Geheime Feldpolizei
Encyclopedia
The or GFP, was the secret military police of the German Wehrmacht
until the end of Second World War. These units were used to carry out plain-clothed security work in the field such as counter-espionage, counter sabotage, detection of treasonable activities, counter-propaganda and to provide assistance to the German Army
in courts martial investigations. GFP personnel, who were also classed as Abwehrpolizei, operated as an executive branch of German military intelligence
detecting resistance activity in Germany
and occupied France
.
The need for a secret military police developed after the annexations of the Sudetenland
in 1938 and Czechoslovakia
in 1939. Although security einsatzgruppen (or security task forces) belonging to the Nazi Security Services
had been used during these operations, the German High Command felt it needed a specialist intelligence agency with police functions that could operate with the military but act like security service to arrest potential opponents and eliminate any resistance. After studying data collected in Spain, Austria and Czechoslovakia, Generaloberst Wilhelm Keitel
, commander in chief of the OKW
, issued the "Dienstvorschrift für die Geheime Feldpolizei“ (Regulations for the secret police).
.
GFP agents could wear either civilian clothes or uniforms in the course of their duties. A GFP official was also entitled to pass through any military roadblocks or enter military buildings. They could also utilise military signals and communications equipment, commandeer military vehicles, procure military supplies and accommodation wherever necessary in execution of their duty. In occupied areas, the GFP also provided personal escort to military VIP's, assistance to state security agencies in counter espionage, interrogation of suspects, prevention of sabotage and the detection of enemy agents.
In practice, GFP activity depended on the region in which it was operating. Work in occupied northern and western Europe was markedly different from operations conducted on the Eastern Front. In the Netherlands
, Denmark
and Norway
, GFP agents were mainly confined to the secret police protection of senior Wehrmacht officers. In Belgium and France, the GFP became an executive part of the civilian police service, working alongside the military authorities to combat acts of resistance, Allied espionage
and sabotage using terror tactics such as detentions, deportations and the execution of hostages.
However in the East and the Balkans, the GFP used constantly escalating terror against partisans, Jews and arbitrary "suspects". As an anti-partisan group, it worked alongside einsatzgruppen
to execute and torture captured fighters and civilians suspected of helping the Soviet resistance. With the help of collaborators, the GFP also mounted operations to systematically burn down homes and entire villages. The GFP was also responsible for summarily executing prisoners before the arrival of the advancing Red Army. For example, in 1943 a GFP report to SS and Police Leader
William Krichbaum stated that on the Eastern Front 21,000 people had been killed "some in combat, and many shot after interrogation."
From mid-1943 onwards, the GFP was ordered to track down and capture all deserters after some Wehrmacht soldiers in France and Russia had begun joining partisan groups. By 1944, desertion rates rapidly rose following the major retreats on both the Eastern and Western
fronts. The Geheime Feldpolizei arrested 3142 Wehrmacht personnel for desertion from Army Group Centre
in 1944. But many troops were victims of increasingly confused rear areas where competing, often overlapping responsibilities of many military departments meant soldiers did not have the correct papers or were in the wrong locations. Convicted soldiers were either shot or sent to Strafbattalion
s. The GFP also investigated any claims of defeatism talk in line infantry.
Another specialist unit called gruppe 729 was created to interrogate all Wehrmacht soldiers who had managed to escape from Soviet captivity. The general fear was that the NKVD
may have "re-educated" these former captives to spread defeatism and Communist propaganda. Soldiers suspected of being Soviet spies were sent to a special GFP camp at Danzig in Poland
. By 1944, the camp held 400 prisoners.
. Subordinate to the Heerespolizeichef, but equivalent to the rank of major, was the Feldpolizeidirektor who was in charge of a GFP unit or gruppe. On 24 July 1939, the title of Heerespolizeichef was upgraded to the military rank of oberst
.
A GFP unit in the Wehrmacht consisted of 50 personnel. This included:
However after 1941, units sent to Russia were strengthened to 95 personnel.
All groups were fully motorized. Their armaments were limited to light infantry weapons.
In 1943, the Luftwaffe
was given its own version of GFP. This resulted in another reorganisation of the ranks structure.
