while one half of the company returned to their quarters – probaly to receive
the rations – the other half continued to guard the Jews until when, in the early afternoon, the
trucks arrived.
Onto each of the vehicles, about 30 or 40 Jews were loaded, for a trip that lasted 15 or 30
minutes, up to an open and sandy field. Here, the Jews were pushed to the top of a low hill,
cordoned by the policemen, where during the morning a large grave had been dug, by another
group of 60 Jews. These men, once finished the excavation, had been shot at the nape by a
police kommando and now, they were laying in the grave, in full view of the newly arrived
victims.
At this point, in groups of 10, the Jews were pushed near the edge of the pit, their gazes turned
towards the perpetrators, and were executed by firing squads formed with 20 policemen.
Several of the victims received the deathblow while other, that had fallen on the edge, were
rolled into the grave.
With such a method the executions lasted until sunset. Then, the massacre was interrupted
and started again the following day.

I.B 2/POLIZEI-BATAILLON 307

Almost identical were the methods used by the 2/307 for the rounding-up of its sector. In this
case, the victims were gathered in the courtyard of a large building – a school or a barracks –
and then, loaded onto 13 vehicles.
After about 20 minutes, the trucks stopped near to a hilly field, covered with bushes, in which a
large trench had been previously dug – probably a Soviet anti-tank ditch – surmounted by an
embankment of sand, cordoned by the policemen.

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In groups, beaten with stick and rifle-butts, the Jews were downloaded from the vehicles and
pushed upon the top of the embankment, where a firing squad of the 2/307 proceeded with the
executions.
Also in this case, the shooting were interrupted and then restarted the following day.

I.C. 3/POLIZEI-BATAILLON

Source ARC - Jews in Brest Litowsk, date unknown

In the case of the 3/307,
at about 3 AM, the
rounding-up would have
begun, and it was
completed in about
three hours, when the
victims were gathered,
with all their baggages,
in the courtyard of a
school, in front of the
quarters of the company.
After which, starting
from the early afternoon
and until 5 or 6 PM, the
Jews were loaded onto
some trucks that
shuttled between the
school and a hilly field
close to the river Bug,
about half an hour far
from the town, where there were some old Soviet bunkers and two or three anti-tank ditches.
As the trucks reached their destinations, the victims were forced to get down in groups of 10
and were pushed on the edge of a pit, where a kommando was in waiting, formed with 20
policemen under the orders of a platoon leader. Each victim was targeted by two policemen
and every fifteen minutes the whole kommando was replaced by another squad.
That day, about 600 executions were carried out until sunset, after which the operations were
interrupted and restarted the following day.
Overall, 1.200/1.500 Jews were murdered by the 3/307, included a dozen of women, that had
preferred to follow their husbands in death, rather than being separated from them. We don't
know for sure, but it is probable that, among these women there was also Sheine Feige
Janowich, wife of Shmuel.

This is the summary of the events, as they were reconstructed by the Public Prosecutor of
Lubeck, on the basis of the testimonies released by former policemen of the battalion 15,
during the investigations that led to the Request of Indictment for Salzinger and other,
presented to the Court of Lubeck on 21 September 1970 16.
We leave now the word to the same Prosecutor of Lubeck 17:

"The executions were perpetrated to the south of Brest Litowsk, outside the forts, in a sandy
field crossed by dunes. From the downtown, to this place, about fifteen minutes were needed.
The hills were covered with bushes and the terrain was sandy. Twelve pits at least had been
dug, that had the following dimensions: 10 m in lenght, 2,5 m in width and 3-4 m deep. Each
pit could contain 600 corpses. The excavated earth had been accumulated at both ends of the
graves.
No chloride was available or any other disinfectants. The Jews were carried partly with trucks
and partly forced to march in a long column from the downtown, and then were stopped about
300 meters from the ditches. Here, they had to deliver their luggages, that were gathered in a
clearing.

