Schutzpolizei (Nazi Germany)

The Schutzpolizei des Reiches or the Schupo was the state protection police of Nazi Germany and a branch of the Ordnungspolizei.

The Schutzpolizei des Reiches was the uniformed police of most cities and large towns.

Policemen were required to have previous military service, good physical and mental health, Aryan descent and membership in the Nazi Party.

[3] Also in the barracked police were motorized special units (Motorisierte Uberfallkommandos) equipped with armored cars.

During the war, they were deployed to Western Europe to suppress anti-German demonstrations as well as to occupied Slovenia to keep the alpine roads open and combat local resistance.

[4] During the war, police guard battalions (Polizei-Wachbataillone) were established, consisting of conscripted personnel in their fifties who were too old to be called up to the Wehrmacht.

The main tasks of the guard battalions were maintaining order and controlling traffic in connection with civil defense efforts in locations subjected to Allied bombings.

In 1941, a Motorisierte Verkehrskompanie zbV was established to ensure that wartime traffic regulations were complied with, such as rules concerning driving permits and gasoline rationing.

Mobile radio stations along the highways and in larger cities belonged to special Nachrichtenbereitschaften (signal companies).

[9] Police officers were mainly recruited from the SS-Junker Schools (SS-Junkerschulen) in Bad Tölz, Braunschweig and Klagenfurt.

Others had to fulfill the same basic requirements as the police trainees (see above) in addition to having taken the general university entrance exam (Abitur) and having gained the rank of SS-Anwärter.