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Military unit
The
201st Security Division
, originally the
201st Security Brigade
, was a
German Army
rear-area security division
of
World War II
. The unit was deployed in German-occupied areas of the
Soviet Union
, and was responsible for large-scale war crimes and atrocities including the deaths of thousands of Soviet civilians. It was disbanded in January 1945
Operational history
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Formation
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The division was formed in June 1942 on the basis of the 201st Security Brigade.
The brigade had been deployed on the
Eastern Front
during
Operation Barbarossa
, the 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union, and operated in the occupied regions of the Soviet Union behind
Army Group Centre
's front lines. While a brigade the unit participated in the murder of Jewish civilians alongside
Einsatzkommando 9
of
Einsatzgruppe B
.
Operations
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Upon formation, the division operated in the
Vitebsk
-
Polotsk
region of the north-western
Belarus
. Its duties included security of
communications
and
supply lines
, economic exploitation and combatting (
partisans
) in the Wehrmacht's rear areas.
The so-called anti-partisan operations in "bandit-infested" areas amounted to the destruction of villages, seizure of livestock, deportation of the able-bodied population for slave labour to Germany, and the murder of those of non-working age.
In September 1942 the division reported killing 864 "partisans in combat" and handed over 245 individuals to the Wehrmacht's
Secret Field Police
for execution, while suffering 8 dead and 25 wounded itself. Only 99 weapons (rifles, machine-guns and pistols) were seized.
In early 1943, the division carried out operations
Schneehase
,
Kugelblitz
and
Donnerkeil
, which resulted in the death of 2,737 "bandits". In the same period, the unit reported 109 German troops killed in action.
The division was sent to front-line duty in February 1943. The unit was largely destroyed during the Soviet
Red Army
summer offensive
Operation Bagration
in 1944, with only the staff and supply troops retreating north. In August 1944, it returned to rear-area security operations and spent the rest of its existence in the rear area of the
Army Group North
. It was disbanded in January 1945.
See also
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References
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Citations
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Bibliography
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Further reading
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