Recommended reading on the SS & Polizei

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steve248
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Re: Recommended reading on the SS & Polizei

#136

Post by steve248 » 21 May 2021, 18:01

I have received several books over the past month or so:

Michael Fleming, "Auschwitz, the Allies and Censorship of the Holocaust" a Cambridge Uni Press paperback which was fortunate as the 2014 hardback is out of print and costs a fortune on abebooks. The paperback copy published this year and at a good price from amazon.
It is a bit dated now, due to research since 2014, but his main theme is worth a look. He takes a slightly different look on the censorship of the news of the holocaust coming out of Poland in 1942 and 1943 than David Engel ("Facing a Holocaust. The Polish Government-in-Exile and the Jews, 1943-1945", Uni North Carolina Press, 1993).
Both take on the dilemma "why didn't they help the Jews?"

Hermann Kaienburg, "Das Konzentrationslager Sachsenhausen 1936-1945. Zentrallager des KZ-Systems", Metropol Verlag, Berlin, 2021. 733 pages so you get your money's worth. Deals extremely well in how the camp was run by the SS and the communist prisoners... The foreign nationals who arrived during the war did not fare so well. There are several omissions regarding those "Sonderhäftlinge" who were executed in 1945. The research is somewhat parochial and uses German material throughout as though there is no archival material available about Sachsenhausen in UK National Archives and the French National Archives.

I do not have any Czech language skills but I was recommended Vladimir Cerny, "Brnenske Gestapo 1939-1945" published by the Moravske zemske Museum in Brno (reprinted this year). Anyone with German and a good knowledge of the Gestapo will find it very understandable. I got my copy via the museum.

I decided to splash out on Bastian Fleermann, "Die Kommissare: Kriminalpolizei in Düsseldorf und im rhenisch-westfälischen Industriegebiete (1920-1959)", Droste Verlag, 2018 - currently en route from amazon.

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Re: Recommended reading on the SS & Polizei

#137

Post by mil-archive » 11 Jun 2021, 17:49

Just finished this article & would highly recommend it :

"Tom Frydel
Ordinary Men?
The Polish Police and the Holocaust in the Subcarpathian Region"
Cover.JPG
Index.JPG
It is currently available free as a .pdf through academia.edu


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Re: Recommended reading on the SS & Polizei

#138

Post by Corax » 04 Jul 2021, 11:58

For those who haven't spotted it yet (like me): A Sociography of the SS Officer Corps, 1925-1939 by Gunnar C Boenhnert, 1977 - a lot of fine stories as well as regular statistics.
https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1349180/

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Re: Recommended reading on the SS & Polizei

#139

Post by J. Duncan » 12 Jul 2021, 14:00

Yes Corax, this is a great study. I’m glad you posted this. I put this up a few years ago. Sure do wish this was published as a book, but it’s a dissertation.

viewtopic.php?f=38&t=234416&p=2131779&h ... t#p2131779

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Re: Recommended reading on the SS & Polizei

#140

Post by mil-archive » 16 Jul 2021, 14:50

Recently started scanning a group of old issues of the SS HIAG Veterans publication 'Der Freiwillige'. Some interesting content alongside some contemporary not that interesting cold war political stuff (I believe this originated in Wiking Ruf and morphed into 'dmz zeitgeschichte')

Here was one 'Der Freiwillige' page that was worth a second look, from Jan 1997 issue, this page shows adverts from Rolf Michaelis, Massimmo Arico and Kurt Imhoff all side by side requesting materials from veterans.
Der-Freiwillige-1997-Jan-001.jpg
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Der-Freiwillige-1997-Jan-035.jpg

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Re: Recommended reading on the SS & Polizei

#141

Post by mil-archive » 21 Sep 2021, 13:44

'4th Waffen-SS Panzergrenadier Division "Polizei": An Illustrated History' by Massimiliano Afiero.

This one arrived today & while I haven't read it yet I'd recommend it on the quality of the production alone.

