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'''Law enforcement in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia''' was conducted by several agencies established by the Czechoslovak Republic, control of which was transferred to the government of the [[Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia]] following the German occupation of the Czech lands and the creation of the Slovak Republic. Over time, these agencies were consolidated and reorganized according to the German model. German military and civil authorities also played a significant role in law enforcement within the protectorate. |
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The '''Uniformed Protectorate Police''' ([[Czech (language)|Czech]]:''Uniformované protektorátní policie''), or '''Protectorate Police''', was the uniformed police service of the [[Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia]]. It was established in 1942 by organizing the Government Police (''Vládní policie'') and the Gendarmerie (''Četnictvo'') under a single command structure. |
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At various points during the |
At various points during the occupation, German authorities expressed frustration with non-cooperation by the Protectorate's law enforcement services, including instances of their covert coordination with anti-occupation resistance movements, and confrontations between Czech police and off-duty German soldiers over the treatment of Jews. At the same time, Protectorate Police exhibited a level of zeal in enforcement of discriminatory laws against communists and Roma that surprised even the Germans. And, the Protectorate's Gendarmerie played a supporting role during the [[Lidice massacre]]. |
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Protectorate police fought on the side of the Czech resistance during the Prague Uprising and ultimately arrested [[State President of Bohemia and Moravia|State President]] [[Emil Hácha]]. |
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==History== |
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==Uniformed Protectorate Police== |
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[[File: |
[[File:Technické poruchy zdržují postup německých kolon.gif|thumb|A Czech policec officer directs traffic during the entrance of German military forces into Prague on March 15, 1939.]] |
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The first formal contact between German officials and police commanders of the rump Czech state occurred on March 15, 1939 when [[Otto Rasch]] met with police executives at [[Náměstí Republiky, Prague]]. Rasch requested that Czech police assist German authorities in identifying and detaining suspected communists, a duty which the Czech police accomplished with what was, to Rasch, surprising efficiency and zeal.<ref name="sladek">{{cite book |last1=Sládek |first1=Oldřich |title=Zločinná role gestapa: nacistická bezpečnostní policie v českých zemích 1938–1945 |date=1986|language=cs |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/Zlo%C4%8Dinn%C3%A1_role_gestapa.html}}</ref> |
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===Gendarmerie=== |
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As part of the consolidation, the Gendarmerie's rapid deployment forces – previously known as the emergency units – were combined with traffic control platoons into several barracked, alert companies suitable for response to sudden civil disturbances or other serious exigencies. These principally consisted of three companies in Prague and three companies in Brno, all of which were armed with pistols and rifles. |
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During the early period of the Protectorate, police were instructed to continue enforcing laws of the former Czechoslovakia except where they conflicted with German orders. This led to run-ins with German personnel and German-speaking Czechs during incidents of [[Antisemitism|antisemitic]] violence. In July 1939, for instance, after an episode in which the windows of several Jewish businesses in [[Moravská Ostrava]] were smashed by off-duty ''SS'' personnel, Czech police arrested the perpetrators, forcing ''[[Schupo]]'' officers to intervene to secure their release. Additional police operations during the summer of 1939 to stop attacks against Jews by Germans, German-speaking Czechs, and members of the ''[[Vlajka]]'' were ultimately resolved with an order directing that crimes against Jewish establishments were to be reported directly to the ''Schupo'' and not investigated by Czech police.<ref name=Jar/> Additional arrangements required ''Schupo'' to handle murder and sabotage investigations, as well as any investigations in which a German citizen was the victim or perpetrator. |
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In June 1942, Gendarmerie companies were used by German forces to establish a security perimeter around the village of Lidice prior to the [[Lidice massacre]]. |
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Czech police initially took a restrained approach to public demonstrations in opposition to the occupation. In response to increasingly large demonstrations, the Protector informed State President Hacha that Czech police needed to act more assertively in controlling crowds or the [[1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler]] would assume responsibility for policing. On September 1, 1939, a new decree was issued requiring police authorities in the protectorate to submit to the orders of Gestapo when required.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Moskowitz |first1=Moses |title=Three Years of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia |journal=Political Science Quarterly |date=September 1942 |volume=57 |issue=3 |page=357 |doi=10.2307/2144345}}</ref> During protests coinciding with [[Wenceslas|Wenceslas Day]] celebrations that month, Czech police took an aggressive approach with demonstrators.<ref name=Jar/> |
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===Order Police=== |
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===Disposition of the State Security Service=== |
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===Municipal Police=== |
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In the interwar period, Czechoslovakia's secret police — officially known, as of 1938, as the State Security Service ([[Czech language|Czech]]: ''Státní bezpečnost''){{efn|Not to be confused with the identically named [[StB]], established post-war.}} — conducted covert surveillance of the [[Communist Party of Czechoslovakia]] and the German minority and was the police's principal liaison to Department II, the foreign intelligence service.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kelly |first1=T. Mills |title=A Reputation Tarnished: New Perspectives on Interwar Czechoslovakia |url=https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/278-reputation-tarnished-new-perspectives-interwar-czechoslovakia |website=wilsoncenter.org |publisher=[[Wilson Center]] |access-date=February 21, 2024}}</ref><ref name="jacek">{{cite journal |last1=Dworzecki |first1=Jacek |title=Organization and Functioning of Intelligence Formations since the Creation of Czechoslovakia Until the End of World War II |journal=Scientific Journal of Bielsko-Biala School of Finance and Law |date=2019 |volume=23 |issue=3 |page=43 }}</ref> It was a subordinate agency of the Government Police.<ref name="jacek"/> At the March 15 meeting, Oscar Rasch directed the dissolution of the State Security Service, though its political policing responsibilities were eventually replaced by a newly created Department B, which consisted of 152 personnel and which reported directly to the [[Gestapo]].<ref name="sladek"/> |
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Prior to 1942, the Municipal Police – which could be voluntarily established by cities and towns to provide local control of law enforcement – were largely unaffected by institutional changes.<ref name="urban">{{cite news |last1=Urban |first1=Jaroslav |title=Městská policie pod hákovým křížem |url=https://ps.mppraha.info/rubriky/historie/mestska-policie-pod-hakovym-krizem |access-date=February 17, 2024 |work=Pražský strážník|language=cs |date=March 1, 2020}}</ref>{{efn|In the contemporary Czech Republic, Municipal Police augment national police; in pre-war Czechoslovakia, Municipal Police provided more comprehensive law enforcement.<ref name="urban"/>}} In 1942, the Municipal Police were renamed the Municipal Executive Police and came under the joint control of the mayors of the municipalities in which they were established, as well as the Ministry of the Interior.<ref name="urban"/> In addition, cities with a population of 10,000 or more were required, for the first time, to establish a Municipal Executive Police.<ref name="urban"/> |
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===Enforcement of racial laws=== |
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In 1944, the Municipal Executive Police was fully consolidated into the Protectorate Police.<ref name="urban"/> |
