The Forest Protection Command (German: Forstschutzkommando), later the Forest Protection Corps (German: German: Forstschutzkorps), was an armed and uniformed paramilitary force created by the General Government which was responsible for defending forests in Poland from sabotage and for patrolling forests to prevent their use by the Polish resistance.[1] It was formed in 1939 and largely composed of ethnic German residents of Poland.[2]
In July 1941, the FSK took control of the Bialowieza Forest. The civilian population was evacuated, farms and villages were burned to the ground, and two small Jewish communities were annihilated. Together with Police Battalion 322 the Forstschutzkommando-Abteilung Bialowies[3] entered the villages in the forest, forced the inhabitants to leave within 30 minutes and burned down the houses and other buildings. Seven thousand people were deported and 34 villages destroyed. Jewish women and children were taken to the ghetto of Kobryn while 584 men and boys were killed outright.[4]
| Equivalent Rank | Rank in FSK | Rank insignia | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grenadier | German: Forstschütze | ||
| German: Gefreiter | German: Rottenführer | ||
| German: Obergefreiter | German: Oberrottenführer | ||
| German: Unteroffizier | German: Scharführer | ||
| German: Unterfeldwebel | German: Oberscharführer | ||
| German: Feldwebel | German: Truppführer | ||
| German: Oberfeldwebel | German: Obertruppführer | ||
| Senior ranks | Ranks and insignia of the Forest Service | ||
| Source: | [5] | ||