26th SS Police Regiment
military unit
The 26th SS Police Regiment (German: SS-Polizei-Regiment 23) was initially named Police Regiment North Norway (Polizei-Regiment Nord-Norwegen) when it was formed in early 1941 after the German invasion of Norway in 1940 from existing Order Police (Ordnungspolizei) units for security duties there. It was redesignated as the 26th Police Regiment in mid-1942 before it received the SS title in early 1943.
Formation and organization
Police Regiment North Norway was formed on 16 February 1941 with Police Battalions (Polizei-Bataillon) 256, 302 and 312 under its control. The regiment maintained a strength of three battalions through July 1942, although the individual battalions were frequently rotated in and out. The regiment was renamed the 26th Police Regiment in July 1942 and Police Battalions 251, 255, and 256 were redesignated as the regiment's first through third battalions, respectively. All of the police regiments were redesignated as SS police units on 24 February 1943. The regiment was transferred to German in May and arrived in Belarus the following month. It was destroyed in July 1944 and formally disbanded in November.
Notes
References
Arico, Massimo. Ordnungspolizei: Encyclopedia of the German Police Battalions, Stockholm: Leandoer and Ekholm (2010).
The public source identifies “26th SS Police Regiment” as military unit. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around 26th, Police and Regiment.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “26th SS Police Regiment”, the useful work is to connect “military unit” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q46597139. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1941, 1940, 1942 and 1943.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “26th SS Police Regiment”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow 26th SS Police Regiment primary sources, 26th SS Police Regiment archive and 26th research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “26th SS Police Regiment”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “26th SS Police Regiment” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.