SA-Feldjäger-Korps
The SA-Feldpolizei (SA field police; Fepo) was set up by the Sturmabteilung in Berlin on 24 February 1933 at the instigation of the then Prussian Interior Minister Hermann Göring. The unit was comparable to the military police of the German Army (Feldgendarmerie, later Feldjäger). It was a special unit within the Prussian SA auxiliary police (Hilfspolizei) that had been set up two days earlier, on February 22, 1933, also by Hermann Göring. At the time it was founded, the field police comprised around 180 selected SA members. The field police maintained close ties to the political police and the secret state police (Gestapo), which were set up in April 1933.
On 1 October 1933, Göring, in his capacity as Supreme SA leader in Prussia, ordered the establishment of a SA-Feldjäger-Korps (SA military police corps; FJK) in Prussia. Göring's initiative was followed by SA Chief of Staff Ernst Röhm by ordering the formation of an SA military police corps on 7 October. Röhm had already announced in a circular to the SA offices on 11 August 1933, that he wanted to expand the field police organization to cities outside of Berlin, also in Eastern Germany as part of border protection (Grenzschutz).
History
Feldjäger
The term Feldjäger (field Jäger) dates from the 18th century. The Feldjägerkorps of the Prussian Army was founded 1740. The corps' task as staff cavalry was exploration and courier services, in the 19th century exclusively the latter. There were always several Feldjäger officers in the King of Prussia's immediate vicinity who received his letters and other messages and had to deliver them immediately. The courier service also included handling diplomatic correspondence from the Foreign Office, especially encrypted dispatches, to embassies abroad and vice versa. The Feldjäger officer on duty left Berlin on the night express. He wore civilian clothes and was obliged to risk his life and limb for the broadcasts. The corps did not have special military police powers like today's military police; their tasks in the Old Prussian Army were carried out in the area of law enforcement by the regimental provosts, and in the area of general security (patrols around the garrisons and the like) in particular by the hussars.
The SA Feldjäger could be identified externally by a white metal gorget (Ringkragen) with a police star and service number. The collar patch and cap cap were white, with a police star on the right collar patch. On 10 December 1933, the SA Feldjäger Corps command and its Berlin department moved into a new headquarters in the former barracks of the Kaiser Alexander Guard Grenadier Regiment No. 1, Kleine Alexanderstraße 21-24 near Alexanderplatz. In February 1934, the Feldjäger Corps was involved in dismantling the KPD's illegal Berlin-Kreuzberg district group, with more than 50 people being arrested.
With the disempowerment of the SA after the Röhm Putsch, the Feldjäger corps as a sub-formation of the SA also largely lost its importance. Due to the growth of the SS and the ever closer integration of the SS and the political police, the corps was integrated into the protective police (Schutzpolizei) by decree of the Reich and Prussian Interior Ministry in the state of Prussia with effect from 1 April 1935. The men received typical German military ranks, no longer SA ranks. The FJK was finally dissolved on 1 April 1936. The remaining members, if it had not already happened, were taken over into the traffic police (Verkehrspolizei), Gendarmerie and the Schutzpolizei, all belongimg to the Ordnungspolizei (Order Police; OrPo).
Feldjägerkorps (Wehrmacht)
The Feldjägerkorps ("Field Jäger Corps") was a military provost organization in the German Wehrmacht during World War II. It was formed on 27 November 1943 from distinguished veterans and Patrol Service personnel. This corps was formed into three Feldjäger Commands (I, II and III), which reported directly to Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel, and was senior to all other military police organizations. This was divided into 30 (Streifen) Patrols, which were based 12 miles behind the front lines. These patrols could be rough in their justice, which included drumhead courts-martial. They were supported by a Streifkorps (Patrol Corps), organized into sections of a senior non-commissioned officer and 9 enlisted personnel. Until this time, the Feldgendarmerie (military police) and the Geheime Feldpolizei (secret military field police) had been relied upon to try to curb desertion and maintain discipline; however, the recent string of German defeats and the fact that there was no single service dedicated solely to catching deserters impelled the creation of the Feldjägerkorps in November of that year. In order to be eligible for service, soldiers had to have a minimum three years of frontline combat experience and have earned the Iron Cross 2nd Class.
- By 1943, as Germany’s fortunes were turning and the morale of its soldiers began to wane, many able-bodied men made every effort to avoid service, especially on the Eastern Front. Strong measures were called for. In November, an entirely new force was created by the Army high command. The Feldjägerkorps was formed, answerable only to the high command; it thus had greater authority than other military police units. The Feldjäger’s function was to preserve order and discipline, prevent panicked retreats, collect stragglers, and round up escaped prisoners of war. At the same time, the corps was tasked to hunt down deserters; arrest insubordinate soldiers, looters, and malingerers; and search rear areas for any soldiers who were capable of frontline service. They were given the power to arrest anyone who could not provide a satisfactory explanation for their absence from active duty. They had the authority to hold a drumhead court martial and carry out executions on the spot. The Feldjägerkorps consisted of three regiments or Feldjägerkommandos. Feldjägerkommando I and II served on the Eastern Front, while Feldjägerkommando III ended the war in the West. The commanding officer of a Feldjägerkommando had equal status to that of an Army commander with the authority to punish Wehrmacht and Waffen SS personnel alike. In case of disputes, the Feldjäger were entitled to settle arguments at gunpoint.[1]