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Prior to the occupation, Czechoslovak police enforced Act No. 117/1927, which required "wandering gypsies" to avoid certain tourist areas and to register with local authorities.<Ref name="krista">{{cite thesis |last=Hegburg|first=Krista |date=2013 |title=Aftermath: Accounting for the Holocaust in the Czech Republic |degree=PhD |publisher=[[Columbia University]]}}</ref> Enforcement was stepped-up in the period prior to the occupation, due to the large number of Roma migrants relocating to Czechoslovakia after the promulgation of more onerous discriminatory legislation in Germany.<Ref name="krista"/> Following the occupation, Czech police continued enforcement of Act No. 117/1927.<Ref name="krista"/> |
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In July 1942, after consolidation of the uniformed security forces into the Uniformed Protectorate Police, a new law was enacted by the Protectorate government "to combat the Gypsy malevolence”. Under the revised statute, the police undertook a census of [[Roma]] residing in the Protectorate. Roma engaged in full-time employment were cautioned against adopting a nomadic lifestyle, while those who lacked full-time employment were detained in the Protectorate government's [[Lety concentration camp]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Naegele |first1=Jolyon |title=Slovakia: President Suggests Cooperation With Czechs To Solve Roma Question |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1091710.html |access-date=February 14, 2024 |work=[[Radio Free Europe]] |date=July 9, 1999}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Minister of Culture leads Lety commemoration |url=https://english.radio.cz/minister-culture-leads-lety-commemoration-8288566|work=[[Czech Radio]] |access-date=February 14, 2024 |date=August 1, 2014}}</ref> |
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==Nonuninformed Protectorate Police== |
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On March 11, 1940, the Ministry of the Interior prescribed new badges for the Nonuninformed Protectorate Police. These were circular devices that bore, in both Czech and German, the words "Government Police". Above the arms was imprinted the unique serial number of the badge. |
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In 1943, the Uniformed Police and Criminal Police assisted in the mass deportation of Roma from the Protectorate to the [[Auschwitz concentration camp]] in the [[General Government]] (Poland).<ref>{{cite web |title=Deportations to Auschwitz |url=https://www.holocaust.cz/en/history/the-genocide-of-the-roma-and-sinti-during-the-second-world-war/the-persecution-of-roma-and-sinti-in-the-protectorate-of-bohemia-and-moravia/deportations-to-auschwitz/ |website=holocaust.cz |publisher=Terezín Initiative Institute}}</ref> |
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[[File:Služební odznak Vládní policie (1944-1945).png|thumb|Illustration of a badge of the Nonuninformed Protectorate Police after 1940]] |
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[[File:Frantisek Famfulik 1910 1943.gif|thumb|Frantisek Famfulik, commander of the gendarmerie station in [[Proseč]], was executed in 1943 after his involvement in resistance activity was uncovered.]] |
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[[File:Vaclav Ajsman 1896 1942.jpg|thumb|Vaclav Ajsman, a police officer in Prague, was executed in 1942 after his involvement with the guerilla group Nation's Defence was revealed.]] |
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===Resistance within the police=== |
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Following the dissolution of the Gendarmerie's aviation unit, some of its 27 pilots left the country and joined allied air forces.<ref name="jakub1"/> Staff Captain František Rypl, one such pilot, commanded [[No. 310 Squadron RAF]].<ref name="jakub1"/> Another, Staff Captain Jan Klán, is credited as the first Czech pilot to down a [[Messerschmitt Bf 109]] in aerial combat.<ref name="jakub1">{{cite news |last1=Fojtík |first1=Jakub |title=Fighters With No Chance to Fight |url=https://aero-space.eu/2019/07/30/fighters-with-no-chance-to-fight/ |access-date=February 21, 2024 |work=Aerospace |date=July 30, 2019}}</ref> |
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Throughout the occupation, some German officials expressed frustration that, particularly within the Gendarmerie, personnel were slow or lax in enforcement of certain matters, including responding to reports of sabotage and enforcing blackout restrictions. There were also cases of disruptive excessive enforcement. For instance, Gendarmes who located Allied propaganda leaflets were supposed to send samples to their immediate superiors, however, had a tendency to proactively report them to a wide range of authorities – including those who had nothing at all to do with the matter – thereby aiding their distribution. |
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==History== |
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In Prague and [[Plzeň]], contingency resistance cells were established by some within the Municipal Police. While these cells didn't take any active measures against the occupation, they drew-up plans to secure critical infrastructure should an uprising occur. |
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===Background=== |
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In 1942, interior minister [[Josef Ježek]] was dismissed after refusing to swear an oath of loyalty to the German government, replaced by [[Richard Bienert]]. That summer, Karel Knÿz – a gendarme who had assisted a resistance radio operator in avoiding arrest – committed suicide to avoid arrest by the Gestapo after his activities were discovered. The following January, seven police in [[Ostrava]] were arrested by the Gestapo after their involvement with a resistance movement was revealed. Also in 1943, Frantisek Famfulik, the commander of the gendarmerie station in Proseč was executed after his involvement in resistance activity was uncovered.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kinterová |first1=Jitka |title=FAMFULÍK Josef – Na sloupu veřejného osvětlení, Famfulíkova 1140/19, Praha 8 – Kobylisy |url=https://www.pametni-desky-v-praze.cz/2021/02/07/famfulik-josef-na-sloupu-verejneho-osvetleni-famfulikova-1140-19-praha-8-kobylisy/ |publisher=Memorial plaques in Prague |access-date=February 15, 2024}}</ref> Additional incidences of police and gendarmes being disciplined, arrested, or executed for resistance contacts occurred. |
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Prior to the occupation, Czechoslovak uniformed law enforcement services included the Government Police, the Municipal Police, and the paramilitary Gendarmerie. The first formal contact between German officials and police commanders of the rump Czech state occurred on March 15, 1939 when [[Otto Rasch]] met with police executives at [[Náměstí Republiky, Prague]]. Rasch requested that Czech police assist German authorities in identifying and detaining suspected communists, a duty which the Czech police accomplished with what was, to Rasch, surprising efficiency and zeal.<ref name="sladek">{{cite book |last1=Sládek |first1=Oldřich |title=Zločinná role gestapa: nacistická bezpečnostní policie v českých zemích 1938–1945 |date=1986|language=cs |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/Zlo%C4%8Dinn%C3%A1_role_gestapa.html}}</ref> At the March 15 meeting, Rasch also directed the dissolution of the State Security service, though its political policing and counterintelligence responsibilities were eventually replaced by a newly created Department B, which consisted of 152 personnel and reported directly to local [[Gestapo]] officials. |
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On the morning of May 5, 1945, resistance supporters within the police assisted staff of Czech Radio to infiltrate the Czech Radio broadcasting center on Vinohradská Street. A firefight between police and German forces charged with guarding the building ensued. At 12:33 p.m., Czech Radio broadcast an appeal for assistance, marking the start of the [[Prague Uprising]]: |
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During the early period of the Protectorate, police operations continued in much the same way as before the occupation, occasionally leading to run-ins with German personnel. In July 1939, for instance, after an episode in which the windows of several Jewish businesses in [[Moravská Ostrava]] were smashed by off-duty ''SS'' personnel, Czech police arrested the perpetrators. ''[[Schupo]]'' officers created a distraction that ultimately allowed the detainees to escape custody. Additional police operations during the summer of 1939 to intervene in attacks against Jews by Germans, German-speaking Czechs, and members of the ''[[Vlajka]]'' created tension which culminated in an arrangement by which crimes against Jewish establishments were to be reported directly to the ''Schupo'' and not investigated by Czech police.<ref name=Jar/> Additional arrangements required ''Schupo'' to handle murder and sabotage investigations, as well as any investigations in which a German citizen was the victim or perpetrator. |