Although the GFP was a distinct military organisation, from its inception it generally carried out the same duties as the Gestapo
and the Kripo. Operations directed against populations in occupied countries employed methods similar to the SD and SS. This earned it the nickname "Gestapo der Wehrmacht".
By the end of 1942, nominal control of the GFP was transferred to the SD. The Reich Security Main Office finally took full control in the spring of 1944 despite the reluctance of the Wehrmacht. All GFP units remained part of the SS until the end of the war.
.
Each GFP gruppe consisted of a fifty-man unit until May 1942 when the entire command was restructured by SS Brigadeführer Karl Oberg, the Higher SS and Police Leader (Höhere SS-und Polizeiführer, HSSPF) "Frankreich" (France). This reorganisation created the "Group 6/10" which contained the Kommando für Kapitalverbrechen (Capital crimes unit). It ran the infamous Balard shooting range
at Issy-les-Moulineaux
in the 15e arrondissement which was used to torture and execute 143 prisoners.
The GFP also oversaw the work done by the French Brigades Spéciales part of the Renseignements généraux
. These units, which were part of the French police's intelligence service, specialised in tracking down "internal enemies" (e.g. the French Resistance
), Jews and those evading work conscription
. The Special Brigades were based in room 35 of the Paris police headquarters
.
The Brigade Spéciale N°2 was notorious for using torture as well as leading investigations, manhunts, surveillance and interviews of suspects in Occupied France.
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
until the end of Second World War. These units were used to carry out plain-clothed security work in the field such as counter-espionage, counter sabotage, detection of treasonable activities, counter-propaganda and to provide assistance to the German Army
Heer
Heer is German for "army". Generally, its use as "army" is not restricted to any particular country, so "das britische Heer" would mean "the British army".However, more specifically it can refer to:*An army of Germany:...
in courts martial investigations. GFP personnel, who were also classed as Abwehrpolizei, operated as an executive branch of German military intelligence
Abwehr
The Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
detecting resistance activity in Germany
German Resistance
The German resistance was the opposition by individuals and groups in Germany to Adolf Hitler or the National Socialist regime between 1933 and 1945. Some of these engaged in active plans to remove Adolf Hitler from power and overthrow his regime...
and occupied France
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
.
The need for a secret military police developed after the annexations of the Sudetenland
Sudetenland
Sudetenland is the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the northern, southwest and western regions of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by ethnic Germans, specifically the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia being within Czechoslovakia.The...
in 1938 and Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
in 1939. Although security einsatzgruppen (or security task forces) belonging to the Nazi Security Services
RSHA
The RSHA, or Reichssicherheitshauptamt was an organization subordinate to Heinrich Himmler in his dual capacities as Chef der Deutschen Polizei and Reichsführer-SS...
had been used during these operations, the German High Command felt it needed a specialist intelligence agency with police functions that could operate with the military but act like security service to arrest potential opponents and eliminate any resistance. After studying data collected in Spain, Austria and Czechoslovakia, Generaloberst Wilhelm Keitel
Wilhelm Keitel
Wilhelm Bodewin Gustav Keitel was a German field marshal . As head of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht and de facto war minister, he was one of Germany's most senior military leaders during World War II...
, commander in chief of the OKW
Oberkommando der Wehrmacht
The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht was part of the command structure of the armed forces of Nazi Germany during World War II.- Genesis :...
, issued the "Dienstvorschrift für die Geheime Feldpolizei“ (Regulations for the secret police).
Function
The GFP was created on 21 July 1939. Although officially part of the Wehrmacht, its personnel were mainly recruited from police officers who had been assigned to the armed forces. They were assigned the legal status of Wehrmachtsbeamte auf Kriegsdauer (military officials for the duration of the war) and retained the authority of other police agencies as well as the SicherheitsdienstSicherheitsdienst
Sicherheitsdienst , full title Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS, or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. The organization was the first Nazi Party intelligence organization to be established and was often considered a "sister organization" with the...
.
GFP agents could wear either civilian clothes or uniforms in the course of their duties. A GFP official was also entitled to pass through any military roadblocks or enter military buildings. They could also utilise military signals and communications equipment, commandeer military vehicles, procure military supplies and accommodation wherever necessary in execution of their duty. In occupied areas, the GFP also provided personal escort to military VIP's, assistance to state security agencies in counter espionage, interrogation of suspects, prevention of sabotage and the detection of enemy agents.
