1943
In February 1943, the division saw action south of Lake Ladoga and was involved in a number of Soviet offensives when it was forced to withdraw to a new defensive line at Kolpino where it was successful in holding the Red Army, despite suffering heavy casualties.
It was at this point that units of the division were transferred to the west to retrain and upgrade to a Panzergrenadier Division; leaving a small Kampfgruppe (battlegroup) in the east and a Dutch Volunteer Legion, the Niederland, to make up the numbers. The Kampfgruppe was disbanded in May 1943, when the SS-Polizei-Panzergrenadier Division was ready for action.
The SS-Polizei Division did not return to the Soviet Union but was sent to the Balkans, where it undertook anti-partisan operations in northern Greece. During this time, the Gestapo recorded that the division was involved in war crimes and atrocities against the civilian population of Klissura. and the village of Distomo in what became known as the Distomo massacre.
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