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{{c quote|"Calling all Czechs. Come to our help at once ... The SS are murdering Czech people here ... We are calling on the Czech police, Czech gendarmes and the government's military forces to help Czech Radio."}} |
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Czech police initially took a restrained approach to public demonstrations in opposition to the occupation. As these events became larger and more raucous, however, police became increasingly assertive in public order operations, culminating in a clamp-down on demonstrations that occurred in Prague during the 1939 [[Wenceslas|Wenceslas Day]] celebrations.<ref name=Jar/> The move came after the Protector informed President Hacha that Czech police needed to act more aggressively in controlling public disorder or the [[1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler]] would assume responsibility for policing. |
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Reinforcements from the 1st Battalion of the Protectorate's Army arrived sometime before 1:00 p.m., entering the building's top floors through adjacent structures and engaging German forces. [[Jaroslav Záruba]], leading the Government Army troops, took command of the combined force of Army, police, and partisans, eventually driving German troops from the building and securing their surrender. |
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===Formation=== |
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By early 1940, the initially restrained nature of the occupation had given way to more aggressive measures and the internal autonomy of the Protectorate government began to erode.<ref name=Jar>{{cite journal |last1=Mrňka |first1=Jaromir |title=Konfliktní hranice: české země a kolektivní násilí v krizovém roce 1938 a během počátečního období nacistické vlády |journal=Dějiny – teorie – kritika |date=July 2023 |doi=10.14712/24645370.3057 |url=https://ojs.cuni.cz/dejinyteoriekritika/article/view/3057 |access-date=February 14, 2024|language=cs}}</ref> On July 1, 1942, the Protector ordered the consolidation of the Order Police and the Gendarmerie into a single organization, the Uniformed Protectorate Police under the Ministry of the Interior.<ref>{{cite web |title=Generalkommandant der uniformierten Protektoratspolizei |url=https://portal.ehri-project.eu/authorities/ehri_cb-001396 |website=ehri-project.eu |publisher=[[European Holocaust Research Infrastructure]] |access-date=February 15, 2024}}</ref> Municipal Police, renamed the Municipal Executive Police, continued in cities with populations more than 10,000; they operated under the authority of their respective mayors and were responsible for [[preventative policing]]. |
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On May 13, on orders of [[Václav Nosek]] – serving as Interior Minister in the transitional [[Košice Program|Košice Government Program]] – Czech police entered the grounds of the presidential residence of [[Lány Castle]] and arrested State President Hacha, bringing to an end the protectorate.<ref>{{cite web |title=Emil Hacha |url=https://www.hrad.cz/en/president-of-the-cr/former-presidents/emil-hacha |website=hrad.cz |publisher=[[President of the Czech Republic]] |access-date=February 17, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Demetz |first1=Peter |title=Prague in Danger: The Years of German Occupation, 1939–45 |date=2008 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=0374281262 |page=13}}</ref> |
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==Uniformed Protectorate Police== |
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In November 1942 ranks and pay rates between the Government Police and Gendarmerie were standardized. Plans for standardization of uniforms were never accomplished. |
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{{Infobox law enforcement agency |
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| agencyname = Uniformed Protectorate Police |
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| nativename = Uniformované protektorátní policie |
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| nativenamea = |
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| nativenamer = |
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| fictional = |
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| patch = |
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| patchcaption = |
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| logo = |
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| logocaption = |
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| badge = |
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| badgecaption = |
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| flag = |
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| flagcaption = |
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| image_size = |
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| commonname = |
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| abbreviation = |
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| motto = |
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| mottotranslated = |
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| formed = 1941 |
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| preceding1 = <!-- up to | preceding6 = --> |
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| dissolved = 1945 |
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| superseding = |
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| employees = |
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| volunteers = |
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| budget = |
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| legalpersonality = |
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| legaljuris = |
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| national = yes |
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| country = |
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| countryabbr = |
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| federal = |
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| international = <!-- NNN or {{collapsible list |title=NNN |[[country1]] . . |[[countryNNN]]}} --> |
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| divname = |
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| subdivname = |
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| map = |
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| mapcaption = |
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| dmap = |
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| sizearea = |
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| sizepopulation = |
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| governingbody = |
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| governingbodyscnd = |
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| constitution1 = <!-- up to | constitution6 = --> |
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| gendarmerie = yes |
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| provost = |
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| military = |
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| police = yes |
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| local = |
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| secret = |
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| religious = |
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| speciality1 = <!-- up to | speciality6 = --> |
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| overviewtype = |
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| overviewbody = |
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| headquarters = |
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| hqlocmap = |
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| hqlocmapsize = |
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| hqlocmappoptitle = |
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| sworntype = |
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| sworn = |
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| unsworntype = |
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| unsworn = |
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| multinational = <!-- NNN or {{collapsible list |title=NNN |[[country1]] . . |[[countryNNN]]}} --> |
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| electeetype = |
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| minister1name = <!-- up to | minister6name = --> |
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| minister1pfo = <!-- up to | minister6pfo = --> |
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| chief1name = <!-- up to | chief6name = --> |
