4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division

The 4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division were formed in October 1939 to bypass Wehrmacht recruitment quotas on the Waffen-SS. Initially its personnel retained police ranks and insignia before being formally incorporated into the Wafer-SS in February 1942.

Between 1941 and 1943 they were assigned to Army Group North on the Eastern Front where they took part in Operation Barbarossa.

After being upgraded to a Panzergrenadier division in mid-1943, they were sent to Greece and the Balkans where they took part in anti-partisan operations and rear-area security.

Between 1944 and 1945, they served in Hungary, Slovakia and Pomerania. They were trapped during the Red Army’s Danzig offensive and were evacuated by sea to Swinemunde, before retreating westwards and surrendering to American forces near the Elba River in May 1945.