Nazis at MIEDRYZIEC PODLASKI

Below: Nazis Hermann Splett (left) and Herbert Seifert.

Left: Franz Bauer.

Pictured are Wilhelm Shroer, Lukow S.S., and Kurt Mockert, Radzyn Podlaski S.S. Fourth from the left appears to be Hermann Splett. Others in the photo are not identified. Contact us if you can identify anyone in the photo.
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Międzyrzec Podlaski (historically called Mezritsh or Mezrich in Yiddish) was once one of Poland's most prominent Jewish communities. By the late 1930s, Jews constituted up to 84% of its population. Over 12,000 Jews lived there in 1939. Nazi operatives in Mezrich included: Franz Bauer, Adolf Bloch, unknown Drechsler, Hermann Frey, Karl Haber, unknown Hesse, Reinhold Karo, Edmund Konig, Paul Kreusel, Karl Pietschnig, Alois Rittelmann, Walter Rohlapp, Ernst Rusche, Emil Schmalz, Wilhelm Schmiegeler, Hebert Seifert, Hermann Splett, Alfred Stehle, Karl Strobl, Wilhelm Wegener and Adolf Weinlich.

According to German documents, at the beginning of 1941, there were 183 officers of the Polish police throughout the entire Radzyń district. Individual outposts consisted of merely a few officers each. The commander of this formation for the former Radzyń and Łuków districts was Franciszek Dobromilski, while Babicz commanded the outpost in Międzyrzec. A distinct organizational branch of the Order Police consisted of police and gendarmerie units (platoons, companies, battalions, and regiments), often referred to as the Truppenpolizei. These units reported directly to the Commander of the Orpo and were tasked with carrying out the most critical pacification operations. The composition and deployment of these forces underwent frequent changes. The same applied to the numbering of individual units. In Międzyrzec, the 101st Reserve Police Battalion from Hamburg played a pivotal role in the "solution of the Jewish question." It consisted of a headquarters staff and three companies, totaling approximately 500 men. Each company comprised three platoons, which were further subdivided into squads. During the period under discussion, the battalion was commanded by Gustav Friedrich Trapp. The commander of the First Company was Julius Wohlauf—replaced in October 1942 by Erich Steidtmann; the commander of the Second Company was Hartwig Gnade until May 1943, followed by Kurt Dreyer; and the commander of the Third Company was Wolfgang Hoffmann until November 1942.