The Polizei Division were attached to Army Group North, together with SS-Division Totenkopf, and formed the northern wing of
Barbarossa under Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb, and tasked with the mission to advance through the Baltic states and on to
Leningrad. The Polizei was initially part of the reserve in the advance. During heavy fighting for the Luga bridgehead in August 1941 the division lost over 2,000 soldiers including its commander SS-Gruppenführer Artur Mülverstedt. After a series of failed attacks in swampy and wooded terrain, the division, along with army formations, fought its way into the northern part of Luga, encircling and destroying the Soviet defenders. In January 1942, the division was moved to the
Volkhov River sector and on February it was assigned to the Waffen-SS, though most of division did not hold SS membership. Prior to the Barbarossa the SS-Kampfgruppe Nord had crossed the Norwegian-Finnish border and were ready at Salla on June 22 1941. The Nord was at the time mostly made up of conscripts from Hungary, Romania, and a few Norwegians. The commander of OKH Norwegen Generaloberst Nikolaus von Falkenhorst did, however, not trust their fighting ability, because even if the formation were well equipped, the men were poorly trained and lacked proper leadership. Nord's combat performance at Markajärvi-Salla was disappointing to say the least. At the time, just like with the Polizei and Totenkopf, the Nord was not made up of regular Waffen-SS troops. The Nord would receive German and Austrian replacements from the general élite pool of Waffen-SS thoroughly trained recruits in the winter of 1941-42, and the Totenkopf in the fall of 1942. From September 1941 the unit was officially designated SS-Division Nord. Top screenshot: an unidentified soldier of the Polizei carrying an MG34 tripod and a belt of 7.92 cartridges in 1941. Die Deutsche Wochenschau. Fair use. Middle image: an SS-Hauptsturmführer of the Nord congratulates his men after a successful mission in the Kiestinki area. Commons: Bundesarchiv. Bottom image: a snapshot taken during an occasion in North Karelia when sisters of the Finnish voluntary auxiliary paramilitary organization Lotta Svärd had baked cakes for the soldiers of the Nord. Photo by SS-Kriegsberichter Blaurock. U.S. National Archives. Fair use.
Arthur Mülverstadt having the dubious distinction of becoming the first SS General to be killed in action (10 August 1941).
ReplyDeleteThe above-mentioned organisation the female paramilitary Lotta Svärd of Finland had around 240,000 volunteer members during WW2. When the Continuation War ended, the organisation was suppressed by Communist Russia.
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