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| chief1position = <!-- up to | chief6position = --> |
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| parentagency = |
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| child1agency = |
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| unittype = |
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| unitname = <!-- NNN or {{collapsible list |title=NNN |[[Unit1]] . . |[[UnitNNN]]}} --> |
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| officetype = |
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| officename = <!-- NNN or {{collapsible list |title=NNN |[[Office1]] . . |[[OfficeNNN]]}} --> |
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| provideragency = |
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| uniformedas = |
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| stationtype = |
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| stations = <!-- NNN or {{collapsible list |title=NNN |[[Station1]] . . |[[StationNNN]]}} --> |
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| airbases = <!-- NNN or {{collapsible list |title=NNN |[[Airbase1]] . . |[[AirbaseNNN]]}} --> |
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| lockuptype = |
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| lockups = <!-- NNN or {{collapsible list |title=NNN |[[Lockup1]] . . |[[LockupNNN]]}} --> |
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| vehicle1type = <!-- up to | vehicle3type = --> |
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| vehicles1 = <!-- NNN or {{collapsible list |title=NNN |[[Vehicle1]] . . |[[VehicleNNN]]}} --><!-- up to | vehicles3 = --> |
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| boat1type = <!-- up to | boat3type = --> |
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| boats1 = <!-- NNN or {{collapsible list |title=NNN |[[Boat1]] . . |[[BoatNNN]]}} --><!-- up to | boats3 = --> |
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| aircraft1type = <!-- up to | aircraft3type = --> |
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| aircraft1 = <!-- NNN or {{collapsible list |title=NNN |[[Aircraft1]] . . |[[AircraftNNN]]}} --><!-- up to | aircraft3 = --> |
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| animal1type = <!-- up to | animal3type = --> |
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| animals1 = <!-- NNN or {{collapsible list |title=NNN |[[Animal1]] . . |[[AnimalNNN]]}} --><!-- up to | animals3 = --> |
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| person1name = <!-- up to | person6name = --> |
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| person1reason = <!-- up to | person6reason = --> |
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| person1type = <!-- up to |person6type = --> |
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| programme1 = <!-- or | program1 = --><!-- up to | programme6 = or | program6 = --> |
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| activitytype = |
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| activity1name = <!-- up to | activity6name = --> |
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| anniversary1 = <!-- up to | anniversary6 = --> |
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| award1 = <!-- up to | award6 = --> |
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| website = |
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| footnotes = |
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}} |
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During the First and Second Czechoslovak Republics, uniformed law enforcement agencies chiefly consisted of the centrally-controlled Gendarmerie and Government Police, as well as the locally-controlled Municipal Police. Authority for these forces passed to the government of the protectorate following the onset of the occupation. At this time, the uniformed police services collectively had a strength of approximately 20,000 of all ranks. |
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====Recruitment==== |
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New personnel were not recruited into the police until Autumn of 1942 when a call was put out for Czech men aged 18 to 29 to apply. More than 1,000 applicants were ultimately hired and tasked to undergo eight months of training. However, this training was cut short when – in the spring of 1943 – trainees were moved to [[Hamburg]], [[Münster]], and [[Düsseldorf]] to reinforce German police in those cities. There, they were largely responsible for guarding from looters neighborhoods destroyed in Allied air raids, as well as assisting in [[search and rescue]] work. A large number of the Czech police trainees were decorated with the ''[[Reichsluftschutzbund]]'''s Air Defense Badge for their service in Germany. |
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In 1941 it was established that Gendarmerie, Government Police, and Municipal Police be collectively referred to as the Uniformed Protectorate Police. The following year, on July 1, 1942, the Protector further ordered the consolidation of the Government Police and the Gendarmerie into a single command structure.<ref>{{cite web |title=Generalkommandant der uniformierten Protektoratspolizei |url=https://portal.ehri-project.eu/authorities/ehri_cb-001396 |website=ehri-project.eu |publisher=[[European Holocaust Research Infrastructure]] |access-date=February 15, 2024}}</ref> Ranks and pay rates were standardized and plans were made - though never realized - for standardization of uniforms.<ref name="urban"/> In 1944, this consolidation was extended to the Municipal Police, by then renamed the Municipal Executive Police. |
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===Enforcement of racial laws=== |
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Prior to the occupation, Czechoslovak police enforced Act No. 117/1927, which required "wandering gypsies" to avoid certain tourist areas and to register with local authorities.<Ref name="krista">{{cite thesis |last=Hegburg|first=Krista |date=2013 |title=Aftermath: Accounting for the Holocaust in the Czech Republic |degree=PhD |publisher=[[Columbia University]]}}</ref> Enforcement was stepped-up in the period prior to the occupation, due to the large number of Roma migrants relocating to Czechoslovakia after the promulgation of more onerous discriminatory legislation in Germany.<Ref name="krista"/> Following the occupation, Czech police continued enforcement of Act No. 117/1927.<Ref name="krista"/> |
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===Gendarmerie=== |
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In July 1942, after consolidation of the uniformed security forces into the Uniformed Protectorate Police, a new law was enacted by the Protectorate government "to combat the Gypsy malevolence”. Under the revised statute, the police undertook a census of [[Roma]] residing in the Protectorate. Roma engaged in full-time employment were cautioned against adopting a nomadic lifestyle, while those who lacked full-time employment were detained in the Protectorate government's [[Lety concentration camp]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Naegele |first1=Jolyon |title=Slovakia: President Suggests Cooperation With Czechs To Solve Roma Question |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1091710.html |access-date=February 14, 2024 |work=[[Radio Free Europe]] |date=July 9, 1999}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Minister of Culture leads Lety commemoration |url=https://english.radio.cz/minister-culture-leads-lety-commemoration-8288566|work=[[Czech Radio]] |access-date=February 14, 2024 |date=August 1, 2014}}</ref> |
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[[File:Nacistická propaganda - pomoc údajně hladovějícím Čechům.gif|thumb|An occupation-era Czech gendarme is pictured in Prague in March 1939.]] |
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[[File:Frantisek Famfulik 1910 1943.gif|thumb|Frantisek Famfulik, commander of the gendarmerie station in [[Proseč]], was executed in 1943 after his involvement in resistance activity was uncovered.]] |
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====Background==== |
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In 1943, the Uniformed Police and Criminal Police assisted in the mass deportation of Roma from the Protectorate to the [[Auschwitz concentration camp]] in the [[General Government]] (Poland).<ref>{{cite web |title=Deportations to Auschwitz |url=https://www.holocaust.cz/en/history/the-genocide-of-the-roma-and-sinti-during-the-second-world-war/the-persecution-of-roma-and-sinti-in-the-protectorate-of-bohemia-and-moravia/deportations-to-auschwitz/ |website=holocaust.cz |publisher=Terezín Initiative Institute}}</ref> |
