13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian)
Encyclopedia
The 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian) (from Bosnian
Bosnian language
Bosnian is a South Slavic language, spoken by Bosniaks. As a standardized form of the Shtokavian dialect, it is one of the three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina....

 Handžaru, meaning dirk
Dirk
A dirk is a short thrusting dagger, sometimes a cut-down sword blade mounted on a dagger hilt rather than a knife blade. It was historically used as a personal weapon for officers engaged in naval hand-to-hand combat during the Age of Sail.-Etymology:...

) was one of the thirty-eight divisions
Division (military)
A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...

 fielded as part of the Waffen-SS
Waffen-SS
The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...

 during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Its recruits were composed of Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

 Bosniaks
Bosniaks
The Bosniaks or Bosniacs are a South Slavic ethnic group, living mainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a smaller minority also present in other lands of the Balkan Peninsula especially in Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia...

. The Handschar division was a mountain infantry formation, the equivalent of the German "Gebirgsjäger
Gebirgsjäger
Gebirgsjäger, in English Mountain Riflemen, is the German designation for mountain infantry. The word Jäger is the traditional German term for rifleman...

" (Mountain troops) units. It was used to conduct operations against Yugoslav Partisans in the Independent State of Croatia
Independent State of Croatia
The Independent State of Croatia was a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany, established on a part of Axis-occupied Yugoslavia. The NDH was founded on 10 April 1941, after the invasion of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers. All of Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed to NDH, together with some parts...

 from February to September 1944.

History

After the fall of Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....

 on 16 April 1941 to Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

, the extremist Croat nationalist and Fascist Ante Pavelić
Ante Pavelic
Ante Pavelić was a Croatian fascist leader, revolutionary, and politician. He ruled as Poglavnik or head, of the Independent State of Croatia , a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany in Axis-occupied Yugoslavia...

, who had been in exile in Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....

's Italy, was appointed Poglavnik
Poglavnik
Poglavnik was the title used by Ante Pavelić, leader of World War II Croatian fascist movement Ustaše and of the Independent State of Croatia between 1941 and 1945.-Etymology and usage:...

or leader of a new Ustaše
Ustaše
The Ustaša - Croatian Revolutionary Movement was a Croatian fascist anti-Yugoslav separatist movement. The ideology of the movement was a blend of fascism, Nazism, and Croatian nationalism. The Ustaše supported the creation of a Greater Croatia that would span to the River Drina and to the border...

 state - the Independent State of Croatia
Independent State of Croatia
The Independent State of Croatia was a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany, established on a part of Axis-occupied Yugoslavia. The NDH was founded on 10 April 1941, after the invasion of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers. All of Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed to NDH, together with some parts...

 . The Yugoslav
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...

 provinces of Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

, Bosnia-Herzegovina and parts of Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

 were reconstituted as a pro-Nazi satellite entity under joint Nazi and Italian occupation. The Ustaše almost immediately launched a vicious campaign of violence directed at Serb population.

Pavelić ordered a property in Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...

 be converted into a mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...

 that he named after himself in his efforts to secure the loyalty of the Bosnian Muslims, the Poglavnik's Mosque. Despite Pavelić's assurances of equality, it wasn't long before many Bosniaks became dissatisfied with Croatian rule. An Islamic leader reported that not one Muslim occupied an influential post in the (local) administration. Fierce fighting broke out between Ustaše and Partisans. A number of Ustaše units believed that the Bosniaks were communist sympathizers and burned their villages and murdered civilians. Serb victims of the violence were inclined to view the Bosniaks as collaborators.

Bosnian Muslim elite and notables issued resolutions or memorandums in various cities that publicly denounced Croat-Nazi collaborationist measures, laws and violence against Serbs: Prijedor
Prijedor
Prijedor is a city and municipality in the north-western part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in the Bosanska Krajina region....

 (23 September), Resolution of Sarajevo Muslims
Resolution of Sarajevo Muslims
The Resolution of Sarajevo Muslims or Muslim Resolution of 1941 was one of the resolutions of Muslims from Bosnia and Herzegovina declared by 108 notable Muslim citizens of Sarajevo during the Second World War in Sarajevo on October 12, 1941...

 (12 October), Mostar
Mostar
Mostar is a city and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the largest and one of the most important cities in the Herzegovina region and the center of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation. Mostar is situated on the Neretva river and is the fifth-largest city in the country...

 (21 October), Banja Luka
Banja Luka
-History:The name "Banja Luka" was first mentioned in a document dated February 6, 1494, but Banja Luka's history dates back to ancient times. There is a substantial evidence of the Roman presence in the region during the first few centuries A.D., including an old fort "Kastel" in the centre of...

 (12 November), Bijeljina
Bijeljina
Bijeljina is a city and municipality in northeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina. The city is the second largest in the Republika Srpska entity after Banja Luka and fifth largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is situated on the flat rich plains of Semberija...

 (2 December) and Tuzla
Tuzla
Tuzla is a city and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the time of the 1991 census, it had 83,770 inhabitants, while the municipality 131,318. Taking the influx of refugees into account, the city is currently estimated to have 174,558 inhabitants...

 (11 December). The resolutions condemned the Ustaše in Bosnia and Herzegovina, both for their mistreatment of Muslims and for their attempts at turning Muslims and Serbs against one another. One memorandum declared that since the beginning of the Ustaše regime, that Muslims dreaded the lawless activities that some Ustaše, some Croatian government authorities, and various illegal groups perpetrated against the Serbs.

In fall of 1942, the SS Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...

 and SS-General Gottlob Berger
Gottlob Berger
Gottlob Berger was a German Nazi who held the rank of Obergruppenführer during World War II and was later convicted of war crimes.In 1939, he was Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler's main recruiting officer...

 approached Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...

 with the proposal to raise a Bosnian Muslim SS division. Both the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...

 and the SS were concerned about the rapidly deteriorating security situation in the NDH that tied down German military personnel that could be better employed elsewhere. By the New Year of 1943 over 100,000 Bosnian Muslims had been killed (9% of all Bosniaks at the time) and 250,000 had been expelled from their homes. "The Muslims" remarked one German General, "bear the special status of being persecuted by all others".

