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Many of the Brandenburgers were misfits who could hardly be characterized as conventional soldiers, due in large part to the nature of their operations. They would mingle with enemy soldiers, secretly countermand orders, redirect military convoys, and disrupt communications—all the while collecting intelligence along the way.{{sfn|Lucas|2014|p=5}} Ahead of the primary invasion forces in the USSR, operatives from the Brandenburg Division seized bridges and strategically important installations in clandestine missions lasting for weeks before they linked up with advancing forces.{{sfn|Lucas|2014|p=5}}
The predecessor formation to the Brandenburg Division was the Battalion ''Ebbinghaus'' (aka: ''Freikorps Ebbinghaus''), which originated before the [[invasion of Poland]] in 1939. Colonel Erwin von Lahousen (and the defense groups of military districts VIII and XVII) from within Department II of the ''Abwehr'', put together small ''K-Trupps'' (fighting squads), which consisted of Polish-speaking [[Silesians]] and ethnic [[Germans]], whose job it was to occupy key positions and hold them until the arrival of regular Wehrmacht units.{{sfn|Duthel|2015|pp=22–25}}{{Efn|A large number of the recruits were small
== Operations ==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-680-8283A-30A, Budapest, Otto Skorzeny, Adrian v. Fölkersam.jpg|thumb|[[Otto Skorzeny]] (left) and the former Brandenburger [[Adrian von Fölkersam]] (middle) now with Skorzeny's SS-Jagdverbände in [[Budapest]] after [[Operation Panzerfaust]], 16 October 1944]]
[[File:Armband.jpg|thumb|Cuff title of the ''Division „Brandenburg“'', worn on the
The night before the [[Invasion of Poland]] (Plan White) in September 1939, small groups of German special forces dressed in civilian clothes crossed the Polish border to seize key strategic points before dawn on the day of the invasion.{{sfn|Bassett|2011|p=177}} This made them the first special operations unit to see action in the Second World War.{{sfn|Schuster|1999|p=657}}{{Efn|By no means was the Brandenburg Division the only German special operations unit of the Second World War, as they also had Otto Skorzeny's ''Friedenthaler Jagdverbände'' (which rescued Mussolini) and the Airborne [[Kampfgeschwader 200]].{{sfn|Davies|2008|p=247}} }} Battalion ''Ebbinghaus'' engaged in atrocities against Poland's population and its captured PoWs.{{sfn|Warzecha|2003|pp=55–60}} On 4 September, members of the ''Freikorps Ebbinghaus'' executed 17 people at [[Pszczyna]], among them [[boy scout]]s from the town's secondary schools. They also tortured 29 citizens of [[Orzesze]] before executing them.{{Efn|See: ''The fate of Polish children during the last war'' by Roman Hrabar, Zofia Tokarz, Jacek Edward Wilczur, Rada Ochrony Pomników Walki i Męczeństwa (Poland) Interpress, 1981; Rocznik przemyski – Volume 21 – p. 130, ''Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk w Przemyślu,'' p. 130 (1982); A więc wojna":ludność cywilna we wrześniu 1939 r. Anna Piekarska, Instytut Pamieci Narodowej (2009) Reviews Instytut Pamięci Narodowej, p. 21.}} On 8 September 1939, in the upper Silesian city, [[Siemianowice Śląskie|Siemanowice]], they executed 6 Poles and then on 1 October 1939, shot 18 people in Nowy Bytom.{{sfn|Jankowski|Religa|1981|p=100}} Larger massacres were carried out in [[Katowice]], where hundreds of people were executed.{{sfn|Warzecha|2003|pp=55–60}} Within two weeks of the invasion of Poland, ''Ebbinghaus'' had "left a trail of murder in more than thirteen Polish towns and villages"{{sfn|Gilbert|1989|p=8}}.
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