Axis-Cham Albanian collaboration
Encyclopedia
During the Axis occupation of Greece between 1941 and 1944, large parts of the Albanian minority in the Thesprotia
prefecture in Epirus
, northwestern Greece
, known as Chams
collaborated with the occupation forces. Fascist Italian
as well as Nazi German
propaganda promised that the region would be awarded to Albania (then in personal union
with Italy) after the end of the war. As a result of this pro-Albanian approach, many Muslim Chams actively supported the Axis operations and committed a number of crimes against the local population both in Greece and Albania. Apart from the formation of a local administration and armed security battalions, a terrorist organization named Këshilla
and a resistance paramilitary group called Balli Kombetar Cam were operating in the region, manned by local Muslim Chams. The results were devastating: many Greek as well as Albanian citizens lost their lives and a great number of villages was burned and destroyed. With the retreat of the Axis forces in 1944, a part of the Cham population fled to Albania and revenge attacks against the remaining Chams were carried out by Greek guerrillas and villagers. When the war ended, special courts on collaboration sentenced 2,106 Chams to death in absentia
. However, the war crimes remained unpunished since the criminals had already fled abroad. According to German historian Norbert Frei, the Muslim Cham minority is regarded as the "fourth occupation force" in Greece due to the collaborationist and criminal activities that large parts of the minority committed.
", consisted chiefly of the Thesprotia prefecture in Greece, as well as a few villages in southwestern Albania. Before, 1945, the region had a mixed Greek and Albanian population dating to the migrations of the Albanian tribes into the area in the 13th and 14th centuries. Many of the Chams, originally Greek Orthodox Christians, were Islamicized
in the 17th and 18th centuries, opening a confessional and cultural rift with the remaining Christian population. Given the Ottoman
social structure, Muslim Chams were the most privileged part of the society and possessed much of the most fertile land. A degree of antagonism existed between the two communities and conflict occurred on certain occasions.
Once Epirus
passed to Greek hands in 1913 as a result of the Balkan Wars
however, the Muslim beys lost their past political weight, while retaining their economic influence. During the Interwar period, the Greek state did not take any serious effort to encourage their assimilation, although a number of complaints by the Chams to the League of Nations
bears witness to a sense of grievance among them. However, there is little evidence of direct state persecution at this time. In the late 1930s, especially after Albania
became a protectorate of Fascist Italy, relations between the Cham community and the Greek state deteriorated considerably, as, with the encouragement of the Italian authorities in Albania, irredentist elements of this community became more vocal. The Italian governor of Albania, Francesco Jacomoni, was an especially vocal proponent of Albanian claims in Greece and Kosovo
, hoping to use them as a means of rallying Albanian support around the Fascist regime. In the event, Albanian enthusiasm for the "liberation of Chameria" was muted, but as Italian invasion became imminent in fall 1940, the Greek authorities disarmed the Cham conscripts in the Army, and later rounded up the male population and sent it to internal exile.
Prior to the outbreak of World War II
, 28 villages in the region were inhabited exclusively by Muslim Chams, and an additional 20 villages had mixed (Greek-Muslim Cham) populations.
, Greece soon capitulated. The entire country came under a triple occupation by German, Italian and Bulgarian troops.
The Italian Fascist administration in Epirus (as well as the German one later) adopted a pro-Albanian approach, promising that the region would be awarded to the Albanian state when the war ended. Consequently, a number of Muslim Cham communities began collaborating with the Italians. The occupation forces installed a local Cham administration in the town of Paramythia
, with Xhemil Dino
as local administrator of Thesprotia and as a representative of the Albanian government. At the time the town of Paramythia had a mixed Greek-Cham population of 6,000. Apart from the local Cham administration (Këshilla
) and militia, a paramilitary organization named 'Kosla' was operating from July 1942. According to post-war courts decisions and testimonies, during the Italian occupation these armed units were responsible for large scale criminal activity: murders, rapes, village burnings and looting.