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After which, subdivided in groups of 50 peoples, they were pushed to the ditches and forced to
lie down on both sides of the pits, faces to the ground, so that their heads stuck freely above
the edge of the graves.
Behind each Jew there was a designated soldier with a "98" rifle, bayonet attached. The rifle
had to be pointed at the head of the victim, with the tip of the bayonet put to the neck, so that
the bullet would have hit the nape with an angle of 45 degrees. In this way, it often happened
that the entire top of the skull was torn off along the bullet path. From time to time, if the
angle of the rifle was too wide, or a victim was holding his head too high during the shot, the
bullet entered through the neck. In such cases an officer or a platoon commander, had to give
the deathblow to the victims, shooting them with the hand gun. Then, the rifleman had to
throw the corpse into the ditch, pushing it from the feets.
The first day, the executions went on until afternoon.
In the beginning, groups of 10-12 people were shot from time to time. However, it was
impossible to maintain such a uniform rate and the executions soon became irregulars. The
Jews were dressed when approaching the pits and they were not obliged to undress in
advance.
This description of the slaughter is taken from the detailed testimony of the former policeman
Heinrich Meier, who was part of a firing squad and that, consequently, took part in the
executions 18.
According to the statements of other members of its company, in some cases the Jews were
forced to dig their own grave, guarded by the policemen. According to other battalion
members, who also were part of the firing squads, in some cases the Jews were aligned at the
edge of the pit, and two policemen would have shot to each of them, the first one aiming at the
head and the second one at the hearth.
That evening, the policemen that took part to the executions, received a special ration of
strawberry with cream.
[According to the testimony of a platoon leader], the women who had choosed to remain with
their men, were executed in the same manner. There was a case in which, four women were
aligned near the edge of the pits, but [he] does not remember of having seen any children.
In those groups of victims, in which the women had followed their husbands, it also happened
that the couples remained embraced until shortly before the execution, Then the platoon
leaders forced the victims to separate. At that point, the women took the hands of their
husbans and died with them.
The member of a firing squad, Manthey, confirms of having seen some women among the
victims. There was also the case of a woman with a children in her arms, who voluntarly
followed the husband in death.
In his testimony, the policeman Hanke refers that some of the Jews, wounded into the pit, did
not received the deathblow and that he witnessed many horrible scenes.

II TEAMWORK
Gen.Ltn. Max von Schenkendorff
If there are no more doubts about the way in which the
rounding-up and the executions were perpetrated, the events
that led to the slaughter have to be framed in a broader
context.
What is certain is that, this was an action carried out in
cooperation between the Wehrmacht and the SS and the
Police anthorities, each of which played its role and made
availabe its own tactical assets.
It would have been the Wehrmacht infact, through the
command of the 221 Sich.Div., to send to the HSSPF von dem
Bach, on 7 July 1941, a request for a company of the Polizei-
Bataillon 307, to be used in the area of the FK 184 of Brest
Litowsk (Maj.Gen. Stubenrauch), being the division, no more
able to assure, with its own limited resurces, the security of
the depots and the "cleansing" of the town 19.

At that point, having received a positive response by von dem Bach (8 July) 20, roundups were
accomplished since the hours immediately following, as well as "sanitization" ops, both in the

