281st Security Division (''281. 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 German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. Established in 1941, the unit was deployed in German-occupied areas of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, in the Army Group North Rear Area. The unit was converted to an

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

division in 1945, while stationed in Courland.

Operational history

Formed in March 1941, the 281st Security Division served in Army Group North Rear Area, in Northern Russia. The division extensively participated in war crimes; the divisional personnel had to be reminded by their commanders on 5 August 1941 to not comment on their various mass shootings in their writings or in conversations with civilians. In early 1942, commanded by General Theodor Scherer, elements of the division were encircled by the Soviet forces at Kholm in what became known as the Kholm Pocket. The pocket was relieved after four months.Mitcham, pp. 332–333 For the next two years, it was stationed in the northern sector and engaged in rear-area security and anti-partisan operations, although elements of the division saw action at the front line. One of the major anti-partisan operations it engaged in was Operation Frühjahrsbestellung in April 1943.Hill It was destroyed in mid-1944. It was reconstituted in Courland in January 1945 as the 281st Infantry Division. It retreated to the Oder River, where in May it surrendered with the rest of the 3rd Panzer Army.

Commanders

* Generalleutnant Friedrich Bayer: March - October 1941 * Generalmajor Theodor Scherer: October 1941 - June 1942 * Generalmajor Wilhelm-Hunold von Stockhausen: June - December 1942 * Generalmajor Bruno Scultetus: December 1942 - May 1943 * Generalleutnant Wilhelm-Hunold von Stockhausen: May 1943 - July 1944 * Generalmajor Bruno Ortner: July 1944 * Generalmajor Alois Windisch: July - September 1944 * Generalmajor Bruno Ortner: September 1944 - April 1945 * Oberst Schmidt: April - May 1945

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:281st Security Division (Wehrmacht) Military units and formations established in 1941 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 Security divisions of Germany during World War II War crimes of the Wehrmacht