Freikorps Ebbinghaus
- Details
- Published: 13 April 2013 13 April 2013
- Last Updated: 13 April 2013 13 April 2013
The Abwehr station at Breslau formed a unit in preparation for the invasion of Poland to help secure key industrial installations in Silesia and it was given the name Freikorps Ebbinghaus (also Kampfverband Ebbinghaus, Bataillon Ebbinghaus, Gruppe Ebbinghaus and other variants). A large part of the manpower were ethnic Germans who had left Poland and former members of the Industrieschutz Oberschlesien and also some former members from the Sudetendeutsches Freikorps.
It took part in the invasion of Poland suffering heavy losses during the fighting in Upper Silesia.
Out of this unit came the famous Brandenburg special forces unit, the first step was the Deutsche Kompanie z.b.V..
Known war crimes
Soldiers from this unit was involved in the killings of Polish civilians in several occasions during the invasion of Poland including in Karowice and Orzesze. (1)
Footnotes
1. "Hitler strikes Poland: Blitzkrieg, Ideology and atrocity" by Alexander B. Rossino, page 78-82.
Sources used
Eric Lefevre - Brandenburg Division: Commandos of the Reich
Alexander B. Rossino - Hitler strikes Poland: Blitzkrieg, Ideology and atrocity
Reference material on this unit
- None known at this time -