u/Alarming_Rich763

In October 1941, four soldiers from the SS-Sonderkommando Dirlewanger were sent to Lutsk labor camp as sentries and one of them, SS-Oberscharführer Heinz Feiertag become the camp's first commandant. He personally fenced off the area and brought in the Jews from the ghetto to work as forced labors.
The camp produced items such as: shoe polish, floor polish, soaps and brushes. A tailor's workshop was also set up in the camp. In just 2.5 months, the camp brought in a net income of 25,000 marks before the facility was taken over by the civilian administration. During a postwar proceeding, a Jewish witness who was one of the workers in the camp described Feiertag's criminal activities in the camp:

"Feiertag visited the workshop several times a day. Not a day went by without him beating one of the workers. I remember exactly how once in the shoemakers’ workshop a pair of boots was made upon his order. Feiertag was very pleased with them. As proof of his delight, he commanded the foreman, the Jew Wydra, to be given 15–20 blows of the stick. Feiertag knew perfectly how to torment prisoners. There was no day that somebody did not get a thrashing. For the beatings, a stick was used on the naked body. Two SS men would carry out the beatings. They reveled in [torturing] the victim all day long. They called him [the prisoner] names, ordered him about, made him sing songs, and then they had him undress completely [and] dig himself a grave in the camp yard. The torture lasted several hours. In the end, they shot him."

Source: Soraya Kuklinska, 2025

On 22 April 1945, Soviet forces gained a foothold across the Neisse River, north of the Dirlewanger Division’s position near Groß Breesen. The defensive line there was weak, held primarily by police units. To bolster the point, the 2nd SS Battalion of the 73rd Waffen Grenadier Regiment was withdrawn from its position and dispatched by truck through Guben to the north. Upon arrival, they found no prepared defensive positions; most available foxholes were already occupied by the police.

The battalion was commanded by SS-Hauptsturmführer Harald Momm, a former Oberst and famous German show jumper. Momm had been demoted and arrested by the Gestapo for expressing disappointment over the failed July 20 plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. His battalion consisted of four companies (numbered 5th through 8th). He had previously commanded the 5th Company in Hungary before replacing SS-Hauptsturmführer Ewald Ehlers following the disastrous Battle of Ipolyság. Under heavy rain, the battalion was ordered to form a line at the southwestern bridgehead.

The following day, the battalion—alongside police units and the SS Guard Battalion "Kurmark"—received orders to withdraw toward Lieberose. As they marched westward through the Lieberose-Heide, they were strafed by Soviet aircraft. Upon reaching the "Kurmark" military training area, they took up positions and briefly halted the Russian advance. Afterward, they were ordered northwest via Groß Leuthen toward Wolzig, scavenging food from farmsteads and villages along the way.

Near Wolzig, the battalion headquarters was established in a small house for a commanders' meeting. Momm announced that the battalion was now under the command of the XI SS Army Corps and should expect immediate action. This was a "red flag" for Momm; he feared a repeat of the disaster in Hungary five months earlier, where over 300 political prisoners had defected to the Red Army. His current battalion still contained a number of political prisoners.

​Hoping to avoid heavy combat, Momm—accompanied by his adjutant, his driver, and the commander of the 5th Company—drove to the Corps command post. Momm reported to Obergruppenführer Kleinheisterkamp, explaining that his unit was a volatile mix of political prisoners, concentration camp inmates, and court-martialed soldiers. He argued that sending them into battle risked mass defection. After consulting with his First General Staff Officer, Kleinheisterkamp altered the orders, directing the battalion to move southward to reunite with their original division.

On 25 April 1945, the division marched toward Klein Köris, moving alongside a desperate wave of civilians with handcarts and trailers. Reports arrived of Soviet breakthrough attempts to the west. The unit marched non-stop, resting in forests by night. By 28 April, they reached the village of Halbe. Before even entering the town, they encountered forests littered with the bodies of soldiers and civilians; the town itself was a landscape of carnage. Under heavy artillery fire, the division—now designated KGr. 36. SS-Division—split into two groups: One led by SS-Obersturmbannführer Kurt Weisse (the division's First General Staff Officer) and the other one led by Brigadeführer Fritz Schmedes (the division commander).

Elements of the division attempted a breakout between the forests of Trebbin and Rieben. Approximately 400–500 men under Kurt Weisse successfully escaped the Halbe Pocket. During the fighting, the commander of the 73rd Regiment, Ewald Ehlers, was severely wounded, losing an arm. According to Momm, Ehlers succumbed to his injuries on 28 April 1945. He was buried in the German War Cemetery in Märkisch-Buchholz, where his remains lie today.
​While some troops escaped through the narrow "bottleneck" at Halbe, hundreds more were killed, wounded, or went missing. Seeking to spare the lives of his remaining men, Brigadeführer Schmedes and his staff (excluding Weisse) surrendered the remnants of the division to the Soviet Army between 28 and 29 April 1945 near the city of Sagan.

In conclusion, the history of the Dirlewanger Division came to an end. According to some accounts, approximately 1,000 survivors surrendered at Halbe, though it remains unknown how many managed to surrender to the Western Allies after escaping the Halbe Pocket.
​Regrettably, most of its members were never brought to justice for their crimes. One such example was Herbert Meyer, commander of the 1st Battalion, 72. Waffen Grenadier Regiment der SS. During the Warsaw Uprising, Meyer was responsible for the massacre of thousands of Polish civilians during the advance from Wola to the Brühl Palace; he died after the war from a lung infection following a fall from a ladder.
​Another prominent figure was Kurt Weisse, whom his own men nicknamed "The Devil." Weisse was an active perpetrator of the Wola massacre while serving as the acting commander of SS-Sonderregiment Dirlewanger between 1–8 August 1944. Although he ended up in British captivity, he escaped on 5 March 1946, and his ultimate fate remains unknown.

​Beyond these leaders, almost none of Dirlewanger’s "hordes" were punished for their atrocities. Most lived quietly after the war; although some were called as witnesses during criminal investigations in the 1950s and 1960s, their crimes remained unpunished until their deaths.

Source:
• SS-Sonderkommando Dirlewanger: A Memoir, Rolf Michaelis
• Defeat of the Damned, Douglas E. Nash
• Oddysey of the Gruppe "Weisse", KleineME109