The 4th SS-Polizei Division
Ian Baxter has the story of a division that began as a private police force
Formed in 1939, the Polizei Division was initially not considered an SS fighting force. However, in 1942, following operations in France and then Russia, the division was transferred to the Waffen-SS, and eventually upgraded to a Panzergrenadier division, known as the 4th SS-Polizei-Panzergrenadier Division.
Even before the Germans attacked Poland in September 1939, SS boss Heinrich Himmler wanted to create a third division that was not technically
SS, unlike the LSSAH, SS-VT units
(later Das Reich) and unofficially the Totenkopfverbande (Death heads). This new division would be formed from ordinary Policemen or Ordnungspolizei. From its conception it was planned to be part of the military arm of Himmler’s growing empire which would be capable of fighting alongside both Wehrmacht and SS-VT troops and still police the local area with force. The Polizei Division, although not titled as a division at that time, was created at the end of the Polish campaign in early October 1939. Some 15,000 members of the Ordnungspolizei were drafted into units of the artillery and signals units that were transferred from the Wehrmacht. During its creation these men were not recruited as SS truppen, but as Policemen wearing
Wehrmacht uniforms.
Generalleutnant der Polizei Karl Pfeffer-Wildenbruch, was appointed the Polizei’s first commander, and with his appointment was also commissioned as an SS-Gruppenführer. The task of Karl Pfeffer-Wildenbruch was to equip and train the police unit into a fully fledged fighting machine. The Polizei began its training in the Black Forest and was also sent on internal security duties in Poland.
During the first part of March 1940 the expansion of the SST-VT became officially known as the Waffen-SS (Weapon-SS). It comprised of the reinforced LSSAH (Leibstandarte SS-Adolf Hitler), now at regimental strength, the newly formed SS Totenkopf Division, and the Polizie Division. The SS-VT had been formed during the closing days of the Polish campaign by amalgamating the three SS-VT truppen together as Deutschland, Germania and Der Führer. It would be this SS-VT formation that would later become the infamous Das Reich division, and take centre stage replacing the Polizei division as the 3rd SS division in the Waffen-SS. Polizei would become the 4th.
For the men of the Leibstandarte, they would continue to receive nothing but the best equipment and hardware, whilst the Polizei, which was not expected to take an active role in fighting, made do being supplied with obsolescent horse-drawn weapons.
Even as preparations were made for war against the West, there was already acute shortages of guns. In spite the shortages, the SS were to take part in operations even though the Totenkopf and the Polizei divisions were untried in battle and initially were in reserve.
Western Front 1940
For the attack against the West the Totenkopf formed part of the reserves available to Army Group A, whilst the Polizei division was assigned to Army Group C, which was positioned opposite the Maginot Line.
It was not until weeks later, on 9 June, the Polizei division was finally released from reserve and for the first time in its brief existence moved to its staging point and ordered to advance with animal draught across the Aisen River and the Ardennes Canal. It was not long before these units were embroiled in the fray, and launched a number of attacks in the Argonne Forest, where it came into contact with French forces that were defending frantically with their rear guard. Here the Polizei tried to contest every foot of ground, and at times it
seemed that they would be overwhelmed by French fire power. It was not until after bloody hand-to-hand fighting that the Polizei managed to break through the lines and overcame their irrepressible foe.
By the time the cease fire came on 22 June, the Polizei was once again withdrawn from operational duties and put in reserve. For its part on the Western Front the performance of the Division had mixed opinions. Whilst operations for the Polizei were short-lived, it was barely satisfied with its performance in the face of a determined enemy.
Following the defeat of France, the Division remained in the country in reserve. Here it strengthened its formation with additional troops and equipment, but it still fell short of what was required. Over the next few weeks Polizei trained with its artillery for a proposed invasion of Great Britain, which soon lost momentum. Instead, plans were already being drafted for the conquest of the Soviet Union, and for this titanic invasion every available resource and manpower would be drafted to the East to take part.
Holding the line in 1941
In January 1941, organisational duties for the Polizei Division were moved from the police to the SS Operations office or the SS-Führungshauptamt, which was responsible for the operational and administrative control of the WaffenSS, including recruiting and managing special personnel requirements.
However, this did not change its status from policemen to members of the
SS. Now under control from the SSFührungshauptamt the Division was transported from France to Army Group North in East Prussia in June 1941. By this time Polizie now had a divisional strength of 17,347 men. Combat ready, the division remained in reserve whilst German forces began concentrating in the east, ready for their part in the attack against Russia.
When the invasion of Russia came on 22 June 1941, units of the Polizie waited. However, as heavy Soviet resistance grew and parts of the German front stagnated, Army Group North released its reserves including that of the Polizei Division. It was near Luga where the Polizei with the 269th Infantry Division became caught up in heavy fighting. Almost immediately units became badly disrupted and mired on the Leningrad Front by stiffening resistance. The Soviet resistance was so strong that both Wehrmacht and Polizei forces soon found themselves cut off in
the wooded swampland. Determined not to be encircled and destroyed, the Division, along with army formations, aggressively fought its way slowly to the north of Luga. It was here that Polizei showed its worth and audacity on the battlefield. Against overwhelming odds the Division, heavily supported by the Wehrmacht, encircled and destroyed the Russian defenders. The battle of around Luga, though successful, came with a heavy price. The Division lost almost 2,000 soldiers including its commander, Arthur Mulverstadt, who was killed on 10 August by artillery fire.
