| 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen | |
|---|---|
Insignia of 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen (Odal rune) |
|
| Active | 1942 - 1945 |
| Country | Nazi Germany |
| Allegiance | Adolf Hitler |
| Branch | Waffen SS |
| Role | Mountain Infantry |
| Size | Division |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Artur Phleps |
The 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen. was formed on March 1942 from Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans) volunteers from Vojvodina, Croatia, Hungary and Romania, it was initially called the SS-Freiwilligen-Division Prinz Eugen. (SS-Volunteer Division Prinz Eugen). It was engaged in anti-partisan operations in the Balkans during World War II.[1][2]
Contents |
The Prinz Eugen was formed in late 1941 following the Nazi invasion of Yugoslavia, initially from German-speaking Danube Swabian Selbschutz in the Serbian province of Banat.
"After the initial rush of Volksdeutsche to join, voluntary enlistments tapered off, and the new unit did not reach division size. Therefore, in August 1941, the SS discarded the voluntary approach, and after a favorable judgement from the SS court in Belgrade, imposed a mandatory military obligation on all Volksdeutsche in Serbia-Banat, the first of its kind for non-Reich Germans."[3]
One of the reasons for the forced conscription of Balkan Germans was the disappointingly low amount of volunteers for the Prinz Eugen Division after the initial recruitments (no more than 5000). While the division remained "volunteer" in name, few of the conscripted ethnic Germans actively sought entry into the unit. SS Reichsführer Himmler had announced that the wishes of the Volksdeutsche were irrelevant, while in connection with the Balkan Germans the SS head of recruitment Gottlob Berger remarked: "kein Mensch [kümmert] [sich ja] darum, was wir unten mit unseren Volksdeutschen tun" ("no person cares what we do with our ethnic Germans in the South").[4] In other words, ethnic Germans in the Balkans were powerless and could not oppose conscription into the SS.
The unwillingness of ethnic Germans to serve in the unit is illustrated by a mutiny of 173 Croatian Germans of Prinz Eugen in 1943 in Bosnia. The men of mixed ancestry probably did not speak German and were mistreated by their superiors as a result. Himmler intervened personally in the problem and even ordered any NCO that insulted the mother of the Croatian German troops to be shot on the spot (the insulting of mothers being common in the Balkans).[5] Many of the Croatian German conscripts actually preferred service in the Croatian Domobrani units for a variety of reasons.
In 1942, the Pančevo-based unit was declared a Gebirgs (Mountain) Division. They were issued with non standard German weapons but used captured equipment such as Czech machine guns and French light tanks.[1]
When the Division was formed, it was assigned to the Balkans as an anti-partisan mountain division.[1]
The division's first action was in the Serbian-Montenegro border in the mountains east of the Ibar River and afterwards it took part in Fall Weiß in the Zagreb-Karlovac area, where together with Italian forces attempted to defeat the partisans commanded by Josip Broz Tito, the operation failed and most of the partisans managed to evade the main attack.[1]
The Division attacked Mostar in Hercegovina and also deployed units northwest of Sarajevo. The operation was successful and Draža Mihailović and his forces were forced to retreat to Serbia.
From 15 May-15 June, the division took a part in one of the bloodiest battles in World War II, so called Fall Schwarz (also known as "Fifth Offensive" or Battle of the Sutjeska), aiming to pin Tito's main force of about 20,000 partisans against the Zelengora mountain, in southeastern Bosnia.[6][7][8][9] During the battle, the division received task to move through Italian zone in order to block possible advance of Partisans towards Adriatic sea and Albania, to close south-east part of encirclement and then advance north over mountains terrain to crush Yugoslav Partisan forces. After main group, headed by 1st Proletarian Division already broke encirclement, two battalions moved to cover left bank of Sutjeska and block escape route were surprised by attack of three battalions of 1st Dalmatian and one from 5th Montenegro Brigade at Tjentište pushing them back. They recovered their positions during night battle and decimated most partisan units.
In August 1943, Prinz Eugen became a part of the XV Gebirgs Armee korps and sent to the Dalmatian coast, to disarm the Italian forces in September 1943 after the Italian Government had surrendered to the Allies. It then occupied Hvar, Brač and Korčula islands and the Pelješac peninsula and participated in Operation Landstrum, another anti – partisan operation in Omiš, Ploče and Biokovo.[1]
The Division was reorganized on 22 October 1943 and was renamed the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen. In November, the unit was attached to the V SS Mountain Corps and took part in anti-partisan operations in Kugelblitz and Schneesturm in December 1943.[1][2]
In March 1944, the Division was involved in more anti-partisan action Operation Maibaum (April 1944) and the next large offensive, Operation Rösselsprung the assault on Drvar, which began on 25 May 1944. This operation had the task of killing or capturing Tito, and the division was spearheaded by the 500th SS Fallschirmjäger-Bataillon and supported by the Brandenburg Regiment.[1]
In May, the Division also saw action in Operations Waldausch, Freie in June, Jagd in July and Rübezahl (12–30 Auguset), which prevented the partisans escaping into Montenegro. During that time, the Soviet Red Army had advanced to the Balkans and the Division had begun fighting Russian and Bulgarian units suffering heavy casualties in the process.[1]
On 21 September, Obergruppenführer Artur Phleps—the division’s first commander—was believed to have been killed when en route from Montenegro to Transylvania.[1]
The Division's next action was together with the 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian), the 23rd Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Kama (2nd Croatian) and the 21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg (1st Albanian) were given the task of creating a corridor which would allow the retreat of 35,000 German soldiers from Greece and the Aegean.[1]
On 20 October, the Partisans and Russians liberated Belgrade and Prinz Eugen was the rear guard for the German retreat.
In the beginning of November, the SS 1st Albanian Skanderbeg Division was disbanded and its remnants incorporated into the 14th Regiment of Prinz Eugen, which received its honor title Skanderbeg.[1][2]
In January 1945, the Division was again in action against the Russians and Tito's partisans at Otok and Vukovar.
The retreat from Bosnia continued and Prinz Eugen retreated to Croatia in April 1945. On 10 May, the Division retreated towards Celje in Slovenia where it surrendered on May 11 to Yugoslav forces.[1][2]
The division is infamous for its cruelty[1] and massive atrocities committed in the area of Nikšić in Montenegro:
| “ | Everything they came across they burnt down, they murdered and pillaged. The officers and men of the SS division Prinz Eugen committed crimes of an outrageous cruelty on this occasion. The victims were shot, slaughtered and tortured, or burnt to death in burning houses. Where a victim was found not in his house but on the road or in the fields some distance away, he was murdered and burnt there. Infants with their mothers, pregnant women and frail old people were also murdered. In short, every civilian met with by these troops in these villages was murdered. In many cases, whole families who, not expecting such treatment or lacking the time for escape, had remained quietly in their homes were annihilated and murdered. Whole families were thrown into burning houses in many cases and thus burnt. It has been established from the investigations entered upon that 121 persons, mostly women, and including 30 persons aged 60-92 years and 29 children of ages ranging from 6 months to 14 years, were executed on this occasion in the horrible manner narrated above. The villages [and then follows the list of the villages] were burnt down and razed to the ground. | ” |
|
—Dr. Dušan Nedeljković, Yugoslav State Commission, Document D-940, [10] |
||