![Bundesarchiv Bild 192-063, KZ Mauthausen, Erschossener Häftling](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Bundesarchiv_Bild_192-063%2C_KZ_Mauthausen%2C_Erschossener_H%C3%A4ftling.jpg)
The ''Postenpflicht'' (
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
: "Duty of guards") was a
general order
A general order, in military and paramilitary organizations, is a published directive, originated by a commander and binding upon all personnel under his or her command. Its purpose is to enforce a policy or procedure unique to the unit's situatio ...
issued to
SS-Totenkopfverbände
''SS-Totenkopfverbände'' (SS-TV; ) was the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organization responsible for administering the Nazi concentration camps and extermination camps for Nazi Germany, among similar duties. While the ''Totenkopf'' was the univer ...
guards in
Nazi concentration camp
From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as concen ...
s to
summarily execute insubordinate prisoners. The order required guards to shoot prisoners who engaged in resistance or escape attempts, without warning; failing to do so would result in dismissal or arrest. The ''Postenpflicht'' was originally issued on October 1, 1933, for guards at Dachau concentration camp, but was later extended to other concentration camps.
Background
Dachau concentration camp
,
, commandant = List of commandants
, known for =
, location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany
, built by = Germany
, operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS)
, original use = Political prison
, construction ...
opened on March 22, 1933, near the town of
Dachau, about 16 km (10 mi) northwest of
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
in the state of
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
.
["Ein Konzentrationslager für politische Gefangene"](_blank)
("A concentration camp for political prisoners") Photo of newspaper article about Munich chief of police Heinrich Himmler's announcement of the opening of Dachau. ''Münchner Neueste Nachrichten'' (March 21, 1933) Retrieved May 11, 2010 Initially the camp used local Munich policemen as guards, but within weeks they were replaced by the
SS. On April 13, 1933,
Hilmar Wäckerle Hilmar Wäckerle (24 November 1899 – 2 July 1941) was a commander in the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was the first commandant of Dachau concentration camp.
War service
The son of a Munich notary public, Wäckerle was sent t ...
, an SS-
Standartenführer
__NOTOC__
''Standartenführer'' (short: ''Staf'', , ) was a Nazi Party (NSDAP) paramilitary rank that was used in several NSDAP organizations, such as the SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK. First founded as a title in 1925, in 1928 it became one of ...
, became the first
commandant
Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...
. Wäckerle was instructed by
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...
, then-Munich chief of police and
Obergruppenführer
' (, "senior group leader") was a paramilitary rank in Nazi Germany that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and adopted by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) one year later. Until April 1942, it was the highest commissio ...
of the SS, to draw up a set of regulations for
discipline
Discipline refers to rule following behavior, to regulate, order, control and authority. It may also refer to punishment. Discipline is used to create habits, routines, and automatic mechanisms such as blind obedience. It may be inflicted on ot ...
in the camp. Wäckerle's rules were extremely harsh, and several prisoners died as a direct result of their punishment.
In May 1933, the Munich
prosecutor's office, not yet assimilated to Nazi policy in the ''
Gleichschaltung
The Nazi term () or "coordination" was the process of Nazification by which Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party successively established a system of totalitarian control and coordination over all aspects of German society and societies occupied b ...
'' process, began investigating the murder of several prisoners at Dachau, prompted by the formal complaint of Sophie Handschuh, who wanted to know the true cause of her son's death at the camp.
[Ernst Klee, ''Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich'', Frankfurt am Main (2007) p. 648 ] Rumors were already widespread about harsh treatment of those under detention and Himmler was forced to refute those claims, even while announcing the opening of Dachau.
Wäckerle and Himmler had
charges
Charge or charged may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary
Music
* ''Charge'' (David Ford album)
* ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album)
* '' Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...
of
murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...
filed against them, prompting Wäckerle to be removed from his position, but these were later dropped after the chief prosecutor and his assistant were each transferred to other offices. Himmler continued his efforts to establish summary execution, then in practice only at Dachau, as a legitimate form of punishment.
New camp order
Theodor Eicke
Theodor Eicke (17 October 1892 – 26 February 1943) was a senior SS functionary and Waffen SS divisional commander during the Nazi era. He was one of the key figures in the development of Nazi concentration camps. Eicke served as the seco ...
was commissioned to develop a new camp order and a new regulations handbook.
[Disciplinary procedures were added later to the regulations called the "Inspection of the concentration camps".] He wrote the ''postenpflicht'' with instructions to fire on prisoners immediately and "without warning". Refusal to obey this order would bring serious consequences for camp personnel: summary dismissal and even arrest.
