A QUESTION OF GUILT, E01 - First hand account of a military police officer's war diary in Russia

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Episode 197

This sensational war diary collection was written by a German noncommissioned officer in the military police named Wolfgang Hagedorn. He served as a Feldgendarmerie, which were most recognizable by the Gorget that they wore around their neck. Here is an officer directing traffic which was one of their important duties. A member of Troop Nr. 240 they were attached to the 170th ID of the 11 Army in Army Group South.

As part of the National Socialist security apparatus, his candid writings up through May of 1942 in occupied Ukraine give us insight into of some of the violent events that took place just behind the front lines. I’ll be presenting Wolfgang’s writings in the first person which will provide us with a unique contemporary perspective and therefor deeper understanding of what was going on. I don’t intend to build empathy for the author but rather to get an unobstructed view.

As the 170. ID, where I’d been serving since early 1941 as a military police officer, was sent marching towards Romania, none of us really us understood why. The Führer had carefully kept the relationship between the German Reich and the Soviet Union secret. Officially, with the Non-Aggressions pact that was signed with the Soviets in the Summer of 1941, there was no reason to believe that war in the east was imminent. However everyone suspected that sooner or later a bloody conflict would take place. National Socialism and Bolshevism were like fire and water and the Russian Bolsheviks had made it clear that they intended to spread their ideology over the entire world.

This need for international expansion required that they would eventually penetrate into Western Europe. It was however generally hoped that these aggressive expansionist ideas, much like had happened during the French Revolution, would be simply part of the revolutionary process and not immediately acted upon. It was hoped that Soviet political energy would focus inwards in the consolidation of their Soviet nation state. If that could happen in Russia, then at least for the present, a military collision between the Reich and Russia might be avoided.

The political situation of both countries in fact seemed to support the hope that a bloody conflict might be avoided. The Reich was engaged in a defensive battle against the West, specifically England. For the Russians it seemed logical that they would focus their desire to expand to the East and South-East towards India and the Persian Golf to take over remnants of the dissolving British Empire. However, Hitler’s writings in his book Mein Kampf had to be taken into consideration. There he states that the future of German agriculture lies to the east, specifically in the Ukraine. And it’s well known that once Hitler come to a decision, he will keep the course come hell or high water. There was still the hope that this decisive moment could be pushed off into the future.

Diese Betrachtungen liessen uns Klarheit...
These considerations don’t give us any indication of what we have to expect in the south east. So we go without serious worries through the beautiful Elbe Sandstone Mountains, through Bohemia passing by the battlefields of past wars, with the name Kolin sticking with me in particular.

The Battle of Kolín on 18 June 1757 saw 54,000 Austrians under Count von Daun defeat 34,000 Prussians under Frederick the Great during the Third Silesian War (Seven Years' War). Frederick gave up the siege of Prague as well as his planned march on Vienna and retreated to Saxony.

We continue on through Hungary and then through the spectacular Carpathian Mountains finally arriving to Romania. In the city Bazar (Bacau) we are dropped off and occupy barracks that seem to have built especially for us. After a few weeks we are pushed on to the Romanian border, first to the city of Husi and then to Jassy. One time, while on duty, I even had the opportunity to spend a few days in Bucharest. There I was able to get a real feel for the Romanian standard of living.

The cover of this 1941 German Police Periodical shows an advertisement for the celebrated Day of German Police which was held on February 15./16. On these days the police took to the streets intending to build good will with the population and to raise money for the Winter Relief Organization.

Before the war funds raised predominantly went to the needy but as the situation on the front became critical an increasing portion went to the military. In addition to accepting monetary donations, items of use for example warm weather clothing or skis in were donated and sent to the front.

In episode 2 of this series we’ll follow Wolfgang’s diary during the first days of war in the east. Here he describes the reprisal killing of Jewish civilians and then a terrible pogrom that took place afterwards.