The 119th SS-Standarte was a regimental command of the Allgemeine-SS that was formed in the city of Grudziądz

Grudziadz

Grudziądz is a city in northern Poland on the Vistula River, with 96 042 inhabitants . Situated in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship , the city was previously in the Toruń Voivodeship .- History :-Early history:...

, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. The unit was a commissioned General-SS command, assigned to Eastern Poland for the purposes of administrating SS security and military commands whose members were frequently engaged in atrocities and other activities associated with the Holocaust. The Standarte was under the command of SS-Oberabschnitt Weichsel

SS-Oberabschnitt Weichsel

SS-Oberabschnitt Weichsel was a division strength command of the Allgemeine-SS that controlled most General-SS units located in East Prussia. Prior to 1939, the division's primary focus was on German activity in the free city of Danzig as well as security preparations for war over the Polish...

, headquartered at Danzig.

Formation

The Standarte was activated in the summer of 1940 and was used for the purposes of assigning Waffen-SS

Waffen-SS

The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...

 and Sicherheitspolizei

Sicherheitspolizei

The Sicherheitspolizei , often abbreviated as SiPo, was a term used in Nazi Germany to describe the state political and criminal investigation security agencies. It was made up by the combined forces of the Gestapo and the Kripo between 1936 and 1939...

 personnel to a General-SS regiment for administrative and pay reasons. The Standarte itself did not engage in musters or formations, but possessed a full time headquarters staff. The administratively attached personnel of the Standarte were frequently assigned to security and police duties in Poland and many played an active role in the Holocaust.

Command and Control

The single commander of the 119th Standarte was SS-Obersturmbannführer

Obersturmbannführer

Obersturmbannführer was a paramilitary Nazi Party rank used by both the SA and the SS. It was created in May 1933 to fill the need for an additional field grade officer rank above Sturmbannführer as the SA expanded. It became an SS rank at the same time...

 Otto Böttcher. The unit effectively ceased to exist in the winter of 1944, as Red Army

Red Army

The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

 forces began to liberate Poland from Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

. The unit itself was formally disbanded on May 8, 1945 at the time of Germany's general surrender.