The German Police. Bayside, NY: Axis Europa, 1997. (A Joint Publication of the US. G-2 EDS and the UK. MI-14 MIRS, originally published in April, 1945. 2nd Edition with additional material by Antonio J. Munoz.)

This softcover reprint of the joint US-UK manual on the German police forces of the Nazi era contains a wealth of information on the enforcement arm of Nazi repression. It covers, to a greater of lesser degree, the major policing forces of Nazi Germany, including the Orpo (Ordnungpolizei) which provided the police (eventually SS police) battalions and regiments that became so infamous for committing atrocities during WW II, the Sipo (Sicherheitspolizei) of which both the Kripo (Kriminalpolizei) and Gestapo (Geheime Staatspolizei) were subsections, and the dreaded SD (Sicherheitsdienst). This volume covers as well the multitude of more innocuous-sounding police organizations, such as the Grenzpolizei (the frontier police), Wasserschutzpolizei (the waterway police), and Feuerschutzpolizei (the fire police), among many others. It should be noted that the entire Byzantine police apparatus in Nazi Germany was mobilized in the service of the totalitarian goals of the state, shown directly in this book through the wealth of procedures, the intricate filing system and required personal documents, and the interlocking hierarchy of command.

The bulk of the information in this book is from the April 1945 publication, with additional photos (not all of which have explanatory figure legends), tables of organization and equipment, and Appendix M -- an updated listing of the activities of the various SS Police regiments during the war -- by Mr. Munoz. This information is a goldmine for researchers in a number of different areas: anti-partisan warfare, the organization of the various police entities, personalities of the Reich's police apparatus and their responsibilities, and the inseparable relationship between the police and the SS in Nazi Germany. It should not be assumed by any researcher, however, that all of the information in this volume is current as of April 1945, as it is apparent that different information was collected at different times, mostly between 1942 and 1944, and that updating to 1945 was not always a priority of the Allies at the time.

The interested reader will of necessity have to purchase this book, as it has no Library of Congress CIP data, without which the nation's libraries won't even know about this volume, let alone purchase it. Copyright data is also not in the appropriate place on the fourth page of the book, so publication information that can be important is not readily available.

A book of this nature is always intriguing, giving as it does a glimpse behind the curtain of the most brutal regime of this century. Of course, the fact that the original publication was created while the war was still current leaves the reader with some unanswered questions: How was this information, which (as Mr. Munoz states) is very accurate, compiled? What, if any, role did Ultra intercepts play in its compilation? With so much information on the illegal activities of the various policing units available even before the end of the war, why were so many difficulties encountered in bringing many of those responsible to justice? These and many other questions still remain to be addressed in a scholarly fashion.

Mr. Munoz has done researchers and those interested in this aspect of Nazi Germany a service in making this material generally available once again. He has also done an excellent job of following the histories of most of the SS Police regiments through to the end of the war, and providing the identities of many of the commanders, sometime down to battalion level. I wholeheartedly recommend this material to those with an interest in the Nazi police forces.

My one disappointment was with the physical quality of the book itself. The pages separated from the cover immediately on opening the book. I hope that this is an aberration, and not a general condition of the print run. I would suggest that purchasers have their copy 3-hole punched to place in a binder if this happens to them. The gutter margins are sufficiently ample for this as long as attention is paid to the slightly smaller margins in Appendix M.

Available from mail order booksellers, local bookstores, or directly from Axis Europa.

Thanks to Axis Europa for providing this review copy.