Reserve Police Battalion 101 was comprised of “regular” German men from Hamburg, too old for conscription. They were construction workers, druggists, businessmen, dock-workers, teachers, machinists, waiters and professional policemen. They became part of the German Order Police.

These men transformed themselves into a killing squad of such violence, brutality, sadism, and enthusiasm that it has been well studied.

Their first action was in Józefów, Poland and lasted for 17 hours. The men were given large amounts of ammunition and alcohol (provided by the mayor of Józefów). They separated Jewish men of working age then took 1500 Jewish women, children, infants, and elderly men to a nearby forest, forced them to lie naked on top of their murdered neighbors, friends, and relatives, and were shot in the back of the neck at point blank range (as directed by the Battalion physician). Those trying to escape, those too frail to walk and very young children were shot on the spot.

After the war, the 500 men of Police Battalion 101 returned to their previous occupations.

Of the 14 men indicted for these crimes in Józefów, for the crimes of 38,000 additional direct one-on-one murders, and for the crimes of transporting 45,000 Polish Jewish citizens to their deaths at Treblinka, only 3 individuals were ever jailed and each served an average of 5 years

The commander, Wilhelm Trapp, and one other policeman were executed in 1947 for the killing of 78 non-Jewish Poles. The 180 Jewish victims killed at the same time were deemed not relevant to the case.

Further Reading http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/einsatz/polbat101.html

detail, Józefów

Detail, Józefów