The 20th SS Police Regiment () was initially named Police Regiment Bohemia (''Polizei-Regiment Böhmen'') when it was formed in 1939 after the
German occupation of Czechoslovakia
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
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from existing
Order Police
The ''Ordnungspolizei'' (''Orpo'', , meaning "Order Police") were the uniformed police force in Nazi Germany from 1936 to 1945. The Orpo was absorbed into the Nazi monopoly of power after regional police jurisdiction was removed in favour of t ...
(''Ordnungspolizei'') units for security duties in
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
. It was redesignated as the 20th Police Regiment in mid-1942 before it received the
SS title in early 1943.
Formation and organization
Police Regiment Bohemia was created shortly after the occupation of Czechoslovakia in March 1939. Assigned were six battalions numbered I through VI, although they were renumbered in the 200 series in October. Some of these were transferred elsewhere and only partially replaced so that the regiment had five battalions in early 1941, Police Battalions (''Polizei-Batallion'')
32,
316,
317,
319, and
320. All of these units were transferred to Russia after
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...
in June and gradually replaced by three newly formed battalions, Reserve Police Battalion Prague, Reserve Police Battalion Kolin, and Reserve Police Battalion Klattau. When the regiment was renamed in July 1942, the battalions were redesignated as the regiment's first through third
battalion
A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...
s, respectively, although their headquarters
companies
A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether natural, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specifi ...
were not formed until 23 January 1943. All of the police regiments were redesignated as SS police units on 24 February. In April, I Battalion became part of
Police Rifle Regiment 33 (''Polizei-Schützen-Regiment'') and was later replaced by Police Training Battalion Klagenfurt and Graz. In October it became independent and was sent to Italy. II Battalion was transferred to Hungary in March 1944 and was redesignated as II Battalion of the
1st SS Police Regiment in August.
War crimes
The regiment has been implicated in two incidents of war crimes in Italy in June 1944 with 4 civilians killed. An other one took place at a small village called San Michele Arcangelo at the 7th of April 1944, carfiday. Victims were 18 civilians only very young children, one only 2 years old, women and elderlys.
Notes
References
* Arico, Massimo. ''Ordnungspolizei: Encyclopedia of the German Police Battalions'', Stockholm: Leandoer and Ekholm (2010).
*Tessin, Georg & Kannapin, Norbert. ''Waffen-SS under Ordnungspolizei im Kriegseinsatz 1939–1945: Ein Überlick anhand der Feldpostübersicht'', Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio Verlag (2000).
{{Nazi war crimes in Italy
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