Mine Detector 42

1942 year. German soldiers forced a local resident to check whether the ford was mined. The caption on the back of the photo reads: Die Minenprobe. Vom Donez zum Don. 1942

Mine detector 42 ( German Minensuchgerät 42 ) is the code name used by the Wehrmacht for the method of reconnaissance and clearance of mines , in which persons from the number of prisoners of war of the Red Army or local residents of the occupied territories of the Soviet Union were forcibly sent to potentially dangerous areas.

The source that revealed this name for this illegal form of warfare is the Wehrmacht Crimes brochure published in 2004 ^[1] , which contains a photocopy of the operational order to ensure the rear of the Army District 532 ( German: Einsatzbefehl des Kommandeurs des rückwärtigen Armeegebietes 532 für die Unt “Dreieck“ und “Viereck“ vom 23 ):

Demining work will be required, therefore it is necessary to provide the necessary number of “mine detectors 42” (Jews and captured bandits with harrows and ice rinks). Units must prepare ropes to equip Jews and captive bandits with long leashes.

Original text (German)

Da mit Verminung zu rechnen ist, ist für Bereitstellung von Minensuchgerät 42 (Juden oder gefangene Bandenangehörige mit Eggen und Walzen) in ausreichender Zahl zu sorgen ... Die Einheiten haben sich selbst mit Stricken ausdermürnen jürgensten .

It is believed that the numbers "42" in the code name are an indication of the time the application of this method began (1942). However, there is evidence that the German occupation forces on the territory of the USSR repeatedly carried out mine clearing by sending prisoners of war or local residents to them in 1941.

From the order of the 464th Infantry Regiment of the 253rd Wehrmacht Infantry Division of October 20, 1941 :

You must keep in mind the mined terrain. The use of sappers is not always possible. Battalions will have to conduct the battle themselves, without waiting for help. I recommend using, as it was successfully practiced in the first battalion of the 464th regiment, Russian prisoners of war (especially sappers). Any means is justified when it is necessary to quickly overcome the terrain.

- Criminal purposes are criminal means. Documents on the occupation policy of fascist Germany in the USSR (1941-1944). M. Economics, 1985, pp. 137-138, with reference to the Central Institute for the Management of Societies of the USSR, f. 7445, op.2, d.103, l. 35. German translation

Cherikov (Mogilev region, BSSR ), summer - autumn 1941:

The Germans used local residents to mine minefields. The soldiers tied them with chains and, under the threat of weapons, drove ahead of themselves into mines, where dozens of people died.

- Leonid Smilovitsky. “The Holocaust of the Jews in Belarus, 1941-1944.” Tel Aviv, 2000, p. 160-196 with reference to the GARF, f. 8114, op. 1, d.9555, l. 9-10 and a copy in Yad Vashem - YVA, M-35/57