Thread by @appt_book

#OTD #OnThisDay from Himmler's Appt Book, June 8, 1941: Himmler arrived at the office this Sunday morning and had an intriguing meeting with SS-Obersturmbannführer Bender at 1145.

Bender was the Superior SS- and Police Judge on Himmler's staff. Himmler in particular was interested in a penal unit of the SS-Totenkopf Division.

This had been established as a punishment unit by Theodor Eicke the first Commander of the concentration camps to avoid incarcerating them in the camps themselves.

For more detail, see this excerpt from:

Strafvollzugslager der SS- und Polizei: Himmler’s Wartime Institutions amazon.com/dp/1781555605/… via @amazon

Himmler was intimately involved in the details of SS criminals and the individual dispositions of the cases. These are some examples of the types of individuals assigned to the Verlorene Haufen.

He received full control from Hitler over the determination of parole and the employment of these units.

These SS-Men were assigned exceptionally dangerous combat missions as "opportunities" to prove themselves...if they survived.

The purpose of this meeting was to discuss probation policies and possible dissolution of the Verlorene Haufen. Himmler wanted statistics on the unit. Regardless, it was sent to the East to participate in the invasion of the Soviet Union.

Still, as was his habit, Himmler kept SS personnel decisions under his personal control.

Another example of the SS penitentiary system was the Danzig-Matzkau Lager for SS criminals. Many of them were released in 1944 to assist in the destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto

The Dirlewanger Brigade was another example of a penal unit. It, too, was involved in putting down the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

For additional reading, see

Strafvollzugslager der SS- und Polizei: Himmler’s Wartime Institutions amazon.com/dp/1781555605/… via @amazon

The Cruel Hunters: SS-Sonderkommando Dirlewanger amazon.com/dp/0764304836/… via @amazon

#AcademicTwitter #OnThisDay #WW2 #ThirdReich #PublicHistory @WWIImuseum @FFRAFAction
@EHRIproject @facinghistory @EchoesReflect @ww2db @WWIIrealtime_fr @WW2Facts @RealTimeWWII @HolocaustMuseum @yadvashem @HNet_Humanities @McKayMSmith @JudithHaran @DHMBerlin @IMT_NMTtrials

@URDailyHistory @OnthisdayRN @WW1IEPER1917 @Yesterday_Today @TodaysDocument @librarycongress @archives @USNatArchives @pressetopo #Twitterstorians #DH