![Bundesarchiv Bild 183-W0402-503, Theodor Eicke](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-W0402-503%2C_Theodor_Eicke.jpg)
The "Regulations for Prisoner Escorts and Guards" (''Dienstvorschrift für die Begleitpersonen und Gefangenenbewachung'') were dated and went into effect on October 1, 1933.
[Stanislav Zámečník, ''Das war Dachau'' "Internationaler Militärgerichtshof IMG XXVI, Dok. 778-PS", pp. 40, 296 and 412. Comité International de Dachau, Luxemburg (2002) ] The infamous ''
Lagerordnung
The Disciplinary and Penal Code (german: Lagerordnung) was first written for Dachau concentration camp and became the uniform code at all SS concentration camps in the Third Reich on January 1, 1934. Also known as the ''Strafkatalog'' (Punishment ...
'', the "Disciplinary and Penal Code for the Prison Camp" were issued on the same date.
Also known as the ''Strafkatalog'' ("Penalty Catalogue"), this list of rules, infractions and punishments went into effect immediately, as well and both sets of regulations were made effective at all the SS concentration camps a few months later, on January 1, 1934. Together, the regulations allowed guards to mete out harsh punishments for even minor infractions and gave them wide latitude to execute prisoners and over time, devolved into a general system of terror punishment.
[Wolfgang Sofsky]
''The Order of Terror: The Concentration Camp''
Translated by William Templar. (Original title: ''Die Ordnung des Terrors. Das Konzentrationslager'') Princeton University Press (1997) Retrieved May 11, 2010
The perimeter of the detention camp grounds was marked by electrified fences and walls. Alongside the wall was a moat and next to that was an area called the "neutral zone". Dubbed the "death strip" by prisoners, it was a forbidden area. A prisoner who even went near this area risked being shot by a guard invoking the ''postenpflicht''. Guards who shot a prisoner received a bounty and three days off. Guards, for their amusement and profit, would throw a prisoner's cap into the "death zone" and order the prisoner to get it "on the double" and then shoot the prisoner.
["Guard Details"](_blank)
Wollheim Memorial official website. Retrieved May 12, 2010 They sometimes did this in pairs because they received a
bounty
Bounty or bounties commonly refers to:
* Bounty (reward), an amount of money or other reward offered by an organization for a specific task done with a person or thing
Bounty or bounties may also refer to:
Geography
* Bounty, Saskatchewan, a g ...
for shooting a prisoner, so they would take turns in order to both get the bounty.
Witnesses and former prisoners have also reported cases where prisoners intentionally walked into the forbidden zone, to escape the camp through death.
Prisoner work details outside a concentration camp were called ''Außenkommandos'' ("outside commandos") by the SS. The SS guards would form a ''postenkette'', a
cordon of guards to surround the work site and maintain watch. The imaginary boundary formed by the cordon was not to be crossed by a prisoner. Stepping outside the boundary was treated as an escape attempt and the guards, adhering to the ''postenpflicht'', were to fire without warning.
If a prisoner did manage to escape, the SS guard was charged with "negligent release of a prisoner".
The ''postenpflicht'' was also valid for the
SS-Totenkopfverbände
''SS-Totenkopfverbände'' (SS-TV; ) was the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organization responsible for administering the Nazi concentration camps and extermination camps for Nazi Germany, among similar duties. While the ''Totenkopf'' was the univer ...
that came to the concentration camps to serve as guards and auxiliary police.
[Not just the SS-Death's Head Units, but also other SS men were employed as concentration camp guards, especially around the end of the war.] During the war years,
female guards were also employed at concentration camps. As overseers, they were also ordered to use their firearms in the case of physical attack by a prisoner or an escape attempt.
Reich Minister of Justice
Franz Gurtner was in contact with
Reichsführer-SS
(, ) was a special title and rank that existed between the years of 1925 and 1945 for the commander of the (SS). ''Reichsführer-SS'' was a title from 1925 to 1933, and from 1934 to 1945 it was the highest rank of the SS. The longest-servi ...
Himmler to mitigate the ''postenpflicht'' a bit, but he was unable to accomplish anything.
Camp commandants were also held accountable to the ''postenpflicht''.