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Formed in the Czech lands in 1850 by [[Austria-Hungary]], during the [[First Czechoslovak Republic]] the Gendarmerie — which was organized and disciplined according to Army regulations — was principally responsible for border security, highway safety, and law enforcement in areas outside of municipal boundaries. Its rapid deployment forces, the so-called "emergency units", were stationed in major cities as well as areas with a significant population of the German minority to provide riot control support for local police and the capability to respond to militarized threats. |
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Since the late 1920s, in the aftermath of the [[Gajda Affair]], gendarmes had been ineligible to vote in Czechoslovak elections; the entire Czechoslovak armed forces had been disenfranchised as a means of neutralizing their potential involvement in politics.<ref name="jstor">{{cite journal|last1=Zorach|first1=Jonathan|title=The Enigma of the Gajda Affair in Czechoslovak Politics in 1926|journal=[[Slavic Review]]|date=December 1976|volume=35|issue=4|pages=683–698|jstor=2495658|doi=10.2307/2495658|doi-access=free}}</ref> |
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===Resistance within the police=== |
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Throughout the occupation, some German officials expressed frustration that, particularly within the Gendarmerie, personnel were slow or lax in enforcement of certain matters, including responding to reports of sabotage and enforcing blackout restrictions. There were also cases of disruptive excessive enforcement. For instance, Gendarmes who located Allied propaganda leaflets were supposed to send samples to their immediate superiors, however, had a tendency to proactively report them to a wide range of authorities – including those who had nothing at all to do with the matter – thereby aiding their distribution. |
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====During the occupation==== |
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In Prague and [[Plzeň]], contingency resistance cells were established by some within the police. While these cells didn't take any active measures against the occupation, they drew-up plans to secure critical infrastructure should an uprising occur. |
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Following the onset of the occupation, the Gendarmerie's air wing was disbanded, Jewish gendarmes were dismissed as were veterans of the [[Czechoslovak Legion]], and gendarmes married to Jewish women were required to either divorce or resign.<ref name="galas">{{cite news |last1=Galaš |first1=Radek |title=Četnictvo 1939–1944 |url=https://temata.rozhlas.cz/cetnictvo-1939-1944-8044976 |access-date=February 20, 2024 |work=[[Czech Radio]] |date=April 22, 2015|language=cs}}</ref> The emergency units were combined with highway safety units into several barracked, alert companies - known as motorized companies - suitable for response to sudden exigencies. The motorized companies principally consisted of three units in Prague and three in Brno, all of which were armed with pistols and rifles. |
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{{Location map+|Czech Republic Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia|width=300|AlternativeMap=|alt=|float=right|caption=<span style="font-size:95%;">[[File:Red Flag - Centered.png|15px|link=]] Garrisons of the Protectorate Gendarmerie's barracked motorized companies (formerly the emergency units)</span> |
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|places= |
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{{Location map~ |Czech Republic Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia|label=Prague|label_size=86 |
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| lat = 50.0569 | long = 14.4223 |mark=Red Flag - Centered.png |marksize=30|link=[[Prague]]}} |
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{{Location map~ |Czech Republic Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia|label=Brno|label_size=86 |
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||lat= 49.18857946989332| long= 16.597184064323994 |mark=Red Flag - Centered.png |marksize=30|link=[[Brno]]}}}} |
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In June 1942, Gendarmerie companies were used by German forces to establish a security perimeter around the village of Lidice prior to the [[Lidice massacre]]. The Gendarmerie was also used — along with ''SS'' forces — to control the perimeter of the Theresienstadt Ghetto, while the interior was patrolled by the Jewish Police. According to [[Arnošt Lustig]], writing in ''[[The Kenyon Review]]'', gendarmes were rotated in to perimeter guard duties on Sundays to relieve SS troops who were given that day off.<ref name="lustig">{{cite journal |last1=Lustig |first1=Arnošt |title=The Gendarme |journal=[[The Kenyon Review]] |date=Summer 2005 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4338757}}</ref> Lustig described the role of the Gendarmerie at the Theresienstadt Ghetto: |
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{{cquote|We all knew that the Czech gendarmes didn't execute anybody. That duty went to the Germans, who determined the time, place, and method of punishment. The gendarmes functioned only as telegraph instruments, communicating the text of the telegram.<ref name="lustig"/>}} |
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New personnel were not recruited into the Gendarmerie until Autumn of 1942 when a call was put out for Czech men aged 18 to 29 to apply.<ref name="galas"/> More than 1,000 applicants were ultimately selected and tasked to undergo eight months of training. However, this training was cut short when – in the spring of 1943 – trainees were moved to [[Hamburg]], [[Münster]], and [[Düsseldorf]] to reinforce German police in those cities. There, they were largely responsible for guarding neighborhoods destroyed in Allied air raids from looters, as well as assisting in [[search and rescue]] work. A large number of the gendarme trainees were decorated with the ''[[Reichsluftschutzbund]]'''s Air Defense Badge for their service in Germany. |
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In the summer of 1942, Karel Knÿz – a gendarme who had assisted a resistance radio operator in avoiding arrest – committed suicide to avoid arrest by the Gestapo after his activities were discovered. The following January, seven police in [[Ostrava]] were arrested by the Gestapo after their involvement with a resistance movement was revealed. Also in 1943, Frantisek Famfulik, the commander of the gendarmerie station in Proseč was executed after his involvement in resistance activity was uncovered.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kinterová |first1=Jitka |title=FAMFULÍK Josef – Na sloupu veřejného osvětlení, Famfulíkova 1140/19, Praha 8 – Kobylisy |url=https://www.pametni-desky-v-praze.cz/2021/02/07/famfulik-josef-na-sloupu-verejneho-osvetleni-famfulikova-1140-19-praha-8-kobylisy/ |publisher=Memorial plaques in Prague |access-date=February 15, 2024}}</ref> |
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===Municipal Police (uniformed)=== |
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Prior to 1942, the Municipal Police – which could be voluntarily established by cities and towns to provide local control of law enforcement – were largely unaffected by institutional changes.<ref name="urban">{{cite news |last1=Urban |first1=Jaroslav |title=Městská policie pod hákovým křížem |url=https://ps.mppraha.info/rubriky/historie/mestska-policie-pod-hakovym-krizem |access-date=February 17, 2024 |work=Pražský strážník|language=cs |date=March 1, 2020}}</ref>{{efn|In the contemporary Czech Republic, Municipal Police augment - but do not replace - national police inside the municipal jurisdiction by providing limited preventative patrol services. In pre-war Czechoslovakia, Municipal Police could, depending on the size of the municipality, undertake comprehensive law enforcement duties.<ref name="urban"/>}} In 1942, the Municipal Police were renamed the Municipal Executive Police and came under the joint control of the mayors of the municipalities in which they were established, as well as the Ministry of the Interior.<ref name="urban"/> In addition, cities with a population of 10,000 or more were required, for the first time, to establish a Municipal Executive Police.<ref name="urban"/> |
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===Government Police (uniformed)=== |
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The uniformed Government Police was the national police force of pre-occupation Czechoslovakia, responsible for law enforcement in municipalities that lacked their own Municipal Police. |
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===Ranks=== |
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The final rank structure used by the Uniformed Protectorate Police after 1944 was as follows. |
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{| class="wikitable" |
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|+ Officer ranks (1944-1945) |
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|- |
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|- |
