13th SS Police Regiment

13th SS Police Regiment Nazi Germany Schutzstaffel Security Regiment Wehrkreis XI The 13th SS Police Regiment (de SS-Polizei-Regiment 13) was initially named the 13th Police Regiment (Polizei-Regiment 13) when it was formed in 1942 by the redesignation of Police Regiment Centre (Polizei-Regiment Mitte) for security duties on the Eastern Front. It was redesignated as an SS unit in early 1943. Formation and organization The regiment was formed in July 1942 in western Russia from Police Regiment Centre.Arico, pp. 84, 265, 387; Tessin & Kanapin, p. 620 All of the police regiments were redesignated as SS police units on 24 February 1943.Tessin & Kannapin, p. 557 The regiment was reinforced by an artillery battery in 1943–1944. Activities The 13th SS Police Regiment participated in Operation Zauberflöte in April 1943 in Minsk, Belarus (Reichskommissariat Ostland). This was an operation intended to cordon off the city so that it could be searched for "bandits, Bolshevik terror and saboteur troops, operatives and helpers" under the overall leadership of Gerret Korsemann, the Higher SS and Police Leader for Central Russia.Blood, pp. 184–86 It continued to operate in Belarus and western Russia on anti-partisan duties through April 1944; it had been transferred to Slovenia by August. Notes 30em References Arico, Massimo. Ordnungspolizei: Encyclopedia of the German Police Battalions, Stockholm: Leandoer and Ekholm (2010). 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). 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). 3-7648-2471-9 #