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urban area of Brest Litowsk and in the surroundings. Infact, according to what the Berück Mitte
Max von Schenkendorff stated, on 9 July 1941 "the systematic rounding-up of several localities,
among which Bialystok and Brest Litowsk" had been launched, with the collaboration of the
Ordnungspolizei and the SD 21: and apparently, this would have been made with the aim to
provide the security of the Wehrmacht rear area, even through the seizure of hostages and the
involvement in typical police actions (Durchsuchungsaktionen der Pol.), of the military units 22.
After which, on 11 July, following an inspection in Bialystok of Himmler and Daluege, the
commander of the Polizei-Regiment "Mitte", Montua, issued to the Polizei-Bataillone 316 and
322 an order of von dem Bach, according to which it was authorized "the execution of all the
male Jews of Bialystok, between 17 and 45, blamed of plundering". This order, in the
subsequent hours, was transmitted also to the Polizei-Bataillon 307 of Brest Litowsk 23.
It is quite clear that, such an order was nothing but a sort of "license to kill", as it imposed a
precise racial discrimination (male Jews), in front of a rather generic kind of crime (plundering).
Moreover and above all, as it did not mentioned any kind of punishment against the possible
non-Jewish looters, it suggested the devious equation "Plunderers=Jews" and its natural
evolution "Jews=Plunderers". In this way, the order of Montua might be interpreted in its
broadest meaning, by the most "zealous" among the policemen and possibly, even extended to
other age groups and categories of victims, such as – and why not? – even the women, that in
their role of wives, could be easily considered "accomplices" of their husbands.
The last piece of the great criminal mosaic that was gradually being formed, was put in its
place with the inspection of Daluege, von dem Bach and Montua in Brest Litowsk, that occurred
between 12 and 13 July, as a sort of reply of what had already happened in Bialystok, just few
days before. And infact, during his speech to the Polizei-Bataillon 307, Daluege highlighted that
"particularly hard tasks are now incoming" (Besonders schwere Einsätze bevorständen) 24.
At that point, being synchronized all the mechanisms and launched the roundups in the same
hours, the bloodbath could finally begin: as punctually happenend since the morning of
Sunday, 13 July 1941.

We have talked so far, about the fundamental role played by the Polizei-Bataillon 307: now, it is
appropriate to repeat that, not only the policemen were involved in the massacre of Brest
Litowsk, but – as already mentioned – even took part the other structures present in town, with
their respective tactical assets.
In particular, the transport of the victims, from Brest Litowsk to the killing field was
accomplished by the vehicles of the Wehrmacht, probably belonging from the local FK 184
and/or pertaining to the motorized column of the 162 ID, that in those days was located in
Bialystok 25.
Moreover, according to the already mentioned testimony of Heinrich Meier, also an unidentified
unit of the SS would have been present on the killing field, probably at company-level, as well
as a small group of the SD: in this case, it was a detachment of the Einsatzkommando zbV
"Brest", sent by the BdS of Cracow Schöngarth, formed with personnel taken from the KdS
"Lublin" 26.

On the basis of the concrete element exposed so far, it is possible to draw some conclusions
about the dynamics that, synchronized into a
kind of "perfect storm", made possible the
massacre of Brest Litowsk.
From the following list – substantially
comparable to an Ishikawa Diagram, with the
slaughter as the effect – we can notice that, a
close interaction existed, since the beginning,
between the local initiatives and the "orders
from the above" 27, and namely:

Hitler's speech "Soldaten der Ostfront!"

1) the presence of more or less explicit orders
issued by the SS and the Police leaders, as well
as the physical presence of the same leaders in
the place of the massacre;
2) the role played by Max von Schenkendorff,
promoter of the theory "der Jude ist der
Partisan, der Partisan ist der Jude" 28.

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3) the arising of military needs, even though tendentially specious, in the area of Brest Litowsk;
4) the specific characteristics of the Polizei-Bataillon 307 – a unit of the "Series 300", that is the
series that, rightly or wrongly, was considered the élite of the Ordnungspolizei, with all the
resulting consequences;
5) the presence of a strongly ideologized unit, such as the Einsatzkommando zbV "Brest",
emanation of Schöngarth, a radical anti-Semite.

To all these factors, valid in the specific case of Brest Litowsk, we have to add some more
generic dynamics:

6) the propaganda against the "eternal Jewish-Bolshevik foe", fueled by the recent diffusion (22
June) of Hitler's proclamation "Soldaten der Ostfront!"
7) the arising, within the German military entourages, of the well-known
"Freischärlerpsychose", that not only expressed a licit military concern, but and above all, it
was the obsessive projection of a virtual reality, in which were included political aspects,
ideological and racial, and that tended to self-foment geometrically, in a kind of endless vicious
circle 29;
8) the microdynamics within the units, to which it was not easy to escape 30;
9) the ideological pushes, that acted differently according to the cases, on the basis of the
personal experiences, the degree of education, the social context, the temperamental
peculiarities and so on.

