13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian)

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Emblem of the Handschar division
Emblem of the Handschar division

Kroatische-SS-Freiwilligen-Division
Kroatische SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Division
13.SS-Freiwilligen-bosn.herzogow. Gebirgs-Division (Kroatien)
13.Waffen-Gebirgs-Division der SS Handschar (kroatische Nr.1)

The 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian) was one of the thirty-eight divisions fielded as part of the Waffen-SS during World War II.

The 13th Handschar was the largest of these divisions, with 21,065 men. Its German name meant that it was the 13th division, a mountain formation (Gebirgs) of the SS (composed of non-German recruits). Named Handschar (Bosnian/Croatian: Handžar) after the curved Turkish sword known as the Scimitar (Arabic: Khanjar خنجر): an historical symbol of Bosnia.

The Handschar were used to conduct operations against Yugoslav Partisans in the Balkan Mountains from February 1944 to September 1944. By the end of 1944, most of them had deserted to join the Yugoslav Partisans, fighting for Josip Broz Tito.

The Handschar are infamous for being the only Waffen SS division to mutiny, and the first known troops to revolt from within the Nazi system.

Contents

[edit] History

After the fall of Sarajevo on 16 April 1941 to Nazi Germany, and at the Yugoslav provinces of Croatia, Bosnia, Herzegovina and parts of Serbia were recreated as a pro-Nazi satellite state, Nezavisna Drzava Hrvatska (NDH, the Independent State of Croatia). Croat-fascist, Ante Pavelic was appointed leader.

On July 6, 1941, Pavelic's Culture and Education Minister, Mile Budak, announced that the Ustase considered the Bosnian Moslem as an integral part of the NDH: "The Croatian State is Christian. It is also a Moslem State where our people are of the Mohammedan religion." Pavelic ordered the construction of a mosque: the Poglavniks Mosque (after his official title) in his efforts to secure the loyalty of the Bosnian Moslems[citation needed].

Bosnian Muslim clerics issued three declarations (fatawa), all publicly denouncing Croat-Nazi collaborationist measures against Jews and Serbs: that of Sarajevo in October 1941, of Mostar in 1941, and of Banja Luka on November 12, 1941 [1].

Despite Pavelic`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 influental post in the (local) administration. Fierce fighting broke out between Ustase and Partisan groups. A number of Ustase units believed the Bosniaks to be communist sympathizers, and burned their villages and murdered civilians.

The Fall of 1942 saw SS Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler and SS-General Gottlob Berger approach Hitler with the proposal to raise a Bosnian Muslim SS division.

By the New Year of 1943, over 100,000 Muslims had been killed (9% of Bosniaks at the time) and 250,000 were refugees. "The Muslims" remarked one German General, "bear the special status of being persecuted by all others", from '"Himmler`s Bosnian Division" by Georg Lepre, p15-16.

In the Bosniak Partisans, Himmler observed a fanatical, blind obedience, and fighters who would sacrifice in the name of religious or ideological belief. He thought that Muslim men would make perfect SS soldiers, as Islam "promises them Heaven if they fight and are killed in action."[citation needed]. Himmler was inspired by the success of Bosnian infantry regiments in WWI.

Georges Lepre wrote that "Himmler endeavoured to restore what he called 'an old Austrian' tradition by reviving the Bosnian regiments of former Austo-Hungarian army in the form of a Bosnian-muslim 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 security of the local Muslim population, but welfare of ethnic German settlers to the north in Srem. '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.' (ibid. p17)

Hitler formally approved the project on 10 February 1943 and SS-Obergruppenführer Arthur Phelps, a Romanian ethnic German commander, was charged with raising the division.

[edit] Recruitment

SS Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler and SS Brigadefuhrer Karl Gustav Sauberzweig during inspection of Waffen SS Division Handschar (Handzar) aka. Scimitar, Sarajevo, 1943
SS Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler and SS Brigadefuhrer Karl Gustav Sauberzweig during inspection of Waffen SS Division Handschar (Handzar) aka. Scimitar, Sarajevo, 1943

In Spring of 1943, the Mufti of Jerusalem, Mohammad Amin al-Husayni, (aka Amin al-Husseini), was recruited by the Nazis to assist in the organization and recruitment of Bosniaks into several divisions of the Waffen SS and other units in Yugoslavia. He was successful in convincing the Bosniaks to go against the declarations of the Sarajevo, Mostar, and Banja Luka Clerics, who had since 1941, forbidden Bosnian Muslims to collaborate with Croat-Nazis (Ustashe).

