HIPO Corps
Encyclopedia
The HIPO Corps was a Danish
auxiliary police
corps, established in 1944 by the German
Gestapo
when the Danish police was disbanded and most of the regular policemen on September 19, 1944 were arrested and sent to concentration camps in Germany. Most members were recruited among Danish collaborators. The word HIPO is an abbreviation of the German word Hilfspolizei
.
The purpose of HIPO was to help the Gestapo as an auxiliary police unit. HIPO was organized under, and quite similar to, the Gestapo. Some men were uniformed to be visible and some dressed as civilians and working in secrecy. The uniformed men wore a black uniform with the Danish police insignia. HIPO, as well as the Gestapo, had their own informers. The major difference was that most of the Gestapo were Germans working in an enemy country, while the HIPO Corps consisted entirely of Danes working for the German occupiers.
During the last winter of the war HIPO members killed, tortured, blew up houses, factories and even Tivoli in Copenhagen
ordered by Adolf Hitler
personally and the Nazi occupation forces.
The Lorenzen group
, also known as section 9c, was an armed paramilitary
group of Danes subordinate to the HIPO Corps.
After the war, service in the HIPO corps was one of those crimes of collaborationism
that retroactively became capital offenses. Some 2-300 HIPO members were prosecuted under these laws, of which about a dozen were executed. A somewhat larger number received death sentences that were later reduced to long prison terms or paroled.
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...
auxiliary police
Hilfspolizei
The Hilfspolizei was a short-lived auxiliary police in Nazi Germany in 1933.The Hilfspolizei was created on February 22, 1933 by Hermann Göring, newly appointed Interior Minister of Prussia, to assist regular police in maintaining order and persecuting communist in the wake of the Reichstag fire...
corps, established in 1944 by the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
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...
when the Danish police was disbanded and most of the regular policemen on September 19, 1944 were arrested and sent to concentration camps in Germany. Most members were recruited among Danish collaborators. The word HIPO is an abbreviation of the German word Hilfspolizei
Hilfspolizei
The Hilfspolizei was a short-lived auxiliary police in Nazi Germany in 1933.The Hilfspolizei was created on February 22, 1933 by Hermann Göring, newly appointed Interior Minister of Prussia, to assist regular police in maintaining order and persecuting communist in the wake of the Reichstag fire...
.
The purpose of HIPO was to help the Gestapo as an auxiliary police unit. HIPO was organized under, and quite similar to, the Gestapo. Some men were uniformed to be visible and some dressed as civilians and working in secrecy. The uniformed men wore a black uniform with the Danish police insignia. HIPO, as well as the Gestapo, had their own informers. The major difference was that most of the Gestapo were Germans working in an enemy country, while the HIPO Corps consisted entirely of Danes working for the German occupiers.
During the last winter of the war HIPO members killed, tortured, blew up houses, factories and even Tivoli in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
ordered by Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
personally and the Nazi occupation forces.
The Lorenzen group
Lorenzen Group
The Lorenzen group was an armed paramilitary group of Danish collaborators, subordinate to the HIPO Corps, which was active during the period December 1944 - May 1945....
, also known as section 9c, was an armed paramilitary
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
group of Danes subordinate to the HIPO Corps.
After the war, service in the HIPO corps was one of those crimes of collaborationism
Collaborationism
Collaborationism is cooperation with enemy forces against one's country. Legally, it may be considered as a form of treason. Collaborationism may be associated with criminal deeds in the service of the occupying power, which may include complicity with the occupying power in murder, persecutions,...
that retroactively became capital offenses. Some 2-300 HIPO members were prosecuted under these laws, of which about a dozen were executed. A somewhat larger number received death sentences that were later reduced to long prison terms or paroled.