The 403rd Security Division (''403. 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 previou ...

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 ...

. Throughout the war, the unit was mainly deployed in the

Army Group South Rear Area Army Group South Rear Area (''Rückwärtiges Heeresgebiet Süd'') was one of the three Army Group Rear Area Command (Wehrmacht), Army Group Rear Area Commands, established during the 1941 German Operation Barbarossa, invasion of the Soviet Union. C ...

behind the Eastern Front, which was a large, German-occupied area of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. During the whole war, the 403rd Security Division was used throughout the war mainly on the Eastern Front for security tasks in the rear army area, such as capturing scattered Soviet soldiers and

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 ...

s. Further anti-Semitic measures, such as confiscations, removal of functions, the formation of "purely" Jewish houses, followed.

Operational history

Division z.b.V. 403

The Division z.b.V. 403, alternatively known as ''Landesschützen-Division 403'', was established on 25 October 1939 in

Spandau Spandau () is the westernmost of the 12 boroughs () of Berlin, situated at the confluence of the Havel and Spree rivers and extending along the western bank of the Havel. It is the smallest borough by population, but the fourth largest by la ...

, which was in the III Military District. It was to consist of ten Territorial Guard (Landesschützen) battalions from the III Military District. August 1940 onwards, the division was part of the 6th Army, which was at the time in

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period o ...

. It was renamed to 403rd Security Division in March 1942.

403rd Security Division

Formation

The division was formed on 15 March 1941 near Neusalz in

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

, in the VIII Military District, from the staff of Division z.b.V. 403 and elements of the 213th Infantry Division.

1941

In 1941, the division fought in the

Battle of Moscow The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between September 1941 and January ...

and the Battle of Smolensk as part of the Army Group Reserve. During this period, the division was used against the civilian population and burned down numerous villages.

1942

At the beginning of 1942, the fallback line of the division was broken by the Red Army near Toropets. In the summer of 1942, the division partook in actions against Jews in eastern Ukraine.

1943

At the beginning of 1943 the division was split into parts, with one part being assigned to the XXIVth Army Corps of the

2nd Panzer Army The 2nd Panzer Army (german: 2. Panzerarmee) was a German armoured formation during World War II, formed from the 2nd Panzer Group on October 5, 1941. Organisation Panzer Group Guderian (german: Panzergruppe Guderian) was formed on 5 June 1940 ...

and the other to the XXXXth Army Corps assigned to the 4th Army. On 31 May 1943 in southern Russia, the division was dissolved. The division staff moved to Bergen in June 1943 and became the staff of the 265th Infantry Division.

Commanders

Commanding officers

References

{{Infantry Divisions of the Wehrmacht Wehrmacht Military units and formations of the Wehrmacht Military units and formations of the German Army in World War II War crimes of the Wehrmacht