In practice, GFP activity depended on the region in which it was operating. Work in occupied northern and western Europe was markedly different from operations conducted on the Eastern Front. In the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, GFP agents were mainly confined to the secret police protection of senior Wehrmacht officers. In Belgium and France, the GFP became an executive part of the civilian police service, working alongside the military authorities to combat acts of resistance, Allied espionage
Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Axis powers and to instruct and aid local...
and sabotage using terror tactics such as detentions, deportations and the execution of hostages.
However in the East and the Balkans, the GFP used constantly escalating terror against partisans, Jews and arbitrary "suspects". As an anti-partisan group, it worked alongside einsatzgruppen
Einsatzgruppen
Einsatzgruppen were SS paramilitary death squads that were responsible for mass killings, typically by shooting, of Jews in particular, but also significant numbers of other population groups and political categories...
to execute and torture captured fighters and civilians suspected of helping the Soviet resistance. With the help of collaborators, the GFP also mounted operations to systematically burn down homes and entire villages. The GFP was also responsible for summarily executing prisoners before the arrival of the advancing Red Army. For example, in 1943 a GFP report to SS and Police Leader
SS and Police Leader
SS and Police Leader was a title for senior Nazi officials that commanded large units of the SS, of Gestapo and of the regular German police during and prior to World War II.Three levels of subordination were established for bearers of this title:...
William Krichbaum stated that on the Eastern Front 21,000 people had been killed "some in combat, and many shot after interrogation."
From mid-1943 onwards, the GFP was ordered to track down and capture all deserters after some Wehrmacht soldiers in France and Russia had begun joining partisan groups. By 1944, desertion rates rapidly rose following the major retreats on both the Eastern and Western
Falaise pocket
The battle of the Falaise Pocket, fought during the Second World War from 12 to 21 August 1944, was the decisive engagement of the Battle of Normandy...
fronts. The Geheime Feldpolizei arrested 3142 Wehrmacht personnel for desertion from Army Group Centre
Army Group Centre
Army Group Centre was the name of two distinct German strategic army groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The first Army Group Centre was created on 22 June 1941, as one of three German Army formations assigned to the invasion of the Soviet Union...
in 1944. But many troops were victims of increasingly confused rear areas where competing, often overlapping responsibilities of many military departments meant soldiers did not have the correct papers or were in the wrong locations. Convicted soldiers were either shot or sent to Strafbattalion
Strafbattalion
Strafbattalion were Wehrmacht penal units created from military prisoners during the final years of the Second World War. Soldiers sentenced to these units were poorly-armed and required to undertake dangerous high-casualty missions...
s. The GFP also investigated any claims of defeatism talk in line infantry.
Another specialist unit called gruppe 729 was created to interrogate all Wehrmacht soldiers who had managed to escape from Soviet captivity. The general fear was that the NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
may have "re-educated" these former captives to spread defeatism and Communist propaganda. Soldiers suspected of being Soviet spies were sent to a special GFP camp at Danzig in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. By 1944, the camp held 400 prisoners.
Organization
The Geheime Feldpolizei was commanded by the Heerespolizeichef (Chief of Army Police), who initially had the equivalent military rank of majorMajor
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
. Subordinate to the Heerespolizeichef, but equivalent to the rank of major, was the Feldpolizeidirektor who was in charge of a GFP unit or gruppe. On 24 July 1939, the title of Heerespolizeichef was upgraded to the military rank of oberst
Oberst
Oberst is a military rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark and Norway. The Swedish rank överste is a direct translation, as are the Finnish rank eversti...
.
A GFP unit in the Wehrmacht consisted of 50 personnel. This included:
- 1 Field director
- 32 Military police officers (higher and intermediate ranks)
- 17 Military support staff (e.g. drivers, clerks etc)
However after 1941, units sent to Russia were strengthened to 95 personnel.
- 1 Field director
- 54 Military police officers (higher and intermediate ranks). These could also include hilfsfeldpolizeibeamten (auxiliary field police officers) recruited from suitable soldiers.