In essence, the perfect alignement of all these factors, produced a devastating result: that was
not yet the Final Solution, but rather the dramatic "evolution" and "rationalization" of the facts
of Bialystok, the following step on the road that, in the space of few months, would have led to
the systematic implementation of a planned genocide.

III NOTHING BUT ROAD VICTIMS

The very first investigation on the slaughter of Brest Litowsk was opened in the early '60 by the
ZStL and ended with the gathering of 26 testimonies of former members of the Polizei-Bataillon
307, filed in ZStL 204 AR - Z 82/61 gegen Salzinger u.a.
After which, in 1964 the folders were transmitted, for competence, to the Public Prosecutor of
Lubeck, that, with the proceeding StAw Lübeck - 2 PJs 189/64 VU-Antrag vom 9.9.1965
requested the opening of the preliminary investigations versus four members of the battalion
31:

Albert Salzinger:
Born in Munich on 1 May 1910. After the war he reached the rank of Major of the Bundeswehr.
Retired.
Friedrich-Wilhelm Niehoff:
Born in Oldenburg on 2 September 1914. After the war he reached the rank of
Polizeihauptkommissar. Still in active service at Bremervörde.
Max Erich Kayser:
Born in Tilsit on 27 August 1913. After the war he reached the rank of Polizeihauptmann.
Retired.
Sigfried Klocker:
Born in Dornbirn, in Austria, on 10 November 1911. After the war he reached the rank of
Polizeihauptkommissar. Still in active service at Bottrop.

The preliminary investigations ended five years later, when, with proceeding StAw Lübeck - 2
PJs 189/64 vom 21.9.1970, the same Prosecutor requested to the Court of Lubeck, the
indictment of the four investigated policemen.
At the same time, on the basis of the documentation provided by the Prosecutor of Lubeck,
another investigation was opened by the Prosecutor of Dortmund, for own competence, against
Niehoff and Klocker, in relation to the crimes perpetrated after the slaughter of Brest Litowsk.

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In 1970, following the request of the Prosecutor of Lubeck, with proceeding LG Lübeck III r
118/70 2 Js 189/64, the trial was opened by the Court of Lubeck, against Salzinger, Niehoff,
Kayser and Klocker.
However, the proceeding was closed a few months later, on 23 March 1971, with a
disconcerting verdict, that rejected the request of "murder and complicity in murder"
advanced by the Prosecutor, and converted it into a simple "manslaughter": an offence that,
being subjected to a 15-years statute of limitation according to the German Law, allowed the
immediate release of the four defendants 32.
In essence, with such a kind of sentence, the Court of Lubeck equalized the more than 4.000
civilians murdered by the firing squads in common graves, to the accidental victims of an
ordinary road crash.
However, as far as Niehoff and Klocker are concerned, still opened remained the investigations
of the Prosecutor of Dortmund.
Actually, with proceeding StAwDo 45 Js 6/71, this Prosecutor requested in 1971 the indictment
of Niehoff to the Court of Lubeck, and in 1972 that of Klocker to the Court of Essen.
Once again, in the first case, Lubeck declared itself not competent and acquitted Niehoff, with
verdict LG Lübeck III Str 38/71 2 Ks 1/71 of 21 December 1917 33.
Instead, in the case of Klocker, the last of the defendants, the affair assumed a disquieting
aspect.
Infact, after the request of indictment, the Court of Essen conceded to Klocker the suspension
of the proceeding, due to health reasons; after which, once the trial was reopened in 1973, the
man who should have been the main witness for the prosecutions, committed suicide by
hanging, two days before the decisive hearing. At the same time, another witness retracted his
previous testimony against Klocker 34.
On 15 May 1973, missed any concrete evidence against him, Klocker was released with verdict
LG Essen 45 Js 6/71 22 53/73.

