Polizei Dienstpass With A Dark History

[hucks216]

I was recently able to obtain this Dienstpass to a member of a Polizei Bataillon that was involved in some of the earliest attrocities after the German invasion of Russia, with this Polizei member serving with the unit during these dark days, as evidenced by the campaign listings and the signature seen throughout the book.

Polizei Btl 322 were attached to Polizei Regiment Mitte (along with Pol.Btl 307 & 316) in June 1941, and as such was designated as Pol.Rgt Mitte's III Btl so that 1,2,3 Kompanie Pol.Btl 322 were also reported as 7, 8 & 9 Kompanie III/Pol.Rgt Mitte.

Franz Hain was born in Innsbruck on 6th September 1917 and joined the Polizei in 1938. He joined Pol.Btl 322 in April 1941, 3 months before it moved east.

[hucks216]

Although his unit listing doesn't mention what Komapnie he was in, due to the signature of Gustav Riebel appearing throughout the book it is possible to know that he was with 3 Kompanie (9 Kompanie of Pol.Rgt Mitte) as Riebel was 3 Kompanie Chef.
Gustv Riebel would face trial postwar for war crimes, along with Pol.Btl 322's commanding officer Nagel but both escaped conviction despite the war diary of Pol.Rgt Mitte & Pol.Btl 322 recording all the attrocities during their time in command.

[hucks216]

In July 1941 Polizei Btl 322 arrived at Bialystok, just a few days after Pol.Btl 309 had executed hundreds of Jews in the city on what became known as 'Black Friday' (June 27th 1941)...

Taken from The Yad Vashem Encyclopedia Of The Ghettos During The Holocaust Vol 1 – Pg 50...

Bialystok July 1941

On July 8th 1941, SS chief Heinrich Himmler, visiting Bialystok in the company of Kurt Daluege, ordered the execution of 2,000 Jews as a punishment for the Jews’ alleged participation in looting. On July 12th, members of Police Battalions 316 & 322 concentrated approximately 4,000 Jewish men in the municipal stadium. The following day, the men were murdered in groups in the Pietrasze Forest. By the end of the month the Bialystok Ghetto was established containing 43,000 Jews.

Throughout July, August & September Pol.Btl 322 carried out numerous Cleansing operations as well as protecting Rollbahn 1 in conjunction with 252 Infantry Division.

Taken from Pol.Rgt Mitte's Kriegstagebuch...

1st August 1941 – Pol.Btl 322 shot 72 Jews in a creek outside Bialowieza.

31st August 1941 - 7. and 9 Company (1 & 3 Kompanie Pol.Btl 322) conduct Jewish Aktions in Minsk. Here, about 700 Jews, including 54 women were arrested and taken to the prison of Minsk.

1st September 1941 – 9 Kompanie (3 Komp./Pol.Btl 322), along with the SD & NSKK shoot 914 Jews outside Minsk, including 64 Jewish women. Among these are the 700 Jews who were rounded up on 31st August. The 64 Jewish women were shot as they were found to be without the Yellow Star during the round-up.

[hucks216]

Then in October 1941 Pol.Btl 322 was attached to Einsatzkommando 8 (Einsatzgruppe B) and 3 Kompanie was detailed to carry out an Aktion centered on the Mogilev Ghetto. Along with 3./Pol.Btl 322, Ukrainian Aux. Police were also used and despite 3./Pol.Btl 322's own cruel actions Riebel remarked at his trial about the especially brutal actions of these Ukrainians during the Aktion.

Taken from The Yad Vashem Encyclopedia Of The Ghettos During The Holocaust Vol 1 – Pg 492...

Mogilev October 1941
On October 2nd/3rd 1941, members of Einsatzkommando 8 (Einsatzgruppe B) and Police Battalion 322, aided by local police, murdered 2,270 Jews from the Mogilev Ghetto outside the nearby village of Kazimirovka.

And the action as reported in Pol.Rgt Mitte's war diary...

2nd October 1941 – From 1530 9 Kompanie [3 Kompanie Pol.Btl 322] is in the Mogilev Ghetto together with senior staff of HSSPF Russland-Mitte & Ukrainian Aux.Police. 2,208 Jews rounded up. 65 shot ‘while trying to escape’.
3rd October 1941 – 7 & 9 Kompanie, along with senior staff of HSSPF Russland-Mitte, execute 2,008 Jews in the forest outside Mogilev.

As can be seen from the attached scan, Franz Hain was indeed at Mogilev during this period of time.
Gustav Riebel composed an after action report on the massacre his men had carried out at Mogilev.

[hucks216]

As can be seen from these entries containing Riebel's signature, Franz Hain did indeed belong to 3./Pol.Btl 322.

[hucks216]

Throughout the rest of 1941 and beginning of 1942 Pol.Btl 322 continued its murderous actions in Russia including shooting 4 Jewish women in Smolensk in March 1942 for leaving the Ghetto.
In mid-1942 Pol.Btl 322 was transferred to Serbia where it became II/Pol.Rgt 5 (as can be seen from Franz Hain's unit listings). Franz Hain would of taken part in numerous anti-partisan operations such as Operation Enzian in Slovenia in June 1942 and in the Mitrovica region in January 1943 along with the Bulgarian 24th Division and Serbian Volunteer Corps.

The last entry in the Dienstpass is dated for 17th January 1943 (the last date he was with Pol.Rgt 5 on the units page and also shown on the Campaign listings). Beyond this date it is not known what became of Franz Hain. He does not appear in the Volksbund database.
Franz Hain was awarded the KvK II Kl mit Schwertern on 10th May 1942.

[Napalm]

A great book but a somewhat sober reading...RIP to all...

[jmark]

Very interesting Kevin, and well researched. It's amazing how lightly these police guys escaped conviction in post-war trials, despite the overwhelming evidence.

Jason

[Eric JB]

Yes Kevin that German seller did have some historical interesting but very dark booklets.

I hope that you will make a special thread of it and that you will show the other booklets you bought too.
Were you also able to buy that "Bialystok gettho cleaner"

Your very detailed explanation of that Polizei Dienstpass indeed shows a very dark history, Franz Hain was once maybe a human being, but his actions made him a murderous beast, although by calling him a beast, one may offend the animals.

Eric-Jan

[hucks216]

Thanks for the comments guys. Considering the actions of such men it is surprising such ID documents survived as you would of thought the men involved would of wanted to destroy anything that linked them to such murderous actions.

I did indeed manage to get the Polizei soldbuch to the man involved in liquidating the Bialystok Ghetto in 1943 and sending the last Jews to Treblinka. I am just sifting through information and once I have done that I will post it in this section.

[Hundestaffel]

Very impressive research on what is indeed a historical and "Dark" Dienstpass.


"Hundestaffel"

[mr.dogtag]

Some of these guys tried to destroy their IDs indeed.
Here's a Pol.Btl.322 tag broken to small pieces at a POW camp somewhere in South of Czech Republic.

[hucks216]

Thanks for the additional comments and also for showing the dogtag - as can be seen in the handwritten entry on the second scan, this particular man had the number 377 on his dogtag.

Since posting this yesterday I have been doing some further reading on Pol.Btl 322 and they would seem to have a history every bit as dark & notorious as Res.Pol.Btl 101, if not more so. They are covered very well in the book Hitler's Police Battalions: Enforcing Racial War In The East by Edward B Westermann...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hitlers-Poli...6334290&sr=1-1

[fox-terier]

This is the dog tag with near the number than your - 373.
Regards,
Piotr

[hucks216]

This is the dog tag with near the number than your - 373.
Regards,
Piotr

That is a great item. Do you know where it was found?