Forces of WWII: Inside the Units
Dirlewanger Brigade: The Most Brutal Nazi Unit Behind Massacres in WWII
13m
On 1 August 1944, the Polish capital rises in revolt. The Warsaw Uprising brings hope to a city crushed under Nazi occupation — but the German response is one of total annihilation.
Among the forces sent to destroy Warsaw is a unit unlike any other: the Dirlewanger Brigade — a formation built from criminals, murderers, and concentration camp prisoners, led by one of the most depraved commanders in the Third Reich.
From occupied Poland to Belarus and finally Warsaw, this unit becomes a symbol of extreme brutality. Entire villages are burned, civilians are massacred, and terror is used as a weapon of war. During the Wola massacre, tens of thousands of men, women, and children are killed in one of the worst atrocities of the Second World War.
This documentary reveals how the unit was formed under Heinrich Himmler, who its commander Oskar Dirlewanger was, and how this formation operated across Europe — as well as what became of those responsible after the fall of Nazi Germany.
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