The Muslim Units of the Waffen SS

When the Independent State of Croatia proclaimed its independence on April 10th 1941, during the German invasion of Yugoslavia, part of the land it claimed was the former Austro-Hungarian province of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The province was an ethnic and religious mix, with a portion of the population being Catholic Croatian, a portion being Orthodox Serbian, and a portion being Croatians of the Muslim faith. It was these Muslim inhabitants of Bosnia that Himmler and the SS would target in their recruitment of a Croatian SS Division

The reasons for the recruitment in particular of Croatian Muslims by the SS were many-fold. For one, Himmler was fascinated by the Islamic faith, and thought Muslims to be fearless soldiers willing to kill for their religion. Himmler also subscribed to the propaganda theory that Croatians (and therefore the Croatian Muslims) were not, in fact, Slavic people, but actually of Aryan (Gothic) descent, and thereby acceptable to the racially "pure" SS. The fact that this ludicrous theory would not hold up to any kind of serious scrutiny was conveniently ignored. Finally, the Germans were hoping to rally the World's 350 million Muslims to their side, in a struggle against the British Empire. The creation of a Muslim, albeit European Muslim Division, was considered a stepping stone to this greater end.

Adolf Hitler approved of Himmler's idea on February 13th 1943. Prior to the formation of the division, however, approval also had to be granted by the Croatian government, as their citizens were to be recruited, and on Croatian territory. The Croatian Poglavnik, Ante Pavelic, and his ministers had many problems with the idea, but eventually agreed to the division's creation on March 5th 1943. The divisional strength reached the required 26,000 men by mid 1943.

The new division was assigned the number "13", and originally named the "13 SS Frei.Gebirgs Division (kroatien). The full name "13 Waffen-Gebirgs-Division der SS 'Handschar' (kroatische Nr. 1)" was not given until May, 1944. A "Handschar" (or Handzar in Croatian) is curved Turkish sword - the Scimitar. This sword has historically been the symbol of Bosnia. The Division was to have 2 Infantry Regiments (Waffen-Gebirgs-Jager Regiments der SS 27 & 28 - kroatisches Nrs. 1 & 2), an Artillery Regiment (SS-Gebirgs-Artillerie Regiment 13), a Reconnaissance Company, a Panzerjager Company, a Flak Company, a Pioneer Battalion, and other support units; and was designated an SS "mountain" division. The first commander (from March 9, 1943 till August 1, 1943) was SS Standartenfuhrer Herbert von Obwurzer. Oberfuhrer (later Brigadefuhrer) Karl-Gustav Sauberzweig took over till June 1st 1944, when Desiderius Hampel (Oberfuhrer, later Brigadefuhrer) replaced him. Hampel commanded the remnants of the division until its surrender on May 8th 1945.

The uniform worn by the division was regular SS 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). Headgear was the Muslim Fez, in field grey (normal service) or red ("walking out"), with the SS eagle and death's head emblazoned. Non-Muslim members could opt to wear the normal SS mountain cap. The oval mountain troop Edelweiss patch was worn on the right arm.

During the Second World War in Yugoslavia many Muslim clerics in Bosnia and Kosovo were willing accomplices in the genocide of the nations Serbian, Jewish and Roma population. From 1941 until 1945, the Nazi-installed regime of Ante Pavelic in Croatia carried out some of the most horrific crimes of the Holocaust (known as the Porajmos by the Roma), killing over 800,000 Yugoslav citizens - 750,000 Serbs, 60,000 Jews and 26,000 Roma. In these crimes, they were helped by Muslim fundamentalists in Bosnia and Kosovo who were openly supported by the Palestinian Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin al-Husseini. A notorious anti-Semite, he openly encouraged Muslims to join Nazi units that would be later implicated in genocide and crimes against humanity - the infamous Hanjar (or Handschar) 13th Waffen SS division. One of these crimes was The Massacre at Koritska Jama Gorge, in Bosnia during 1941 .

Many of the victims of the Holocaust/Porajmos were murdered in the Second World War's third largest death camp - Jasenovac, where over 200,000 people - mainly Orthodox Serbs met their deaths.

