SS officers in Poland, ca. late 1939, ethnic German Selbstschutz.

[wizardman]

Selbstschutz leaders in Bydgoszcz: SS-Standartenführer Ludolf von Alvensleben, SS-Obersturmbannführer Erich Spaarmann, SS-Obersturmbannführer Hans Kölzow, SS-Sturmbannführer Christian Schnug....left to right in the first post by Friedrich-Berthold..

[wizardman]

Bydgoszcz - Autumn 1939. Inspection of paramilitary "Volksdeutscher Selbstschutz" unit. From the left:

Josef Meier ("Bloody Meier") - leader of Selbstschutz in Bydgoszcz district;
Werner Kampe - mayor of Bydgoszcz;
Ludolf-Hermann von Alvensleben - leader of Selbstschutz in Pomerania.

[wizardman]

Polish teachers from Bydgoszcz guarded by members of so-called "Volksdeutscher Selbstschutz". Photo taken before the execution in the "Valley of Death" near the Bydgoszcz

[wizardman]

"Valley of Death (Polish: Dolina Śmierci) in Fordon, Bydgoszcz, northern Poland, is a site of Nazi German mass murder and a mass grave of 5,000 – 6,600 Poles and Jews murdered in October and November 1939 by the local Germans (Selbstschutz) and the Gestapo. The murders were a part of Intelligenzaktion in Pomerania, a Nazi action aimed at the elimination of the Polish intelligentsia in Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia, which included the former Pomeranian Voivodeship ("Polish Corridor"), at the beginning of World War II. It was part of a larger genocidal action that took place in all German occupied Poland, code-named Operation Tannenberg"..my research leads me to believe the first photo was taken in the same area,here is some more info on the men "Commanders of so-called "Volksdeutscher Selbstschutz" in Bydgoszcz. From the left: SS-Standartenführer Ludolf von Alvensleben – chief of the Selbstschutz’s inspectorate in Płutowo. SS-Obersturmbannführer Erich Spaarmann - chief of the Selbstschutz’s inspectorate in Bydgoszcz (to November 1939). SS-Obersturmbannführer Hans Kölzow – chief of the Selbstschutz’s inspectorate in Inowrocław. SS-Sturmbannführer Christian Schnug – chief of the Selbstschutz’s inspectorate in Bydgoszcz (since December 1939)."

[wizardman]

Here are some futher images of Ludolf von Alvensleben,first in the photo..."In April 1945, Alvensleben was captured and held in British captivity. At the end of 1945, he made an escape from the internment camp at Neuengamme. After a short stay in Schochwitz, he fled with his family to Argentina in early 1946. Although there is no precise data on the date of their arrival in the country, a 2000 documentary film records that on November 27, 1952, the government of Juan Domingo Perón granted Alvensleben citizenship under the name of Carlos Lücke. He lived until July 1956 in Buenos Aires, then he moved to Santa Rosa de Calamuchita. From November 1952, he served as inspector of fish farming.

In January 1964, the district court of Munich put out an arrest warrant for Alvensleben for the killing of at least 4,247 people in Poland by units of the Selbstschutz under von Alvensleben's command in the autumn of 1939. Attempts by the prosecution had no consequences for Alvensleben and he died in 1970 without having been brought to trial."

[wizardman]

If anyone would like any further information let me know

[Paul D]

If anyone would like any further information let me know

Thanks my friend , great info and research

[Stirlitz wiedzial]

Great thanks
Fantastic historical knowledge, pasion and job

[bigmacglenn]

Clearly these were some of the most brutal men in Hitler's death machine...
cheers, Glenn

[Adrian Stevenson]

Excellent thread. Well done and thanks to all.

Cheers, Ade.