UBB.threads Forums General Militaria Historic and Period Firearms Forum Serial Number List of PPKs to the Einsatzgruppen of the RSHA

On page 7 of the Görtz and Marschall book "SS Walther PP/PPK 1939-1944", the authors write that on roll T-175, roll number 248 where the information contained in the book was found, there is a complete register of the PPKs issued to the personnel of Einsatzgruppe C that operated out of the Ukraine. The authors were incorrect in the analysis of this information. Let us examine the facts.

In preparation for the anticipated invasion of the Soviet Union scheduled for June 22,1941, SS General Heydrich formed four units of security forces to follow respective Army Groups into combat. The Einsatzgruppe was a concept that had been developed by the Reich security forces during the taking of Czechoslovakia, Austria and the invasion of Poland. The RSHA was prepared to use them again against Jews, Gypsies, Communist Commisars and partisans during Operation Barbarossa.

Four Einsatzgruppen were planned and designated with the letters A-D. The four large units were composed of 600 to 990 individuals brought together from various sources: Waffen SS, Order Police, SD, Gestapo, Kripo, motorcylists, adminstrators and office workers. The larger units were in turn divided into smaller commando units designated Einsatzkommando or Sonderkommandos. The various service groups were brought together in May 1941 at the Border Police School (Grenzpolizei Schule) at Pretzsch on the Elbe River. After training was finished and the almost 3000 men were paraded before senior SS officers, the units commenced operations the day after the Invasion of the Soviet Union on June 23, 1941.

So lets look at the documetation not printed in the Red Book that is attached here. The letter from the RSHA is to the Einsatzgruppe C and is dated May 29, 1943. Almost two years after the commencement of Einsatzgruppen operations in the Soviet Union. The letter is addressed to Einsatzgruppe C and informs the EG that in July of 1941, the PPKs listed on the attached page were sent to the Border Police School at Pretzsch for distribution to the Einsatzkommandos for service in the East. But apparently no one bothered to inventory the listed pistols (997 in all) and inform the RSHA armory of their disposition. The Einsatzgruppe C was requested to determine the disposition of the weapons they received.

Notice the receipt stamp on the letter to Einsatzgruppe C. Apparently no one in the RSHA ****nal was informed that after by mid 1942,the Einsatzgruppen were reformed into static security agencies in the respective areas of operation in the Soviet Union. So the inquiry was received by the Befehlshaber der Sicherheitspolizei und SD fur die Ukraine (BdS Ukraine). And the BdS Ukraine finally got around to answering the inquiry about the missing PPKs almost a year later in April 1944 and produced the list of some 69 PPKs of which they had record that are shown on the lists in the thread "Additional Documented RSHA PPK Numbers, With Issue Names".

But the report only accounted for 6% of the pistols sent to Pretzsch for service in the East. From the analysis of the composition of the Einsatzgruppen, we can see that there was no need for 997 PPKs for Einsatzgruppe C. Its total composition was less than 900 men. And of this number, perhaps only a quarter or third were RSHA men who would have received RSHA equipment. The PPKs certainly would not have been distributed to the members of the Waffen SS or Order Police who would have arrived with their own weapons and equipment, nor would famale auxilliaries, office personnel or translators have needed or been entitled to such weapons.

So it is obvious the shipment of these PPKs to Pretzsch was intended for distribution to all the Einsatzkommandos of the four Einsatzgruppen. Based on need, the supply of PPKs would have supplied those in the four Einsatzgruppen. But the shipment arrived perhaps two weeks to a month after the units left to pursue their duties in the East. The guns couldn't have been distributed in Pretsch, so the shipment had to have been arranged to follow the four security groups for delivery. Some of those that reached EG C were included in their report a year later. And these are confined to certain definite serial number ranges of the Pretzsch list. The remaining guns on that list for the most part are unknown. They have disappeared, most probably in the east. Perhaps they remain in a storage warehouse in the Ukraine in perfect condition. Or perhaps they were destroyed in the massive conflict that marked the Red Army's march to Berlin.

Thank you for an excellent analysis

BTT