SOME OF THE PRISONERS HELD AT
SPECIAL CAMP 11

Note the scars on the cheeks. When Hermann Behrends was in university is used to participate in the sport of sword fencing. As part of a university culture it was considered honourable to have marks on your cheeks created by the fencing swords.

Hermann Behrends

PW NO:          560294
RANK:           Gen. LT D WASS
CAPTURED:  Flensburg
DATE:            5th July 1945

PERSONAL
DATE OF BIRTH     11th May 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH:   Rüstringen / Oldenburg
DATE OF DEATH:    Executed by firing squad on 4 December 1948
                                  (the Behrends' family cited the date 20/21 December 1947)
PLACE OF DEATH: Belgrade, Yugoslavia
NATIONALITY:       German
RELIGION:               Protestant until 1 March 1935 then declared himself "gottgläubig" ["believer in God"]
OCCUPATION:        Lawyer of Administration
HEIGHT:                   5' 9"
WEIGHT:                  148 lbs
HAIR COLOUR:       Fair
EYE COLOUR:         Blue
NEXT OF KIN: Married on 14 April 1934 to Hertha Hörger (born 12 February 1909 in Rüstringen; member of the Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt [NSV] or National Socialist People's Welfare Organization) - three sons and one daughter.

NSDAP-NUMBER:  981,960 (Joined 1 February 1932)
SS-NUMBER:          35,815 (Joined 1 February 1932)

Account

Hermann Behrends was the first leader of the Berlin Sicherheitsdienst or SD [Security Service]. This was the security and intelligence service of the SS which was responsible for the detection and elimination of the enemies of the state. It was considered to be the elite of the elite. Later he became the deputy leader of the Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle or VOMI, the organisation which ensured the privileges of ethnic Germans living outside the borders of the German Reich. He became an SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Polizei but was captured in Flensburg in 1945 and later brought to Island Farm.

Promotions:

• SS-Untersturmführer: 20 April 1933
• SS-Obersturmführer: 1 February 1934
• SS-Hauptsturmführer: 20 April 1934
• SS-Sturmbannführer: 15 June 1934
• SS-Obersturmbannführer: 4 July 1934
• SS-Standartenführer: 20 April 1935
• SS-Oberführer: 20 April 1937
• SS-Untersturmführer der Reserve (Waffen-SS): 20 April 1937
• SS-Brigadeführer: 1 January 1941
• SS-Obersturmführer der Reserve (Waffen-SS): 1 April 1943
• SS-Hauptsturmführer der Reserve (Waffen-SS): 9 November 1943
• SS-Sturmbannführer der Reserve (Waffen-SS): 12 January 1944
• Generalmajor der Polizei: 15 March 1944
• SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Polizei: 1 August 1944

