Police division. SS police division near Leningrad

The division was formed in October 1939 on the basis of the Ordnungspolizei and the Allgemeine-SS reserve. At first, the division was led by Lieutenant General Karl Pfeffor-Wildenbruch. At first, the division was part of the occupation forces in Poland, and then participated
in the French campaign. After the surrender of France, the division remained in the west until the start of the war with the USSR. In June 1941, the division became part of the Army Group "North" and participated in the attack on Leningrad. The division was poorly trained and equipped, so it could not reach
impressive results. In stubborn battles near Volkhov and in the region of Lake Ladoga, the division suffered heavy losses. From spring to summer 1943, the division participated in the fight against partisans in Bohemia and Moravia (Czechoslovakia). Then the division was transferred
to Yugoslavia, where the police had to fight with Tito's partisans. Both sides showed no mercy to each other. In March 1944, the division was transferred to Greece, where it again became part of the occupying forces. The division was especially "famous" in punitive operations in the Larissa region. At the end of 1944, the division was sent to Hungary, where it participated in defensive battles. Then the division moved further north.
In the battle for Danzig (Gdansk), the division suffered heavy losses and was withdrawn to Berlin, where it was finally defeated.
The last commander of the division was the veteran Arnhem SS Standartenführer Walter Harzer.

SS-Polizei-Grenadier-Division

The 35th SS Police Division was one of many "divisions" formed at the very end of the war. The formation of the division began in February 1945
on the basis of the Dresden police school and the SS Junker school in Braunschweig. In terms of numbers, the division was inferior to a full-blooded regiment. In the last weeks of the war, the division
fought on the Eastern Front in the Nissa area and was surrounded by units
Red Army in May 1945 near Prague.
It is widely believed that the police divisions had a low fighting capacity. Indeed, the police divisions could never be compared in terms of equipment and training with such elite SS divisions as the LSSAH or "Das Reich" and corresponded in these indicators rather to ordinary Wehrmacht infantry divisions. Nevertheless, the 4th SS police division fought quite successfully and 15 soldiers of its members were awarded the Knight's Cross.

Uniforms and insignia
The personnel of the SS police division at first wore a uniform consisting of both SS and police uniforms. Standard SS or army gray uniform
worn with an SS eagle on the left sleeve.
Shoulder straps had a green piping. Buttonholes - army or police sample - had a piping of the same color as shoulder straps. In February 1942, the division finally became part of the SS troops, so the personnel of the division began to wear exclusively SS insignia.
Hats, formerly of the police type, were also replaced by the headgear used by the SS troops.
The personnel of the police division wore a cuff tape. Initially, it was a black viscose ribbon with a piping woven with silver thread and an emblem - a wreath with an eagle and a swastika. In December 1942, a new ribbon appeared, with the inscription "SS-Polizei Division". The letters were
embroidered with silver thread by machine (private and non-commissioned officers) or by hand (officers). Since 1943, the machine-made ribbon has been worn by all military personnel, regardless of rank. However, this can be seen from photographs taken at different times, many soldiers and officers of the division did not wear any cuff tapes.

SS candidates who served in the police wore runes embroidered with silver thread on a gray base. SS” on the left breast pocket of the tunic. During the early years of the division, military personnel often wore police insignia in combination with a runic patch.

Little is known of reliable information about the uniform and insignia used in the Italian parts of the SS, even less is known about the Italian field
gendarmerie. Photographs show that soldiers from the 29. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS wore ragtag Italian uniforms with Italian and SS insignia. Initially, Italian insignia was embroidered over a red field, then the color of the field
changed to black. At least one copy of the Italian gendarme gorget has survived to this day. It is generally similar to the German model, only the SS
the eagle clutches in its paws not a swastika, but lictor rods and an ax, and “Gendarmeria” is written on the scroll.

Confessions of Kurt Rettel:
sitting in the trenches
bastard officers
And, the most interesting thing is that the prisoner claims that there are no tanks near Leningrad, everyone went to Moscow (the interrogation took place on September 28-29, in 3-4 days the offensive will begin and the Germans will close the huge cauldron near Vyazma; the command believed that the tanks were still near Leningrad )
Recording soundtrack

SURVEY
a prisoner of war of the German army, 10th company of the 3rd battalion of the 1st division of the police division "SS" soldier KURT RETTEL.

