Partisans and thier Helpers will be Hung

[Mike75]

Back of photo has Izyum .Januar 1943 ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izyum

[MaxxBrunn1938]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izyum

So sounds like there was some pretty heavy fighting going on. Wasn't this one of the Kursk battles too?

[PZIV]

Respect should always be given to the dead. Most of these men fought for their homeland the only way they knew how.

Their methods left them fair-game for this sort of punishment, though.

[Simon O.]

Didn't the VT become the waffen SS 2SSDiv.'Das Reich'? There were einsatzgruppen Schuma and polizei units that committed many atrocities, but the waffenSS and regular army did their share of reprisals as well. The 3SSDiv 'Totenkopf' is well documented for its heavy handedness in dealing with partizans and other suspected enemies.

Quite correct. The VT became the W-SS in late 1940.

Rear area security duties fell to just about every uniformed branch the Germans and their allies had.

[PZIV]

Brutal? Yes. If thousands of armed civilians in uniforms kept killing my friends, I don't know how I'd react psychologically either.

[Mike75]

So sounds like there was some pretty heavy fighting going on. Wasn't this one of the Kursk battles too?

I think yes, but who knows?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Kharkiv

[Mixer]

Back of photo has Izyum .Januar 1943 ?

Language of note is Byelorussian, I think

[Fritz]

I see there is some confusion concerning the terms Waffen-SS and SS/VT. The SS/VT was the forerunner of the Waffen-SS, that means that the military wing of the SS was first called the "SS/VT" and turned into "Waffen-SS" later in 1940, by that time it became bigger and bigger.

The forerunner of the "Reich" (shortly afterwards "Das Reich") was the "Verfügungs-Division", which was a part of the SS/VT.

There were also the SS/TV (Totenkopfverbände) whose military wing the "Totenkopf-Division" became also a part of the Waffen-SS but would remain certain unique features as their well known collar tab for instance.

Virtually all of these units are connected to war crimes, surprisingly Totenkopf less than others, especially on the eastern front. I would consider the amounts of war crime cases among these units as "normal" when compared to other combat units.

The execution of true partisans has naturally not been a war crime.

Executions of such individuals were performed by all military units, not only the SS. The allies would also execute those people when they worked for the german side.

Nothing special, job hazard.

Cheers

Fritz