List of Knight's Cross recipients 4th SS Polizei Panzer Grenadier Division

The SS Polizei Division was one of the thirty-eight divisions fielded as part of the Waffen-SS during World War II.

The division was formed in 1939 as part of the SS-controlled Regular Police, and was transferred to the Waffen-SS in 1942. After a variety of splits and reunions it was eventually upgraded to a Panzergrenadier division, the 4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division. It surrendered to the Americans at the end of the war.

The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grades were based on four separate enactments. The first enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 1573 of September 1, 1939 instituted the Iron Cross and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. As the war progressed some of the recipients distinguished themselves further and a higher grade, the Oak Leaves to Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was instituted. The Oak Leaves, as they were commonly referred to, were based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 849 of June 3, 1940. In 1941 two higher grades of the Knight's Cross were instituted. The enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 613 of September 28, 1941 introduced the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. At the end of 1944 the last and final grade, the Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds, based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt 1945 I S. 11 of December 29, 1944 concluded the variants of the Knight's Cross.

Prerequisites

To qualify for the Knight's Cross, a soldier had to already hold the 1939 Iron Cross First Class, though the Iron Cross I Class was awarded concurrently with the Knight's Cross in rare cases. Unit commanders could also be awarded the medal for exemplary conduct by the unit as a whole.

Grades

The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was divided into five grades, excluding the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross:

• Knights Cross
• Knights Cross with Oak Leaves
• Knights Cross with Oak Leaves and swords
• Knights Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds
• Knights Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds

Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords

• Helmut Dörner SS-Oberführer 4th SS Polizei Panzer Grenadier Division 1 February 1945.

Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves

• Alfred Wünnenberg SS-Brigadeführer SS Polizei Division 23 April 1942
• Helmut Dörner SS-Standartenführer 8th SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment 16 November 1944.

Knight's Cross

HQ Staff

• Walter Krüger SS-Brigadeführer SS Polizei Division 13 December 1941

1st SS Polizei Schutzen Regiment

• Karl Schümers, Sturmbannführer II./1st SS Polizei Schützen Regiment 30 September 1942
• Otto Gieseke, Standartenführer und Oberst der Schupo, commander 1st SS Polezei Schutzen Regiment
• Wilhelm Dietrich SS-Hauptsturmführer I./1st SS Polizei Schützen Regiment 15 October 1944

2nd SS Polizei Schutzen Regiment

• Hans Christian Schulze SS-Standartenführer 2nd SS Polizei Schützen Regiment 11 September 1941
• Rudolf Pannier Major I./2nd SS Polizei Schützen Regiment 11 May 1942

3rd SS Polizei Schutzen Regiment

• Alfred Wünnenberg SS-Standartenführer 3rd SS Polizei Schützen Regiment 1 November 1941

2nd SS Polizei Regiment

• Günther Anhalt Standartenführer 2nd SS Polizei Regiment 12 August 1944
• Helmut Dörner Sturmbannführer und Major der Schupo II./2nd SS Polizei Regiment 15 May 1942
• Bruno Walden Major der Schupo III./2nd SS Polizei Regiment 18 January 1945

3rd SS Polizei Panzergrenadier-Regiment

• Hans Traupe, Sturmbannführer und Major der Schupo, commander I./3rd SS Pol Gren.Rgt 23 February 1944

SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Regiment 7

• Otto Prager SS-Sturmbannführer 7th SS Polizei Panzer Grenadier Regiment 9 December 1944

SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Regiment 8

• Karl Auer Hauptsturmführer I./8th SS Polizei Panzer Grenadier Regiment 31 October 1944
• Martin Tappe, Obersturmbannführer Commander, 8th SS Polizei Panzer Grenadier Regiment 28 March 1945

SS Panzer Battalion 4

• Alois Etthöfer SS-Sturmbannführer 4th SS Panzer Battalion 17 March 1945
• Hans Havik SS-Untersturmführer 1st Company, 4th SS Panzer Battalion 6 May 1945
• Richard Utgenannt SS-Hauptscharführer 3rd Company, 4th SS Polizei Panzer Battalion 10 November 1944

SS Polizei Artillery Regiment 4

• Friedrich Wilhelm Bock SS-Obersturmführer und Oberstleutnant der Schupo II./4th SS Polizei Artillery Regiment 28 March 1943

SS Polizei Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion 4

• Johannes Scherg SS-Obersturmführer 1st Company, 4th SS Polizei Panzer Reconnaisannce Battalion 23 October 1944
• Heinz Jürgens, SS-Hauptsturmführer Commander 4th SS Polizei Panzer Reconnaisannce Battalion, 9 May 1945

SS Polizei Panzerjager Battalion 4

• Rudolf Seitz SS-Unterscharführer 1st Company, 4th SS Polizei, Panzerjager Battalion 21 October 1942

See also

• 4th SS Polizei Division

References

• SEEMEN, Gerhard von: Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939-1945. Podzun-Pallas, 1976.
• SCHERZER, Veit: Knight's Cross Recipients 1939 - 1945 (Paperback) by Enid Blyton, 1999

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