Himmler fantasized that there was a fanatical, blind obedience in the Bosniaks. He thought that Muslim men would make perfect SS soldiers as Islam "promises them Heaven if they fight and are killed in action." As for their ethnic background and SS requirements, the widely accepted belief that the Bosniaks were in fact descendants of 6th century Goths
Goths
The Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....

 was even supported by Himmler as well as Bosniak autonomists.

Himmler was also inspired by the noted successes of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian Infantry
Bosnian-Herzegovinian Infantry
The Bosnian-Herzegovinian Infantry was a branch of the army of Austria-Hungary, which had been granted some special and unique privileges distinct from other units...

 in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. George Lepre wrote, "Himmler endeavoured to restore what he called "an old Austrian" tradition by reviving the Bosnian regiments of the former Austro-Hungarian army in the form of a Bosnian Muslim
Bosniaks
The Bosniaks or Bosniacs are a South Slavic ethnic group, living mainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a smaller minority also present in other lands of the Balkan Peninsula especially in Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia...

 SS Division. Once raised, this division was to engage and destroy Tito's Partisan forces operating in North-eastern Bosnia, thus restoring local 'order'. To be sure, Himmler's primary concern in the region was not the security of the local Muslim population, but the welfare of ethnic German settlers to the north in Srem
Srem
Śrem is a town on the Warta river in central Poland. It has been situated in the Greater Poland Voivodeship since 1999; from 1975 to 1998 it was part of the Poznań Voivodeship...

. "Srem is the breadbasket of Croatia, and hopefully it and our beloved German settlements will be secured. I hope that the area south of Srem will be liberated by [...] the Bosnian division [...] so that we can at least restore partial order in this ridiculous (Croatian) state.

Hitler formally approved the project on 10 February 1943, and Himmler put Artur Phleps
Artur Phleps
Artur Martin Phleps was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian and German officer who held the rank of Obergruppenführer in the Waffen-SS during World War II. An Austro-Hungarian Army officer in World War I, he served in the Romanian Army during the interwar period, before joining the military forces...

, commander of the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen
7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen
The 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen. was formed on March 1942 from Volksdeutsche volunteers from Vojvodina, Croatia, Hungary and Romania, it was initially called the SS-Freiwilligen-Division Prinz Eugen....

, in charge with raising the first SS division composed of non-Germanic people.

Recruitment

The SS Standartenführer
Standartenführer
Standartenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in the so-called Nazi combat-organisations: SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK...

 Karl von Krempler
Karl von Krempler
Karl von Krempler was a senior SS Standartenführer and SS-und Polizeiführer during World War II responsible for recruiting Muslims from Bosnia and the Sanjak region into the Waffen SS....

, a specialist in Islam, was charged by Himmler and Artur Phleps
Artur Phleps
Artur Martin Phleps was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian and German officer who held the rank of Obergruppenführer in the Waffen-SS during World War II. An Austro-Hungarian Army officer in World War I, he served in the Romanian Army during the interwar period, before joining the military forces...

 with organising the recruitment of Muslims from Bosnia into the Waffen-SS
Waffen-SS
The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...

.

"On 3 March [1942], Phleps met with fellow SS officer Karl von Krempler, who, together with Croatian government official Dr. Alija Šuljak, was to conduct the recruiting effort. The campaign began on the twentieth, when the multi-lingual von Krempler and Dr. Šuljak, accompanied by several other disgnitaries began an eighteen-day recruiting tour through eleven Bosnian districts."

Dr. Alija Šuljak and von Krempler soon fell out over the aims and purposes of the proposed Division. The Bosniak doctor, an entirely political appointee, criticized von Krempler's spoken Serbian dialect and his use of traditional Islamic colours and emblems (green flags and crescent moons) rather than the new Ustaše symbols during recruitment. When he reached Tuzla
Tuzla
Tuzla is a city and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the time of the 1991 census, it had 83,770 inhabitants, while the municipality 131,318. Taking the influx of refugees into account, the city is currently estimated to have 174,558 inhabitants...

 in central Bosnia, von Krempler met the Muslim militia leader Major Muhamed Hadžiefendić
Muhamed Hadžiefendić
Muhamed Hadžiefendić was Croatian Domobran senior officer and commander of the Croatian Home Guard unit 'Volunteer Detachment of People's Uprising' , a World War II Croatian Muslim militia in Independent State of Croatia.-Life:Muhamed Hadžiefendić was born in Tuzla...

, who was then officially serving in an under-equipped Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

n army unit. On 28 March Major Muhamed Hadžiefendić
Muhamed Hadžiefendić
Muhamed Hadžiefendić was Croatian Domobran senior officer and commander of the Croatian Home Guard unit 'Volunteer Detachment of People's Uprising' , a World War II Croatian Muslim militia in Independent State of Croatia.-Life:Muhamed Hadžiefendić was born in Tuzla...

 escourted von Krempler to Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....

, where he introduced him to the leader of the Islamic clergy in all Bosnia, the Reis-ul-Ulema, Hafiz Muhamed Pandža, and other leading Bosniak politicians not involved with the Ustaše. The Croatian regime and Envoy Siegfried Kasche of the Reich Foreign Affairs Ministry were furious, demanding von Krempler be removed immediately. However the SS ignored this and von Krempler continued to sign men up, including both Muslim and Catholic deserters from the Croatian armed forces.

In Spring 1943, the Mufti
Mufti
A mufti is a Sunni Islamic scholar who is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law . In religious administrative terms, a mufti is roughly equivalent to a deacon to a Sunni population...

 of Jerusalem, Mohammad Amin al-Husayni, (a.k.a. Amin al-Husseini), was invited by the Nazis to assist in the organizing and recruiting Bosniaks into the Waffen SS and other units in Yugoslavia. He was escourted by SS Standartenführer
Standartenführer
Standartenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in the so-called Nazi combat-organisations: SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK...

