The SS Dirlewanger : The History of the Black Hunters

The Dirlewanger Brigade was an anti-partisan unit of the Nazi army, reporting directly to Heinrich Himmler, whose first members were mostly poachers, released from prisons and concentration camps because they were believed to have the 'skills' necessary for hunting and capturing partisan fighters in the forests of the eastern front. Their numbers were soon increased by others who were eager for a way out of imprisonment-including men who had been convicted of burglary, assault, murder and rape. Under the leadership of Oscar Dirlewanger, a convicted rapist and alcoholic, the men of the brigade could do as they pleased: there were no repercussions for even their worst behaviour. This was the group used for it's special 'talents' to help put down the Warsaw uprising in 1944 killing and estimated 35,000 men, women and children in one day. Even by Nazi standards, the brigade was considered unduly violent. An investigation of its activities was opened and many of the men were exiled to Belarus. Based on the archives from Germany, Poland and Russia, "The SS Dirlewanger Brigade" offers an unprecedented look at one of the darkest chapters of World War II history.