- 40 Military support staff (e.g. drivers, clerks, security staff)
All groups were fully motorized. Their armaments were limited to light infantry weapons.
In 1943, the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
was given its own version of GFP. This resulted in another reorganisation of the ranks structure.
- Feldpolizeichef der Wehrmacht - General Major
- Heerespolizeichef - Oberst
- Oberfeldpolizeidirektor - Oberstluetnant
- Feldpolizeidirektor - Major
- Feldpolizeikommissar - Hauptmann
- Feldpolizeibersekretär/Inspektor - Oberleutant
- Feldpolizeibersekretär' - Leutant
- Feldpolizeiassistant - All other NCOs.
Although the GFP was a distinct military organisation, from its inception it generally carried out the same duties as the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
and the Kripo. Operations directed against populations in occupied countries employed methods similar to the SD and SS. This earned it the nickname "Gestapo der Wehrmacht".
By the end of 1942, nominal control of the GFP was transferred to the SD. The Reich Security Main Office finally took full control in the spring of 1944 despite the reluctance of the Wehrmacht. All GFP units remained part of the SS until the end of the war.
Operations in occupied France
Following the defeat of France in 1940, the GFP established its main headquarters at the Hôtel Bradford on the rue Saint Philippe du Roule in Paris (8ème arrondissement). Other sections for the départements of Nord and Pas de Calais were based at rue de la Traversière in BrusselsBrussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
.
Each GFP gruppe consisted of a fifty-man unit until May 1942 when the entire command was restructured by SS Brigadeführer Karl Oberg, the Higher SS and Police Leader (Höhere SS-und Polizeiführer, HSSPF) "Frankreich" (France). This reorganisation created the "Group 6/10" which contained the Kommando für Kapitalverbrechen (Capital crimes unit). It ran the infamous Balard shooting range
Balard shooting range
During the Second World War, the Balard shooting range was the site of Nazi torture and executions, now disappeared with the construction of the Boulevard périphérique de Paris.-Location:...
at Issy-les-Moulineaux
Issy-les-Moulineaux
Issy-les-Moulineaux is a commune in the southwestern suburban area of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. On 1 January 2003, Issy-les-Moulineaux became part of the Communauté d'agglomération Arc de Seine along with the other communes of Chaville, Meudon, Vanves and Ville-d'Avray...
in the 15e arrondissement which was used to torture and execute 143 prisoners.
The GFP also oversaw the work done by the French Brigades Spéciales part of the Renseignements généraux
Direction centrale des renseignements généraux
The Direction Centrale des Renseignements Généraux , often called Renseignements Généraux , was the intelligence service of the French police, answerable to the Direction Générale de la Police Nationale , and, ultimately, the Ministry of the Interior...
. These units, which were part of the French police's intelligence service, specialised in tracking down "internal enemies" (e.g. the French Resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
), Jews and those evading work conscription
Service du travail obligatoire
The Service du travail obligatoire was the forced enlistment and deportation of hundreds of thousands of French workers to Nazi Germany in order to work as forced labour for the German war effort during World War II....
. The Special Brigades were based in room 35 of the Paris police headquarters
Prefecture of Police
The Prefecture of Police , headed by the Prefect of Police , is an agency of the Government of France which provides the police force for the city of Paris and the surrounding three suburban départements of Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, and Val-de-Marne...
.
The Brigade Spéciale N°2 was notorious for using torture as well as leading investigations, manhunts, surveillance and interviews of suspects in Occupied France.
See also
- FeldgendarmerieFeldgendarmerieThe Feldgendarmerie were the uniformed military police units of the armies of the German Empire from the mid 19th Century until the conclusion of World War II.- Early history :...
, the uniformed Wehrmacht military police. - FeldjägerkorpsFeldjägerkorpsFor the modern German Military Police see: FeldjaegerThe Feldjägerkorps was a military police organization in the German Wehrmacht during World War II. It was formed on 27 November 1943 from distinguished veterans and Patrol Service personnel...
, formed in 1943, it became the senior military police service within the Wehrmacht. - Kempetai, the military police of the Imperial Japanese ArmyImperial Japanese Army-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
from 1881 to 1945.