IV. CONCLUSIONS
At least 4.000 were the Jews of Brest Litowsk brutally murdered on 13 July 1941 and in the
subsequent hours. Among them, according to the statements released by their executioners,
there were several women and children.

Roughly reasoning about the numbers of the massacre, we can say that, about 20% of the
Jewish community of Brest Litowsk was annihilated in the space of a weekend, a percentage
that rises up to an appalling 40% if we consider only the male part of the population: in
practice, if we assume as formed by 4 people at least, the core-base of an average household,
that is probably 5.000 families over a population of 21.000 Jews (data of 1931), we notice that,
substantially, each family lost a direct relative: father, husband or son, or whoewer he was.
Moreover, as the victims were mainly taken from the most vigorous and productive part of the
Jewish population, their loss dealt a devastating blow to the whole community, not only in the
short period, but even and above all, in the perspective of the future demographic
development of the community itself, that substantially, ended up by being prevented or, at
least, greatly reduced.
In essence, under the social point of view, a massacre of such a proportion, beyond the painful
immediate losses, was equivalent to arrange, on the long period, the whole extintion of a
centuries-old Jewish community, with all its human and cultural heritage.

A remembrance road in Tel Aviv

To tell the truth, we have some
doubt that, in those chaotic first
weeks of Barbarossa, had been
this calculation that moved the
murderous hand of the
architechts of the Genocide, in
visit to Brest Litowsk, but rather,
the convergence of dynamics,
instrumental and specious,

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certainly useful to satisfy some immediate and "low calibre needs", but that, in any case, were
not yet part of a broader – and future – destructive strategy.
Hovewer, it is also true that, regardless of the calculations, made or not made, quite scarce
consolation would have received the victims of 13 July, as well as those that followed in the
subsequent weeks: only a few days infact, would have passed before the arrival of a new wave
of slaughters, that decimated again the traumatized Briskers, this time by hand of the
Sichereitspolizei 35.
After which, to all those that survived, in a way or another until Autumn 1942, the Magen David
was imposed, as the "mark of infamy" 36.
But Sheine Feige Janowich and the other 4.000 victims of the slaughter, did not made on time,
at least, to suffer this last outrage.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Andrej Angrick, Martina Voigt, Silke Ammerschubert , Peter Klein:
"Da hätte man schon ein Tagebuch führen müssen". Das Polizeibataillon 322 und die
Judenmorde im Bereich der Heeresgruppe Mitte während des Sommers und Herbst 1941. In
Grabitz/Bästlein/Tuchell, pages 325-385.
Browning, Christopher:
Uomini comuni. Polizia tedesca e "soluzione finale" in Polonia. Turin, 1992.
Browning, Christopher:
Nazi Policy, Jewish Workers, German Killers. Cambridge, 2003. Quoted Browning Policy.
Browning, Christopher:
Le Origini della Soluzione Finale. L'evoluzione della politica antiebraica del nazismo. Settembre
1939-Marzo 1942. Milan, 2008. Quoted Browning Origini.
Curilla, Wolfgang:
Die Deutsche Ordnungspolizei und der Holocaust im Baltikum und in Weissrussland, 1941-1944.
Paderborn, 2006.
Gerlach, Christian:
Kalkulierte Morde. Die Deutsche Wirtschaft- und Vernichtungspolitik in Weissrussland 1941 bis
1944. Hamburg, 1999
Hamburger Institut für Sozialforschung (Hrsg.):
Verbrechen der Wehrmacht. Dimensionen des Vernichtungskrieges 1941-1944. Hamburg, 2002
Klemp, Stefan:
"Nicht Ermittelt". Polizeibataillone und die Nachkriegsjustiz. Ein Handbuch. Essen, 2005.
Kohl, Paul:
Der Krieg der Deutschen Wehrmacht und der polziei 1941-1944. Sowjetische Ueberlebende
berichten. Frankfurt am Main, 1995.
Kopitzsch, Wolfgang:
Bandenbekämpfung, Geiselerschiessungen, Umsiedlung, Endloesung. Hamburger
Polizeibataillone im Zweiten Weltkrieg. In Täter und Opfer unter dem Hakenkreutz, pages 247-
273, Kiel, 2001.
Lichtenstein, Heiner:
Himmlers grüne Helfer. Die Schutz- und Ordnungspolizei im "Dritten Reich". Cologne, 1990.
Longerich, Peter:
Politik der Vernichtung. Eine Gesamtdarstellung der nationalsozialistischen Judenverfolgung.
München, 1998
Mallmann, Klaus-Michael:
Der Einstieg in den Genozid. Das Lübecker Polizeibataillon 307 und das Massaker in Brest-
Litowsk Anfang July 1941. In Archiv für Polizeigeschichte nr. 29, 3/1999, pages 82-88, Lübeck,
1999.
Westermann, Edward B.:
Hitler’s Police Bataillons. Einforcing Racial War in the East. Lawrence, 2005.

