| 4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division | |
|---|---|
 Divisional insignia | |
| Active | 1939–45 |
| Country |  Nazi Germany |
| Branch |  Waffen-SS |
| Type | Infantry Panzergrenadier |
| Size | Division |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Karl Pfeffer-Wildenbruch Alfred Wünnenberg Karl Schümers |
The4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division (4. SS-Polizei-Panzergrenadier-Division) orSS Division Polizei was one of the thirty-eightdivisions fielded as part of theWaffen-SS duringWorld War II.
The division was formed in October 1939, when thousands of members of theOrdnungspolizei (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 theWehrmacht 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 wasGeneralleutnant 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 theBlack Forest combined with periods oninternal security duties in Poland.[2]
The division, at this time an infantry formation with horse-drawn transport, was held in reserve withArmy Group C in theRhineland during theBattle of France until 9 June when it first saw combat during the crossing of theAisne river and theArdennes Canal.[2] The division was engaged in heavy fighting and after securing its objectives, moved to theArgonne 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 ofArmy Group North inEast Prussia.
In January 1941, administrative responsibility for the division passed from the police to theSS-Führungshauptamt (SS operations office), the materiel and training headquarters for the Waffen-SS;[2] its personnel however, remained policemen, not members of the SS.
During the invasion of theSoviet Union (Operation Barbarossa), the division was initially part of the reserve withinArmy Group North.[2] In August 1941, the division saw action nearLuga. 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 theVolkhov River sector, and on 24 February it was transferred to theWaffen-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 Soviet2nd Shock Army during theBattle of Lyuban.[2] The remainder of the year was spent on theLeningrad front.[2]
In February 1943, the division saw action south ofLake Ladoga and was forced to retreat to a new defensive line atKolpino where it was successful in holding theRed 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 aPanzergrenadier division; leaving a smallKampfgruppe (battlegroup) in the east and aDutch Volunteer Legion, theNiederland, to make up the numbers.[3] TheKampfgruppe was disbanded in May 1943, when the division became operational.[3] The division's training battalion participated in the suppression of theWarsaw Ghetto Uprising. The division was sent to Greece where it engaged inNazi security warfare in the northern part of the country.[3]
The division remained in Greece until August 1944 before being recalled to face the advancing Red Army atBelgrade.[3] It again suffered heavy losses.[citation needed]
While in Greece, the division committedwar crimes and atrocities against the civilian population while undertakinganti-partisan operations. In particular they were responsible for theKleisoura massacre[4][5][6] and theDistomo 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 aGreek 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 ofSperchiada and the massacre of 28 civilians inIpati. The division later participated inOperation Kreuzotter (5–31 August 1944), an attempt to eradicateGreek 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]
The division was moved toSerbia in September 1944, and was stationed outside Belgrade to defend the Danube on the Belgrade-Timisoara-Arad line against Soviet advances in Transylvania. After the capture ofDebrecen by the 2nd Ukrainian Front, the division was forced to withdraw toSenta andSannicolau Mare on 6 October 1944, and eventually destroying the Tisza bridge crossings and withdrawing toSzeged, on 9 October.[11]
After Soviet successes on the Tisza's east bank, 4th SS was ordered to cover Soviet movements against the west bank of the Tisza and holdSzolnok, which fell to the Soviets at the start of theBudapest Offensive on 4 November. Committing to a fighting retreat north, 4th SS pulled west ofJászberény on 12 November, only for the city to fall on 14 November, retreating further toHatvan; falling to the Soviet forces on 25 November. 4th SS dug in further north of Hatvan. They had however, taken heavy casualties, with only 800 men and 13 functional armoured assault guns available for defensive operations, and starting 5 December, a very strong Soviet advance pierced 6 kilometres deep behind the German lines north of the village ofSzucsi, allowing the 2nd Ukrainian Front to enter theCserhát mountain range by 15 December. Facing extreme casualties on theBátonyterenye line, much of the division withdrawn to the then Slovak-Hungarian border atČebovce; arriving between 27–28 December, with the units suffering the worst casualty rates withdrawing toBanská Bystrica. Only 450 men and 3 heavy guns were available at Čebovce, which facing three Soviet rifle divisions became the scene of heavy fighting; where the village changed hands many times. After the loss of the village's highlands on 31 December, 4th SS was fully withdrawn to Slovakia, and eventually back to Germany, with any remaining forces fighting with1st Panzer Army.[12]
The depleted division was moved to a front line north in Pomerania. Hitler assigned it toArmy 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.[13] Steiner explained to GeneralGotthard 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.[14] Moved toDanzig, the SS-Polizei Division was encircled by the Red Army and was shipped across the Hela Peninsula toSwinemünde.[3] After a brief rest, what remained of the division fought its way across theElbe river, in order to surrender to the Americans nearWittenberge-Lenzen.[3]
Waffen-SS divisions | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Panzer | |||
| Panzer- grenadier | |||
| Mountain | |||
| Cavalry |
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| Infantry | |||
| Police | |||
| Deception "Panzer" | |||
| Lists | |||
Units marked inbold were officially named "volunteer".See also:SS heavy Panzer battalions | |||
