454th Security Division (Wehrmacht)

454th Security Division
454. Sicherungs-Division
Active 1941–1944
Country  Nazi Germany
Branch Army (Wehrmacht)
Type Security division
Size Division
Engagements World War II

The 454th Security Division (454. Sicherungs-Division) was a rear-security division in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany. The unit was deployed in German-occupied areas of the Soviet Union, in the Army Group South Rear Area.

Operational history

The division was formed in 1941, prior the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Operation Barbarossa. It operated in the occupied Ukraine and Southern Russia regions behind Army Group South's front lines.[1] Its duties included security of communications and supply lines, economic exploitation and combatting irregular fighters (partisans) in Werhmacht's rear areas.[2]

Along with other security and police forces in the occupied territories, the division participated in war crimes against prisoners of war and civilian population. The division was subordinated to Karl von Roques, commander of Army Group South Rear Area. In early September 1941, he issued instructions to the division to coordinate its activities in "cleansing" operations with the forces under the command of Friedrich Jeckeln, the Higher SS and Police Leader for the region. Between 29 July and 16 September 1941, the division reported capturing just under 1,500 civilians and Red Army soldiers. Of these, 78 were Jews who were killed.[3]

References

Citations

  1. ↑ Keller 2012, p. 53.
  2. ↑ Shepherd 2003, p. 70.
  3. ↑ Lower 2005, p. 226.

Bibliography

  • Keller, Bastian (2012). Der Ostfeldzug: Die Wehrmacht im Vernichtungskrieg: Planung, Kooperation, Verantwortung. Hamburg: Diplomica-Verlag. ISBN 978-3842882676.
  • Lower, Wendy (2005). Nazi Empire-Building and the Holocaust in Ukraine. London and Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-80782-960-8.
  • Shepherd, Ben H. (2003). "The Continuum of Brutality: Wehrmacht Security Divisions in Central Russia, 1942". German History. 21 (1): 49–81. doi:10.1191/0266355403gh274oa.

Further reading

  • Blood, Phillip W. (2006). Hitler's Bandit Hunters: The SS and the Nazi Occupation of Europe. Potomac Books. ISBN 978-1-59797-021-1. Archived from the original on 2015-12-24. Retrieved 2017-03-27.
  • Wette, Wolfram (2007). The Wehrmacht: History, Myth, Reality. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0674025776.
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