Bandenbekämpfung

Bandenbekämpfung is a German-language term that means "bandit fighting" or "combating of bandits". In the context of German military history, Bandenbekämpfung was an operational doctrine that was part of handling resistance or insurrection in the rear during wars. The doctrine of "bandit-fighting" provided a rationale to target any number of groups, from armed guerrillas to civilian population, as "bandits" or "members of gangs". As applied by the German Empire and then Nazi Germany, it became instrumental in the genocidal programs implemented by the two regimes, including the Holocaust.

The term was first used during the Thirty Years' War. The first applications of Bandenbekämpfung in practice was the Herero and Namaqua genocide, the campaign of racial extermination and collective punishment that the German Empire undertook in German South West Africa (modern-day Namibia) against the Herero and Nama people.

During World War II, the term Bandenbekämpfung supplanted Partisanenkämpfung (anti-guerrilla warfare) to become the guiding principle of Nazi Germany's security warfare and occupational policies. Immediately after the start of war in Europe, and especially during the German-Soviet War, 1941–45, these doctrines amalgamated with the Nazi regime's genocidal plans for the racial reshaping of the Eastern Europe to secure "living space" (Lebensraum) for Germany.

Officially launched under the Bandenbekämpfung name in 1942, the program was headed by SS General Erich von dem Bach-Zalewski. Implemented by units of the SS, Wehrmacht and Order Police, Bandenbekämpfung as applied by the Nazi regime and directed by the SS across occupied Europe led to mass crimes against humanity and was a instrumental part of the Holocaust.

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