fbpx
Wikipedia

4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division

March 08, 2023

The 4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division (4. SS-Polizei-Panzergrenadier-Division) or SS Division Polizei was one of the thirty-eight divisions fielded as part of the Waffen-SS during World War II.

4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division
Divisional insignia
Active1939–45
Country Nazi Germany
Branch Waffen-SS
TypeInfantry
Panzergrenadier
SizeDivision
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Karl Pfeffer-Wildenbruch
Alfred Wünnenberg
Karl Schümers

Formation

The division was formed in October 1939, when thousands of members of the Ordnungspolizei (Orpo) were drafted to fill the ranks of the new SS division. These men were not enrolled in the SS and remained policemen, retaining their Orpo rank structure and insignia. They did not have to meet the racial and physical requirements imposed for the SS. Himmler's purpose in forming the division was to get around the recruitment caps the Wehrmacht had succeeded in placing on the SS, it also provided a means for his policemen to satisfy their military obligation and avoid army conscription.[1]

The first commander was Generalleutnant der Polizei (Major-General) Karl Pfeffer-Wildenbruch, a career police commander who had been a general staff officer during World War I; simultaneous with his appointment he was also commissioned as an SS-Gruppenführer. The division was equipped largely with captured Czech materiel and underwent military training in the Black Forest combined with periods on internal security duties in Poland.[2]

France 1940

The division, at this time an infantry formation with horse-drawn transport, was held in reserve with Army Group C in the Rhineland during the Battle of France until 9 June when it first saw combat during the crossing of the Aisne river and the Ardennes Canal.[2] The division was engaged in heavy fighting and after securing its objectives, moved to the Argonne Forest, where it came into contact with the French and fought a number of actions with their rear guard.[2] In late June 1940, the division was pulled out of combat and transferred to the reserve of Army Group North in East Prussia.

In January 1941, administrative responsibility for the division passed from the police to the SS-Führungshauptamt (SS operations office), the materiel and training headquarters for the Waffen-SS;[2] its personnel however, remained policemen, not members of the SS.

Eastern Front

During the invasion of the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa), the division was initially part of the reserve within Army Group North.[2] In August 1941, the division saw action near Luga. During heavy fighting for the Luga bridgehead the division lost over 2,000 soldiers including the commander, Arthur Mülverstadt.[2] After a series of failed attacks in swampy and wooded terrain, the division, along with army formations, fought its way into the northern part of Luga, encircling and destroying the Soviet defenders.[2]

In January 1942, the division was moved to the Volkhov River sector, and on 24 February it was transferred to the Waffen-SS; its personnel changing their police insignia to that of the SS.[2] The formation was involved in heavy fighting between January and March which resulted in the destruction of the Soviet 2nd Shock Army during the Battle of Lyuban.[2] The remainder of the year was spent on the Leningrad front.[2]

1943

In February 1943, the division saw action south of Lake Ladoga and was forced to retreat to a new defensive line at Kolpino where it was successful in holding the Red Army, despite suffering heavy casualties.[2]

It was at this point that units of the division were transferred to the west to retrain and upgrade to a Panzergrenadier division; leaving a small Kampfgruppe (battlegroup) in the east and a Dutch Volunteer Legion, the Niederland, to make up the numbers.[3] The Kampfgruppe was disbanded in May 1943, when the division became operational.[3] The division was sent to Greece where it engaged in Nazi security warfare in the northern part of the country.[3]

1944 and Distomo massacre

Main article: Distomo massacre

The division remained in Greece until August 1944 before being recalled to face the advancing Red Army at Belgrade.[3] It again suffered heavy losses.[citation needed]

While in Greece, the division committed war crimes and atrocities against the civilian population while undertaking anti-partisan operations. In particular they were responsible for the Kleisoura massacre[4][5][6] and the Distomo massacre; the latter being one of the worst atrocities committed by the Waffen-SS during World War II. On June 10, 1944, for over two hours, troops of the division under the command of Fritz Lautenbach went door to door and massacred Greek civilians in retaliation for a Greek Resistance attack upon the unit. A total of 214 men, women and children were killed in Distomo,[7] a small village near Delphi.[8] According to survivors, SS men "bayoneted babies in their cribs, stabbed pregnant women, and beheaded the village priest."[3][9]