So far it's a very well produced pictorial history of the division. The division history is laid out in a clear chronological path & very heavily illustrated along the way. The pictures are mostly well reproduced and it's printed on decent paper. This was previously published in Italian paper back so it is good to see the hardback English language version at last.
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Re: Jakob Grimminger's Memoirs

#142

Post by Fides Germania » 26 Nov 2021, 10:01

If I were to read, which I very much would like to do, Genosse Grimminger's memoirs the last thing that I would be wanting to learn about would be the 'Blood Flag'. The poor devil died forgotten and in poverty in Munich, friendless, without sponsors, while militaria collectors spent millions on 'trinkets'. Shame, eternal shame on those people, while Genosse Jakob starved and spent cold winters freezing in a garret in Munchen.

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Re: Jakob Grimminger's Memoirs

#143

Post by Hans1906 » 02 Dec 2021, 00:35

Der Kornett der Blutfahne - Die Erinnerungen von Jakob Grimminger.

https://www.zvab.com/buch-suchen/titel/ ... blutfahne/

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The paradise of the successful lends itself perfectly to a hell for the unsuccessful. (Bertold Brecht on Hollywood)

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Re: Recommended reading on the SS & Polizei

#144

Post by mil-archive » 08 Feb 2022, 18:34

This came out a few weeks ago, a revised Edition 3 of Stefan Klemp's 'Nicht Ermittelt'. This one is currently 35 EUR delivered.


https://www.bookdepository.com/Nicht-er ... 632&sr=1-1


Nicht-Ermittelt-v3-2022.JPG

Format Hardback | 724 pages
Dimensions 179 x 243 x 41mm | 1,858g
Publication date 03 Jan 2022
Publisher Metropol Verlag
Language German
Edition Statement 3., korrigierte, erweiterte und überarbeitete Auflage
ISBN10 386331588X
ISBN13 9783863315887
Bestsellers rank 1,363,403

An extract from the new introduction;
Als auch die zweite Auflage von „Nicht ermittelt“ vergriffen war, blieb die Nachfrage immer noch groß. Es wurde Zeit für eine Neuauflage, die auch deshalb dringend not- wendig ist, weil seit 2011 wichtige neue Erkenntnisse zur Aufarbeitung der Einsätze von Polizeibataillonen hinzugekommen sind. Für die dritte Auflage wurde das Manu- skript durchgesehen und, wo notwendig, korrigiert. Eingearbeitet wurden zudem zwei Abschnitte über das Polizeibataillon 32 und das Polizeiregiment 17. Neu ist vor allem der Prolog zum Thema Entlassungsanträge. Bisher nicht bekannte Dokumente sind ebenfalls aufgenommen worden. Hier ist insbesondere auf das Polizeibataillon 61, das Polizeibataillon 325 bzw. das Polizeiregiment 18 und den Fall Erwin Strittmatter hinzu- weisen. Ein aussagekräftiges Schriftstück dokumentiert den Einsatz der Ordnungspoli- zei bei der „Aktion Erntefest“. Es findet sich im Kapitel über das 1. Gendarmeriebataillon (Gendarmen aus Hiltrup).
Neue Informationen liegen vor zu Todesurteilen durch Sowjetische Militärtribunale aus dem von Andreas Weigelt, Klaus-Dieter Müller, Thomas Schaarschmidt und Mike Schmeitzner herausgegebenen Band. Über die verfolgten Männer der Luxemburger Freiwilligenkompanie, die Widerstand gegen den Dienst in der deutschen Polizei geleis- tet haben liegen neue Informationen vor. Biografische Angaben wurden im Zuge der Durchsicht des Manuskriptes vervollständigt. Nicht alle neuen Erkenntnisse konnten berücksichtigt werden. Die aktualisierte und überarbeitete Literaturliste gibt hierzu teil- weise Auskunft.

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Re: Recommended reading on the SS & Polizei

#145

Post by Georges JEROME » 08 Feb 2022, 21:07

Allgemeine SS .jpg
Elite für Volk und Führer ? Die Allgemeine-SS und ihre Mitglieder 1925 - 1945.

This is an academic book which complete the organisational and biographical books with cover the political branch of the SS.

it give to german speaking reader a wide knowledge on sociography of the Allgemeine-SS. 350 pages with useful footnotes, some black and white photos and a glossary of names cited . Soft cover. Published in 2012 by Oldenburg Verlag.

