Sudetendeutsches Freikorps significant person Konrad Henlein
Ordnersgruppe, Freiwilliger Schutzdienst
Forming of the organization
Immediately after establishing the Sudetendeutsche Heimatfront (later Sudeten German Party, SdP) in 1933, the party started forming its informal Ordnungsdienst (Order Service; its members called in German Ordner (both singular and plural)) which was officially supposed to preserve order during meetings and assemblies of the party and protect it against its political adversaries. In reality, however, these were from the beginning attack squads with potentially terrorist assignments, following the example of the Sturmabteilung (a.k.a. "Brownshirts" or "Storm Troopers"), the original paramilitary wing of the German Nazi Party. More systematic build-up of the paramilitary wing started before the 1935 elections, when the SdP's leadership decided that each local SdP organization should establish its own squad of Ordner.On 14 May 1938, the Ordnersgruppe was formally transformed into new official organization called the Freiwilliger Schutzdienst (FS) which was openly built up following the example of the Nazi Sturmabteilung. SdP's chief Konrad Henlein was the Schutzdienst's leader, with Fritz Köllner becoming its secretary and Willi Brandner the chief of staff, also responsible for the buildup of squad groups. By 17 May 1938, the date of the organization's official registration, the Schutzdienst had over 15.000 members.The Schutzdienst started a wide recruitment program in June 1938. Its members were divided into three categories:
Category A: The most trusted and physically capable members that were supposed to carry out the duty of guardians of "inner purity" of the SdP. Category A was composed of the so-called "surveillance departments" and was directly subordinate to the SdP. Apart from functions within the organization, its members were also collecting information on political opponents and conducting military espionage.
Category B: Wider selection of members. Its members were trained for propaganda activities and for conducting terrorist and sabotage assaults.
Category C: Mostly older members of FS, mainly former soldiers with World War I front line experience. Their main task was providing training to the B category members as well as being the FS's reserve force.FS squads were being built up as militias with local, district and regional formations and central staff. FS further created special squads: communication, medical and rear. The FS's squad leaders were trained directly by the Nazi Sturmabteilung in Germany.The FS became instrumental for the psychological warfare of the operation Case Green, smuggling weapons through "green border" from Germany, conducting various provocations of Czechoslovak armed forces and provocations on the border with Germany.Freikorps
Formation
Czechoslovakia conducted partial mobilization in May 1938. Many young ethnic Germans did not follow the mobilization order and deserted across the border to Germany instead. Thousands more fled as they were receiving mobilization orders after 12 September 1938. The Wehrmacht first initiated a plan of including Czechoslovak ethnic Germans of 20–35 years of age, who had previously undergone military training in the Czechoslovak army, into its own ranks. This was however abandoned as soon as Hitler ordered the establishment of the Sudetendeutsches Freikorps on 17 September 1938. Konrad Henlein was formally named the Freikorps' commanding officer, with the Wehrmacht's liaison officer Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich Köchling, previously serving as liaison officer in the Hitler Youth, being the Freikorps' de facto commander. The official purpose of the Freikorps, as stated in a telegram to the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, was the "protection of Sudeten Germans and maintaining further unrest and armed clashes". The Wehrmacht was further instructed to conceal its cooperation with the Freikorps due to "political reasons".The Freikorps' ranks were filling up rather fast. It had 10,000–15,000 members by 20 September 1938, 26,000 members by 22 September 1938, with many more deserters coming after the general Czechoslovak mobilization that took place on 23 September 1938 and reaching 41,000 by 2 October 1938. Apart from Konrad Henlein, its leadership consisted of K. H. Frank (vice-commander in chief), Hans Blaschek (2nd vice-commander in chief), and Anton Pfrogner (chief of staff, previously an SdP senator). The Freikorps' headquarters was situated in a castle near Bayreuth, Germany. The Freikorps was divided into four groups alongside the whole German-Czechoslovak border. Groups were further divided into battalions and companies. Depending on the border length and local conditions, there were also sometimes "sections" as an interstage between the battalion and companies.
I swear by Almighty God, that as a fighter of the Freikorps, I am aware of my duties and I pledge steadfast allegiance to Adolf Hitler until my death. I swear I shall be brave and loyal fighter of the Freikorps, that I shall be obedient to my superiors and that I shall fulfill all of my duties.
Companies had 150–200 men each and were stationed in German towns and villages along the German–Czech border, each of them being fully equipped for independent cross border raids and assaults. Although the official directive allowed only ethnic Germans with Czechoslovak citizenship to be part of the Freikorps, due to the low number of officers among the deserters, their places were filled with members of the Nazi Sturmabteilung. The SA was further providing training, material support and equipment to the Freikorps. All members got regular pay for their service. Most members did not have any standardized uniform and were only distinguished by an armband with swastika. Formally, they were not part of the Wehrmacht and were prohibited from wearing Wehrmacht uniforms.Members of the Freikorps were trained and hosted in Germany but operated across the border in Czechoslovakia attacking the infrastructure, administrative, police and military buildings and personnel, as well as the pro-government and antifascist ethnic-German civilians, Jews, Jewish owned businesses and ethnic Czech civilians. They committed assassinations, robberies and bombing attacks, retreating over the border to Germany when faced with serious opposition. They murdered more than 110 and abducted to Germany more than 2000 Czechoslovak personnel, political opponents or their family members.