 Karl von Krempler
Karl von Krempler
Karl von Krempler was a senior SS Standartenführer and SS-und Polizeiführer during World War II responsible for recruiting Muslims from Bosnia and the Sanjak region into the Waffen SS....

, who also spoke fluent Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...

. the Mufti successfully convinced the Bosniaks to ignore the declarations of the Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....

, Mostar
Mostar
Mostar is a city and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the largest and one of the most important cities in the Herzegovina region and the center of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation. Mostar is situated on the Neretva river and is the fifth-largest city in the country...

, and Banja Luka
Banja Luka
-History:The name "Banja Luka" was first mentioned in a document dated February 6, 1494, but Banja Luka's history dates back to ancient times. There is a substantial evidence of the Roman presence in the region during the first few centuries A.D., including an old fort "Kastel" in the centre of...

 ulema (Islamic clerics), who in 1941 forbade Bosnian Muslims from collaborating with the Ustaše. Croatian Foreign Minister Dr. Mladen Lorkovic suggested that the Division be named "SS Ustasa Division", not an SS Division but a Croatian unit raised with SS assistance, and that its regimental names be given regional names such as Bosna, Krajina, Una etc.
The Encyclopedia of the Holocaust states that "The Germans made a point of publicizing the fact that Husseini had flown from Berlin to Sarajevo for the sole purpose of giving his blessing to the Muslim army and inspecting its arms and training exercises". According to Aleksa Djilas in The Nation That Wasn't that al-Husayni: "accepted, visited Bosnia, and convinced some important Muslim leaders that a Muslim SS division would be in the interest of Islam."

Ante Pavelić
Ante Pavelic
Ante Pavelić was a Croatian fascist leader, revolutionary, and politician. He ruled as Poglavnik or head, of the Independent State of Croatia , a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany in Axis-occupied Yugoslavia...

, the Croatian leader, objected to the recruitment of an exclusively Muslim division and was concerned about a Muslim bid for independence, considering Muslim areas to be a part of the Independent State of Croatia
Independent State of Croatia
The Independent State of Croatia was a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany, established on a part of Axis-occupied Yugoslavia. The NDH was founded on 10 April 1941, after the invasion of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers. All of Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed to NDH, together with some parts...

. As a compromise the division was called "Croatian" and included at least 10% Catholic Croats.

Al-Husayni insisted that "The most important task of this division must be to protect the homeland and families (of the Bosnian volunteers); the division must not be permitted to leave Bosnia", but this request was ignored by the Germans.

According to Chris Bishop, Himmler convinced himself that Balkan Muslims were neither Slavs nor Turks
Turkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...

, but were really Aryans
Aryan race
The Aryan race is a concept historically influential in Western culture in the period of the late 19th century and early 20th century. It derives from the idea that the original speakers of the Indo-European languages and their descendants up to the present day constitute a distinctive race or...

 who had adopted Islam. He believed the Muslims of Bosnia and Herzegovina to be the same, racially, as the Croats, and saw Croats as descendants of Gothic
Goths
The Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....

 and Persian
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...

 stock.

Recruitment for the division fell as the war progressed and when rumors spread that the division was going to leave Bosnia, some Muslims deserted. Many times with their weapons, entire companies left with heavy weaponry to just make a last stand in Bosnia and not in a foreign country instead.

Hussein Biscevic (Husejin Biščević or Biščević-beg; born 28 July 1884) was the highest ranking (and perhaps the oldest) Bosnian military officer to volunteer. Biscevic had served in the Austro–Hungarian Army and the Nazis appointed him SS Obersturmbannführer
Obersturmbannführer
Obersturmbannführer was a paramilitary Nazi Party rank used by both the SA and the SS. It was created in May 1933 to fill the need for an additional field grade officer rank above Sturmbannführer as the SA expanded. It became an SS rank at the same time...

(Lieutenant Colonel) assigning him to Flak Abteilung 13 in August 1943.

At the end of 1944, the separate Kama division
23rd Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Kama
The 23rd Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Kama was a military formation composed of German officers and Bosniak soldiers in the Waffen-SS during World War II. The numerical designation "23rd" was given to the 4th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Brigade Nederland after the division was disbanded in...

 was merged into the Handschar division.

Service

The Bosnian Waffen SS units were recruited to combat Communist Partisans, including residents of villages from where many of the recruits themselves originated. They operated in north-eastern Bosnia and partly in Srem.

Training

Sent to France, they were in training until November 1943, when they were sent to the old Prussian military camp at Neuhammer, Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...

. The unit returned to Bosnia in February 1944.

Composition

The Handschar division was commanded by German officers, and composed of native Germans from Croatia (Volksdeutsche
Volksdeutsche
Volksdeutsche - "German in terms of people/folk" -, defined ethnically, is a historical term from the 20th century. The words volk and volkische conveyed in Nazi thinking the meanings of "folk" and "race" while adding the sense of superior civilization and blood...

), Croat Christians and Bosniaks (considered ethnic Croats during World War II), who are Muslims from Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...

. It was the largest of the Muslim-oriented divisions and the SS Divisions with 21,065 men, of whom 2,800 were Croat Christians and the remainder Bosnian Muslims. The number of Christians was higher than directed by Himmler, who had allowed a 10% Christian component only after the recruitment of sufficient Muslims proved difficult. The division had a Muslim Imam
Imam
An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...

 for each battalion other than the all-German signal battalion. Initially there was a small Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...

n component. In 1943 a number of Albanians from Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...

 and the Sandžak
Sandžak
Sandžak also known as Raška is a historical region lying along the border between Serbia and Montenegro...

 region were recruited and teamed up into Battalion I/2 (later I/28). This was perhaps the best trained and equipped Nazi Albanian military formation during the war. Ironically, via rail on 17 April 1944, the formation was transferred directly from combat in Bosnia to Kosovo following the creation of 21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg (1st Albanian)
21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg (1st Albanian)
The 21st Division of the SS Skanderbeg was a Mountain division of the SS set up by Heinrich Himmler in March 1944, officially under the title of the 21. Waffen-Gebirgs Division der SS Skanderbeg...