Elements of this division committed atrocities in the mountains of central Greece ("Ρούμελη") during May and June 1944 that resulted in the destruction of Sperchiada and the massacre of 28 civilians in Ipati. The division later participated in Operation Kreuzotter (5–31 August 1944), an attempt to eradicate Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS) bases from the same mountains. The operation was a military failure, but resulted in the killing of 170 civilians and the partial or complete destruction of dozens of villages and cities.[10]

1945

The depleted division was moved to a front line north in Pomerania. Hitler assigned it to Army Detachment Steiner for the relief of Berlin. They were supposed to be part of the northern pincer that would meet the IV Panzer Army coming from the south and envelop the 1st Ukrainian Front before destroying it.[11] Steiner explained to General Gotthard Heinrici that he did not have the divisions to perform this action and the troops lacked the heavy weapons needed, so the attack did not take place as Hitler had planned.[12] Moved to Danzig, the SS-Polizei Division was encircled by the Red Army and was shipped across the Hela Peninsula to Swinemünde.[3] After a brief rest, what remained of the division fought its way across the Elbe river, in order to surrender to the Americans near Wittenberge-Lenzen.[3]

Commanders

Order of battle

Area of operations
  • Germany (September 1939–May 1940)
  • Luxembourg, Belgium & France (May 1940 – June 1941)
  • Eastern front, northern sector (June 1941–May 1943)
  • Czechoslovakia and Poland (May 1943–January 1944)
  • Greece (January 1944–September 1944)
  • Yugoslavia and Romania (September 1944–October 1944)
  • Hungary (October 1944–December 1944)
  • Czechoslovakia and Eastern Germany (December 1944–May 1945)
1939
  • Polizei-Schützen-Regiment 1
  • Polizei-Schützen-Regiment 2
  • Polizei-Schützen-Regiment 3
  • Polizei-Panzerjäger (anti-tank) Battalion
  • Polizei-Pionier (Engineer) Battalion
  • Radfahr (Bicycle) Company
  • Artillerie Regiment 300
  • Nachrichten (Signals) Battalion 300
  • Versorgungstruppen 300 (Supply Unit)
1943
  • SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment 7
  • SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment 8
  • SS-Artillerie Regiment 4
  • SS-Panzer Battalion 4
  • SS-Sturmgeschütz (Assault gun) Battalion 4
  • SS-Panzerjäger (Anti-tank) Battalion 4
  • SS-Flak (Anti-aircraft) Battalion 4
  • SS-Nachrichten (Signals) Battalion 4
  • SS-Panzer-Aufklärungs (Armoured Reconnaissance) Battalion 4
  • SS-Pionier (Engineer) Battalion 4
  • SS-DiNA Divisions-Nachschub-Abteilung (Divisional Supply Battalion) 4
  • SS-Panzer-Instandsetzungs (Maintenance) Battalion 4
  • SS-Wirtschafts Battalion 4 - (no direct translation, but it concerns the administration of captured equipment, property and so on)
  • SS-Sanitäts (Medical) Battalion 4
  • SS-Polizei-Veterinär-Kompanie 4
  • SS-Kriegsberichter (War Reporter) Platoon 4
  • SS-Feldgendarmerie (Military Police) Troop 4
  • SS-Ersatz (Replacement) Battalion 4

Manpower strength

  • June 1941 = 17,347
  • December 1942 = 13,399
  • December 1943 = 16,081
  • June 1944 = 16,139
  • December 1944 = 9,000