From 29 July-31 August 1943, while the region was typically under Italian occupation, a combined German and Cham force launched an anti-partisan sweep operation codenamed Augustus. During the subsequent operations, 600 Greek villagers were killed and 70 villages in the region were destroyed. In exchange of their support, German Lieutenant Colonel Josef Remold offered the Chams weapons and equipment. As a token of appreciation, Nuri Dino, the leader of the Cham security battalions, promised to secure the region of the Acheron
river, south of Paramythia, against Allied infiltration.
after the war.
By time Operation Augustus ended, a larger number of Muslim Chams was recruited for the armed support of the Axis side forming additional battalions of Cham volunteers. Their support was appreciated by the Germans: Lt Colonel Josef Remold remarked that "with their knowledge of the surrounding area, they have proved their value in the scouting missions". On several occasions these scouting missions engaged EDES units in combat. On September 27, combined German and Cham forces launched large scale operation in burning and destroying villages north of Paramythia: Eleftherochori, Seliani, Semelika, Aghios Nikolaos, killing 50 Greek villagers in the process. In this operation the Cham contingent numbered 150 men, and, according to German Major Stöckert, "performed very well".
.
During September 20–29, as a result of serial terrorist activities, at least 75 Greek citizens were killed in Paramythia and 19 municipalities were destroyed. On September 30, the Swiss representative of the International Red Cross, Hans-Jakob Bickel, visited the area and concluded:
Due to increasing resistance activity at the end of 1943 in southern Albania, German General and local commander Hubert Lanz
, decided to initiate armed operations with the code name Horridoh in this region. Albanian nationalist groups participated in these operations, among them a Cham battalion of ca. 1,000 men under the leadership of Nuri Dino. The death toll from these operations, which began on 1 January 1944 in the region of Konispol
, was 500 Albanians.
, named after a Cham Albanian who was killed in Vlora fighting against the Germans. At the time of its creation in 1944, it had 460 men, both Cham Albanians and Greeks.
, asked the Cham Albanians to fight against his rivals, the Communist-controlled EAM-ELAS. After their negative response, and in pursuit of orders given by the Allied forces to EDES to push them out of Greece and into Albania, fierce fighting occurred between both sides. According to British reports, the Cham bands managed to flee to Albania with their full equipment, together with half million stolen cattle as well as 3,000 horses, leaving only the elderly members of the community behind.
On 18 June 1944, EDES forces with Allied support launched an attack on Paramythia. After short-term against a combined Cham-German garrison, the town was finally liberated. Soon after, violent reprisals were carried out against the town's Muslim community, which was considered responsible for the massacre of September 1943.
The number of the Cham victims during this operation is unknown, although it is certain that the remaining Chams who had not already fled to Albania were forced to move. British officers described it as "a most disgraceful affair" involving "an orgy of revenge" with the local guerrillas "looting and wantonly destroying everything". The British Foreign Office reported that "The bishop of Paramythia joined in the searching of houses for booty and came out of one house to find his already heavily laden mule had been meanwhile stripped by some andartes".
, 1,930 Cham collaborators to death (decision no. 344/1945). The next year the same court condemned an additional 179. At the Nuremberg trials
, General Hubert Lanz
reported that the executions and the reprisal missions were part of "war regulations", however he admitted utter ignorance about the executions in Paramythia. In 1948 the Greek National Bureau on War Crimes ordered juridical research on the crimes committed by Italians, Albanians and Germans during the Axis occupation. Two days later, the immediate arrest of the defendants was ordered. Because all the defendants were abroad it is unknown if the Greek Foreign Ministry initiated the needed diplomatic procedure. In the Hostages Trial
in Nuremberg (1948) the American judges called the executions in Paramythia "plain murder".