. The head of Waffen SS recruitment, SS Obergruppenführer Gottlob Berger reported to Himmler that the Albanians "... were quite sad about leaving."

Villefranche-de-Rouergue Mutiny (September 1943)

On 17 September 1943, whilst the Handschar was garrisoned in Villefranche-de-Rouergue
Villefranche-de-Rouergue
Villefranche-de-Rouergue is a commune in the Aveyron department in southern France.-History:At the end of the Albigensian Crusade from the northern "barons" against the southern Occitania on a religious pretext , the Count of Toulouse was defeated and concluded the treaty of Paris in 1229...

 in France, a group of communist infiltrators staged a mutiny within the Pioneer battalion. Led by Ferid Džanić
Ferid Džanić
Ferid Džanić , was a Bosnian soldier and member of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia who with several other infiltrators, led the September 1943 Villefranche-de-Rouergue Mutiny within the SS Division Handschar....

, Eduard Matutinović, Božo Jelinek and Nikola Vukelić, they captured most of the German personnel and executed five German officers, failing to kill SS-Ostuf Michawetz, the pioneer battalion commander, who escaped. Apparently the mutineers believed that many of the enlisted men would join them and they could reach the western Allies. The revolt was put down with the assistance of the unit Imam, Halim Malkoć and Dr. Schweiger (unit physician). Imam Halim Malkoc told the Bosnian enlisted men of 1st Company that they were being deceived and rallied them to hunting down the instigators. Nevertheless, the mutiny did not spread as far as the exaggerated claims state. Approximately 20 of the rebels were killed summarily or after a trial. The Nazis were convinced that there were communists who had infiltrated the unit in order to disrupt it. Tito once suggested that his partisan followers enlist for police duty in Croatia where they could receive weapons, uniforms and superior training. Afterward there was a purge of members of the unit who were deemed "unsuitable for service" or "politically unsuitable". More than 800 were removed from the unit and sent to Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 for "labor service". It is likely that the bulk of these "unwilling" were Catholic Croats, because by the time the Division came back to Bosnia, only 300 Croats remained in the Division. Sauberzweig reorganized those 300 and sent them all to the Feldgendarmerie Trupp. Sauberzweig blamed the desertions on the Croats and units with Catholic Croat leadership and made it clear not to recruit any more or commission Croats. Of those, 265 who refused to work were sent to Neuengamme concentration camp where many of them died.

Himmler later on said of the mutiny: "I knew there was a chance that a few traitors might be smuggled into the division, but I haven’t the slightest doubt concerning the loyalty of the Bosnians. These troops were loyal to their supreme commander twenty years ago so why shouldn’t they be so today." Himmler was referring to the Bosnian Muslim troops who had served in the Austro-Hungarian Habsburg army. Himmler awarded the Imam Halim Malkoč an Iron Cross, Second Class, for his role in thwarting the mutiny. Bosnian Muslims Ejub Jašarević and Adem Okanadžić were also decorated by Himmler.

When the city was liberated in 1944, they decided to pay tribute to the troops by naming one of its streets Avenue des Croates (Slavic Muslims being identified as Croats of Islamic faith) and commemorating "the revolt of the Croats" every 17 September. After the war the Yugoslav government requested it be changed "the revolt of the Yugoslavs", it was refused by the French for "historical truth". The Villefranche-de-Rouergue mutiny is commemorated in the city with a monument designed by the Croatian sculptor Vanja Radauš.

Commanders

  • SS-Obergruppenführer Artur Phleps
    Artur Phleps
    Artur Martin Phleps was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian and German officer who held the rank of Obergruppenführer in the Waffen-SS during World War II. An Austro-Hungarian Army officer in World War I, he served in the Romanian Army during the interwar period, before joining the military forces...

     (in charge of raising the division, from 10 February 1943)
  • SS-Oberführer Herbert Von Obwurzer (1 April 1943 – 9 August 1943)
  • SS-Gruppenführer Karl-Gustav Sauberzweig
    Karl-Gustav Sauberzweig
    Karl-Gustav Sauberzweig was a German Wehrmacht General who transferred to the Waffen-SS during World War II and led the "13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar" over 1943 and 1944. Sauberzweig was a bespectacled Prussian career army officer who had earned an Iron Cross in his late teens...

     (9 August 1943 – 1 June 1944)
  • SS-Brigadeführer Desiderius Hampel
    Desiderius Hampel
    Desiderius Hampel was a Brigadeführer and Generalmajor in the Waffen SS during World War II. Who was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, which was awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership by Nazi Germany during World War II.-Early life:Desiderius...

     (1 June 1944 May-8 May 1945)

Order of battle

  • SS-Waffen Gebirgsjäger
    Gebirgsjäger
    Gebirgsjäger, in English Mountain Riflemen, is the German designation for mountain infantry. The word Jäger is the traditional German term for rifleman...

     Regiment 27
  • SS-Waffen Gebirgsjäger Regiment 28
  • SS-Waffen Artillerie Regiment 13
  • SS-Panzerjäger
    Panzerjäger
    Panzerjäger was a branch of service of the Wehrmacht during the Second World War which were the anti-tank arm-of-service who operated anti-tank artillery, and made exclusive use of the tank destroyers which were also named Panzerjäger...

