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by Aleksandr Tikhonov
Units of the regiment, and then the special forces division "Brandenburg", were guilty of the extermination of many civilians in Belarus and Russia.
Report from the Chief of the SMERSH R&D Department of the 61st Army, Colonel V.I. Budarev, to the Chief of the SMERSH R&D Department of the 1st Belorussian Front, Lieutenant General A.A. Vadis, “On units of the German Brandenburg-800 Regiment operating in front of the 61st Army.” June 14, 1944.
Report from the Chief of the SMERSH R&D Department of the 61st Army, Colonel V.I. Budarev, to the Chief of the SMERSH R&D Department of the 1st Belorussian Front, Lieutenant General A.A. Vadis, “On units of the German Brandenburg-800 Regiment operating in front of the 61st Army.” June 14, 1944.
The Public Relations Center of the FSB of Russia has posted digital copies of previously unpublished declassified archival documents on the criminal activities of a special purpose unit of German military intelligence in the territory of the Byelorussian SSR on the official website of the agency in the "History" section. In punitive operations to combat Soviet partisans, units of the regiment, and from April 1943, the "Brandenburg-800" division, cruelly dealt with civilians - they shot women, old people and children, carried out "scorched earth" tactics in various areas of Belarus and Bryansk.
"By order of Sergeant Major Leimpfuhl, the entire civilian population was collected and placed in two houses. In one of the houses there were approximately 50 civilians, in the other about 25. I personally received an unpleasant order - to shoot 50 civilians. One of the soldiers helped me with this. Corporal Dusche was brought in to shoot the civilians placed in the other house. The shooting was carried out with machine guns. At the same time, others shot the cattle. After this, by order of the platoon commander, all the houses were set on fire. I myself set fire to the house in which I shot the villagers after I was sure that they were all dead."
This testimony was given by Sergeant Major Hubert Kerstges, a former assistant commander of the 1st Platoon of the 9th Company of the 3rd Battalion of the Brandenburg Division, who was captured and dressed as a Red Army soldier. He was the former assistant commander of the 1st Platoon of the 9th Company of the 3rd Battalion of the Brandenburg Division, about the execution of an order received on April 29–30, 1944, from the battalion command to “wipe off the field map,” that is, to completely destroy the village of Povchen, northwest of the city of Turov in occupied Belarus.
The 1st Platoon of the “Brandenburgers” carried out the barbaric order: all the inhabitants were shot, the village was burned, and the property was plundered.
Here is another fragment from the testimony of the same Sergeant Major, about how he, as part of his unit, participated in the destruction of the village of Maloye Kovalyovo, located near the city of Surazh, in August 1942.
“The 2nd Platoon received an order from Oberleutnant Boettcher to gather the entire population together and shoot those who refused to leave their homes. In addition, the 2nd platoon received an order to gather all the cattle. About 8-10 women, 10-12 children, 4-5 old people were shot. The population was evacuated and handed over to the local commandant's office of the city of Surazh. My group and I set fire to about 15 houses, and in one of the houses there was a shot woman with three children. The collected cattle was handed over to Surazh."
Another episode from Kerstges's testimony is about the atrocities in the village of Novaya Bolocha (a district of Babruisk, Byelorussian SSR), committed by punitive forces in early December 1943. After the Germans were fired upon by partisans on their approach to the village, they lay down and did not stick their noses out until reinforcements arrived and an anti-aircraft gun was brought up. Only after several shots from the gun were fired at the village did the "Brandenburgers" company go on the attack. No one was shooting at them anymore - "... the partisans apparently fled into the forest and the village was almost empty, if you don't count a few civilians.
By order of the company commander, all civilians, as well as livestock, were gathered together and the houses were set on fire. While carrying out this order, I was forced to shoot one man, aged 50-55, because he refused to leave his house. In addition to this man, an old woman was shot there, because due to her old age she could not march."
This is how this degenerate explained the reason for shooting the old woman: "she could not march."
