Bundesarchiv Bild 192-063, KZ Mauthausen, Erschossener Häftling

The ''Postenpflicht'' ( German: "Duty of guards") was a general order issued to SS-Totenkopfverbände guards in Nazi concentration camps 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 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 German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

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"
("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, an SS- Standartenführer, 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 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'' 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 of murder 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 sec ...

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

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-W0402-503, Theodor Eicke

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"
Wollheim Memorial official website. Retrieved May 12, 2010 They sometimes did this in pairs because they received a bounty 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 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 was commandant at Majdanek concentration camp and on July 14, 1942, during his tenure, 200

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

prisoners of war 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'' 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 bui ...

.Tom Segev ''Die Soldaten des Bösen. Zur Geschichte der KZ-Kommandanten'', pp. 177-183 Reinbek bei Hamburg (1992)

The "Postenpflicht" order

''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.'' ''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.''

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