     Battalion 13
  • SS-Reconnaissance Battalion(mot) 13
  • Waffen-Gebirgs Pioneer Battalion 13
  • Waffen-Gebirgs Signals Battalion 13
  • Waffen-Flak Battalion 13
  • SS-Nachrichten-Battalion 13
  • Kroatische SS-Radfahr-Battalion
  • Kroatische SS-Motorcycle Battalion
  • SS-Divisionsnachschubtruppen 13
  • Versorgungs-Regiment Stab 13
  • SS-Verwaltungs-Battalion 13
  • SS-Medical Battalion 13
  • SS-Krankenkraftwagenzug
  • SS-Volunteer Gebirgs Veterinary Company 13
  • SS-Feldpostamt 13
  • SS-War Reported platoon 13
  • SS-Feldgendarmerie
    Feldgendarmerie
    The Feldgendarmerie were the uniformed military police units of the armies of the German Empire from the mid 19th Century until the conclusion of World War II.- Early history :...

    -Troop 13
  • SS-Reserve Battalion 13
  • SS-Training Battalion 13


Assignments

The Bosniak Waffen SS units were assigned to combat Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...

's partisans, including residents of villages from where many of the recruits themselves originated in Bosnia. The Division was trained and armed as a German mountain division. It conducted operations against the partisans from February 1944 onwards.

Operations against Yugoslav Partisans

Handschar participated in the largest anti partisan sweep of World War II: Unternehmen Maibaum. The 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen
7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen
The 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen. was formed on March 1942 from Volksdeutsche volunteers from Vojvodina, Croatia, Hungary and Romania, it was initially called the SS-Freiwilligen-Division Prinz Eugen....

 was involved in this campaign. The Handschar Division also participated in Wegweiser, Save, Osterei, Maibaum, Maiglöckchen, Vollmond, Fliegenfänger, Heidrose and Hackfleisch operations from February to September 1944.

Operation Wegweiser

From 10 to 12 March 1944, the target of Operation Wegweiser was a part of the Syrmia
Syrmia
Syrmia is a fertile region of the Pannonian Plain in Europe, between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is divided between Serbia in the east and Croatia in the west....

 region, held by partisans who were constant threat to Zagreb-Belgrade railway in particular forests around Bosut
Bosut
The Bosut is a river in eastern Croatia and northwestern Serbia, a 186 km long left tributary of the Sava river.- Croatia :...

 and villages around Sava river. This was the first operation for the newly formed 13.SS-Freiwilligen Gebirgs Division Handschar ("der SS" title would be changed in the summer of 1944). The enemy was overwhelmed and forced to withdraw, suffering 573 killed and 82 captured. It was an overall success.

Operation Sava

Begun on 15 March 1944 with the goal of clearing partisans from Semberija
Semberija
Semberija is a geographical region in north-eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina. The main city in the region is Bijeljina. Semberija is located between Drina and Sava rivers and Majevica mountain...

 region, in northeastern Bosnia, across the Sava River, and was the Handschar's first offensive action. The assault was led by Sauberzweig, who wrote to the Handzar troops: "We have now reached the Bosnian frontier and will (soon) begin the march into the homeland. [...] The Führer has provided you with his best weapons. Not only do you (have these) in your hands, but above all you have an idea in your hearts - to liberate the homeland. [...] Before long, each of you shall be standing in the place that you call home, as a soldier and a gentleman; standing firm as a defender of the idea of saving the culture of Europe - the idea of Adolf Hitler."

Sauberzweig also ordered that as the Handzar units crossed the Sava River, each commander was to read a prepared message, which emphasized that the "liberation of Bosnia" and ultimately the liberation of "Muslim Albania" was a goal, and appealing directly to the Albanian troops in the Handschar Division. 27th Regiment for Handschar Division crossed Sava river at Sremska Rača
Sremska Raca
Sremska Rača , , is a village in Serbia. It is located in the Sremska Mitrovica municipality, in the Srem District, Vojvodina province...

 on 15 March 1944 advancing across the Pannonian Plain through Velino Selo to Brodac
Brodac
Brodac is a place located north of the city of Bijeljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina. There are two parts of Brodac, Brodac Donji and Brodac Gornji.-Sport:The main football club is FK Jedinstvo Brodac....

. Disparate sources say that Bijeljina
Bijeljina
Bijeljina is a city and municipality in northeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina. The city is the second largest in the Republika Srpska entity after Banja Luka and fifth largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is situated on the flat rich plains of Semberija...

 was taken anywhere between 16 March and 17 March, around noon.
Regiment 27 then consolidated its position in the city whilst Regiment 28 bore the brunt of the fighting as it advanced through Pukis, Celic
Celic
Čelić is a municipality located in the northeastern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is part of the Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Čelić was part of the municipality of Lopare prior to the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina...

 and Koraj at the Majevica
Majevica
Majevica is a mountain in north-eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated between Semberija, Posavina, and Tuzlanska Kotlina.Its highest peak is Stolice, some 10 miles east of Tuzla, and its stands 916 m high...

 mountains.
Sauberzweig later recorded that II/28 "at Celic
Celic
Čelić is a municipality located in the northeastern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is part of the Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Čelić was part of the municipality of Lopare prior to the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina...

 stormed the Partisan defenses with (new) battalion commander Hans Hanke at the point" and that the enemy forces withdrew after running out of ammunition and suffering heavy casualties.

Operation Osterei

Operation Osterei began on 12 April 1944 at 3 a.m. with the goal of clearing the Majevica mountain. 27th Regiment quickly captured Janja
Janja
Janja is a town in the Bijeljina municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina, administratively part of the Republika Srpska entity. Janja is located in Podrinje region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Janja is famous for the rivers Janja and Drina. Many people from Janja who now live in different countries...

 and through Donja Trnova
Trnova
- Gornja Trnova :total: 420* Serbs - 413 * Croats - 2 * "Yugoslavs" - 2 * others and unknown - 3 - Srednja Trnova :total: 721* Muslims by nationality - 682 * "Yugoslavs" - 24 * Serbs - 12...

 reached an important objective, the Ugljevik mine
Ugljevik
Ugljevik is a municipality and town in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The municipality located in the eastern foothills of Mount Majevica, in picturesque countryside, where wondrous and beautiful mountain starts descending towards the flatlands of Semberija, to which it is tied more than any other...