Born on June 2, 1931 near the city of Saabruken. He graduated from the 8th grade of the public school. A mechanic by profession, before being drafted into the army, he worked in the city of Saabruken at the military factory Dingler. The plant produces armor and grenades. Drafted into the army in 1939 in the reserve battalion in August 1940 drafted into the police division "SS" in France

CIRCUMSTANCES OF CAPTURE

The 10th company was on the defensive in the B. Kuzylino area. The left flank of the company had a gap with a neighbor on the left, advancing on the morning of September 28, the Russians began to bypass our trench and cut off the escape route. There were 4 of us left in the trench, the rest, apparently, managed to leave.
The SS division is commanded by Major General Krueger. Previously, the division was commanded by Police General Malvarshtet, in early August he was killed near Luga during an artillery attack on the command post of the division. A prisoner of war spoke of him like this: “He was a big pig, he wanted to earn a“ knight’s cross ”
Rushed into the fire. When he became dead, he received his cross.
the division consists of 1, 2 and 3 PPs and an artillery battalion /105 mm guns/ It has no tanks. 1 PP supported 6 150 mm guns, but four days ago, Russian artillery put four of them out of action. I pp has 1 and 3 battalions, the second battalion was destroyed in the battles near Luga. In the 10th company there are I and 2 platoons, the 3rd platoon of the 10th company was completely destroyed in the battles in the Pushkin area.
Tasks and location of parts
The division had the task of two points / 1 and 3 / to take up defense in the area of Pushkin, B. Kuzmino, Aleksandrovka, making attempts to move forward, capturing separate sections. The 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Infantry Division five days ago was assigned somewhere to the rear, as if battered in battles. He doesn’t know exactly the location of 2 pp, he heard somewhere behind. I pp 6-7.9 fought in the Krasnogvardeysk region, after that he acted in the paradise of Susanino and on 22.9 arrived in Pushkin. The division was waiting from day to day for a replacement. 26.9 infantry. advancing the regiment was able to take only individual dugouts.
The headquarters of the 3rd battalion of the 1st regiment in the village of Aleksandrovka, the headquarters of the regiment in the Sofia region. The prisoner heard that to the left of them there are 269 paragraphs.
The 10th company of the 1st regiment, while in training, occupied the following position: both platoons were located in one line, having trenches for every two people of the century between the trenches, a distance of 6-8 meters. There is no wire. Light machine guns are placed one for each compartment / or 4 eye-pas /. A platoon of heavy machine guns is deployed somewhere behind, does not know the exact location. Each squad leader has a machine gun, the soldiers are armed with Czech rifles.
Thus, the company has two heavy machine guns and 12 light machine guns.
The prisoner shows that the anti-tank rifles at their disposal
left, as the entire anti-tank crew was out of order. Of the three light grenade launchers available in the company, one remained, the other two were out of order, one had damaged materiel, the other had no calculation. There are anti-aircraft weapons, but they are located mainly in the depths, there are almost none at the forefront. According to the prisoner, they do not feel a shortage in the supply of ammunition. There are some hitches with delivery on certain days, but no more than for one day. Each soldier carries 45 rounds of ammunition. During the war, the "SS" units were very little indoors, as a rule, until the last day, day and night in the trenches. At night, in each trench, one sleeps, and the other is on duty. They hide from the rain under raincoats, and on those days when the water in the trenches is knee-deep, we still use our trenches. As a rule, the offensive begins in the morning, after artillery preparation. I could not explain the reasons for the lack of night activities

LOSSES AND REPLENISHMENTS

The prisoner showed that the division in each regiment has only two battalions, the third part was destroyed and the remnants went to replenish other battalions. At present, there are up to 300 people in the battalion with rear. Almost every company has two platoons with a total of no more than 60 people in the company. Only for 26.9
according to conversations among the soldiers, the 2nd company lost 28 people, the 9th company up to 20 people. After the capture of Luga, three weeks ago they received reinforcements in the amount of 1200 people. The 10th company received a replenishment of 32 people. The training of newly nailed soldiers is noticeably weaker than the personnel of the company. The last stout arrived almost all Germans. According to him, there are now 4 Czechs and about 30 Poznań Germans in the company. Sometimes there were small disagreements between them. He immediately adds - "But not all Germans head for Hitler"
The prisoner noted that they suffered the greatest losses in defense from artillery fire. The division suffered the greatest losses near Pulkovo and even more than near Luga, during the offensive / and attack / from machine-gun and automatic fire, losses are much "stronger than from artillery and bombardment"
When asked what is known about the transfer of troops and tanks, he answered the following: 6-7 days ago / apparently on September 21-22 / enemy units were withdrawn from this front and headed for Moscow. The prisoner himself saw the movement of tanks on the road to the south. He did not see any more tanks at the front.
According to conversations among the soldiers, 1st Infantry Division of the "SS" division, the reason for sending troops to the "Moscow direction" is that the German command made a mistake "by launching an offensive on the Leningrad front earlier. It was necessary to first take Moscow, and then attack Leningrad, and now this mistake is being corrected by sending troops there from the Leningrad Front.
According to rumors, Moscow should fall before Leningrad. Blockade measures will be taken against Leningrad in order to force the population to starve.
According to the testimony of the prisoner, there are no chemical troops in this area. Soldiers are supplied with gas masks, antiperspirant capes and pills. Recently, diseases of dysentery, influenza and scabies (mainly legs) have appeared in the regiment, patients are sent to the rear for treatment. The entire "SS" division has warm clothing. The officers promise that one of these days the entire division will be taken to the rear. Although, two days ago, overcoats were issued to the soldiers.
The prisoner of war showed that they now received the following signals for communication with aircraft and artillery: a green rocket - the enemy is advancing, a white rocket - we are here / this signal is constant and is given by one rocket - if the plane recognizes them, then a signal is given - a red star, in air is scattered into small stars. Red Rocket - move artillery fire forward. Smoke bomb with purple smoke - an attack on enemy tanks.