In the documents declassified and published today on the website of the Russian FSB, there are more than enough examples of such bloody atrocities committed by the Brandenburg soldiers. So this formation, which for most of the Great Patriotic War was directly subordinate to the Abwehr II department (sabotage and subversion), proved itself not only in carrying out special-purpose tasks, for which it was originally created.
Those readers who are interested in the history of special forces in different countries probably know that Brandenburg of German military intelligence is one of the most famous special forces formations of the Second World War. Formed in 1939 as a special purpose construction and training company, by the summer of 1940 it had been expanded into the 800th Special Purpose Training Regiment Brandenburg (German: Lehr-Regiment Brandenburg zb V. 800), which was directly subordinate to the Abwehr II Directorate (sabotage and diversion) (German: Amt Ausland/Abwehr II).
In early April 1943, the Brandenburg Division was formed, which was then removed from Abwehr control and transferred to the Supreme Command of the Ground Forces (OKH). In September 1944, the division was reformed into a motorized division (German: Panzer-Grenadier-Division Brandenburg).
Initially, Brandenburg was staffed by ethnic Germans who knew foreign languages and had good physical fitness.
They participated in the Polish, Belgian, French campaigns and others, as well as in the attack on the Soviet Union. The list of tasks of the "Brandenburgers" included the capture of important strategic objects behind enemy lines, conducting other sabotage operations, conducting reconnaissance, capturing languages, and the like.
On the Soviet-German front, to carry out tasks, the "Brandenburgers" often dressed up as Soviet military personnel, armed themselves with Soviet weapons, supplied themselves with fictitious documents and acted under the guise of Red Army units.
From the beginning of 1943, the "Brandenburg" units began to be increasingly used, along with counterintelligence formations of the German military intelligence, in punitive operations to combat partisans and carry out "scorched earth" tactics, brutally killing civilians.
The Soviet special services meticulously collected information about the enemy's sabotage and reconnaissance units, their structure, tactics, command staff, etc.
On June 14, 1944, the head of the counterintelligence department (OKR) "Smersh" of the 61st Army, Colonel V.I. Budarev, sent a report to the head of the counterintelligence department (UKR) "Smersh" of the 1st Belorussian Front, Lieutenant General A.A. Vadis "On units of the German regiment "Brandenburg-800" operating in front of the 61st Army."
The document, in particular, reported:
"In the period from October 18 to November 29, 1943, in the Bobruisk-Bykhov-Rogachev area, by order of the 9th Army's rear department, a large punitive expedition was carried out against the partisans by security units, in which the 3rd battalion of the Brandenburg division took part.
Each soldier was informed of the battalion commander's order to burn down all populated areas in the area, and to shoot on the spot any civilians encountered in the forests, regardless of age...
According to incomplete data, the 3rd battalion of the Brandenburg division burned down about eight villages and shot over 200 Soviet citizens in the Chechevichi village area alone."
The 3rd regiment of the Brandenburg division, which took part in punitive operations against civilians and partisans, was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Franz Jacobi during the period specified in the document.
...The author of these lines, while serving in Georgia in the early 2000s, knew one of the bearers of this surname - then a youngish German employee of the OSCE mission in Georgia. He was very proud of his origin, emphasizing that this surname belongs to an old German family. I wonder if he knew what his namesake did on the territory of our country during the war? Unlikely.
Maybe he will find out after this publication. Although it is not a fact - in the "free" countries of the European Union, the site of "Red Star" is currently blocked. However, let us return to the topic to complete it.
Based on the received reports of the OKR "SMERSH" of the armies, in early July 1944, the head of the UKR "SMERSH" of the 1st Belorussian Front sent a detailed report to the Military Council of the Front "On the actions of a unit of the Brandenburg-800 division in the sector of the 1st Belorussian Front." The document emphasized that the captured punitive forces of the 3rd Brandenburg Regiment would be court-martialed. So Kerstges and his accomplices have paid in full for what they did.
We must remember their crimes. And do everything in our power to ensure that such things do not happen again.
The spelling and punctuation of the document have been preserved.