Strafvollzugslager der SS- und Polizei: Himmler's Wartime Institutions for the Detention of Waffen-SS and Polizei Criminals is a book that Heinrich Himmler would not have wished written. Preferring that this corner of the SS history remained forever in the shadows, the existence of the SS penal system had the potential to besmirch his entire organisation. In an effort to disguise the true extent of criminality within the ranks of the Waffen-SS, the Reichsfuhrer-SS temporarily expelled those SS men incarcerated in the Strafvollzugslager der SS- und Polizei, giving the appearance that Hitler's bodyguard did not suffer the scourge of serious criminality. In unprecedented detail, this study illuminates the reasoning behind the imprisonment of Waffen-SS and policemen in purpose-built institutions, describes the regulations governing their detention and reveals the operational history of these fascinating institutions. The Waffen-SS gaols established at Dachau, Danzig-Matzkau, Forrenbach and a clutch of smaller branch prisons are the focus of this in-depth study. Composed with the assistance of veterans' families, their contribution has ensured an unparalleled presentation of the convict's daily life and enumerated the lives of those tasked with the prisons operation. Ensuring that the convict's National Socialist spirit was undamaged by their punishment, the prison guards provided the malfeasance elements of the Waffen-SS with an SS suitable environment which enabled their further use to the regime. Eventually, these institutions become portals through which inmates passed to return to the front. No book written on this subject would be complete without analysing the various Waffen-SS field probation units that accepted paroled convicts. Here, at the front, Himmler commanded that they faced death, or serious wounding as the means to earn their full rehabilitation and return to the ranks of the SS. Scrutinised as part of this process is the SS-Bewahrungsbataillone, the infamous SS-Sonderkommando Dirlewanger and the SS-Fallschirmjagerabteilung. Criminal case histories are tendered throughout this work and describe the crimes and punishments imposed on those who had brought shame on the SS.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements; Methodology and Terminology; The Sources for this Work; Introduction. Chapter I: The Disciplinary Punishment of SS Men; 1.2 The Diszipliarstraf-und Beschwerdeordnung der SS; Concentration Camp Detention; The Emslandlager; The SS-Erziehungssturm; The Sondergerichtsbarkeit der SS und Polizei; The Wartime Disziplinarvorgesetzte and Arrest Punishment; Untersuchungshaft; The Standort Arrestanstalt; The Strafvollstreckungszug; The Wartime Incarceration of SS men in Concentration Camps; The Entwohnungsaufenhalt; Disciplinary Case Studies. Chapter II. The SS-und Polizei Strafvollzugslager; Origin, Structure and Activities; Imprisonment Provisions of the SS-und Polizei-Gerichtsbarkeit; Festungshaft; The Strafvollzugslager der SS- und Polizei Dachau; The Strafvollzugslager der SS- und Polizei Dachau, Aussenstelle 'Allach'; The Strafvollzugslager der SS-und Polizei Dachau, Zweiglager Hammerweg. Chapter III. The SS-und Polizei Strafvollzugslager Danzig-Matzkau; Conception; The Opening, Command Structure and Teething Problems; The Opening and Daily Routine; The First Years; The 1943 Brutality Scandal; The Schloss Hornburg Proposal; The First Half of 1944; The 20 July 1944 plot; The Second Half of 1944; Denouement: The Evacuation and Closure; The SS-und Polizei Strafvollzugslager Danzig-Matzkau Zweiglager 'Ludwigsfelde'; The SS-und Polizei Strafvollzugslager 'Forrenbach'; The Post-War Danzig-Matzkau Investigation; Gefangnis Debica; The SS-und Polizei Strafvollzugslager Danzig-Matzkau, Aussenstelle 'Kolberg'; Polizeigefangnis -und Arbeitserziehungslager Kurtenhof; SS-Strafgefanggenenlager 'Vught'. Chapter IV: The SS-Richter and SS-Beurkundungsfuhrer; Membership of the Allgemeine-SS; SS-Beurkundungsfuhrer; Career Path for the SS-Beurkundungsfuhrer; Selection; The Wehrgesetz; Biographies. Chapter V. The Front Probation Units of the SS and Polizei; The Front Probation Procedure; The Verlorenen Haufen; The Verlorenen Haufen SS-Pionier Abteilung Non-'Verlorenen Haufen' Front Probation; The 12 November 1941 Edict; The Clemency, Rehabilitation Path and Subsequent Edicts; The Bewahrungsabteilung der Waffen-SS; The Arbeitsabteilung der Waffen-SS; The Polizei Zug; The SS-Ersatz Bataillone 'Ost'; Front Probation Case Studies; Marriage Regulations for Probationers; Front Probation Regulations for the Non-German Offenders of the Waffen-SS; SS-Behilfe; Divisional Front Probation Units; Probation with the Einsatzgruppen; Field Probation against the Partisans; The SS-Sonderkommando Dirlewanger; Rehabilitation and Recruitment Policies for the SS-Sonderkommando; Punishment Regime within the SS-Sonderkommando; The Sonderbrigade Dirlewanger and the 36. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS; The SS-Fallschirmjagerabteilung 500; The SS-Sonderverbande z.b.v. 'Friedenthal' and the Jagdverbande; The 103. SS-Bewahrungskompanie; SS-Bewarhungsabteilung 'Thomalla'; The SS-Bewahrungs-Regiment 'Ludwigsfelde'; SS-Standarte 'Mauthausen'; SS-Bewahrungsabteilung 'Nurnberg'; SS-Kampfgruppe 'Matingen/Pavian'; Polizei-Bewahrungskompanie Einbrodt. Endnotes. Appendix; Dr Beelitz photograph collection; Mykiki Tyni photograph collection; SS Ranks comparison chart; Lexicon; Select Biography.