Karl Otto Koch
Karl-Otto Koch (; 2 August 1897 – 5 April 1945) was a mid-ranking commander in the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) of Nazi Germany who was the first commandant of the Nazi concentration camps at Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen. From September 1941 until ...
was commandant at
Majdanek concentration camp
Majdanek (or Lublin) was a Nazi concentration and extermination camp built and operated by the SS on the outskirts of the city of Lublin during the German occupation of Poland in World War II. It had seven gas chambers, two wooden gallows, a ...
and on July 14, 1942, during his tenure, 200
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
prisoners of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold priso ...
escaped. Only half were later recaptured. In August 1942, Koch was charged with "negligent release of a prisoner" and was reprimanded with a disciplinary transfer to the lesser job of ''
Postschutz
''Postschutz'' (), after 1942 ''SS-Postschutz'', was a paramilitary unit of ''Reichspost'' with a mission to protect post office installations from armed attacks.
Origins
The Postschutz was created in 1933 in order to protect the establishments ...
'' in
Eger
Eger ( , ; ; also known by other alternative names) is the county seat of Heves County, and the second largest city in Northern Hungary (after Miskolc). A city with county rights. Eger is best known for its castle, thermal baths, baroque build ...
.
[Tom Segev ''Die Soldaten des Bösen. Zur Geschichte der KZ-Kommandanten'', pp. 177-183 Reinbek bei Hamburg (1992) ]
The "Postenpflicht" order
![Gedenkstein Hasenjagd](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Gedenkstein_Hasenjagd.JPG)
''Dachau concentration camp''
''Headquarters, Oct. 1, 1933''
''Regulations for Prisoner Escorts and Guards''
''6. Postenpflicht''
''Whoever allows a prisoner to escape will be arrested and charged with Negligent Prisoner Release and handed over to the
Bavarian Political Police
The Bavarian Political Police (german: Bayerische Politische Polizei), BPP, was a police force in the German state of Bavaria, active from 1933 to 1936. It served as a forerunner of the Gestapo in Bavaria, the secret police during the Nazi era, an ...
.''
''If a prisoner attempts to escape, he is to be shot, without warning. A guard who shoots an escaping prisoner in the course of carrying out his duty, will not be reprimanded.
''Where a guard is physically attacked by a prisoner, the attack is to be repelled with use of a firearm, not return physical violence. A guard who does not comply with this order should expect his immediate dismissal. Besides, he who "keeps his back free"
[The original German is an idiom. To "keep one's back free" (''den Rücken freihalten'') means to get the grunt work out of the way so one is freed up for more important things.] will rarely be attacked.''
''In the event of a revolt or organized prisoner resistance, every guard supervising is to fire upon them. Warning shots are strictly prohibited.''
See also
*
Schießbefehl
(; German for "order to fire") was the term in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) for standing orders authorizing the use of lethal force by the Border Troops to prevent (defection) at the Inner German border from 1960 to 1989 ...
*
Negligence
Negligence (Lat. ''negligentia'') is a failure to exercise appropriate and/or ethical ruled care expected to be exercised amongst specified circumstances. The area of tort law known as ''negligence'' involves harm caused by failing to act as a ...
*
Kangaroo court
A kangaroo court is a court that ignores recognized standards of law or justice, carries little or no official standing in the territory within which it resides, and is typically convened ad hoc. A kangaroo court may ignore due process and come ...
*
Concentration Camps Inspectorate
*
Treblinka resistance, August 1943
*
Sobibór rebellion, October 1943
*
Mühlviertler Hasenjagd
The Mühlviertler Hasenjagd () was a war crime in which 500 Soviet officers, who had revolted and escaped from the Mühlviertel subcamp of Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp on 2 February 1945, were hunted down. Local civilians, soldiers and ...
, February 1945
*
Celler Hasenjagd, April 1945
*
German war crimes
The governments of the German Empire and Nazi Germany (under Adolf Hitler) ordered, organized and condoned a substantial number of war crimes, first in the Herero and Namaqua genocide and then in the First and Second World Wars. The most notable ...
*
Prisons in Germany The prisons in Germany are run solely by the federal states but governed by a federal law. The aim of prison confinement in Germany is twofold: emphasis is placed on enabling prisoners to lead a life of "social responsibility free of crime" upon rel ...
(about German prisons today)
Sources
* Lothar Gruchmann, ''Justiz im Dritten Reich 1933 - 1940'' About the
Franz Gürtner
Franz Gürtner (26 August 1881 – 29 January 1941) was a German Minister of Justice in the governments of Franz von Papen, Kurt von Schleicher and Adolf Hitler. Gürtner was responsible for coordinating jurisprudence in Nazi Germany and provided ...
era of adapting and submitting to Nazism.
Footnotes
References
{{KZ
1933 documents
Nazi concentration camps
Nazi war crimes
Nazi terminology
Punishments
Gun politics