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| [[File:Czech Protectorate Gendarmerie · Police OF-5 - Plukovník (1944-1945).gif]] || [[File:Czech_Protectorate_Gendarmerie_·_Police_OF-4_-_Podplukovník_(1944-1945).gif]] || [[File:Czech Protectorate Gendarmerie · Police OF-3 - Major (1944-1945).gif]] || [[File:Czech Protectorate Gendarmerie · Police OF-2b - Štábní kapitán (1944-1945).gif]]|| [[File:Czech Protectorate Gendarmerie · Police OF-2a - Kapitán (1944-1945).gif]] || [[File:Czech Protectorate Gendarmerie · Police OF-1c - Nadporučík (1944-1945).gif]]|| [[File:Czech Protectorate Gendarmerie · Police OF-1b - Poručík (1944-1945).gif]]|| [[File:Czech Protectorate Gendarmerie · Police OF-1a - Podporučík (1944-1945).gif]] |
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|- |
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| ''Plukovník ''|| ''Podplukovník'' || ''Major ''|| ''Štábní kapitán''|| ''Kapitán'' |
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|| ''Nadporučík'' |
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|| ''Poručík'' |
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|| ''Podporučík'' |
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|- |
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| Colonel || Lieutenant<br/>Colonel || Major || Staff<Br/>Captain|| Captain|| First<br/>Lieutenant|| Lieutenant || Ensign |
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|} |
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==Nonuninformed Protectorate Police== |
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On March 11, 1940, the Ministry of the Interior prescribed new badges for the Nonuninformed Protectorate Police. These were circular devices that bore, in both Czech and German, the words "Government Police". Above the arms was imprinted the unique serial number of the badge. |
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[[File:Služební odznak Vládní policie (1944-1945).png|thumb|Illustration of a badge of the Nonuninformed Protectorate Police after 1940]] |
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In November 1942 ranks and pay rates between the Government Police and Gendarmerie were standardized. Plans for standardization of uniforms were never accomplished. |
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[[File:Pamatnik Policie Cetnictva Celek B.jpg|thumb|A monument in Olšany Cemetery commemorates personnel of the Uniformed Protection Police and pre-consolidation Czech police.]] |
[[File:Pamatnik Policie Cetnictva Celek B.jpg|thumb|A monument in Olšany Cemetery commemorates personnel of the Uniformed Protection Police and pre-consolidation Czech police.]] |
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====Prague Uprising==== |
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On the morning of May 5, 1945, Protectorate Police assisted staff of Czech Radio to infiltrate the Czech Radio broadcasting center on Vinohradská Street. A firefight between police and German forces charged with guarding the building ensued. At 12:33 p.m., Czech Radio broadcast an appeal for assistance, marking the start of the [[Prague Uprising]]: |
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==Other law enforcement services== |
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{{c quote|"Calling all Czechs. Come to our help at once ... The SS are murdering Czech people here ... We are calling on the Czech police, Czech gendarmes and the government's military forces to help Czech Radio."}} |
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===German forces=== |
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Reinforcements from the 1st Battalion of the Protectorate's Army arrived sometime before 1:00 p.m., entering the building's top floors through adjacent structures. [[Jaroslav Záruba]], leading the Government Army troops, took command of the combined force of Protectorate Army, Protectorate Police, and partisans, eventually driving German troops from the building and securing their surrender. |
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===Jewish police=== |
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On May 13, on orders of [[Václav Nosek]] – serving as Interior Minister in the transitional [[Košice Program|Košice Government Program]] – Uniformed Protectorate Police entered the grounds of the presidential residence of [[Lány Castle]] and arrested State President Hacha.<ref>{{cite web |title=Emil Hacha |url=https://www.hrad.cz/en/president-of-the-cr/former-presidents/emil-hacha |website=hrad.cz |publisher=[[President of the Czech Republic]] |access-date=February 17, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Demetz |first1=Peter |title=Prague in Danger: The Years of German Occupation, 1939–45 |date=2008 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=0374281262 |page=13}}</ref> |
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{{related|[[Jewish Ghetto Police]]}} |
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In [[Terezín]], German authorities recruited physically fit Jewish males into a force informally known as the Jewish police, but officially called the Ghetto Guard.<ref name="nas">{{cite web |last1=Svoboda |first1=Jaroslav |title=Příslušníci terezínské židovské policie nahnali strach i Němcům, ti je raději rozpustili |url=https://nasregion.cz/prislusnici-terezinske-zidovske-policie-nahnali-strach-i-nemcum-ti-ji-radeji-rozpustili-190330/ |website=nasregion.cz|language=cs |publisher=Nas Region |access-date=February 18, 2024}}</ref> Unlike other law enforcement agencies in the protectorate, the Ghetto Guard were not equipped with firearms and their jurisdiction was limited to the [[Theresienstadt Ghetto]].<ref name="nas"/> By 1942, the Jewish police reached 150 men in number.<ref name="nas"/> Upon learning that Jewish police officers were maintaining contacts with the outside world via sympathetic gendarmes, the Germans ordered the force disbanded on May 14, 1942 and all its members deported.<ref name="nas"/> A second Jewish police service was organized following the deportation of the first.<ref name="nas"/> Under the leadership of Karl Loewenstein it became too large and efficient for the liking of the occupation authorities and it, too, was disbanded and and its members deported.<ref name="nas"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Hájková |first1=Anna |title=The Last Ghetto: An Everyday History of Theresienstadt |date=2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780190051808 |pages=134-135 |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190051778.003.0002}}</ref> In 1943, a final attempt at organizing a Jewish police service for Terezín was made.<ref name="nas"/> This force continued in operation until the end of the war.<ref name="nas"/> |
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==Legacy== |
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In 2015, at Prague's [[Olšany Cemetery]], a monument to Uniformed Protection Police and pre-consolidation Czech police personnel who died as a result of their participation in resistance actions during the occupation was established. |
In 2015, at Prague's [[Olšany Cemetery]], a monument to Uniformed Protection Police and pre-consolidation Czech police personnel who died as a result of their participation in resistance actions during the occupation was established. |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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* [[Blue Police]] |
* [[Blue Police]] |
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* [[Law enforcement in the Czech Republic]] |
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* [[Ukrainian Auxiliary Police]] |
* [[Ukrainian Auxiliary Police]] |
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Latest revision as of 16:17, 6 March 2024
Law enforcement in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was conducted by several agencies established by the Czechoslovak Republic, control of which was transferred to the government of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia following the German occupation of the Czech lands and the creation of the Slovak Republic. Over time, these agencies were consolidated and reorganized according to the German model. German military and civil authorities also played a significant role in law enforcement within the protectorate.
At various points during the occupation, German authorities expressed frustration with non-cooperation by the Protectorate's law enforcement services, including instances of their covert coordination with anti-occupation resistance movements, and confrontations between Czech police and off-duty German soldiers over the treatment of Jews. At the same time, Protectorate Police exhibited a level of zeal in enforcement of discriminatory laws against communists and Roma that surprised even the Germans. And, the Protectorate's Gendarmerie played a supporting role during the Lidice massacre.
Protectorate police fought on the side of the Czech resistance during the Prague Uprising and ultimately arrested State President Emil Hácha.