• 17 July 1931: Earned a doctorate of law degree (Dr. jur.) from the University of Marburg (He practiced fencing while at university, hence the prominent dueling scars).
• 1 February 1932: Joined the NSDAP and the SS.
• 1933: Passed his second State Law Examination.
• 20 April 1933-13 January 1934: Leader of 3.Sturm / IV.Sturmbann / 24.SS-Standarte "Ostfriesland" (Oldenburg).
• 17 March 1933-31 December 1933: Ratsherr [city counselor] of Rüstringen.
• 13 January 1934-1 June 1940: Leader in the Sicherheitsdienst-SD [Security Service]-Hauptamt (later RSHA) and served as the first leader of the SD in Berlin.
• 28 September 1936-21 November 1936: Flak [anti-aircraft] training at the Coastal Artillery School Wilhelmshaven.
• 24 October 1936: Regierungsassessor [a graduate government civil servant who had completed his traineeship].
• 1937-15 April 1943: Deputy Chief of the Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle or VOMI [Racial German Main Assistance Office] headed by SS-Obergruppenführer Werner Lorenz. This office was upgraded to SS Main Office status on 15 June 1941.
• March 1939-May 1945: Member of the Reichstag (Electoral District Austria).
• 1 June 1940-15 June 1940 (Reserve Officer on duty with the Waffen-SS): Served during the campaign in France as a battery officer in I. Abteilung / SS-Artillerie-Regiment / SS-Verfügungs-Division.
• Executive Vice-president of the Volksbundes für das Deutschtum im Ausland [League for Germans Abroad].
• Reich Professional Fencer's Office Leader in the Reich League for Physical Training.
• 15 April 1943-5 May 1943 (on duty with the Waffen-SS): SS-Panzer Replacement Regiment and detached to the Kraftfahrtechnische-Lehranstalt der Waffen-SS.
• 5 May 1943-18 June 1943 (on duty with the Waffen-SS): SS-Panzer Grenadier Division "Das Reich."
• 10 May 1943-5 June 1943 (on duty with the Waffen-SS): SS-Panzer Replacement Regiment, 9th Company Commander training course at the Panzer Troop School Wünsdorf.
• 7 June 1943-12 June 1943 (on duty with the Waffen-SS): Detached to the Panzer Troop Shooting Course, Pulos.
• 18 June 1943-1 October 1943 (on duty with the Waffen-SS): Panzer Regiment / 10th SS-Panzer Grenadier Division "Karl der Grosse" (later named "Frundsberg").
• 15 September 1943-30 September 1943: Detached as Representative for the Festingung Deutschen Volksstums [Consolidation of German Nationhood].
• 1 October 1943-13 October 1943 (on duty with the Waffen-SS): General Command V SS-Mountain Corps.
• 13 October 1943-9 November 1943 (on duty with the Waffen-SS): 13th SS-Volunteer Mountain Division (Croatian Nr. 1).

SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS Karl Gustav Sauberzweig Sauberzweig committed suicide in 1946 while a British prisoner of war at the camp in Neuengamme, Germany to avoid his imminent extradition to Yugoslavia. SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS Karl Gustav Sauberzweig commanded the division during the time Behrends served in it. Note Sauberzweig is wearing the fez with SS insignia unique to this division.

• 9 November 1943-12 January 1944 (on duty with the Waffen-SS): General Command V SS-Mountain Corps.
• 12 January 1944-15 April 1944 (on duty with the Waffen-SS): 13th Armed Mountain Division of the SS (Croatian Nr. 1) "Handschar."

Moslem Croat soldiers of the "Handschar" Division. Note the fez with SS insignia and the collar patch unique to this division. The patch featured a hand grasping a "Handschar" (Turkish for "scimitar").

 

• 13 February 1944: Member of the Lebensborn Society. [The Lebensborn or "Spring of Life" program was organized by Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler to transform the German nation into an Aryan super race through selective breeding.]
• 1 April 1944-October 1944: Higher SS and Police Leader "Serbien, Sandschak und Montenegro" (headquarters in Belgrade) and Representative of the German Reich in Serbia.
• 15 April 1944: Reserve Officer in Führer Reserve (SS-Personnel Main Office).
• 1 June 1944-17 November 1944: On the staff of the Reichsführer-SS.
• 4 September 1944-10 September 1944: Commander of Police Battle Group "Behrends."
• 17 November 1944-30 January 1945: Führer Reserve SS-Personnel Main Office.
• 30 January 1945-May 1945: Higher SS and Police Leader "Ostland und Rußland-Nord" (North Russia) - served as a substitute for SS-Obergruppenführer and General der Polizei Friedrich Jeckeln who was on duty with the Waffen-SS.
• 9th January 1946 transferred to Island Farm Special Camp 11 from Camp 1.
• 18th July 1946 transferred to LDC (London District Cage) from Island Farm Special Camp 11.
• 23rd July 1946 transferred to Island Farm Special Camp 11 from LDC.
• 10th March 1947 transferred to LDC from Island Farm Special Camp 11.
  

Note: Behrends was also assigned to the 7th SS-Mountain Division “Prinz Eugen” in the Balkans probably in late-1943. Although Behrends’s SS Dienstlaufbahn (service record) fails to make mention of this assignment, he described serving in this division to the British authorities in his post-war interrogation. Also, Hinrich Behrends clearly recalled seeing his father wearing the “Prinz Eugen” cuff title on his uniform and his mother mentioning the division.

Decorations & Awards:

PROFILE CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE...

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