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ Stein, George H, The Waffen SS: Hitler's Elite Guard at War, 1939-1945. Ithaca: Cornell University Press (1984), pp. 32–35
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Williamson, The Waffen-SS, p. 38
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Williamson, The Waffen-SS, p. 39
  4. ^ [Proceedings of the Nuremberg Military Tribunal], Volume XI, p. 1035
  5. ^ Dordanas, Stratos (2002), (phd), Αριστοτέλιο Πανεπιστημιο Θεσσαλονίκης, archived from the original on 27 December 2016, retrieved 28 Dec 2016
  6. ^ Dordanas, Stratos (20 Jan 2008). "Ο διαβόητος συνταγματάρχης Καρλ Σύμερς και τα αντίποινα του στρατού κατοχής εναντίον των "απείθαρχων" αμάχων στη Μακεδονία. Οι λίστες θανάτου των Ες Ες". Τα Νεα. Retrieved 28 Dec 2016.
  7. ^ "Greek Government response to ICJ Ruling" Embassy of Greece.
  8. ^ "Greeks lose Nazi massacre claim." 26 June 2003 BBC.
  9. ^ "Greeks lose Nazi massacre claim". BBC News. 2003-06-26. Retrieved 2009-02-26.
  10. ^ Barsos, Chronis (14 Aug 2015). . www.mag24.gr (in Greek). Archived from the original on 6 October 2015. Retrieved 28 Dec 2016.
  11. ^ Beevor 2002, p. 248.
  12. ^ Beevor 2002, pp. 310–312.

