Language:
English
Year of publication:
2005
Titel der Quelle:
Polin; Studies in Polish Jewry
Angaben zur Quelle:
18 (2005) 353-366
Keywords:
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
;
Police History 20th century
;
World War, 1939-1945 Collaborationists
;
World War, 1939-1945 Collaborationists
Abstract:
Despite the tendency of German authorities in occupied Belarus and Ukraine, and the explicit order by Himmler in July 1941, to form indigenous police units only with Belarusians and Ukrainians, many ethnic Poles served as policemen, either in the Ordnungsdienst or the Schutzmannschaft. The presence of Poles in the police units in western Belarus (i.e. eastern Poland) was especially conspicuous - up to 15% of the force. Many of them participated in the roundup of Jews in 1941 and the mass murder of ghetto Jews in 1941-42. Some Poles infiltrated the police force by order of the Polish Home Army, which did not prevent them from participating in anti-Jewish actions. Notes that trials of collaborators in postwar Poland, especially in the 1960s, were broadly comparable to investigations and proceedings of war crimes trials held by British and American tribunals, and their findings are reliable. However, many of the punishments meted out were surprisingly mild.
URL:
Locate this publication in Israeli libraries
Permalink