Recently I was able to obtain something that was missing in my collection, an ID booklet of a member of a GFP unit.
The geheime Feldpolizei was one of the many branches of the German police in WW2, it was a secret police force that was part of the German Army (Heer), they were tasked with counter espionage, -sabotage and -propaganda, the detection of treason, the protection of military installations and providing assistance to court martial investigations.
And although they wore the uniform of the Wehrmacht, they mainly operated in plain clothes.
Their tasks were similar of that of the imfamous “Gestapo” and thus their nickname became the “Wehrmachts Gestapo”.
Initially the members of the GFP units were officers of the German civil police but at the outbreak of the war they were reinforced by men that had no police experience but were either very loyal to the Nazi regime and/or had special knowledge that was useful for them, after special training they became “Hilfsfeldpolizei” members with EM or NCO ranks.
Ernst Römer was one of these “Hilfsfeldpolizeibeambter”, a salesman born in 1904 in Dresden, he had served 7 weeks in 1936 in the Army as a volunteer and in November 1939 he was mobilized and joined Gruppe geheime Feldpolizei 312.
Initially they operated in occupied Poland but after the occupation of Holland they were tasked with security operations to protect senior WH officers in Holland and France, they were for example part of the security detail that protected A.Hitler during his visit to Paris.
In the summer of 1940 they were stationed in Caen and Le Havre were they did their regular police work.
Two years later in the summer of 1942 they were transferred to the Caucasus; it is here that he was awarded the KvKII by the CO of the security forces of Heeresgruppe A.
After the debacle in Stalingrad they moved back to France, this time to the South were they were engaged against the ever growing French resistance in the so called Maquis.
His Wehrpaß story ends in February 1943, at the end of this month he is discharged from the army and joined the Sipo-SD.
The Wehrpaß is full of interesting details, one of them being the fact that he was granted 250RM for clothing expenses, most likely a grant to buy civilian clothing and thus proof that he operated in plain cloths.
The geheime Feldpolizei was one of the many branches of the German police in WW2, it was a secret police force that was part of the German Army (Heer), they were tasked with counter espionage, -sabotage and -propaganda, the detection of treason, the protection of military installations and providing assistance to court martial investigations.
And although they wore the uniform of the Wehrmacht, they mainly operated in plain clothes.
Their tasks were similar of that of the imfamous “Gestapo” and thus their nickname became the “Wehrmachts Gestapo”.
Initially the members of the GFP units were officers of the German civil police but at the outbreak of the war they were reinforced by men that had no police experience but were either very loyal to the Nazi regime and/or had special knowledge that was useful for them, after special training they became “Hilfsfeldpolizei” members with EM or NCO ranks.
Ernst Römer was one of these “Hilfsfeldpolizeibeambter”, a salesman born in 1904 in Dresden, he had served 7 weeks in 1936 in the Army as a volunteer and in November 1939 he was mobilized and joined Gruppe geheime Feldpolizei 312.
Initially they operated in occupied Poland but after the occupation of Holland they were tasked with security operations to protect senior WH officers in Holland and France, they were for example part of the security detail that protected A.Hitler during his visit to Paris.
In the summer of 1940 they were stationed in Caen and Le Havre were they did their regular police work.
Two years later in the summer of 1942 they were transferred to the Caucasus; it is here that he was awarded the KvKII by the CO of the security forces of Heeresgruppe A.
After the debacle in Stalingrad they moved back to France, this time to the South were they were engaged against the ever growing French resistance in the so called Maquis.
His Wehrpaß story ends in February 1943, at the end of this month he is discharged from the army and joined the Sipo-SD.
The Wehrpaß is full of interesting details, one of them being the fact that he was granted 250RM for clothing expenses, most likely a grant to buy civilian clothing and thus proof that he operated in plain cloths.