Bibliography

March 08, 2023
polizei, panzergrenadier, division, polizei, panzergrenadier, division, division, polizei, thirty, eight, divisions, fielded, part, waffen, during, world, divisional, insigniaactive1939, 45country, nazi, germanybranchwaffen, sstypeinfantrypanzergrenadiersizedi. The 4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division 4 SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division or SS Division Polizei was one of the thirty eight divisions fielded as part of the Waffen SS during World War II 4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier DivisionDivisional insigniaActive1939 45Country Nazi GermanyBranchWaffen SSTypeInfantryPanzergrenadierSizeDivisionCommandersNotablecommandersKarl Pfeffer WildenbruchAlfred Wunnenberg Karl Schumers Contents 1 Formation 2 France 1940 3 Eastern Front 4 1943 5 1944 and Distomo massacre 6 1945 7 Commanders 8 Order of battle 9 Manpower strength 10 See also 11 References 11 1 Citations 11 2 BibliographyFormation EditThe division was formed in October 1939 when thousands of members of the Ordnungspolizei Orpo were drafted to fill the ranks of the new SS division These men were not enrolled in the SS and remained policemen retaining their Orpo rank structure and insignia They did not have to meet the racial and physical requirements imposed for the SS Himmler s purpose in forming the division was to get around the recruitment caps the Wehrmacht had succeeded in placing on the SS it also provided a means for his policemen to satisfy their military obligation and avoid army conscription 1 The first commander was Generalleutnant der Polizei Major General Karl Pfeffer Wildenbruch a career police commander who had been a general staff officer during World War I simultaneous with his appointment he was also commissioned as an SS Gruppenfuhrer The division was equipped largely with captured Czech materiel and underwent military training in the Black Forest combined with periods on internal security duties in Poland 2 France 1940 EditThe division at this time an infantry formation with horse drawn transport was held in reserve with Army Group C in the Rhineland during the Battle of France until 9 June when it first saw combat during the crossing of the Aisne river and the Ardennes Canal 2 The division was engaged in heavy fighting and after securing its objectives moved to the Argonne Forest where it came into contact with the French and fought a number of actions with their rear guard 2 In late June 1940 the division was pulled out of combat and transferred to the reserve of Army Group North in East Prussia In January 1941 administrative responsibility for the division passed from the police to the SS Fuhrungshauptamt SS operations office the materiel and training headquarters for the Waffen SS 2 its personnel however remained policemen not members of the SS Eastern Front EditDuring the invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa the division was initially part of the reserve within Army Group North 2 In August 1941 the division saw action near Luga During heavy fighting for the Luga bridgehead the division lost over 2 000 soldiers including the commander Arthur Mulverstadt 2 After a series of failed attacks in swampy and wooded terrain the division along with army formations fought its way into the northern part of Luga encircling and destroying the Soviet defenders 2 In January 1942 the division was moved to the Volkhov River sector and on 24 February it was transferred to the Waffen SS its personnel changing their police insignia to that of the SS 2 The formation was involved in heavy fighting between January and March which resulted in the destruction of the Soviet 2nd Shock Army during the Battle of Lyuban 2 The remainder of the year was spent on the Leningrad front 2 1943 EditIn February 1943 the division saw action south of Lake Ladoga and was forced to retreat to a new defensive line at Kolpino where it was successful in holding the Red Army despite suffering heavy casualties 2 It was at this point that units of the division were transferred to the west to retrain and upgrade to a Panzergrenadier division leaving a small Kampfgruppe battlegroup in the east and a Dutch Volunteer Legion the Niederland to make up the numbers 3 The Kampfgruppe was disbanded in May 1943 when the division became operational 3 The division was sent to Greece where it engaged in Nazi security warfare in the northern part of the country 3 1944 and Distomo massacre EditMain article Distomo massacre The division remained in Greece until August 1944 before being recalled to face the advancing Red Army at Belgrade 3 It again suffered heavy losses citation needed While in Greece the division committed war crimes and atrocities against the civilian population while undertaking anti partisan operations In particular they were responsible for the Kleisoura massacre 4 5 6 and the Distomo massacre the latter being one of the worst atrocities committed by the Waffen SS during World War II On June 10 1944 for over two hours troops of the division under the command of Fritz Lautenbach went door to door and massacred Greek civilians in retaliation for a Greek Resistance attack upon the unit A total of 214 men women and children were killed in Distomo 7 a small village near Delphi 8 According to survivors SS men bayoneted babies in their cribs stabbed pregnant women and beheaded the village priest 3 9 Elements of