. The II./27. reported 106 dead, 45 captured and 2 deserted enemy soldiers.

A Handschar reconnaissance detachment linked up with 1st Home Defense Mountain Brigade on western slopes of Majevica. 28th Regiment moved across Mackovac and after fighting around Priboj
Priboj
Priboj is a town and municipality located in the Zlatibor District of Serbia at 43.59° North, 19.54° East. In 2011, the town has a total population of 14,015, while population of the municipality is 27,127.- History :...

 pushed 38th Division south.

Operation Rübezahl

The German assault on Sandzak (Operation Rubezahl) was commanded by Artur Phleps
Artur Phleps
Artur Martin Phleps was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian and German officer who held the rank of Obergruppenführer in the Waffen-SS during World War II. An Austro-Hungarian Army officer in World War I, he served in the Romanian Army during the interwar period, before joining the military forces...

, who commanded Group Kommando Sandschak - consisting of the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen
7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen
The 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen. was formed on March 1942 from Volksdeutsche volunteers from Vojvodina, Croatia, Hungary and Romania, it was initially called the SS-Freiwilligen-Division Prinz Eugen....

, the 1st Mountain Division, and the Handschar Division. The Handschar participated in the initial stages before transfer to the 2nd Corps, in order to protect the crossing of the Drina River (in eastern Bosnia), and the Skanderbeg Division
21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg (1st Albanian)
The 21st Division of the SS Skanderbeg was a Mountain division of the SS set up by Heinrich Himmler in March 1944, officially under the title of the 21. Waffen-Gebirgs Division der SS Skanderbeg...

.

Operation Maibaum

Operation Maibaum's ambitious goal was to destroy the entire Third Bosnian Corps of the Communist partisans. Certain units of the attacking force were put on the river Drina
Drina
The Drina is a 346 kilometer long river, which forms most of the border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. It is the longest tributary of the Sava River and the longest karst river in the Dinaric Alps which belongs to the Danube river watershed...

 to prevent the enemy's retreat into Serbia and Zvornik. Main units were to surround and take Tuzla
Tuzla
Tuzla is a city and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the time of the 1991 census, it had 83,770 inhabitants, while the municipality 131,318. Taking the influx of refugees into account, the city is currently estimated to have 174,558 inhabitants...

 and Vlasenica. 25 April, Zvornik fell with few casualties. On 27 April the SS Division went into Kladanj and next day took Vlasenica. The 28 April would see the most bitter fighting between 13th SS and the partisans in the village of Sekovici. The battle lasted 24 hours ending with huge human losses on the partisan side, as well as many captured enemy weapons and ammunitions.

Operation Maiglöckchen

On 17 May 1944, the Division went south towards Stolica, where they met with the 17th Majevica brigade, which in the battle for Stolica lost average casualties of 16 dead and 60 captured.

Operation Vollmond

7 June 1944, the Germans believed the partisans aim was to either attempt an advance between the eastern flank of Regiment 27 and the Drina to assault Bijeljina or achieve a breakthrough in the direction of Obrijez. Little did they know that the entire western column (16th Vojvodina Division) was headed at full speed towards Lopare. The only SS units standing in front of the entire partisan division were Heinz Rudolph's I/28 battalion and the 6th and 7th batteries of AR13. I/28 was scattered after bitter fighting, and an organized attack from II/28 retook Lopare at the end of June 10, and so the Battle of Lopare had ended and Lopare was once again in German hands. Momentary control of the area by the partisans had cost them 1568 lives, compared to 205 men lost by Regt. 28 in the fighting.
Sauberzweig boasted the enemy had lost 3,000 during the overall operation.

Operation Fliegenfanger

14 July 1944, the objective was to destroy a partisan makeshift runway and its garrison about 26 km southeast of Tuzla. The airstrip was being used by the Allied aircraft to bring in supplies and evacuate the wounded to Italy. Despite determinted resistance, the airstrip was taken within a day, 42 dead partisans were counted at a cost of 4 dead SS men and 7 wounded.

Operation Heidrose

While Unternehmen Fliegenfanger was underway, the Second Panzer Army sought to stop a large partisan force moving out of Bosnian into western Serbia. On 17 July 1944, the SS units from Handschar and Prinz Eugen began their long awaited operation to destroy the communist stronghold northwest of Sekovici. By all accounts Heidrose was a huge German success. 947 of the enemy were killed. A large number of equipment was captured; 1 anti tank gun, 2 mortars, 22 machine guns, over 800 rifles, and nearly 500,000 rounds of small arms ammunition. Erich Braun, the officer that had taken over as commander for Regiment 27 was put up for a Knight's Cross.

Unternehmen Hackfleisch

On 4 August 1944, the operation called for the partisans between the towns of Kladanj, Vlasenica, Sokolac and Olovo to be driven out. Hackfleisch was a German success, 227 dead communists were counted, over 50 prisoners were also taken. Partisan forces were once again detected near Sekovici. On the 9th of August, Regiment 27 drove them out of the area, inflicting 73 casualties.

Battle of Janja

At 05:00, 3 October 1944, 28th Slavonia Division assaulted a company sized base from Handschar at Janja. Soon Aufklarungs Abt. 13 and III/27 with a battery from AR 13 were rushing to relieve the pressure off the battered garrison. At the dawn of the following day, an additional four partisan brigades attacked the garrison in Janja. The attacks were eventually repulsed by the outnumbered force from Handschar. Jagdkommandos were sent after the fleeing enemy but were not able to inflict significant losses on them as they had already crossed the Drina.

First units are sent to the Ostfront

It was at this time that first units from Handschar were requested to be sent to the ostfront under the commands of other units. Two batteries from IV/AR13, the 1st Company of the Panzer Jager Abt. and five anti aircraft guns were sent to fight against the advancing Russians. They were returned to Handschar after hard fighting in late November. A 105mm battery from the Division also saw service with the Sturmbrigade von Rudno.