Thesprotia
Thesprotia is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the Epirus region. Its capital is the town of Igoumenitsa. It is named after the Thesprotians, an ancient Greek tribe that inhabited the region in antiquity.-History:...
prefecture in Epirus
Epirus (periphery)
Epirus , formally the Epirus Region , is a geographical and administrative region in northwestern Greece. It borders the regions of West Macedonia and Thessaly to the east, West Greece to the south, the Ionian Sea and the Ionian Islands to the west and the country of Albania to the north. The...
, northwestern Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, known as Chams
Cham Albanians
Cham Albanians, or Chams , are a sub-group of Albanians who originally resided in the coastal region of Epirus in northwestern Greece, an area known among Albanians as Chameria. The Chams have their own peculiar cultural identity, which is a mixture of Albanian and Greek influences as well as many...
collaborated with the occupation forces. Fascist Italian
Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...
as well as Nazi German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
propaganda promised that the region would be awarded to Albania (then in personal union
Personal union
A personal union is the combination by which two or more different states have the same monarch while their boundaries, their laws and their interests remain distinct. It should not be confused with a federation which is internationally considered a single state...
with Italy) after the end of the war. As a result of this pro-Albanian approach, many Muslim Chams actively supported the Axis operations and committed a number of crimes against the local population both in Greece and Albania. Apart from the formation of a local administration and armed security battalions, a terrorist organization named Këshilla
Këshilla
Këshilla was a local administration introduced in Thesprotia region in Greece, in 1942, by the Italian occupation forces. Italy's aim was to annex this region under Occupied Albania, but German authorities did not support this action and put it under the control of Athens...
and a resistance paramilitary group called Balli Kombetar Cam were operating in the region, manned by local Muslim Chams. The results were devastating: many Greek as well as Albanian citizens lost their lives and a great number of villages was burned and destroyed. With the retreat of the Axis forces in 1944, a part of the Cham population fled to Albania and revenge attacks against the remaining Chams were carried out by Greek guerrillas and villagers. When the war ended, special courts on collaboration sentenced 2,106 Chams to death in absentia
In absentia
In absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...
. However, the war crimes remained unpunished since the criminals had already fled abroad. According to German historian Norbert Frei, the Muslim Cham minority is regarded as the "fourth occupation force" in Greece due to the collaborationist and criminal activities that large parts of the minority committed.
Background
The region inhabited by the Chams, and known among Albanians as "ChameriaChameria
Chameria is a term used today mostly by Albanians for parts of the coastal region of Epirus in southern Albania and northwestern Greece It was also used by Greeks till the mid of 20th century and is frequently found in Greek literature. Today it is obsolete in Greek, surviving mainly in Greek folk...
", consisted chiefly of the Thesprotia prefecture in Greece, as well as a few villages in southwestern Albania. Before, 1945, the region had a mixed Greek and Albanian population dating to the migrations of the Albanian tribes into the area in the 13th and 14th centuries. Many of the Chams, originally Greek Orthodox Christians, were Islamicized
Islamization
Islamization or Islamification has been used to describe the process of a society's conversion to the religion of Islam...
in the 17th and 18th centuries, opening a confessional and cultural rift with the remaining Christian population. Given the Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
social structure, Muslim Chams were the most privileged part of the society and possessed much of the most fertile land. A degree of antagonism existed between the two communities and conflict occurred on certain occasions.
Once Epirus
Epirus (periphery)
Epirus , formally the Epirus Region , is a geographical and administrative region in northwestern Greece. It borders the regions of West Macedonia and Thessaly to the east, West Greece to the south, the Ionian Sea and the Ionian Islands to the west and the country of Albania to the north. The...
passed to Greek hands in 1913 as a result of the Balkan Wars
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913.By the early 20th century, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, the countries of the Balkan League, had achieved their independence from the Ottoman Empire, but large parts of their ethnic...
however, the Muslim beys lost their past political weight, while retaining their economic influence. During the Interwar period, the Greek state did not take any serious effort to encourage their assimilation, although a number of complaints by the Chams to the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
bears witness to a sense of grievance among them. However, there is little evidence of direct state persecution at this time. In the late 1930s, especially after Albania
Albania under Italy
The Albanian Kingdom existed as a protectorate of the Kingdom of Italy. It was practically a union between Italy and Albania, officially led by Italy's King Victor Emmanuel III and its government: Albania was led by Italian governors, after being militarily occupied by Italy, from 1939 until 1943...