this division committed atrocities in the mountains of central Greece Roymelh during May and June 1944 that resulted in the destruction of Sperchiada and the massacre of 28 civilians in Ipati The division later participated in Operation Kreuzotter 5 31 August 1944 an attempt to eradicate Greek People s Liberation Army ELAS bases from the same mountains The operation was a military failure but resulted in the killing of 170 civilians and the partial or complete destruction of dozens of villages and cities 10 1945 EditThe depleted division was moved to a front line north in Pomerania Hitler assigned it to Army Detachment Steiner for the relief of Berlin They were supposed to be part of the northern pincer that would meet the IV Panzer Army coming from the south and envelop the 1st Ukrainian Front before destroying it 11 Steiner explained to General Gotthard Heinrici that he did not have the divisions to perform this action and the troops lacked the heavy weapons needed so the attack did not take place as Hitler had planned 12 Moved to Danzig the SS Polizei Division was encircled by the Red Army and was shipped across the Hela Peninsula to Swinemunde 3 After a brief rest what remained of the division fought its way across the Elbe river in order to surrender to the Americans near Wittenberge Lenzen 3 Commanders EditKarl Pfeffer Wildenbruch 15 November 1939 1 September 1940 Konrad Ritzer 1 September 1940 8 September 1940 Karl Pfeffer Wildenbruch 8 September 1940 10 November 1940 Arthur Mulverstadt 10 November 1940 10 August 1941 Emil Horing 16 August 1941 18 August 1941 Walter Kruger 18 August 1941 15 December 1941 Alfred Wunnenberg 15 December 1941 14 May 1942 Alfred Borchert 15 May 1942 18 July 1942 for Alfred Wunnenberg Alfred Wunnenberg 19 July 1942 10 June 1943 Fritz Schmedes 10 June 1943 5 July 1943 Otto Binge 5 July 1943 18 August 1943 Fritz Freitag 18 August 1943 20 October 1943 Friedrich Wilhelm Bock 20 October 1943 19 April 1944 Jurgen Wagner 19 April 1944 May 1944 Friedrich Wilhelm Bock May 1944 7 May 1944 Hebert Ernst Vahl 7 May 1944 22 July 1944 Karl Schumers 22 July 1944 16 August 1944 Helmut Dorner 16 August 1944 22 August 1944 Fritz Schmedes 22 August 1944 27 November 1944 Walter Harzer 27 November 1944 1 March 1945 Fritz Gohler 1 March 1945 March 1945 Walter Harzer March 1945 8 May 1945 Order of battle EditArea of operationsGermany September 1939 May 1940 Luxembourg Belgium amp France May 1940 June 1941 Eastern front northern sector June 1941 May 1943 Czechoslovakia and Poland May 1943 January 1944 Greece January 1944 September 1944 Yugoslavia and Romania September 1944 October 1944 Hungary October 1944 December 1944 Czechoslovakia and Eastern Germany December 1944 May 1945 1939Polizei Schutzen Regiment 1 Polizei Schutzen Regiment 2 Polizei Schutzen Regiment 3 Polizei Panzerjager anti tank Battalion Polizei Pionier Engineer Battalion Radfahr Bicycle Company Artillerie Regiment 300 Nachrichten Signals Battalion 300 Versorgungstruppen 300 Supply Unit 1943SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 7 SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 8 SS Artillerie Regiment 4 SS Panzer Battalion 4 SS Sturmgeschutz Assault gun Battalion 4 SS Panzerjager Anti tank Battalion 4 SS Flak Anti aircraft Battalion 4 SS Nachrichten Signals Battalion 4 SS Panzer Aufklarungs Armoured Reconnaissance Battalion 4 SS Pionier Engineer Battalion 4 SS DiNA Divisions Nachschub Abteilung Divisional Supply Battalion 4 SS Panzer Instandsetzungs Maintenance Battalion 4 SS Wirtschafts Battalion 4 no direct translation but it concerns the administration of captured equipment property and so on SS Sanitats Medical Battalion 4 SS Polizei Veterinar Kompanie 4 SS Kriegsberichter War Reporter Platoon 4 SS Feldgendarmerie Military Police Troop 4 SS Ersatz Replacement Battalion 4Manpower strength EditJune 1941 17 347 December 1942 13 399 December 1943 16 081 June 1944 16 139 December 1944 9 000See also EditList of Waffen SS divisionsReferences EditCitations Edit Stein George H The Waffen SS Hitler s Elite Guard at War 1939 1945 Ithaca Cornell University Press 1984 pp 32 35 a b c d e f g h i j k Williamson The Waffen SS p 38 a b c d e f g Williamson The Waffen SS p 39 Proceedings of the Nuremberg Military Tribunal Volume XI p 1035 Dordanas Stratos 2002 Antipoina twn Germanikwn Arwn Katoxhs sth Makedonia 1941 1944 phd Aristotelio Panepisthmio 8essalonikhs archived from the original on 27 December 2016 retrieved 28 Dec 2016 Dordanas Stratos 20 Jan 2008 O diabohtos syntagmatarxhs Karl Symers kai ta antipoina toy stratoy katoxhs enantion twn apei8arxwn amaxwn sth Makedonia Oi listes 8anatoy twn Es Es Ta Nea Retrieved 28 Dec 2016 Greek Government response to ICJ Ruling Embassy of Greece Greeks lose Nazi massacre claim 26 June 2003 BBC Greeks lose Nazi massacre claim BBC News 2003 06 26 Retrieved 2009 02 26 Barsos Chronis 14 Aug 2015 5 31 Aygoystoy 1944 H megalh germanikh ekka8aristikh epixeirhsh Kreuzotter Exidna sthn kentrikh Roymelh www mag24 gr in Greek Archived from the original on 6 October 2015 Retrieved 28 Dec 2016 Beevor 2002 p 248 Beevor 2002 pp 310 312 Bibliography Edit Beevor Antony 2002 Berlin The Downfall 1945 Viking Penguin Books ISBN 978 0 670 03041 5 Williamson Gordon 2003 The Waffen SS Osprey Publishing ISBN 1 84176 589 9 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division amp oldid 1126912468, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.