POLITICAL AND MORAL STATE

The prisoner showed that they were officially. it was announced, two or three weeks ago, that Petersburg had fallen, but the soldiers have lately seen that the city is firmly defended. In this regard, the soldiers have a somewhat depressed mood, especially since the units of the SS division have recently suffered heavy losses. This is further enhanced by the fact that in letters from their homeland they are asked how things are with Leningrad, reporting on their not particularly good household chores and the situation in the country. The prisoner said that from Germany he received a letter from his mother, who said that there were more difficulties in supplying food. A few days ago, we, i.e. soldier I, they said that famine was setting in Petersburg, that he would have to be starved out. And one more thing, that Sweden declared war on Germany, and Germany occupied Portugal. The prisoner does not know anything about the agreement between the Soviet Union and England and the USA, but the soldiers notice that English planes appear on the eastern front.
He saw Russian leaflets, but they don't let you read them, as soon as they see them, everyone is taken away. Three days ago, the prisoner Kurt tried to pick up the leaflet, but the officer shouted at him loudly. The captive Kurt spoke with admiration about the meeting that the Red Army soldiers had given him, and most importantly, that he was fed with bread and butter. “We were told that Leningrad was starving, and, apparently, we would rather get hungry,” Kurt said. He immediately told how they walked for three months without even having a swim. During these three months, they did not change their linen. And only a few days ago, going into some kind of hut, I saw an abandoned shirt, which I put on myself. Very often there is no hot food.
When asked if they had cases of refusing to shoot at the Russians, he answered the following: they put on three years ago, it was very cold, a rainy day, one comrade by name. Karl said: "Why are we shooting," so the officer immediately took him away and now it is not known Where is he located. We've all seen it, I don't know of any other cases.
In conclusion, he said: "Recently, relations between
officers and soldiers became much better. They began to treat us like human beings, and earlier, in peacetime, they treated us like cattle."

SS-Polizei-Grenadier-Division

The SS division "Policeman", despite its eerie name, was, in my opinion, the most decent formation of the Waffen SS operating on the Eastern Front. Of course, they were also beasts, like all the other Nibelungs who came to our land, but still they differed favorably from the others, and that's what.

As the classic used to say, cadres decide everything, and this was the fundamental difference between the “policemen”. The division, like some of our NKVD rifle divisions, was staffed by full-time employees of the internal affairs bodies, and in this German case, by policemen.

Heinrich Himmler, chief of the SS, also served as the German Minister of the Interior, which gave him power over the police and allowed him to form this unusual formation.

Naturally, the German policemen differed in their mentality and ideology from the same guards of the death camps, which were equipped with the Waffen SS division "Dead Head". Or from riff-raff bastards from all over Europe who staffed the legions of the Waffen SS.

In the second half of the war, the SS division “Policeman” was unified with other SS motorized divisions, and its personnel policy became less selective. But in 41-42, this "Cop" division of the Waffen SS stood apart, even having its own insignia, different from the rest of the SS.

Police roots made themselves felt. In the area of responsibility of the "Policeman", the infantry divisions of the Wehrmacht and the Spaniards from the Blue Division, who had the lot to be located in the neighborhood, were constantly under pressure from the ordnung planted by the "Policeman".

According to the recollections of residents of Nikolsky, where the division headquarters was located at one time, the driver of the Wehrmacht transport convoy, who crushed a local resident, was caught by the “policemen” and tried by a military field court. It is clear that in other places, such negligence of the Nibelung was not even considered a crime. There are other similar pieces of evidence.

SS cops, at the same time, were evil, tactically competent and stubborn soldiers. It was they who held back the Ivanovsky Piglet in the 42nd and held the defense of the Bottle Neck on the Sinyavin heights, during Operation Iskra, in the 43rd, not allowing ours to turn the breakthrough of the blockade of Leningrad into its complete removal. In general, they were still bastards.

Wolf Hook - rune and tactical sign of the division. Now it is actively used by right-wing clowns, who, under the “policemen”, would have been shot or, at best, would have eaten a gruel from the kitchen leftovers of the Nibelungs.

