German Order Policemen perpetrated many aspects of the Holocaust. During World War II, they were deployed to areas of Europe occupied by Nazi Germany. In Poland, the Order Police engaged in the Nazi regime's persecution of Jews and Poles.
German policemen search an elderly, religious Jew at gunpoint in German-occupied Poland, circa 1941.
Item View
Members of the German Order Police publicly humiliate a group of Jews by forcing them to perform exercises, 1939–1940. Sosnowiec, in German-occupied Poland.
Item View
Bernhardt Colberg, a member of Reserve Police Battalion 101, poses in front of its headquarters in the vicinity of Lodz in German-occupied Poland. The police battalions were units of the German Order Police who were deployed to German-occupied areas of Europe during World War II. Photo dated 1940–1941.
Item View
A member of the German Order Police Battalion 101 stands next to a sign marking the entrance to the Lodz ghetto in German-occupied Poland, 1940–1941. The German text of the sign reads: "Announcement: In accordance with a police order of February 8, 1940, all Germans and Poles are forbidden entry into the ghetto area."
Item View
Members of the German Order Police stand guard over a group of Orthodox Jewish men, 1942. The men have been rounded-up either for forced labor or public humiliation. Krakow, in German-occupied Poland.
Item View
We would like to thank Crown Family Philanthropies, Abe and Ida Cooper Foundation, the Claims Conference, EVZ, and BMF for supporting the ongoing work to create content and resources for the Holocaust Encyclopedia. View the list of donor acknowledgement.