became a protectorate of Fascist Italy, relations between the Cham community and the Greek state deteriorated considerably, as, with the encouragement of the Italian authorities in Albania, irredentist elements of this community became more vocal. The Italian governor of Albania, Francesco Jacomoni, was an especially vocal proponent of Albanian claims in Greece and Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
, hoping to use them as a means of rallying Albanian support around the Fascist regime. In the event, Albanian enthusiasm for the "liberation of Chameria" was muted, but as Italian invasion became imminent in fall 1940, the Greek authorities disarmed the Cham conscripts in the Army, and later rounded up the male population and sent it to internal exile.
Prior to the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, 28 villages in the region were inhabited exclusively by Muslim Chams, and an additional 20 villages had mixed (Greek-Muslim Cham) populations.
Italian occupation
When the Greek-Italian War broke out in October 1940, the Italian forces had the support of 3,500 Albanians, among them members of the Cham community in Greece. Their performance however was distinctly lackluster, as most Albanians, poorly motivated, either deserted or defected. The Greek army managed to repel the attack and advance into Albania, but with the intervention of GermanyBattle of Greece
The Battle of Greece is the common name for the invasion and conquest of Greece by Nazi Germany in April 1941. Greece was supported by British Commonwealth forces, while the Germans' Axis allies Italy and Bulgaria played secondary roles...
, Greece soon capitulated. The entire country came under a triple occupation by German, Italian and Bulgarian troops.
The Italian Fascist administration in Epirus (as well as the German one later) adopted a pro-Albanian approach, promising that the region would be awarded to the Albanian state when the war ended. Consequently, a number of Muslim Cham communities began collaborating with the Italians. The occupation forces installed a local Cham administration in the town of Paramythia
Paramythia
Paramythia is a village and a former municipality in Thesprotia, Epirus, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Souli, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. Population 7,859 .-Name:...
, with Xhemil Dino
Xhemil Dino
Xhemil Dino was an Albanian politician and diplomat.He was born in Preveza in the 1880s to a distant branch of the notable Dino family of the area. He studied in Galatasaray University and after the declaration of independence of Albania he was elected deputy of Dibër...
as local administrator of Thesprotia and as a representative of the Albanian government. At the time the town of Paramythia had a mixed Greek-Cham population of 6,000. Apart from the local Cham administration (Këshilla
Këshilla
Këshilla was a local administration introduced in Thesprotia region in Greece, in 1942, by the Italian occupation forces. Italy's aim was to annex this region under Occupied Albania, but German authorities did not support this action and put it under the control of Athens...
) and militia, a paramilitary organization named 'Kosla' was operating from July 1942. According to post-war courts decisions and testimonies, during the Italian occupation these armed units were responsible for large scale criminal activity: murders, rapes, village burnings and looting.
From 29 July-31 August 1943, while the region was typically under Italian occupation, a combined German and Cham force launched an anti-partisan sweep operation codenamed Augustus. During the subsequent operations, 600 Greek villagers were killed and 70 villages in the region were destroyed. In exchange of their support, German Lieutenant Colonel Josef Remold offered the Chams weapons and equipment. As a token of appreciation, Nuri Dino, the leader of the Cham security battalions, promised to secure the region of the Acheron
Acheron
The Acheron is a river located in the Epirus region of northwest Greece. It flows into the Ionian Sea in Ammoudia, near Parga.-In mythology:...
river, south of Paramythia, against Allied infiltration.
German occupation
In September 1943, following Italian capitulation, the region officially came under German control. The German commander of Paramythia, in need of the support of the Cham population, repeated to the Albanian community the promise that the region would became part of Greater AlbaniaGreater Albania
Greater Albania or Ethnic Albania is an irredentist concept of lands outside the borders of the Republic of Albania that are considered part of a greater national homeland by most Albanians, based on the present-day or historical presence of Albanian populations in those areas...
after the war.