FOOTNOTES
1 See Yad Vashem. The Central Database of Shoah Victim's Names.
2 Encyclopedia Judaica, page 1362, Browning Policy, page 124.

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3 Officially, by the Command of the German 45th ID, the citadel was declared conquered on 8 July 1941.
Actually, sporadic fightings and sniping lasted about until the end of the month: only on 23 July infact, the
last defenders were overwhelmed. Gerlach, page 546.
4 It was the Polizei-Regiment "Mitte" that, in addition to the 307th of Lubeck, also included the Polizei-
Bataillon 316 of Recklinghausen and the 322 of Vienna: compared to the 307th, these two battalions
operated more to the North, in the area of Bialystok, where, between 12 and 13 July, they remained
involved in a brutal slaughter. See Kopitzsch, pages 264-265.
5 [...] Faktisch bedeutete dies ein Praktikum im Sachen Rassismus, eine Einübung ins Projekt der
etnischen Säuberung und "völkischen Flurbereinigung", der jüdischen Ghettoisierung und Zwangsarbeit.
Mallmann Einstieg, page 85.
6 In the area of Biala Podlaska, personnel of the battalion would have carried out some death sentences,
issued by the local Standgericht, while, was also probably accomplished the surveillance of some
contingents of Jewish forced labourers, deported to the Arbeitslager of Belzec.
7 Lichtenstein, page 168.
8 Mallmann Einstieg, page 83.
9 Browning Policy, page 118, make us notice that, the Polizei-Bataillon 307 was a reasonably well-trained
unit, formed with selected personnell, as well as the other battalions of the "Series 300". Nevertheless, in
our opinion the enrollment in the NSDAP is not an indicator sufficient to demonstrate the real degree of
ideologization of a unit. Different instead, was the case of the SS members, about which, however, we
have only the data concerning a small part of the officers.
10 Curilla, page 570.
11 Overall, about two dozen of executions would have been carried out, among which probably, there
were some Jews. Curilla, pages 570-571.
12 Mallmann Einstieg, page 84, Browning Policy, page 121. According to Gerlach, page 546, the slaughter
was perpetrated on 7 July, that is, two or three days after the arrival of the battalion in town. According to
Westermann, page 176, the roundups were executed during the night of 9 July. According to the testimony
of the policeman Heinrich Meier, published in Kohl, page 224, the execution day was Thursday 10 July –
see footnote 17. According to Longerich, page 350, the massacre was carried out on 12 July. According to
Curilla, page 571, the shootings begun on 13 July.
13 Overall, not less than 4.000 Jews were executed by the three companies, in addition to about 400
Russians and Belorussians. These numbers are broadly confirmed by the Request for Preliminary
Investigations, started on 9 September 1965 by the Public Prosecutor of Lubeck, versus Salzinger and