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., al-Husayni "accepted, visited Bosnia, and convinced some important Muslim leaders that a Muslim S.S. division would be in the interest of Islam. In spite of these and other propaganda efforts, only half of the expected 20,000 to 25,000 Muslims volunteered." (from The Black Book of Bosnia by Nader Mousavizadeh, (Editor), Basic Books, New York, 1996, p. 23)

Pavelic, the leader of the Croat-fascist Ustashe, objected to the recruitment of an exclusively Muslim division and was concerned about a Muslim bid for independence, considering Muslim areas a part of the Nazi-created "Independent State of Croatia", which included Bosnia. 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 (German archives cited in Lepre, p34) [2]

The incorporation of Bosnian Muslims into the Waffen SS required changes to be made to Nazi racist ideology and propaganda, and also required special privileges, which included that they were not required to eat rations of pork or drink alcoholic beverages[citation needed].

According to Chris Ailsby, "Himmler convinced himself that Balkan Muslims were neither Slavs nor Turks, but were really Aryans who had adopted Islam." (Source: "SS: Hell on the Western Front. The Waffen SS in Europe 1940-1945", 2003. p.70). He believed the Muslims of Bosnia to be the same, racially, as the Croatians, and saw the Croatians as descended of Gothic and Persian stock.

Recruitment for the division fell as the war progressed and when rumors spread that the division was going to fight the Soviets, the Muslims deserted in droves.[citation needed]

At the end of 1944, the separate Kama division was merged into the Handschar division.

[edit] Service

The Bosnian Waffen SS units were originally recruited to combat Muslim and Serb Partisans, including residents of villages from where many of the recruits themselves originated.[3] They operated in north-eastern Bosnia and partly in Srem. They were reluctant to participate in such actions, having enlisted in the Waffen SS on the mistaken belief that such service would resemble that of the Bosnian gendarmerie under the Habsburg empire, and those who joined, did so because they wanted a formation of their own to protect their homes. [4]

[edit] Training

Sent to France, they were in training until November 1943, when they returned to Bosnia.

[edit] Desertion

[edit] Mutiny

In late summer of 1943[citation needed], they were sent to Villefranche-de-Rouergue in Aveyron, France[5] for retraining. On September 17-September 18, 1943[citation needed], a number of soldiers staged a mutiny against their German officers, killing eight[citation needed]. Those who escaped attempted to join the French resistance (French Partisans)[6]. The SS-Handschar division were the only known example of a Waffen SS mutiny[7], and the first known revolt from within the Nazi system.

But they were soon subdued by the Germans. The Germans blamed it on three suspected Communists who had infiltrated the division and downplayed the whole affair, stating that only some 14 soldiers participated in it. The captured mutineers were executed, and the remainder of the division was soon relocated to Germany where they completed their training and in February 1944 shipped back to Bosnia.[citation needed]

By the end of 1944, most of them had joined the Yugoslav Partisans, fighting for Josip Broz Tito.

[edit] Atrocities against civilians.

The Handschar were responsible for a number of atrocities against civilians, mostly committed during its anti-partisan operations.[citation needed]

[edit] Role in persecution of Jews

A well-known and controversial claim that “Jews and Serbs, both… were persecuted by the Nazi Croatian, Bosnian and Albanian brigades during WWII” contains only a grain of truth. In Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina, the infamous Bosnian Waffen SS units played no role in the removal of Jews on their territory, which was carried out by Germans and Croats who were responsible for the high levels of Jewish deaths in those regions during the Holocaust.

The claim that "Hanjar troopers, a special Waffen SS company, killed 90% of Bosnia's Jews" was shown to be a false claim, as well as impossible, since most of Bosnia's Jews were either in Jasenovac or Auschwitz concentration camps, or already dead by the time the Handschar division became operational.

The SS Handschar division from the day it was formed until the day it was wiped out in Hungary[citation needed] did not provide troops to guard any concentration camp[citation needed] . There were some personnel, especially a battalion commander Egon Zill, a former concentration camp commander who was sent to the division because of incompetence. However, he was failure as a field officer and sent packing[citation needed].

Nevertheless, despite the hyperbole about the Handschar, there are few documented atrocities by the division. Even the Jewish Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal had to admit that in the Balkans, the Handschar were clean compared to many of the other formations fighting in Bosnia including the Wehrmacht troops[citation needed].