By time Operation Augustus ended, a larger number of Muslim Chams was recruited for the armed support of the Axis side forming additional battalions of Cham volunteers. Their support was appreciated by the Germans: Lt Colonel Josef Remold remarked that "with their knowledge of the surrounding area, they have proved their value in the scouting missions". On several occasions these scouting missions engaged EDES units in combat. On September 27, combined German and Cham forces launched large scale operation in burning and destroying villages north of Paramythia: Eleftherochori, Seliani, Semelika, Aghios Nikolaos, killing 50 Greek villagers in the process. In this operation the Cham contingent numbered 150 men, and, according to German Major Stöckert, "performed very well".
Paramythia incident
On the night of 27 September, Cham militias arrested 53 prominent Greek citizens in Paramythia and executed 49 of them two days later. This action was orchestrated by the brothers Nuri and Mazar Dino (an officer of the Cham militia) in order to get rid of the town's Greek representatives and intellectuals. According to German reports, Cham militias were also part of the firing squadExecution by firing squad
Execution by firing squad, sometimes called fusillading , is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war.Execution by shooting is a fairly old practice...
.
During September 20–29, as a result of serial terrorist activities, at least 75 Greek citizens were killed in Paramythia and 19 municipalities were destroyed. On September 30, the Swiss representative of the International Red Cross, Hans-Jakob Bickel, visited the area and concluded:
20,000 Albanians, with Italian and now German support, spread terror to the rest of the population. Only in the region of Fanari 24 villages were destroyed. The entire harvest was taken by them. In my trip I realized that the Albanians kept the Greeks terrified inside their homes. Young Albanians, just finished from school, wandered heavily armed. The Greek population of Igoumenitsa had to find refuge in the mountains. The Albanians had stolen all the cattle and the fields remain uncultivated.
Nazi-Cham activities in southern Albania
Although operation Augustus took place mostly in Greek territory, such activities had also spread to southern Albania, with 50 Albanians being executed.Due to increasing resistance activity at the end of 1943 in southern Albania, German General and local commander Hubert Lanz
Hubert Lanz
Karl Hubert Lanz was a German Army officer who rose to the rank of General der Gebirgstruppe during the Second World War, in which he led units in the Eastern Front and in the Balkans. After the war, he was tried and convicted for several atrocities committed by units under his command in the...
, decided to initiate armed operations with the code name Horridoh in this region. Albanian nationalist groups participated in these operations, among them a Cham battalion of ca. 1,000 men under the leadership of Nuri Dino. The death toll from these operations, which began on 1 January 1944 in the region of Konispol
Konispol
Konispol is the southernmost town in Albania. It sits one kilometer away from the Albanian-Greek border. The municipality consists of the town Konispol and the village Çiflik.The town's main interests are agriculture and viticulture...
, was 500 Albanians.
Cham participation in the resistance
As the end of World War II drew near, a small number of Muslim Chams became part of the Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS), as well as the anti-fascist National Liberation Army of Albania. In the ELAS, Chams formed the IV "Ali Demi" battalionIV "Ali Demi" battalion
The 4th "Ali Demi" Battalion was a battalion under the 15th Regiment of Greek People's Liberation Army, founded during the Second World War. It comprised both from Cham Albanians and Greeks, of the region of Epirus and was established in May 1944. It consisted of 460 Muslim Albanians and 340...
, named after a Cham Albanian who was killed in Vlora fighting against the Germans. At the time of its creation in 1944, it had 460 men, both Cham Albanians and Greeks.
Axis retreat
During the summer of 1944, when the German withdrawal was imminent, the right-wing head of the National Republican Greek League (EDES), Napoleon ZervasNapoleon Zervas
Napoleon Zervas was a Greek general and resistance leader during World War II. He organized and led the National Republican Greek League , the second most significant , in terms of size and activity, resistance organization against the Axis Occupation of Greece.-Early life and army career:Zervas...