Ambush at Vukosavci

Hans Konig, a 21-year-old Westphalian, and leader of 9th Company, 28th Regiment was tasked with blockading the march of the entire XVII Majevica Brigade. Although severely outnumbered, it proved on the morning of 9 October that superior tactics can always turn the tide of battle and overwhelm any foe. The partisans were taken by surprise and fled, leaving scores of dead comrades. Sixty-seven dead communists were counted. Nine pack animals and even the commander's rucksack were captured. More interestingly were the documents found, which revealed the brigade's future plans.

Uniform

The uniform worn by the division was regular SS M43 field-jacket issue, with a divisional collar patch showing an arm holding a scimitar, over a swastika
Swastika
The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...

. On the left arm was a Croatian armshield (red-white chessboard). There was controversy over the chessboard armshield, especially with the Imams, who, after crossing the Sava river, took them off. Former SS personnel who were serving in the division were entitled to wear a Sig Rune
Sig Rune
Sig is the name given by Guido von List for the Sigel or s rune of the Armanen Futharkh, and is also used by Karl Maria Wiligut for his runes.-Nazism:...

 badge that was attached to the breast pocket of the tunic. No cuff title was issued to the members of the division due to the Sept. 1943 mutiny. Overshadowing their loyalty in foiling of the communist spy incited mutiny.

Headgear was either the SS M43 fez
Fez (clothing)
The fez , or tarboosh is a felt hat either in the shape of a red truncated cone or in the shape of a short cylinder made of kilim fabric. Both usually have tassels...

 which was permitted to be worn by all ranks, while German officers had the option to wear the mountain cap (Bergmütze). The fez was chosen for the Division by Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...

 due to it having been worn by the Bosnia-Herzegovinian infantry regiments of the Austro-Hungarian Army from 1894 to 1918, as well as by the Austro-Hungarian Albanian Legion from 1916-18. There were two versions of the fez made: a field gray model to be worn in combat and while on duty, and a red colored model that was worn during parades, marching exercises, and while off duty. Both the fez and mountain cap bore the death's head and eagle of the SS, the mountain cap was also adorned with an Edelweiss
Edelweiss
Edelweiss , Leontopodium alpinum, is a well-known European mountain flower, belonging to the sunflower family.-Names:The common name comes from German edel, meaning "noble", and weiß "white", thus signifying "noble whiteness".The scientific name Leontopodium is a Latin adaptation of Greek...

 flower patch, worn on the left side of the cap.

Division Hymn

(Set to the melody of "Wir fahren gegen Engelland" by Herms Niel)





Disintegration

On 17 August 1944 Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...

 offered a general amnesty to all opponents and many men in the Division chose this point to defect. A week later in August Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

 changed sides and the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

 advanced deep into the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...

, getting very close to Bosnia. Over 1 to 7 September the Allies
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...

 undertook Operation "Ratweek". In a rare, combined assault British and American air forces attacked important railways and bridges from Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, in conjunction with heightened Partisan activity in the same areas. This undermined German supply and morale, necessitating specialised military and repair operations to secure transportation lines. On 17 September Communist Partisans seized the important (largely Muslim) town of Tuzla
Tuzla
Tuzla is a city and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the time of the 1991 census, it had 83,770 inhabitants, while the municipality 131,318. Taking the influx of refugees into account, the city is currently estimated to have 174,558 inhabitants...

 in northeast Bosnia following a mass defection by the "12th Ustaše Brigade" garrison to the Communist cause. Between 1 to 20 September over 2000 men deserted.

Over 16 to 23 October 1944 the Division was, incredibly, moved out of the security zone in Bosnia where they were successfully maintaining law and order to eastern Slavonia
Slavonia
Slavonia is a geographical and historical region in eastern Croatia...

 in Croatia by foot and rail. This led many men to conclude that they were about to be thrown at the rapidly approaching Red Army of the USSR. Whilst on foot many men chose to desert - either joining Partisans or simply going home to defend their own families and villages. Some men from the Division returned to active service in the Croatian army and even the Ustaše
Ustaše
The Ustaša - Croatian Revolutionary Movement was a Croatian fascist anti-Yugoslav separatist movement. The ideology of the movement was a blend of fascism, Nazism, and Croatian nationalism. The Ustaše supported the creation of a Greater Croatia that would span to the River Drina and to the border...

 militia.

On 20 October the Red Army liberated Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...

 and the following day the Divisional staff Imam, Abdullah Muhasilović
Abdullah Muhasilović
Abdullah Muhasilović was a Bosniak army chaplain or Imam best known for his invovlement in the 13th Waffen-SS Division "Handschar".Muhasilović joined the nascent Division early on in the recruitment stage in June 1943 and was quickly appointed senior Imam to the entire Division as he was...

, incited a mutiny and led 100 men back to Bosnia. By November 1944 the Division, which had been 95% non-German in January, was now 50% German. On 10 November the Handschar was committed to action against the Soviets at Darda, Croatia
Darda, Croatia
Darda is a village and a municipality just north of Osijek, Croatia, across the Drava river in Baranja. The population is 7,062 people.-Geography:The municipality of Darda includes following settlements:...

. This fighting went on until 19 April 1945, with the Division being slowly pushed back across Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

. On 5 May the remaining men, both German and Bosnian began to retreat eastwards towards Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

. On 8 May an order was sent to retreat to Wolfsberg, Carinthia.

On 12 May 1945 Brigadeführer
Brigadeführer
SS-Brigadeführer was an SS rank that was used in Nazi Germany between the years of 1932 and 1945. Brigadeführer was also an SA rank....

 and Generalmajor of the Waffen-SS Desiderius Hampel
Desiderius Hampel
Desiderius Hampel was a Brigadeführer and Generalmajor in the Waffen SS during World War II. Who was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, which was awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership by Nazi Germany during World War II.-Early life:Desiderius...

 carried out surrender negoitations with the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and on 15 May most of the men were transported to Rimini
Rimini
Rimini is a medium-sized city of 142,579 inhabitants in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It is located on the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia and Ausa...

 in Italy, where they were incarcerated with other PoWs from the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen
7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen
The 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen. was formed on March 1942 from Volksdeutsche volunteers from Vojvodina, Croatia, Hungary and Romania, it was initially called the SS-Freiwilligen-Division Prinz Eugen....

 and 16th SS Panzergrenadier Division Reichsführer-SS
16th SS Panzergrenadier Division Reichsführer-SS
The 16th SS Panzergrenadier Division Reichsführer-SS was a Panzergrenadier formation of the Waffen-SS during World War II.-History:Formed in November 1943 when Volksdeutsche recruits were added to the Sturmbrigade Reichsführer SS, which was used as the cadre in the formation of the new division...