The most senior Muslim cleric to be involved in the Holocaust/Porajmos was Hajj Amin al-Husseini, who according to the Encyclopedia of the Holocaust (Edition 1990, Volume 2, Pages 706 and 707), made a substantial contribution to the Axis war effort by organizing "in record time" recruitment to Muslim SS units in Croatia that would be involved in some of the worse atrocities of the Second World War.

Altogether, it is estimated that some 20,000 Muslims fought in the Hanjar (Sword) SS Division, which fought against Yugoslav partisans led by General Tito, and carried out police and security details in fascist Hungary. The Nazi's recruited two SS divisions from Yugoslavia's Muslim population: the infamous Bosnian 13th Waffen Hanjar (or Handschar) SS division, and the Albanian Skanderbeg 21st Waffen SS division. SS conscription in Yugoslavia during the war produced 42,000 Waffen SS and police troops

Once in Berlin, the Mufti received an enthusiastic reception by the "Islamische Zentralinstitut" and the whole Islamic community of Germany, which welcomed him as the "Führer of the Arabic world." In an introductory speech, he called the Jews the "most fierce enemies of the Muslims" and an "ever corruptive element" in the world. Husseini soon became an honored guest of the Nazi leadership and met on several occasions with Hitler. He personally lobbied the Führer against the plan to let Jews leave Hungary, fearing they would immigrate to Palestine. He also strongly intervened when Adolf Eichman tried to cut a deal with the British government to exchange German POWs for 5000 Jewish children who also could have fled to Palestine. The Mufti's protests with the SS were successful, as the children were sent to death camps in Poland instead. One German officer noted in his journals that the Mufti would liked to have seen the Jews "preferably all killed." On a visit to Auschwitz, he reportedly admonished the guards running the gas chambers to work more diligently. Throughout the war, he appeared regularly on German radio broadcasts to the Middle East, preaching his pro-Nazi, anti-Semitic message to the Arab masses back home.

To show gratitude towards his hosts, in 1943 the Mufti traveled several times to Bosnia, where on orders of the SS he recruited the notorious "Hanjar troopers," a special Bosnian Waffen SS company which slaughtered 90% of Bosnia's Jews and burned countless Serbian churches and villages. These Bosnian Muslim recruits rapidly found favor with SS chief Heinrich Himmler, who established a special Mullah Military school in Dresden.

The only condition the Mufti set for his help was that after Hitler won the war, the entire Jewish population in Palestine should be liquidated. After the war, Husseini fled to Switzerland and from there escaped via France to Cairo, were he was warmly received.

".....bashing.....Islam is very much a mixed bag with many diverse elements."

P.C. and possibly true - but can you not admit that the Islamanazis are running a monopoly on terrorist attacks against American and Jewish civilian targets?

There is a lot be furious about -- murderously angry about- and the target of all that anger just happen to be 100% Muslim! Aren't you shocked by the coincidence?

I'll get concerned about the insulted and maligned muslims in this country when they show as much anger as Americans should ALL have at this time.....

I haven't seen it.
Semper Fi

(Funny how it seems to have followed the lines of it, then.)

Where do you get that out of the Bible?

Most Nazi soldiers were Christian.

Obviously your idea of Christianity and mine are different. Mine comes from the Bible and the people who live by it. Yours come from those who claim the name but do not know Christ. There will be a lot in the last days, the bible also warns of that. Something along the lines of many will come before God and say "but I healed in your name, cast out demons!" And God will say "truly I say to you, I never knew you". I can call myself Christian, but does that make me one? God says you judge a tree by its fruit. That is a clue for those that need one.

There were a FEW of the high ranking ones who were into the occult, but that was hardly a widespread thing.

What do you think the SS was, a boys club? Occultism was instituted as an official ruling arm within the Nazi Empire, I do not recall any branch of the military being formed on Christianity. Oh that’s right, they were killing Christians in the gas chambers too, not just Jews.

they did the same thing Christians everywhere do when a war comes around: they followed orders and begged God to be forgiven for any sins they might commit while doing it.

When the soldier came to Christ and asked what must he do, Christ said be a good soldier, do not murder, or steal. Murder and kill are two different words, he chose the word murder not kill. Being a soldier is a very honorable profession, for "he who will lay down their life for a friend is a friend indeed!"

That's right, but he was no Christian I'd recognize...I was raised Christian. I respect Christianity.