others (StAw Lübeck – 2 PJs 189/64 VU-Antrag vom 9.9.1965), in which is quantified a total of
3.000÷4.000 victims among the Jews. Moreover, these figures are originated by the EM 32 of 24 July
1941, in which is reported the annihilation, in Brest Litowsk, of 4.435 people, included 400 Russians and
Belorussians, by hand of the Ordnungspolizei.
14 Curilla, page 55, Browning Policy, page 121. A detail, that of the strawberries with milk, denoting
attention by part of the battalion Command, to the physical and mental well-being of the policemen, so
meticulosly engaged in the perpetration of a bloody carnage. And it is tragically ironic that, this episode
has accompanied the Jews towards their fate of death, as in a kind of blasphemous biblical paraphrase:
"Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them: The Lord, the God of your father [...] hath
appeared unto me, saying [...]: I will bring you up out the affliction of Egypt [...], unto a land flowing with
milk and honey". Exodus, 3, 16-17. Who knows, whether any of the perpetrators has remembered this
passage of the Bible, and smiled amused, when received his prize after having exterminated so many
innocents...
15 The testimonies of 26 policemen of the battalion had been gathered by the ZStL 204 AR-Z 82/6, and
then were transmitted to the Public Prosecutor of Lubeck, for the opening of the preliminary
investigations. According to the testimonies, there are some differences in the narration, especially
concerning the dates, the timing and the methods of killing, reflecting the different moments of the
slaughter, as well as the frequent rotations of the personnel, from time to time assigned to the
Erschiessungskommando. Maybe unuseful to remember that, any testimony is nothing but a "snapshot",
taken from the personal perspective of the witness, and that, not necessarily, have to be overlapped with
the other testimonies, above all if the general context is particularly dilated in the time and the space, as
in this case.
16 StAw Lübeck – 2 PJs 189/64 vom 21.9.1970.
17 StAw Lübeck – 2 PJs 189/64 vom 21.9.1970, Ziffer 3. Lichtenstein, pages, 184-186, Kopitzsch, page
265.
18 The testimony of Heinrich Meier is published in Kohl, page 224-225. The English version is in Gitelman,
pages 281-283. According to the statements of this policeman, the action started on 10 July, around 3 AM,
and lasted until 6 AM, when the roundups of the Jewish quarter ended. After which, partly on foot and
partly by trucks, the Jews were carried to the killing field. Here, a "company of the SS" would have been
already present, placed around the graves, at a range of about 600 meters, as well as a detachment of
the SD, engaged in the executions of the male Jews. In the afternoon a group of women with children
arrived, and were later killed by the SS. Once the policemen arrived, they were ordered to take part in the
executions. The witness Meier, however, does not remember by who, this order was given: whether by