.

On learning of their retreat several "imams approached their commander, Hans Hanke, and requested that they and their men be discharged and be allowed to attempt to return to their homeland.... Soon, all of the Bosnians remaining in the division were asked if they wished to remain." Many of these men are alleged to have been murdered by Communist Partisans after the war.

Trial

Between 22–30 August 1947, trials by the Communist regime for the Handschar took place at a military court in Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....

. "Although the indictment accused the division of murdering some five thousand people, only seven of the thirty-eight defendants were charged with specific offenses." The accused were all comparatively junior officers and were "defended" by three Yugoslav lawyers: two civilian and one military officer. All 38 men were found guilty and either sentenced to death (10) or long prison terms (28). SS-Gruppenführer Karl-Gustav Sauberzweig
Karl-Gustav Sauberzweig
Karl-Gustav Sauberzweig was a German Wehrmacht General who transferred to the Waffen-SS during World War II and led the "13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar" over 1943 and 1944. Sauberzweig was a bespectacled Prussian career army officer who had earned an Iron Cross in his late teens...

 committed suicide on 20 October 1946 rather than be extradited to Communist Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....

. SS Obersturmführer Imam Halim Malkoč was hanged in Bihać
Bihac
Bihać is a city and municipality on the river Una in the north-western part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the Bosanska Krajina region. Bihać is located in the Una-Sana Canton in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.-History:...

 on 7 March 1947.

Those executed on 17 July 1948 included:
  • SS Obersturmführer (der Reserve) Rolf Baumeister
  • SS Hauptsturmführer (der Reserve) Walter Eipel
  • SS Oberscharführer Kurt Lütkemüller
  • SS Hauptscharführer Bruno Lütjens
  • SS Obersturmführer (der Reserve) Heinz Masannek
  • SS Oberscharführer Josef Pälmke
  • SS Oberscharführer Wilhelm Schmidt
  • SS Obersturmführer (der Reserve) Willi Schreer
  • SS Oberscharführer Erich Schwerin
  • SS Obersturmführer (der Reserve) Kurt Weber


Almost all the prisoners were released early in 1952 (following Tito's fallout with Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...

 and the need to reapproach the West), except SS Sturmmann Wilhelm Mahn who died in captivity. SS-Brigadeführer Desiderius Hampel
Desiderius Hampel
Desiderius Hampel was a Brigadeführer and Generalmajor in the Waffen SS during World War II. Who was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, which was awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership by Nazi Germany during World War II.-Early life:Desiderius...

 never faced a trial and survived the war. He died on the 11 January 1981 in Graz, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

.

See also

  • List of Knight's Cross recipients 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian)
  • Alpine Infantry
  • Waffen-SS
    Waffen-SS
    The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...

  • 369th Reinforced Infantry Regiment
    369th Reinforced Infantry Regiment
    The 369th Reinforced Infantry Regiment , also known as the Devil Division was a military unit of the Independent State of Croatia's Croatian Home Guard which fought alongside the German Armed Forces on the Eastern Front.-Formation:Croatian leader Ante Pavelić sent a letter to German Führer Adolf...


Further reading

  • Munoz, Antonio J., editor.The East Came West: Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist Volunteers in the German Armed Forces. (chapters 2 and 13) Bayside, NY: Axis Europa, 2001 ISBN 1-891227-39-4
  • Stein, George H. (1984). The Waffen SS: Hitler's Elite Guard at War, 1939-45 Cornell UP. ISBN 0-8014-9275-0
  • Mousavizadeh, Nader (1996). The Black Book of Bosnia: The Consequences of Appeasement. Basic Books. ISBN 0-465-09835-5
  • Bishop, Michael (2003). SS: Hell on the Western Front. Zenith Imprint. ISBN 0-7603-1402-0
  • "13.SS 'Handžar' divizija i njen slom u Istočna Bosni" (Istočna Bosna, vol. 2, 587)
  • Redzic, Enver, Muslimansko Autonomastvo I 13. SS Divizija (Sarajevo: Svjetlost, 1987).
  • K.W. Böhme, Die deutschen Kriegsgefangenen in Jugoslawien 1941-1949, vol.I of Die Die deutschen Kriegsgefangenen des Zweiten Weltkrieges, ed. by Dr Erich Maschke (Munich: Verlag Ernst and Werner Giesking, 1962, I/1:107-109
  • Herf, Jeffrey
    Jeffrey Herf
    Jeffrey Herf is a professor of history at the University of Maryland. His specialty is in 20th century European intellectual history, especially in Germany....

    . Nazi propaganda for the Arab world. Yale UP, New Haven 2009. ISBN 0-300-14579-9. p. 204ff.
  • Lepre, Georg. Himmler's Bosnian Division. The Waffen-SS Handschar Division 1943 - 1945. Atglen PA: Schiffer Military History, 1997.
  • Mallmann, Klaus-Michael & Cüppers, Martin. Halbmond und Hakenkreuz. Das Dritte Reich, die Araber und Palästina. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft
    Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft
    The Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft is a German publishing house in Darmstadt. With about 140,000 subscribers it is one of the largest book clubs in Germany....

    WBG. 2006, p. 211 – 236 Muslime für das Dritte Reich. Der islamische Sektor von Wehrmacht, Sicherheitspolizei und Waffen-SS.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK