When the German Wehrmacht swarmed across Eastern Europe, an elite corps
followed close at its heels. Along with the SS and Gestapo, the Ordnungspolisei,
or Uniformed Police, played a central role in Nazi genocide that until now has
been generally neglected by historians of the war. 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. Westermann reveals initiatives pursued before the war by Heinrich
Himmler and Kurt Daluege to create a culture within the existing police forces
that fostered anti-Semitism and anti-Communism as institutional norms.
Challenging prevailing interpretations of German culture, he draws on extensive
archival research—including the testimony of former policemen—to illuminate this
transformation. Purged of dissidents, indoctrinated to idolise Hitler, and
trained in military combat, these police battalions repeatedly conducted actions
against Jews, Slavs, gypsies, asocials, and other groups on their own
initiative, even when they had the choice not to. In addition to documenting
these atrocities, Westermann examines cooperation between the Ordnungspolisei
and the SS and Gestapo, and the close relationship between police and Wehrmacht
in the conduct of the anti-partisan campaign. Throughout, Westermann stresses
the importance of ideological indoctrination within specific groups. It was the
organisational culture of the Uniformed Police, he maintains, and not German
culture in general that led these men to commit genocide. Hitler’s Police
Battalions provides the most complete and comprehensive study to date of this
neglected branch of Himmler’s SS and Police empire and adds a new dimension to
our understanding of the Holocaust and the war on the Eastern Front. “The is the
first truly comprehensive analysis of how the German police came to be
transformed into an essentially militarised murder machine in the service of
National Socialist ideology. An outstanding work of scrupulous research,
profound insight, and balanced judgment.”—Gerhard L Weinberg, author of A World
at Arms “An important study that helps us understand the institutional dynamics
of Nazi mass murder and how ideology is transformed into action.”—Christopher R
Browning, author of Ordinary Men and The Origins of the Final Solution “A
superbly written work that takes us inside the Nazi mind.”—Donald M McKale,
author of Hitler’s Shadow War “Destined to become a classic in the field of
Holocaust Studies.”—Alexander B Rossino, author of Hitler Strikes Pola
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