Such book exist for Waffen-SS, SD, Gestapo, RuSHA, RKFDV but not for the general-SS. That's why he is now on my shelves.
Best regards

Georges

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Re: Recommended reading on the SS & Polizei

#146

Post by Corax » 15 Feb 2022, 21:12

I'd like to recommend an old book: Das SS-Helferinnenkorps by Etta Mühlenberg. The author takes the reader into the founding and administration of the korps. She gives numerous examples of tha background and destinies of the women who joined and almost joined or were ''excommunicated'' from the korps. The author turns every stone imaginably. There was only one thing she didn't write of and that was the number of Helferinnen who fell in the line duty (if any at all?). These women became members of the SS Sippengemeinschaft, not by marriage but through education and employment. We learn that Himmler was inspired by the Finnish Lotta Svärds. The author picks up the line from Felix Kersten's chapter on die hohen Frauen (in Totenkopf und Treue). Himmler wanted to build a female section of the SS order with similar demands for the women who joined. He was obsessed with the formation of a korps which would never acquire the bad reputation of Kriegshelferinnen of the Wehrmacht. and this obsession stayed with Himmler to the end and runs as a red thread through the administration of the korps and the special oath of allegiance which was pledged by the SS Helferinnen. If one would like to get a concept of the ideal type of woman in an SS set up or from Himmler's point of view the book has much to offer. One can also observe a set of doubble standards, one for the SS Helferinnen and one for SS men. These doubble standards makes me wonder to which degree the RFSS really managed to leave his Catholic faith/morals behind and embrace his own brand of neogermanic paganism. The book is a well written and I went through it in no time. - - - It is available online at the Goethe Institut, where membership is free for non-Germans outside Germany

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Re: Recommended reading on the SS & Polizei

#147

Post by steve248 » 31 May 2022, 16:32

I do not recall where I saw a reference to this book which looked interesting and I eventually got a copy via a "print-on-demand" outfit here in the UK.
Stephan D. Yada-McNeal
"Heim ins Reich - Hitllers willigste Österreicher"
initially published 2018 seemingly as a "p-o-d" volume.

It is interesting and disappointing. Interesting that it brings together a whole run of Austrians who served in the SS, Sicherheitspolizei and SD, Doctors and nurses (from T4
and Aktion Reinhard), KZ doctors and KZ personnel including a couple of Aufseherinnen, HSSPFs and SSPFs, scientists and Austrian politicians and administrators. Each one gets at least a page and others more pages and typical a photo with wrap around text. Some information is new to me. The end of Alois Brunner in Syria looks a bit warped but who will say it is not true and here's the evidence...

Why disappointing? Firstly the author simply reads a whole load of book about these particular Austrians and re-hashes into a precis. There is no archival involvement. Admittedly the books he uses would take quite some time to acquire, let alone the expense. Why he chose these particulars Austrians is not mentioned; there are a number of notable omissions such as Alois Persterer (a real mass-murderer). The entry for Rudolf Mildner curiously does not mention he was in south America after the war (and after Allied interrogations) and probably ended his days there.

If you are interested Austrian Nazis it will be of interest; if not, save your money.

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Re: Recommended reading on the SS & Polizei