On the “Feat of the People” there was a confession of a policeman who thundered into our captivity back in the fall of 41. It is quite interesting, therefore, I present it to your attention.

Remember which Beast our grandfathers failed (I mean the division, not this pretzel), and hold the bar with dignity, brothers.

Group portrait of "policemen" taken here: http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/oper_1974/25776555/2327405/2327405_original.jpg

A photo of a "policeman" in a helmet with the original "chicken" of the division was taken here:
https://reibert.info/useralbums/91012/standalone?embedded=1

The photo of the "policeman" in a cap with the original "chicken" of the division was taken here:
http://milday.ru/uploads/posts/2011-06/1307588624_id3103.jpg

With unwavering respect,
Your Photonoid

POLICE REGIMENTS

Between 1940 and 1942 about 30 police regiments were created. These regiments, formed along the front line, were subdivided into battalions of 500 men and equipped with small arms. They were used primarily for anti-partisan operations in the occupied territories, although they sometimes had to engage in battle with enemy armed forces on the front line. One example of this is the Battle of Kholm, in Russia, in which the police units took part along with the German troops, counteracting the superior forces of the Soviet Army. On July 1, 1942, a special "shield" award was established - for the selfless defense of a section of the front line by the army and police forces in the period January-May 1942.

Some, but by no means all, of the soldiers of these police regiments were members of the SS or the NSDAP, fanatically loyal to Himmler, the titled head of the SS and police. They were sometimes used to assist the Einsatzgruppen in extermination of the Jews in the occupied territories and earned a bad reputation for their atrocities.

By 1943, Deluget's department of Orpo controlled not only the regular police, but also auxiliary units, such as the railway police, fire departments, postal police, and partly the rescue organization. In addition to everything, the SS took control of all local police units in the occupied territories.

In February 1943, the police detachments were renamed SS police regiments in order to demarcate themselves from the German police detachments and foreign auxiliary formations created from among the local population in the countries occupied by the Germans.

A large number of people in these countries were anti-communist in spirit and willingly offered their services to the Germans to protect their native places from the Soviet partisan detachments moving in the rear of the German troops. The number of volunteers was simply staggering. Of the so-called Volksdeutsche, 12 regiments were formed in Poland, 26 in Estonia. 64 battalions were created in Latvia and Lithuania, numbering 28 thousand people, in Ukraine an amazing number of volunteers was found - 70 thousand people, amounting to 71 battalions. In the Balkans, 15,000 Croats and 10,000 Serbs voluntarily entered the police units. Even in Albania, a sufficient number of volunteers were recruited to create two police battalions.

The behavior of some of these auxiliaries towards their compatriots was the same, and in other cases exceeded in its cruelty the behavior of the Einsatzgruppen. For example, during the Wehrmacht invasion of Poland, the local Volksdeutsche population formed their own self-defense militia (Selbstschutz) - after all, the statements about the atrocities of the Poles in the pre-war period against ethnic Germans were in no way caused solely by Nazi propaganda and had real grounds . The Wehrmacht initially took over the training and equipping of these detachments, but Hitler ordered their reorganization under the control of the Main Department of the Orpo.

Many of these Volksdeutsche were fanatical Nazis who wanted to settle old scores with the Poles who had previously bullied them. These detachments often showed a desire to assist the Einsatz teams in carrying out inhuman goals. Their behavior was so brutal that at least one Gauleiter demanded that they be disbanded after a civil administration had been established locally.

The same thing happened when Germany invaded the territory of the Soviet Union. The Wehrmacht created auxiliary volunteer formations with the sole purpose of "hunting" along with the Einsatzgruppen for partisans and Jews in the rear. In November 1941, Himmler gave the order to reorganize all auxiliary units into police units, referred to as "Schutzmannschaften". The reorganization, however, was only partial - some parts remained in the Ordnungspolizei, while others came under direct control of the SS. The action of these parts was varied. Their undoubted effectiveness was that they instilled fear in the civilian population, but their actions could not be compared with the actions of the Soviet partisans,

From the book Everyday Life in the United States in an Era of Prosperity and Prohibition by Caspi Andre

Policemen General Butler became famous for promising to enforce the law in Philadelphia. He carried out his functions as head of public security with great vigor. But by the end of the year, he gave up. One of the local officials remarked sadly: “There is nothing

From the book Russian-Ukrainian Wars author Sever Alexander

Police units In Ukraine, as in other occupied regions, in the summer of 1941, with the support of the German command, numerous self-defense and police units began to be created on the ground. Their main purpose was the destruction of those caught in the German

author Chuev Sergey Gennadievich

Local police formations A great need for police units began to be felt immediately after the occupiers swallowed up a significant European part of the USSR. In January 1942, the OKH issued an order that untied the hands of the command of the army groups for