History
[edit]
The first formal contact between German officials and police commanders of the rump Czech state occurred on March 15, 1939 when Otto Rasch met with police executives at Náměstí Republiky, Prague. Rasch requested that Czech police assist German authorities in identifying and detaining suspected communists, a duty which the Czech police accomplished with what was, to Rasch, surprising efficiency and zeal.[1]
During the early period of the Protectorate, police were instructed to continue enforcing laws of the former Czechoslovakia except where they conflicted with German orders. This led to run-ins with German personnel and German-speaking Czechs during incidents of antisemitic violence. In July 1939, for instance, after an episode in which the windows of several Jewish businesses in Moravská Ostrava were smashed by off-duty SS personnel, Czech police arrested the perpetrators, forcing Schupo officers to intervene to secure their release. Additional police operations during the summer of 1939 to stop attacks against Jews by Germans, German-speaking Czechs, and members of the Vlajka were ultimately resolved with an order directing that crimes against Jewish establishments were to be reported directly to the Schupo and not investigated by Czech police.[2] Additional arrangements required Schupo to handle murder and sabotage investigations, as well as any investigations in which a German citizen was the victim or perpetrator.
Czech police initially took a restrained approach to public demonstrations in opposition to the occupation. In response to increasingly large demonstrations, the Protector informed State President Hacha that Czech police needed to act more assertively in controlling crowds or the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler would assume responsibility for policing. On September 1, 1939, a new decree was issued requiring police authorities in the protectorate to submit to the orders of Gestapo when required.[3] During protests coinciding with Wenceslas Day celebrations that month, Czech police took an aggressive approach with demonstrators.[2]
Disposition of the State Security Service
[edit]In the interwar period, Czechoslovakia's secret police — officially known, as of 1938, as the State Security Service (Czech: Státní bezpečnost)[a] — conducted covert surveillance of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and the German minority and was the police's principal liaison to Department II, the foreign intelligence service.[4][5] It was a subordinate agency of the Government Police.[5] At the March 15 meeting, Oscar Rasch directed the dissolution of the State Security Service, though its political policing responsibilities were eventually replaced by a newly created Department B, which consisted of 152 personnel and which reported directly to the Gestapo.[1]
Enforcement of racial laws
[edit]Prior to the occupation, Czechoslovak police enforced Act No. 117/1927, which required "wandering gypsies" to avoid certain tourist areas and to register with local authorities.[6] Enforcement was stepped-up in the period prior to the occupation, due to the large number of Roma migrants relocating to Czechoslovakia after the promulgation of more onerous discriminatory legislation in Germany.[6] Following the occupation, Czech police continued enforcement of Act No. 117/1927.[6]
In July 1942, after consolidation of the uniformed security forces into the Uniformed Protectorate Police, a new law was enacted by the Protectorate government "to combat the Gypsy malevolence”. Under the revised statute, the police undertook a census of Roma residing in the Protectorate. Roma engaged in full-time employment were cautioned against adopting a nomadic lifestyle, while those who lacked full-time employment were detained in the Protectorate government's Lety concentration camp.[7][8]
In 1943, the Uniformed Police and Criminal Police assisted in the mass deportation of Roma from the Protectorate to the Auschwitz concentration camp in the General Government (Poland).[9]
Resistance within the police
[edit]Following the dissolution of the Gendarmerie's aviation unit, some of its 27 pilots left the country and joined allied air forces.[10] Staff Captain František Rypl, one such pilot, commanded No. 310 Squadron RAF.[10] Another, Staff Captain Jan Klán, is credited as the first Czech pilot to down a Messerschmitt Bf 109 in aerial combat.[10]
Throughout the occupation, some German officials expressed frustration that, particularly within the Gendarmerie, personnel were slow or lax in enforcement of certain matters, including responding to reports of sabotage and enforcing blackout restrictions. There were also cases of disruptive excessive enforcement. For instance, Gendarmes who located Allied propaganda leaflets were supposed to send samples to their immediate superiors, however, had a tendency to proactively report them to a wide range of authorities – including those who had nothing at all to do with the matter – thereby aiding their distribution.
In Prague and Plzeň, contingency resistance cells were established by some within the Municipal Police. While these cells didn't take any active measures against the occupation, they drew-up plans to secure critical infrastructure should an uprising occur.
In 1942, interior minister Josef Ježek was dismissed after refusing to swear an oath of loyalty to the German government, replaced by Richard Bienert. That summer, Karel Knÿz – a gendarme who had assisted a resistance radio operator in avoiding arrest – committed suicide to avoid arrest by the Gestapo after his activities were discovered. The following January, seven police in Ostrava were arrested by the Gestapo after their involvement with a resistance movement was revealed. Also in 1943, Frantisek Famfulik, the commander of the gendarmerie station in Proseč was executed after his involvement in resistance activity was uncovered.[11] Additional incidences of police and gendarmes being disciplined, arrested, or executed for resistance contacts occurred.
On the morning of May 5, 1945, resistance supporters within the police assisted staff of Czech Radio to infiltrate the Czech Radio broadcasting center on Vinohradská Street. A firefight between police and German forces charged with guarding the building ensued. At 12:33 p.m., Czech Radio broadcast an appeal for assistance, marking the start of the Prague Uprising:
"Calling all Czechs. Come to our help at once ... The SS are murdering Czech people here ... We are calling on the Czech police, Czech gendarmes and the government's military forces to help Czech Radio."
Reinforcements from the 1st Battalion of the Protectorate's Army arrived sometime before 1:00 p.m., entering the building's top floors through adjacent structures and engaging German forces. Jaroslav Záruba, leading the Government Army troops, took command of the combined force of Army, police, and partisans, eventually driving German troops from the building and securing their surrender.
On May 13, on orders of Václav Nosek – serving as Interior Minister in the transitional Košice Government Program – Czech police entered the grounds of the presidential residence of Lány Castle and arrested State President Hacha, bringing to an end the protectorate.[12][13]
Uniformed Protectorate Police
[edit]| Uniformed Protectorate Police Uniformované protektorátní policie | |
|---|---|
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 1941 |
| Dissolved | 1945 |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| National agency | |
| General nature | |
During the First and Second Czechoslovak Republics, uniformed law enforcement agencies chiefly consisted of the centrally-controlled Gendarmerie and Government Police, as well as the locally-controlled Municipal Police. Authority for these forces passed to the government of the protectorate following the onset of the occupation. At this time, the uniformed police services collectively had a strength of approximately 20,000 of all ranks.
In 1941 it was established that Gendarmerie, Government Police, and Municipal Police be collectively referred to as the Uniformed Protectorate Police. The following year, on July 1, 1942, the Protector further ordered the consolidation of the Government Police and the Gendarmerie into a single command structure.[14] Ranks and pay rates were standardized and plans were made - though never realized - for standardization of uniforms.[15] In 1944, this consolidation was extended to the Municipal Police, by then renamed the Municipal Executive Police.
