2nd SS Police Regiment

2nd SS Police Regiment
Country Nazi Germany
BranchOrder Police under the command of the SS
TypeSecurity
SizeRegiment
Garrison/HQWehrkreis I

The 2nd SS Police Regiment (German: SS-Polizei-Regiment 2) was initially named the 2nd Police Regiment (Polizei-Regiment 2) when it was formed in 1942 from existing Order Police (Ordnungspolizei) units for security duties in Occupied Europe. It was redesignated as an SS unit in early 1943.

Formation and organization

The regiment was ordered formed in July 1942 in Tilsit, East Prussia (now Sovetsk, Kaliningrad Oblast), but the regimental headquarters and the signal company were not formed until 2 September.[1] Police Battalion 11 (Polizei-Batallion 11), Police Battalion 13 and Police Battalion 22, the regiment's first through third battalions, respectively, were withdrawn from Russia to Tilsit between July and September to be reorganized and rebuilt.[2] The regiment was reinforced with three batteries of artillery on 29 January 1943 which were consolidated into Police Artillery Battalion I (Polizei-Geschütz Abetilung I) on 8 September. All of the police regiments were redesignated as SS police units on 24 February 1943.[3]

Activities

The regiment took part in numerous anti-partisan operations in Russia, including Operation Adler in July–August 1942, Operation Wisent in November,[1] Operation Zauberflöte in April 1943[4] and Operation Hermann in August.[1]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Tessin & Kanapin, p. 615
  2. ^ Arico, pp. 121, 131, 140; Tessin & Kanapin, pp. 615, 629
  3. ^ Tessin & Kannapin, p. 557
  4. ^ Blood, pp. 184–86

References

  • Arico, Massimo. Ordnungspolizei: Encyclopedia of the German Police Battalions, Stockholm: Leandoer and Ekholm (2010). ISBN 978-91-85657-99-5
  • Blood, Phillip W. Hitler's Bandit Hunters: The SS and the Nazi Occupation of Europe, Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books (2006). ISBN 978-1-59797-021-1
  • Tessin, Georg & Kannapin, Norbert. Waffen-SS under Ordnungspolizei im Kriegseinsatz 1939–1945: Ein Überlick anhand der Feldpostübersicht, Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio Verlag (2000). ISBN 3-7648-2471-9