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some of the battalion officers, or by any of the members of the SS or the SD. That day, 10 July 1941, the
executions lasted until 4 PM.
19 Mallmann Einsiteg, pages 84, 87. Verbatim: "zur Sicherung der Lager und Säuberung der Stadt". BA-
MA, RH 26-221/12. The request of the 221 Sich.-Div. to von dem Bach, was originated by two previous
reports, compiled by Stubenrauch and Stahr, that the divisional Command had received on 5 July.
According to these reports, "additional troops were desperately needed", for the surveillance of the
depots and of the hundreds freight cars, loaded with captured materials, and for the "cleansing" of the
area from the Soviet stragglers. Browning Policy, page 119. NARA T-315/1667/358-9, 374-6.
20 Westermann, pages 176, 284. "Der HSSPF zbV beim Berück Mitte. Betr.: Säuberungsaktion in Brest.
8.7.1941". BA-MA, RH 26-221/12a.
21 Browning Policy, page 120, Mallmann Einstieg, page 84, 87, Kopitzsch, page 264. "Zehntagemeldung
Berück 102 an OKH vom 9.7.1941: Unter Zuhilfenahme der dem Befehlshaber zur Verfügung stehenden
Kräfte der Orpo und des SD ist mit dem systematischen Durchsuchen der grösseren Ortschaften,
insbesondere von Bialystok und Brest begonnen worden".
22 See the order of von Schenkendorff to the 221 Sich.-Div. of 9.7.1941 - NARA T 315/1667/357. Browning
Policy, page 120. During the first stage, immediately after the arrival in Brest Litowsk of the first German
trrops, 3 or 4.000 prisoners, previously jailed by the NKVD had been released. The release caused the
strong complaints of Nebe, the commander of the EGB, according to which, the occupation authorities
would have been deprived of a powerful repressive tool. The releases were completed around 5 July.
Curilla, page 571. About the arrests, carried out by the NKVD in Eastern Poland and in Western Ukraine,
annexed to the Soviet Union, see Bogdan Musial: "Konterrevolutionäre Elemente sind zu erschiessen".
23 Bef.Kdr. Pol.Rgt.Mitte Ia 15 34, 11.7.1941: "Auf Befehl des HSSPF zbV beim Berück Mitte, sind alle als
Plünderer üeberführten männlichen Juden im Alter von 17-45 Jahren sofort standrechtlich zu erschiessen".
STAM, StAwBo, nr. 9647,1,Bl.38. The inspection in Bialystok of Himmler and Daluege happend on 8 July
1941 and ended with a dinner, to which von dem Bach, Max von Schenkendorff and Montua also
attended, as well as the commanders of the Polizei-Bataillone 316 and 322, Waldow and Nagel, and
several other officers of the Wehrmacht and the SD. No one knows exactly the matters discussed during
the dinner: however, it is a fact that, after this meeting 3.000 Jews were slaughtered in Bialystok on 12
July, followed by other 4.000 in Brest Litowsk, the subsequent day. In this way, it is unlikely that this has
been a mere coincidence. See Westermann, page 176, Mallmann Einstieg, page 84, Browning, pages 15-
16, Browning Origini, pages. 268-269. See also Angrik/Voigt/Ammeerschubert/Klein, pages 334, 374, in
which is reported the testimony of W.L. to the ZStL – AR-Z 52/59, Bd.II, Bl.41, according to which "Himmler
would have expressed his disappointment about the scarce number of the Jews arrested and he would
have requested a more decisive action in this sense".
24 Curilla, page 571. See also Longerich, page 350.
25 Gerlach, page 547. See also Westermann, page 176, Browning Origini, pages 271, 678.
26 Curilla, pages 860, 862. Gerlach, page 547. Two detachments of the SD, respectively assigned to Brest
Litowsk and Pinsk, overall 30 men, were mobilized on 2 July 1941.
27 Browning Policy, pages 116, 118.
28 About Max von Schenkendorff and his repressive policies, see HIS, pages 462, 469, 580.
29 See Mallmann Einstieg, page 86. We remember that, on 3 July 1941, had been broadcasted by the
Soviet radio, Stalin's proclamation on the beginning of the "Great Patriotic War" and the partisan uprising
behind the German lines: an event that, certainly, helped to fuel the "guerrilla psychosis" – that however,
was quite unjustified, considering the area of Brest Litowsk and the early stage of the war.
30 See the article: "Closed communities and microdynamics. Environmental context and tribal bonds in
the police battalions". Here.
31 Lichtenstein, page 168.
32 Lichtenstein, pages 169-170, Klemp Ermittelt, pagges 379-380, Curilla, pages 569-570.
33 Justiz und Verbrechen Lfd 764, Klemp Ermittelt, pages 252-253, Curilla, page 380.
34 Klemp Ermittelt, pages 253-254, Curilla, page 380.
35 Between July and September 1941, further 4.403 people were killed in Brest Litowsk, most of which
were probably Jews: EM 43 ofl 5.8.1941 (1.280 victims); EM 47 ofl 9.8.1941 (510); EM 56 ofl 18.8.1941
(1.296); EM 66 ofl 28.8.1941 (769); EM 78 ofl 9.9.1941 (548). Browning Policy, page 124.
36 See Pinkas Hakehillot Polin – Brest, pages 226-237.

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