371st Security Division

371st Security Division
Unit name	371st Security Division
Native name	371. Sicherungs-Division
Dates	1941–1944
Country	Nazi Germany
Branch	Wehrmacht
Type	Security division
Role	Rear-area security, anti-partisan warfare, economic exploitation, occupation duties
Size	Division
Garrison	Wehrkreis IX
Battles	Operation Barbarossa, Eastern Front (World War II), Anti-partisan operations in the Soviet Union

371st Security Division was a Wehrmacht rear-area formation raised for service on the Eastern Front (World War II). Tasked with security, anti-partisan warfare, and economic exploitation of occupied territories, the formation operated during Operation Barbarossa and subsequent occupation phases, interacting with units of the SS and the Heer. Its activities intersected with policies instituted under Nazi Germany leadership and directives from the OKW and OKH.

Formation and Organization

The division was formed in 1941 from elements raised within Wehrkreis IX and subordinated to the Heer administrative system, organized along the model used for Sicherungs-Divisionen such as the 201st Security Division and 454th Security Division. Its order of battle included security regiments, infantry battalions, reconnaissance detachments, pioneer companies, signal units, supply troops, and field police elements, echoing structures found in the XXIV Corps (Wehrmacht) area and in other rear-area formations under the command of army groups like Heeresgruppe Süd and Heeresgruppe Mitte. The division operated under directives from the Army Group Rear Areas (Territory) staffs and coordinated with Geheime Feldpolizei detachments and Ordnungspolizei units for policing tasks.

Operational History

Deployed during the initial phases of Operation Barbarossa, the division conducted rear-area security for advancing formations of the Wehrmacht and supported logistical corridors used by formations such as the 6th Army (Wehrmacht) and the 9th Army (Wehrmacht). During the Battle of Kiev (1941) and subsequent encirclement operations, the division's units secured supply lines and guarded lines of communication linking to depots used by the Heeresgruppe Süd. In 1942–1943 the division engaged in anti-partisan sweeps that intersected with partisan warfare conducted by units of the Soviet Partisans, sometimes overlapping with operations ordered by the Reich Ministry of the Interior and coordinated with SS and Police Leaders (HSSPF). As the strategic situation deteriorated after Battle of Stalingrad, the division faced increased partisan pressure and sustained attrition through both combat and reassignments to front-line formations such as the 3rd Panzer Army.

Areas of Deployment and Activities

Operating primarily in occupied areas of Ukraine, Belarus, and parts of Russia, the division was stationed in territories around key transport hubs like Kiev, Bila Tserkva, and along routes toward Smolensk. Its duties included securing railways owned by prewar administrations, protecting bridges on the Dnieper River, guarding POW transit centers, requisitioning agricultural supplies, and administering civilian labor conscription in coordination with local occupation administrations and agencies implementing Hunger Plan-adjacent requisitions. The division coordinated with units of the Wehrmachtbefehlshaber Ukraine and interacted with civil administrators such as representatives of the Reichskommissariat Ukraine.

Personnel and Commanders

Officers and NCOs drawn from the Heer trained at institutions like the Kriegsschule and were subject to promotion and reassignment policies overseen by the Oberkommando des Heeres. Commanders rotated during its existence; several divisional commanders had prior service in formations including the Infanterie-Division system and later transferred to staff positions within army group rear areas. The division incorporated personnel from police branches including the Schutzpolizei and worked alongside units of the Waffen-SS and SS Police Battalions for combined operations.

War Crimes and Anti-Partisan Operations

The division participated in anti-partisan operations that, in practice, involved punitive sweeps, reprisals against civilian populations, and support for deportations and forced labor measures implemented by occupation authorities. Such operations mirrored patterns recorded in actions by other security divisions like the 376th Security Division and have been documented in postwar investigations alongside records involving the Einsatzgruppen and SS and Police Leaders. Measures taken during anti-partisan campaigns frequently contravened the laws of armed conflict and precipitated mass civilian casualties, village destructions, and deportations of Jewish and non-Jewish populations, paralleling events tied to the Final Solution logistics in occupied eastern territories.

Dissolution and Aftermath

As the Red Army advanced during the Dnieper–Carpathian Offensive and subsequent Soviet counteroffensives, the division was progressively degraded by combat losses, desertions, and transfers of units to front-line formations. By 1944 remaining elements were disbanded, absorbed into other security or regular infantry units, or captured during retreats toward the Vistula River and Pripyat Marshes. After the war, investigations into rear-area security formations fed into broader historical and judicial examinations of occupation policies; records relating to security divisions contributed to research by scholars addressing Nazi crimes in Eastern Europe and trials that referenced actions by occupation apparatuses.

Category:Security divisions of the Wehrmacht Category:Military units and formations established in 1941 Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1944