Army Group Rear Area

Army Group Rear Area Command
Befehlshaber des rückwärtigen Heeresgebietes
Active	1941–45
Country	Nazi Germany
Branch	Army (Wehrmacht)
Part of	Army High Command (OKH)
Engagements	World War II
Commanders
Notable commanders	Eduard Wagner

Army Group Rear Area Command (German: Befehlshaber des rückwärtigen Heeresgebietes) was an area of military jurisdiction behind each of the three Wehrmacht army groups from 1941, the German invasion of the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa, through 1944 when the pre-war territories of the Soviet Unions had been liberated. The areas were sites of mass murder during the Holocaust and other crimes against humanity targeting the civilian population.

During the early stages of the planning for the invasion of the Soviet Union, Operation Barbarossa, the rear areas behind the front lines were envisioned to be subordinated to the respective armies, as they had during the invasion of Poland. By early April 1941, however, the military planners decided to limit the areas of army jurisdiction (Rear Army Area (Wehrmacht) ()), with the bulk of the territory to be controlled by the Army Group Rear Areas.

The planners envisioned that the occupied territories would quickly pass onto civilian administration; thus, the directives called for the Army Group Rear Areas commanders to concentrate on the security of lines of communication and important military installations, such as storage depots and aerodromes. Army Group Rear Areas were also responsible for the transfer of prisoners of war to the rear.

Army Group North, Army Group Centre and Army Group South Rear Area Commands were responsible for the rear area security in their respective areas of operation. Each had a headquarters subordinated to the corresponding army group, while also reporting to the Wehrmacht Quartermaster General Eduard Wagner, who had responsibility for rear security. Each Army Group Rear Area had a propaganda company (), for propaganda activities aimed at the civilian population.

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Wikipedia