Why did Dirlewanger Brigade act with such unspeakable sadism in Belarus and Warsaw?

This is one of the most important and haunting questions about the nature of evil in war:

The answer lies in a deadly combination of ideology, structure, psychology, and leadership. This was not random chaos, but a systemized descent into human depravity.

The main topic of this post (and the history as a whole) is about the testimony of the Dirlewanger unit from a survivor from a village near Minsk in 1943:

“They came in drunk, laughing. They took our neighbor girl, barely 14, and dragged her behind the house. We heard her screaming. They burned her afterwards. Just to show us what happens to ‘partisan helpers’.”

This was common behavior by both Dirlewanger and RONA units: rape, mutilation, burning, then boasting about it.

Who Were Dirlewanger’s Men?

They were not regular soldiers, the Dirlewanger Brigade was formed originally as an anti-partisan hunting unit of former poachers and hunters, then would be mostly a penal unit made up of convicted murderers, rapists, arsonists, Soviet POWs, anti-communist auxiliaries of Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian origin, sex offenders and psychopaths. “Asocial elements”, violent criminals deemed expendable by the SS. Commanded by Oskar Dirlewanger, himself a convicted pedophile and sadist, who despised discipline and thrived on cruelty. These were men selected because they were broken and then encouraged to unleash themselves on civilians. They were despised by the Luftwaffe & Wehrmacht after rumors and stories of their actions during operations reached other parts of the Reich and frontlines during the Belarus years and during the Warsaw Uprising, often making many soldiers question their loyalty especially in 1944 (even Himmler too). They were even more despised by much of the traditional SS; Gestapo, Waffen SS, Einsatzgruppen and Police Orders. This was because many SS men believed having foreign nationals such as the camp guards from Ukraine, Dirlewanger units and RONA (Russian Liberation Army/anti-communist Russians and Ukrainians) units would “muddy the waters” of the racial purity of the SS destroying their Aryan views. These men would be even more disgusted when seeing and hearing about the actions of these units. 

They Were Given Permission and Encouraged to Be Monsters

The Nazi regime created the conditions for the Dirlewanger sonderkommando’s brutality: In Belarus, they were deployed in “anti-partisan” operations, which were effectively ethnic cleansing campaigns. Orders allowed complete annihilation of villages, women, children, all labeled as “bandit helpers.” SS leaders like Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski and Heinrich Himmler gave free rein to rape, loot, and kill as “counterinsurgency.” They weren’t punished for atrocities. They were rewarded for them. No justice. 

Alcohol and Dehumanization

In the testimony above describing the Dirlewanger men's actions in one of the villages: “They came in drunk, laughing. They took our neighbor girl, barely 14…” We see that drunkenness was constant. Dirlewanger’s men were often deliberately given alcohol and stole it as well, encouraged to "blow off steam." Victims were not seen as human; they were "bandit whores," "vermin," or "subhumans." Many of Dirlewanger’s men in Warsaw when working with some Wehrmacht men and other SS units often smelled of vodka, they would tell new men to drink vodka to kill pain and not to eat because if shot in the stomach it would be more painful with food in it, vodka subdues the pain, hunger, physical and mental. They were often drunk during the Wola massacre, Khatyn in Belarus, and many other horrid “operations” drunkenly torturing, killing, raping, looting, burning. 

The Sadistic Culture Came from the Top

Dirlewanger himself regularly raped women, ordered torture, and shot civilians for sport. His unit operated like a death cult: rape, arson, mutilation, and psychological torture were normalized. A former member of the unit said in a post-war testimony:

“When your commander is a sadist who enjoys disemboweling people and burning women alive, you either become like him or die.”

Warsaw Was Their Reward

After their brutality in Belarus, they were sent to Warsaw in 1944 as punishment troops, and Himmler gave them a blank check: He wanted terror to crush the Uprising and break Polish resistance, pride and hope once and for all. Dirlewanger’s men were told: “Spare no one.” The unit saw civilians as enemies, women as whores, and children as partisan helpers.

They Were Addicted to Violence

By the time they reached Warsaw: These men had no conscience left. Violence had become pleasure. Rape and murder were not just tools they were entertainment. In Belarus they learned to kill without remorse. In Warsaw, they refined it into performance. So the question I have when I read is what every moral human says to themself when they read the beginning of my post, how could they take a 14-year-old girl, rape her, and burn her alive? Because they were conditioned to hate and dehumanize. They were drunk and empowered. They were led by monsters who encouraged them to act without mercy. They were told it was justice. And because no one stopped them. From Dirlewanger to Reinfarthe to Bach-Zelewski all the way up to Himmler they let it happen.  

Why It Matters

Testimonies like the one above are essential, yes it is horribly brutal to hear but it is important to hear. This gives voice to the victims, and they force us to look at what humans are capable of when cruelty is made policy, and evil is not punished, but promoted.

Other guides in Warsaw may not tell people these stories and facts about units like this due to how brutal they were but they were the main reason Warsaw was absolutely annihilated and destroyed in ‘44. I am preserving and sharing these stories. Not to shock, but to remember. Because once this kind of horror is forgotten, it comes back…

Portrayal of a Dirlewanger soldier from the Polish movie Warsaw 44, perfect acting of how these men were and most likely worse sadly...