The 4th SS Police Regiment () was named the 4th Police Regiment (''Polizei-Regiment 4'') when it was temporarily formed in 1939 from existing
Order Police (''Ordnungspolizei'') units for security duties during the
invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...
. The second formation was ordered in 1942 from existing
Order Police battalions in
Occupied France. It was redesignated as an
SS unit in early 1943.
Formation and organization
The 4th Police Regiment was formed on 16 September 1939 in
Kielce
Kielce (; ) is a city in south-central Poland and the capital of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. In 2021, it had 192,468 inhabitants. The city is in the middle of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (Holy Cross Mountains), on the banks of the Silnic ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
, from elements of Police Group 6 (''Polizeigruppe 6'') for security duties in the rear area of the
3rd Army during the
invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...
. The regimental headquarters was redesignated as
Police Regiment Warsaw (''Polizei-Regiment Warschau'') around November.
The regiment was ordered to be reformed in July 1942 in France, but the regimental headquarters was not formed until 16 April 1943; in the meantime its battalions were controlled by Police Regiment Griese (''Polize-Regiment Griese'').
[Tessin & Kanapin, p. 617] Police Battalion 316 in
Upper Carniola
Upper Carniola ( ; ; ) is a traditional region of Slovenia, the northern mountainous part of the larger Carniola region. The largest town in the region is Kranj, and other urban centers include Kamnik, Jesenice, Jesenice, Jesenice, Domžale and ...
,
Slovenia
Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
, and
Police Battalion 323 in
Occupied Poland
' (Norwegian language, Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV 2 (Norway), TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. ...
were redesignated as the regiment's first and second battalions, respectively, and the third battalion was newly formed. The first two battalions were transferred to France shortly afterwards.
[Arico, pp. 457, 492; Tessin & Kanapin, p. 616] All of the police regiments were redesignated as SS police units on 24 February 1943.
[Tessin & Kannapin, p. 557]
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).
{{SS Police Regts
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