Following heavy fighting around Luga, the Division moved on Leningrad. Over the next days and weeks the Germans continued probing Russian resistance around Leningrad. Both Wehrmacht and Polizei units were badly disrupted by heavy enemy resistance but continued operations to support Wehrmacht troops encircling the city.
By January 1942, the situation got worse as the freezing temperatures prevented any kind of movement against the enemy. To make matters worse the Red Army began an offensive, and consequently put many units onto the defensive. As troops clashed in the snow, the Polizei Division was given official Waffen-SS status, and its title was changed to the SS Polizei-Division. All of the division’s sub-units were then renamed. With its new official title the SS Polizei-Division saw heavy fighting along the Volkhov River. What followed was a bloody battle of attrition with German forces contesting every inch of ground as they fought to the death defending their positions. Soviet formations soon became trapped and encircled and both the Wehrmacht and its Polizie counterparts closed in to seal the enemy’s fate.
Following the Red Army’s defeat along the Volkhov River the front moved slightly east, and then stagnated again. For almost 600 miles, the front more or less came to a grinding halt. From the Baltic, around the siege perimeter at Leningrad, due south to Lake Ilmen, and then across the often dense pine forests at Rzhev and down to Orel, the German front hardly moved. The Polizei Division manned its lines night and day waiting for the freezing conditions to pass.
Meanwhile, Army Group North in early 1943 faced increasing pressure by the Red Army. The precarious condition of the German front was greeted by soldiers of both the Wehrmacht and Polizei soldiers with trepidation. The front lines were now denuded of proper equipment, with troops and armour thinly spread out on the battlefield. To make matters worse, on 12 January 1943, the Russians launched the second battle of Lake Ladoga. The Polizei Division fought off a number of determined Russian attacks, defending positions at Kolpino, where it successfully held its line, despite suffering massive casualties.
Under strength and badly mauled by heavy fighting around Kolpino, the Division was removed from Army Group North and transported west to recoup and retrain. In an attempt to support dwindling front line units, the Division left behind a small Kampfgruppe and this was strengthened by a new Dutch Volunteer Legion Niederland.
Ferocious defending
In early June the Division was converted as motorised and renamed as the SSPolizei-Panzergrenadier Division. In July two regiments were sent to the Balkans for what were called security measures. In Greece the Polizei undertook antipartisan operations in the northern part of the country. It was here in the Greek countryside that the SS-Polizei began a clearance operation and committed two massacres against the local population, at Kleisoura and Distomo. Over the subsequent months the Polizei roamed the hills and mountains trying with
varying degrees of success to flush out resistance fighters.
In September 1943, the Division was sent south of Belgrade for training and to protect against a possible Allied invasion of the Balkans. A month later, units joined part of the 22nd Army Corps in anti-partisan activities code named, Operation Panther, which comprised of clearing the Jannina-Metsovo road in Greece of Elas guerrillas. Both SS and Wehrmacht were ordered to show no mercy which included actions against civilians as well. Yet the partisans were undeterred by the German operation and demonstrated courage in the face of German brutality. Dozens of villages were destroyed and 170 civilians were killed as the SS, together with their Wehrmacht counterparts, showed no mercy.
Over the coming weeks and months, the Germans were to embark on a number of cruel and barbarous actions in Greece. In December the Division, now with strength of over 16,000 men, was posted to Saloniki.
Whilst the main body of Polizei carried on with sweeping partisan operations in Greece, on the Eastern Front the Polizei Kampfgruppe was relieved by the SS Panzergrenadier Brigade Niederland.
Part of the Polizei’s artillery, however, remained on the Oranienbaum Front supporting various units including Niederland. Fighting in the area was heavy and losses were high.
By 15 January 1944, the defences along the front in the north were finally attacked by three powerful Soviet fronts, the Leningrad, Volkhov and Second Baltic. The attack was so powerful that by the last week of January the city of Leningrad was liberated after 900 days.
Elsewhere along the Eastern Front the situation was equally as dire. The
Red Army`s offensives led to countries such as Romania and Bulgaria being threatened. As a result, in September the Polizie Division was pulled out of Greece and rushed to the city of Timișoara in Romania, where a Wehrmacht garrison was holding out. Polizei, Wehrmacht and Hungarian troops attempted to take the city by force, but without success.
The Polizei was quickly withdrawn and shifted to a defensive action against Red Army forces at Drobeta-Turnu Severin. Units then saw action in the Banat region and fought a series of counterattacks against Russia advances at Horgos on the Romanian and Hungarian border. Strong Russian forces pushed forward and captured the Zombor region and pushed the Polizei Division into Slovakia in early January 1945.
On 26 January the Division was moved from Hungary to Army Group Vistula in Pomerania. Over the next few weeks its units saw bitter fighting in the Arnswalde with the VII. Panzer-Korps .
Remnants of the Polizei Division also saw action around Hela under Army Group East Prussia, until it was evacuated to Fortress Swinemünde. Following more weeks of defensive fighting its units were evacuated with surviving elements escaping and advancing towards the doomed city of Berlin. Any chance of Polizei stragglers getting into the city was almost impossible and many would have certainly perished attempting to break through. However, there were a number of Polizei troops that managed to surrender to US troops at WittenbergeLenzen. The remnants that were left at Swinemünde were all killed, or escaped to Denmark, where they were taken captive by the British Army.