, asked the Cham Albanians to fight against his rivals, the Communist-controlled EAM-ELAS. After their negative response, and in pursuit of orders given by the Allied forces to EDES to push them out of Greece and into Albania, fierce fighting occurred between both sides. According to British reports, the Cham bands managed to flee to Albania with their full equipment, together with half million stolen cattle as well as 3,000 horses, leaving only the elderly members of the community behind.
On 18 June 1944, EDES forces with Allied support launched an attack on Paramythia. After short-term against a combined Cham-German garrison, the town was finally liberated. Soon after, violent reprisals were carried out against the town's Muslim community, which was considered responsible for the massacre of September 1943.
The number of the Cham victims during this operation is unknown, although it is certain that the remaining Chams who had not already fled to Albania were forced to move. British officers described it as "a most disgraceful affair" involving "an orgy of revenge" with the local guerrillas "looting and wantonly destroying everything". The British Foreign Office reported that "The bishop of Paramythia joined in the searching of houses for booty and came out of one house to find his already heavily laden mule had been meanwhile stripped by some andartes".
Aftermath and war crimes trials
In the post-war years a number of trials concerning the war crimes committed during the Axis occupation occurred, however not a single defendant was arrested or imprisoned, as these had already fled the country. During 1945, a Special Court on Collaborators in Ioannina condemned, in absentiaIn absentia
In absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...
, 1,930 Cham collaborators to death (decision no. 344/1945). The next year the same court condemned an additional 179. At the Nuremberg trials
Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany....
, General Hubert Lanz
Hubert Lanz
Karl Hubert Lanz was a German Army officer who rose to the rank of General der Gebirgstruppe during the Second World War, in which he led units in the Eastern Front and in the Balkans. After the war, he was tried and convicted for several atrocities committed by units under his command in the...
reported that the executions and the reprisal missions were part of "war regulations", however he admitted utter ignorance about the executions in Paramythia. In 1948 the Greek National Bureau on War Crimes ordered juridical research on the crimes committed by Italians, Albanians and Germans during the Axis occupation. Two days later, the immediate arrest of the defendants was ordered. Because all the defendants were abroad it is unknown if the Greek Foreign Ministry initiated the needed diplomatic procedure. In the Hostages Trial
Hostages Trial
The Hostages Trial was held from8 July 1947 until 19 February 1948 and was the seventh of the twelve trials for war crimes the U.S. authorities held in their occupation zone in Germany in Nuremberg after the end of World War II. These twelve trials were all held before U.S...
in Nuremberg (1948) the American judges called the executions in Paramythia "plain murder".
See also
- Expulsion of Cham AlbaniansExpulsion of Cham AlbaniansThe expulsion of Cham Albanians from Greece was a forced emigration of thousands of Cham Albanians after the Second World War to Albania, by the Resistance National Republican Greek League forces. The EDES and the Joint Allied Military Mission in the Axis-occupied Greece accused Chams for...
- Collaboration in World War II
- Pursuit of Nazi collaboratorsPursuit of Nazi collaboratorsThe pursuit of Nazi collaborators refers to the post-World War II pursuit and apprehension of individuals who were not citizens of the Third Reich at the outbreak of World War II and collaborated with the Nazi regime during the war...
- CollaborationismCollaborationismCollaborationism is cooperation with enemy forces against one's country. Legally, it may be considered as a form of treason. Collaborationism may be associated with criminal deeds in the service of the occupying power, which may include complicity with the occupying power in murder, persecutions,...
- SchutzmannschaftSchutzmannschaftSchutzmannschaft or Hilfspolizei were the collaborationist auxiliary police battalions of native policemen in occupied countries in East, which were created to fight the resistance during World War II mostly in the Eastern European countries occupied by Nazi Germany. Hilfspolizei refers also to...