#148

Post by Orlov » 25 Jun 2022, 20:33

mil-archive wrote:
11 Jun 2021, 17:49
Just finished this article & would highly recommend it :
"Tom Frydel
Ordinary Men?
The Polish Police and the Holocaust in the Subcarpathian Region"
Tomasz Frydel is represent of "The new Polish school of the history of the Holocaust" ("Nowa polska szkoła historii Holokaustu"). His main problem, as well as the other representatives this "school", is the lack of knowledge of German language, but what's worse the lack of knowledge of documents from Bundesarchiv Berlin and Bundesarchiv Ludwigsburg. The main their assumption is to ascribe Poles as murders from 200,000 to 2,000,000 the missing Jews after Piper's calculations regarding the victims of KZ Auschwitz (this last number use to tried to accuse Polish - Masha Gessen from "New Yorker", who collaborates with the aforementioned researchers, who are mostly not historians).
Of course, I will never deny that Polish collaborators and anti-Semites. But in the post-Demyanyuk era, research into the crimes of the inhabitants of Eastern Europe began, while there was no research into German participation and perpetration in the Shoah - we know nothing, in fact, outside the Einsatzgruppen. Even the 1,000-page monographs by Wolfgang Currilla are selective. One is devoted to Der Judenmord in Polen - and why not Der Judenmord in Generalgouvernement [für die besetzten polnischen Gebiete]. Besides, Curilla does not mention - as in the part about Ostland, not a single extermination of German and Austrian policemen on the remaining inhabitants of Eastern Europe (Slavs).
mil-archive wrote:
08 Feb 2022, 18:34
This came out a few weeks ago, a revised Edition 3 of Stefan Klemp's 'Nicht Ermittelt'. This one is currently 35 EUR delivered.
When we get the monographs of each of Polizei-Bataillonen or Reserve-Polizei-Bataillonen and infafous Gendarmerie-Bataillon (mot.) 1? However, to this day, we do not have over 100 monographs on Polizei-Bataillonen and Gendarmerie-Bataillonen - research began Browning with his monograph on the RPB 101
steve248 wrote:
31 May 2022, 16:32
Stephan D. Yada-McNeal
"Heim ins Reich - Hitllers willigste Österreicher"
initially published 2018 seemingly as a "p-o-d" volume.
Austrian National Socialist and exterminations
Thank you "steve248" for the warning - did the author use documents from Ludwigsburg or Austrian landesarchiv? It is a real treasury, but hard to reach - Austrians pretend to be victims, so documents about the crimes of their compatriots are difficult to access

In order not to criticize - here are my suggestions of good monographs on the SS u. Polizei not mentioned so far:
Henning Pieper, "Fegelein's Horsemen and Genocidal Warfare: The SS Cavalry Brigade in the Soviet Union" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015)
This is an excellent monograph - although I managed to supplement the issues concerning the participation of Fegelein's soldiers in the crimes and pacifications of the Polish population in the General Government, the Fegelein scandal in the robbery of the Jewish owner of a Warsaw fur salon - and also the participation of SS-Kav.Ausb.-u.Ers.Abt. Warschau in the pacification of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising 1943 and the Warsaw Uprising 1944
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And his earlier Ph.D thesis - PDF: The SS Cavalry Brigade and its operations in the Soviet Union, 1941-1942
https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/2911/1/Dissertation.pdf

Hitler's Bandit Hunters: The SS and the Nazi Occupation of Europe
by Philip W. Blood
One of the best monographs on "Bandenbekämpfung" - excellent use of German documents, including the "post-war" KTB E.v.d.Bach
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Martin Cüppers, Wegbereiter der Shoah: Die Waffen-SS, der Kommandostab Reichsführer-SS und die Judenvernichtung 1939-1945 (Darmstadt: Primus Verlag GmbH, 2014)
Another excellent monograph devoted to "Bandenbekämpfung" - also excellent use of German documents, but a typical forgetting about the pacification of Belarusian, Russian and Polish villages in Eastern Europe by RFSS soldiers.
9783863127404.jpg
It is impossible not to mention the excellent duo of Russian authors - Дмитрий Жуков, Иван Ковтун, Oхотники за партизанами. Бригада Дирлевангера [Ivan Kovtun, Dmitryy Zhukov, Partisan Hunters. Dirlewanger Brigade] (Москва: «Вече», 2013). Their book about SS-Sdr.Kdo. Direwanger is currently the best about Oscar and his poachers - they confronted Soviet documents and diaries with German documents (unfortunately only NARA microfilms). They published KTB E.v.d. in Russian. Bach and Max von Schenckendorff
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Trawniki Guards Volume 2: Postwar Investigations and Trials

#149

Post by wolfguy » 04 Nov 2022, 13:22

Hi

Trawniki Guards, Volume 2: Postwar Investigations and Trials is now available from amazon.
288 p., from Schiffer Publishing

wolfguy

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Re: Trawniki Guards Volume 2: Postwar Investigations and Trials

#150

Post by Orlov » 04 Nov 2022, 23:13

wolfguy wrote:
04 Nov 2022, 13:22
Trawniki Guards, Volume 2: Postwar Investigations and Trials!
288 p., from Schiffer Publishing
Congratulations!
wolfguy
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