[edit] Role in persecution of Muslim and Serbian partisans

Handschar participated in the largest anti partisan sweep of World War 2, Unternehmen Maibaum. Cooperating with 7.SS Prinz Eugen which did little in this operation.[citation needed]

The Division participated in Wegweiser, Save, Osterei, Maibaum, Maiglöckchen, Vollmond, Fliegenfänger, Heidrose and Hackfleisch operations from February to September of 1944.[citation needed]

[edit] Composition

The Handschar division was commanded by German officers, and composed of native Germans from Croatia (folksdojcers), and Bosniaks, who are Muslims from Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was the largest of the Muslim-oriented divisions with 21,065 men, of whom 10% were Croatians . The division had a Muslim Imam for each battalion and a Mullah for each regiment[citation needed].

[edit] Commanders

[edit] Battalions

  • SS-Waffen Gebirgsjäger Regiment 27
  • SS-Waffen Gebirgsjäger Regiment 28
  • SS-Waffen Artillerie Regiment 13
  • SS-Panzerjäger Abteilung 13
  • SS-Aufklärungs Abteilung (mot) 13
  • Waffen-Gebirgs Pioneer Abteilung der SS 13
  • Waffen-Gebirgs Nachrichten Abteilung der SS 13
  • Waffen-Flak Abteilung der SS 13
  • SS-Nachrichten-Abteilung 13
  • Kroatische SS-Radfahr-Battalion
  • Kroatische SS-Kradschützen-Battalion
  • SS-Divisionsnachschubtruppen 13
  • Versorgungs-Regiment Stab 13
  • SS-Verwaltungs-Battalion 13
  • SS-Sanitäts-Abteilung 13
  • SS-Krankenkraftwagenzug
  • SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Veterinär-Kompanie 13
  • SS-Feldpostamt 13
  • SS-Kriegsberichter-Zug 13
  • SS-Feldgendarmerie-Trupp 13
  • SS-Feldersatz-Battalion 13
  • SS-Kraftfahr-Lehr-Abteilung 13[citation needed]

[edit] Assignments

The Bosniak Waffen SS units were assigned to combat Muslim and Serb Partisans, including residents of villages from where many of the recruits themselves originated. The Handschar Division's main purpose was to fight against Tito's Partisans in Bosnia, and were trained and armed as a mountain division. It conducted operations against Tito's partisans in the Balkans from February 1944.

Bosnian Muslim (Bosniak) and Croat soldiers
Bosnian Muslim (Bosniak) and Croat soldiers

[edit] Operation Wegweiser

From 10 to 13 March 1944, the target of Operation Wegweiser was a part of the Syrmia region, held by partisans who were constant threat to Zagreb-Belgrade railway in particular forests around Bosut and villages around Sava river. This was the first operation for the newly formed 13th Waffen-Gebirgs Division der SS Handschar.

[edit] Operation Sava

Begun on 15 March 1944, with the goal of clearing partisans from Semberija 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."[8]

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 "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 Srijemska Raca on March 15, 1944, advancing across the Pannonian Plain through Velino Selo to Brodac. Disparate sources say that Bijeljina was taken anywhere between March 16 and March 17, around noon.[9] and (from *Kosovo's Nazi Past: The Untold Story by Carl Savich) Regiment 27 then consolidated its position in the city whilst Regiment 28 bore the brunt of the fighting as it advanced through Pukis and Celic and Koraj at the Majevica mountains. Sauberzweig later recorded that II/28 "at Celic 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. (from *Kosovo's Nazi Past: The Untold Story by Carl Savich)

[edit] 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 and through Donja Trnava reached an important objective, the Ugljevik mine. 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 pushed 38th Division south.[10]

[edit] Operation Rübezahl

The German assault on Rashka/Sandzak(Operation Rubezahl) was commanded by Artur Phleps, who commanded "Group Kommando Sandschak" - consisting of the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain 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.[11]

[edit] Uniform

The uniform[12] worn by the division was regular SS field-jacket issue, with a divisional collar patch showing an arm holding a Scimitar, over a Swastika. On the left arm was a Croatian armshield (red-white chessboard). Former SS personnel who were serving in the division were entitled to wear a Sig Rune badge that was attached to the breast pocket of the tunic. Unlike other SS divisions, no cufftitle existed for members of the Handschar.

Headgear was either the fez 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 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 http://www.pogledi.co.yu/english/cs1.php]. 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 flower patch, worn on the left side of the cap.

[edit] References

  • Himmler's Bosnian Division: The Waffen-SS Handschar Division 1943-1945 by George Lepre
  • The East Came West: Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist Volunteers in the German Armed Forces (chapters 2 and 13) edited by Antonio J. Munoz
  • Svijet: Sarajevo weekly magazine (issues 2 November, 16 November and 23 November 1997) [13]

[edit] External links

[edit] See also


Divisionen der Waffen-Runic 'SS'

Divisions of the Waffen-SS
(see complete list)
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