Korück

The Korück (short for Kommandant rückwärtiges Armeegebiet), were the staff of various units with varying sizes assigned to the Armeeoberkommando of the Wehrmacht. In military jargon, “Korück” did not only stand for the corresponding agency but usually also for the entire rear army area, which was subordinate to this agency, often also for the entire military unit of this agency.

Each rear army area was identified by a number. For example, after the Operation Barbarossa, Korück 582 was the agency given the task to control the rear area of the 9th Army at the time at its greatest expansion covered around 27,000 km2 with more than 1,500 villages around Vyazma. The units of Korück 582 had a staff of 1,700 men.

The Korück was responsible for securing the replenishment routes and "pacifying" the occupied area. For this purpose, it was given security divisions (Sicherungs-Division), Territorial Guard (Landesschützen) battalions, field (Feld-) and local command offices (Ortskommandanturen) and field gendarmerie units (Feldgendarmerie) as well as units of the secret field police (Geheimen Feldpolizei). The transit camps for prisoners of war (Dulag) were usually controlled by the Korücks.

The tasks of the Korücks changed with the situation in the war. During the retreat of the Wehrmacht some Korücks, such as Korück 594 in Italy, were given the task to maintain order, prevent the spread of panic and fight in its defensive positions to the last man.[1]

See also

References
  1. Hannes Heer, Klaus Neumann (ed.): Vernichtungskrieg. Verbrechen der Wehrmacht. Hamburg 1995, ISBN 3-930908-04-2, p. 235
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