Sonderabteilung ( English: ''Special Unit'') is a

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 ...

word often used to refer to some special German military formations during World War II. This term was similar to a detachment or battalion. Several of the formations were created as penal military units composed of disgraced SS troops and

criminal In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...

s convicted of petty crimes.

List of sonderabteilungen (incomplete)

* Sonderabteilung Altreich *

Sonderabteilung Hela Sonderabteilung ( English: ''Special Unit'') is a German word often used to refer to some special German military formations during World War II. This term was similar to a detachment or battalion. Several of the formations were created as pen ...

* Sonderabteilung Lola * Sonderabteilung Nachlässe * Sonderabteilung Reinhardt * Sonderabteilung Stralsund *

Sonderabteilung U Sonderabteilung ( English: ''Special Unit'') is a German word often used to refer to some special German military formations during World War II. This term was similar to a detachment or battalion. Several of the formations were created as pen ...

List of sonderabteilungen (incomplete)

See also