In the whole of the writing since 1945, there have been untold books and articles about the SS, the Einsatzgruppen and the concentration camps and, to a lesser extent, the death marches, but the Police Battalions have had no full-scale history. And yet, at a conservative estimate, between July 1941 and November 1943 they murdered over 1,000,000 Jews and were one of the main instruments in rounding up and deporting millions to what the men in the battalions knew to be certain death. (I am indebted to Dr. Goldhagen's book "Hitler's Willing Executioners" for much of the factual content of this and other articles on this subject.)
The Police Battalions were the uniformed police (Schutzpolizei) of the aptly named Ordnungspolizei (Order Police). In 1939 the Order Police numbered about 130,000 men and were used for normal police duties in Germany, Austria, and were shortly to move into Poland where the duties of many of them were to become anything other than "normal". By 1943, the figure was 310,000 of whom 132,000 were reservists. Some 38 battalions, numbering in total about 40,000 men, are known to have taken a very active part in the killing and "deportation" of Jews. These men were ordinary Germans, so average that you would not glance at one passing in the street, unless you knew him or he had an accident. A detailed analysis of the membership of Police Battalion 101 gives the typical profile: total number - 550 during the most active period, July 1941 to November 1943. The average age was 36.5 years, reflecting the fact that the 18 to 30 year olds were mostly front-line troops and the breakdown of the 519 whose ages are known is: 42 - under 30; 315 - 30-40; 162 - over 40. 379 of the men were completely non-Nazi affiliated in any way, leaving a percentage of 27% with some relationship; this is as against the national 21% having a Party allegiance. The total number of SS in the battalion was 21 who were mostly reservists i.e. not the ones issuing the orders.
The social structure is of more significance. If it can be agreed that it is the broad band, ranging from unskilled workers to the lower and middle white-collar workers, that forms the inertia-mass in any society, i.e. if the politicians expect to govern, they must get their votes, then Police Battalion 101 more than fitted the national profile. The total percentage of this band in Germany at the time was 72%, while 101 had 78%. The remaining 22%, covering the self-employed and academic and professional classes were slightly higher for most categories than the average, with the exception of farmers, a not-unlikely lack considering the importance of food supplies. All-in-all, when adding in the age factor and the Party affiliations, the Battalion was filled with ordinary Germans!