Gendarmerie
[edit]
Background
[edit]Formed in the Czech lands in 1850 by Austria-Hungary, during the First Czechoslovak Republic the Gendarmerie — which was organized and disciplined according to Army regulations — was principally responsible for border security, highway safety, and law enforcement in areas outside of municipal boundaries. Its rapid deployment forces, the so-called "emergency units", were stationed in major cities as well as areas with a significant population of the German minority to provide riot control support for local police and the capability to respond to militarized threats.
Since the late 1920s, in the aftermath of the Gajda Affair, gendarmes had been ineligible to vote in Czechoslovak elections; the entire Czechoslovak armed forces had been disenfranchised as a means of neutralizing their potential involvement in politics.[16]
During the occupation
[edit]Following the onset of the occupation, the Gendarmerie's air wing was disbanded, Jewish gendarmes were dismissed as were veterans of the Czechoslovak Legion, and gendarmes married to Jewish women were required to either divorce or resign.[17] The emergency units were combined with highway safety units into several barracked, alert companies - known as motorized companies - suitable for response to sudden exigencies. The motorized companies principally consisted of three units in Prague and three in Brno, all of which were armed with pistols and rifles.
Garrisons of the Protectorate Gendarmerie's barracked motorized companies (formerly the emergency units)In June 1942, Gendarmerie companies were used by German forces to establish a security perimeter around the village of Lidice prior to the Lidice massacre. The Gendarmerie was also used — along with SS forces — to control the perimeter of the Theresienstadt Ghetto, while the interior was patrolled by the Jewish Police. According to Arnošt Lustig, writing in The Kenyon Review, gendarmes were rotated in to perimeter guard duties on Sundays to relieve SS troops who were given that day off.[18] Lustig described the role of the Gendarmerie at the Theresienstadt Ghetto:
| “ | We all knew that the Czech gendarmes didn't execute anybody. That duty went to the Germans, who determined the time, place, and method of punishment. The gendarmes functioned only as telegraph instruments, communicating the text of the telegram.[18] | ” |
New personnel were not recruited into the Gendarmerie until Autumn of 1942 when a call was put out for Czech men aged 18 to 29 to apply.[17] More than 1,000 applicants were ultimately selected and tasked to undergo eight months of training. However, this training was cut short when – in the spring of 1943 – trainees were moved to Hamburg, Münster, and Düsseldorf to reinforce German police in those cities. There, they were largely responsible for guarding neighborhoods destroyed in Allied air raids from looters, as well as assisting in search and rescue work. A large number of the gendarme trainees were decorated with the Reichsluftschutzbund's Air Defense Badge for their service in Germany.
Municipal Police (uniformed)
[edit]Prior to 1942, the Municipal Police – which could be voluntarily established by cities and towns to provide local control of law enforcement – were largely unaffected by institutional changes.[15][b] In 1942, the Municipal Police were renamed the Municipal Executive Police and came under the joint control of the mayors of the municipalities in which they were established, as well as the Ministry of the Interior.[15] In addition, cities with a population of 10,000 or more were required, for the first time, to establish a Municipal Executive Police.[15]
Government Police (uniformed)
[edit]The uniformed Government Police was the national police force of pre-occupation Czechoslovakia, responsible for law enforcement in municipalities that lacked their own Municipal Police.
Ranks
[edit]The final rank structure used by the Uniformed Protectorate Police after 1944 was as follows.
.gif) |
.gif) |
.gif) |
.gif) |
.gif) |
.gif) |
.gif) |
.gif)
|
| Plukovník | Podplukovník | Major | Štábní kapitán | Kapitán | Nadporučík | Poručík | Podporučík |
| Colonel | Lieutenant Colonel |
Major | Staff Captain |
Captain | First Lieutenant |
Lieutenant | Ensign |
Nonuninformed Protectorate Police
[edit]On March 11, 1940, the Ministry of the Interior prescribed new badges for the Nonuninformed Protectorate Police. These were circular devices that bore, in both Czech and German, the words "Government Police". Above the arms was imprinted the unique serial number of the badge.
.png)
In November 1942 ranks and pay rates between the Government Police and Gendarmerie were standardized. Plans for standardization of uniforms were never accomplished.
Other law enforcement services
[edit]German forces
[edit]Jewish police
[edit]In Terezín, German authorities recruited physically fit Jewish males into a force informally known as the Jewish police, but officially called the Ghetto Guard.[19] Unlike other law enforcement agencies in the protectorate, the Ghetto Guard were not equipped with firearms and their jurisdiction was limited to the Theresienstadt Ghetto.[19] By 1942, the Jewish police reached 150 men in number.[19] Upon learning that Jewish police officers were maintaining contacts with the outside world via sympathetic gendarmes, the Germans ordered the force disbanded on May 14, 1942 and all its members deported.[19] A second Jewish police service was organized following the deportation of the first.[19] Under the leadership of Karl Loewenstein it became too large and efficient for the liking of the occupation authorities and it, too, was disbanded and and its members deported.[19][20] In 1943, a final attempt at organizing a Jewish police service for Terezín was made.[19] This force continued in operation until the end of the war.[19]
Legacy
[edit]In 2015, at Prague's Olšany Cemetery, a monument to Uniformed Protection Police and pre-consolidation Czech police personnel who died as a result of their participation in resistance actions during the occupation was established.
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ Not to be confused with the identically named StB, established post-war.
- ^ In the contemporary Czech Republic, Municipal Police augment - but do not replace - national police inside the municipal jurisdiction by providing limited preventative patrol services. In pre-war Czechoslovakia, Municipal Police could, depending on the size of the municipality, undertake comprehensive law enforcement duties.[15]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Sládek, Oldřich (1986). Zločinná role gestapa: nacistická bezpečnostní policie v českých zemích 1938–1945 (in Czech).
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
Jarwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Moskowitz, Moses (September 1942). "Three Years of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia". Political Science Quarterly. 57 (3): 357. doi:10.2307/2144345.
- ^ Kelly, T. Mills. "A Reputation Tarnished: New Perspectives on Interwar Czechoslovakia". wilsoncenter.org. Wilson Center. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
- ^ a b Dworzecki, Jacek (2019). "Organization and Functioning of Intelligence Formations since the Creation of Czechoslovakia Until the End of World War II". Scientific Journal of Bielsko-Biala School of Finance and Law. 23 (3): 43.
- ^ a b c Hegburg, Krista (2013). Aftermath: Accounting for the Holocaust in the Czech Republic (PhD thesis). Columbia University.
- ^ Naegele, Jolyon (July 9, 1999). "Slovakia: President Suggests Cooperation With Czechs To Solve Roma Question". Radio Free Europe. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
- ^ "Minister of Culture leads Lety commemoration". Czech Radio. August 1, 2014. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
- ^ "Deportations to Auschwitz". holocaust.cz. Terezín Initiative Institute.
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