The 4th SS Police Regiment (german: SS-Polizei-Regiment 4) was named the 4th Police Regiment (''Polizei-Regiment 4'') when it was temporarily formed in 1939 from existing
Order Police
The ''Ordnungspolizei'' (), abbreviated ''Orpo'', meaning "Order Police", were the uniformed police force in Nazi Germany from 1936 to 1945. The Orpo organisation was absorbed into the Nazi monopoly on power after regional police jurisdiction w ...
(''Ordnungspolizei'') units for security duties during the
invasion of Poland. The second formation was ordered in 1942 from existing
Order Police battalions in
Occupied France
The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...
. 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 (, yi, קעלץ, Keltz) is a city in southern 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 bank ...
,
Poland, 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 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
The Police Battalion 316 (''Polizeibattalion 316'') was a formation of the Order Police (uniformed police) during the Nazi era. During Operation Barbarossa, it was subordinated to the SS and deployed in German-occupied areas, specifically the Ar ...
in
Upper Carniola,
Slovenia, and
Police Battalion 323 in
Occupied Poland 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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