The 444th Security Division (''444. Sicherungs-Division'') was a rear-security division in the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. The unit was deployed in German-occupied areas of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

, in the

Army Group South Rear Area Army Group South Rear Area (''Rückwärtiges Heeresgebiet Süd'') was one of the three Army Group Rear Area Commands, established during the 1941 German invasion of the Soviet Union. Commanded by General Karl von Roques, it was an area of milita ...

Operational history

Division z.b.V. 444

The Division z.b.V. 444 was established on 25 October 1939 in

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the fourth largest city in the state of Hesse ...

, which was in the XII Military District. It was renamed to 444th Security Division in mid-March 1941.

444th Security Division

The division was formed on 15 March 1941 near Ohlau in

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. S ...

, in the VIII Military District, from the staff of Division z.b.V. 444 and elements of the 221st Infantry Division. During the whole war, the 444th Security Division operated in the occupied Ukraine and

Southern Russia Southern Russia or the South of Russia (russian: Юг России, ''Yug Rossii'') is a colloquial term for the southernmost geographic portion of European Russia generally covering the Southern Federal District and the North Caucasian Feder ...

regions behind

Army Group South Army Group South (german: Heeresgruppe Süd) was the name of three German Army Groups during World War II. It was first used in the 1939 September Campaign, along with Army Group North to invade Poland. In the invasion of Poland Army Group So ...

's front lines. Its duties included security of

communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

and

supply lines Military supply-chain management is a cross-functional approach to procuring, producing and delivering products and services for military materiel applications. Military supply chain management includes sub-suppliers, suppliers, internal inf ...

, economic exploitation and combatting partisans in Wehrmacht's rear areas in conjunction with nearby German units. Along with other security and police forces in the occupied territories, the division participated in war crimes against prisoners of war and the civilian population. The division was subordinated to

Karl von Roques Karl von Roques (7 May 1880 – 24 December 1949) was a German general and war criminal during the Second World War, who commanded the Army Group Rear Area behind Army Group South. Following the war, Roques was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment ...

, commander of Army Group South Rear Area. Similar to 454th Security Division, it undertook "cleansing actions" in the areas that the locals claimed harboured "partisans" (the term "partisan" was used interchangeably with "

commissar Commissar (or sometimes ''Kommissar'') is an English transliteration of the Russian (''komissar''), which means ' commissary'. In English, the transliteration ''commissar'' often refers specifically to the political commissars of Soviet and E ...

", "

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

", "

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

" and " guerrilla"). From November 1941, the division was ordered to recruit a Turkic unit among the prisoners of war in the prison camps. Hence, a Turkestan regiment (of four companies) was created in November 1942. In early January 1943, now in

Army Group A Army Group A (Heeresgruppe A) was the name of several German Army Groups during World War II. During the Battle of France, the army group named Army Group A was composed of 45½ divisions, including 7 armored panzer divisions. It was responsibl ...

, six Kalmykian cavalry squadrons were placed under the command of the division as the Kalmyk detachment. In February 1943, it was subordinated to the

4th Panzer Army The 4th Panzer Army (german: 4. Panzerarmee) (operating as Panzer Group 4 (german: 4. Panzergruppe) from its formation on 15 February 1941 to 1 January 1942, when it was redesignated as a full army) was a German panzer formation during World War ...

, then to the ''Armee-Abteilung Hollidt'' and its successor, the 6th Army. During this period, the division's security measures, which were described as non-combative, took place between

Rostov Rostov ( rus, Росто́в, p=rɐˈstof) is a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, one of the oldest in the country and a tourist center of the Golden Ring. It is located on the shores of Lake Nero, northeast of Moscow. Population: While ...

and

Mius The Mius (, ) is a river in Eastern Europe that flows through Ukraine and Russia. It is long, and has a drainage basin of .Миус< ...

. At the beginning of 1944, both security regiments were removed and in May 1944 the division was completely dissolved.

Commanders

Commanding officers

Composition

1942

* 46th Territorial Guard Regimental Staff (''Landesschützen-Regimentsstab 46'') *Reinforced 360th Infantry Regiment (''verstärktes Infanterie-Regiment 360)'' (originally from the 221st Infantry Division, later assigned to the 111th Infantry Division, and then in the 454th Security Division renamed to 360th Security Regiment) * 708th Guard Battalion (''Wach-Bataillon 708'') * 2nd Battalion of the 221st Artillery Regiment (''II./Artillerie-Regiment 221'') (from the 221st Infantry Division) * 828th Signals Battalion (''Divisions-Nachrichten-Abteilung 828'') (created in November 1941 from the ''Feld-Nachrichten-Kommandantur 44'') * 444th Cossack Company (''Kosaken-Hundertschaft 444'') (later assigned to the 454th Security Division) * 444th Turkestan Company (''Turkestanische Hundertschaft 444'') *445th

Beutepanzer Beutepanzer (German language, German, ) is the German designation for a captured armored fighting vehicle. The Germans used Beutepanzers to gain insight into enemy technology and to augment their own armored forces. Beutepanzers were usually rep ...

Company (''Panzer-Kompanie 445 aus Beutepanzern'') * 360th Divisional Services (''Divisionseinheiten 360'')

1943

* 46th Security Regiment (''Sicherungs-Regiment 46'') (Assigned to the Korück 558 of the 8th Army in 1944) * 602nd Security Regiment (''Sicherungs-Regiment 602'') (Assigned to the Korück 558 of the 8th Army in 1944) * 828th Signals Battalion (''Nachrichten-Abteilung 828'') * ''Kommandeur der Divisions-Nachschubtruppen 360''

References

Citations

Bibliography

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