You may have been raised a Christian, but you still need to understand what it is, not just respect it. I got a note for you, I was raised in a Southern Baptist family. I figured out Christianity without their help. They never explained to me the concept of messiah. Jesus was a get out of jail free card to them. I guess I was too busy looking at the mess they were making of their lives by living outside of what is printed in the book (that they were beating me with). I actually read it, they just went to a building and got lectured on it once a week. I would suspect that we came out of the same mold, I just broke out a little early.

Once I figured it out, with the help of my black sheep cousin with long hair, I started living by what was in the book, not by what was being put on me by my family. Strange the changes that made in my life. It ended up changing my whole family. I guess they read the part about trees and fruit.

You need to apply that teaching, because also in the last days according to what is in the book there will be a famine, a famine of the teachings of God from in the Book. Show me Christmas, good Friday or Easter in the Bible. Nice cake, made with plaster and paint. Bit heavy. If you eat it, it will break your teeth. Tell me, what significance does the Passover meal (from inside the pages) have with Christians? If you cannot answer, you do not know Christianity, you know Churchianity. Looks close but is NOT the same thing. I suspect you were raised a Churchian, not a Christian.

Figure it out, you will be glad you did.

"Where do you get that out of the Bible?"

I Meant denomenational (sp?) lines.

Okay, so we're on the same page with what makes a real Christian and what doesn't: not just belief but deeds over words.

However, when you say the Nazis as a whole were occultists, that is not true: they may have followed an ideology that had occultist trappings but most of them professed Christianity. I doubt a lot of them even knew where the symbology came from. The celebration of Christmas is a reworking of the ancient Pagan winter celebrations, but you don't call every Christian who celebrates it in the common manner a pagan, do you?

Past that, I'm not going to measure virtual penis sizes with you over who's got the better understanding of Christianity.

The core of my point is not to slam Christianity over what so-called Christians do. My point was, and still is, that human beings are capable of being bastards regardless of what religion they profess. And that is a point that I'm quite sure you can agree with.

J

"....indiscriminate bashing of one group almost always leads to the undermining of civil liberty of other groups."

I disagree.

It is NOT "indiscriminate bashing" to say that the radical militant Islamic proponents and their sponsors are in fact our enemy.

These muslims have been quite clear, it deciding that we were their enemy and they have been attacking us at will for at least the past 8 years or more.

I believe it is long past time - for us to take their challenge and agressiveness seriously - and set about to destroy them where THEY live and flourish.

If there are muslims in the world that wish to join us in destroying the criminal murderous radicals within their Islamic community - they may do so, as Turkey, the Northern alliance in Afghanistan and as some in Pakistan and Indonesia have already done.

I'm sure you don't regard the murderous intent against a delared enemy to be "indiscrimaninate bashing" --- I think of it as SPECIFIC BASHING which needs to be devastating and kill the bastards by the 10s of thousands, or more...
Semper Fi

whoaaaaaah now wait a minute

First of all I think it unfair to use broad sweeping statements to peg a whole race of people. Guess what? You find extermists in every religion. And as for Islam, there are four schools of thought and WHABIS (the Saudi crew) are not one of them. In Saudi and many other Islamic countries, they practice a brand of Islam that is not agreed upon nor accepted by the majority. In fact these countries have their people living in fear...and trust me they are not happy that these people are in power. Prime example is Egypt...where neighbour snitches on neighbour, where they live in fear of the secret police and basically toe the party line so that they do not lose their homes, businesses or end up doing time. But people, this is not Islam! This is a few people telling the "West" what Islam is. I wish nothing more than they would all come down with lock-jaw.

As for the Croat/Nazi connection.....

No mention is made of the other countries that were cheerleaders for Hitler and his merry band. America would have not been involved with WW2 if Japan had not bombed Pearl Habour. And the British would have been doing the goose step...not raving the night away. Churchill was so sure that he was going to lose the war. Let's not forget about the Ship of Fools. No one wanted to accept these people. Then you have France who was more than thrilled with what was going on. They are still notorious anti this and anti that.

So I guess my long winded point is this....not everyone in Croatia was polishing up their arm bands and growing the micro mustache...forgotten are the great number of Muslims who fought, and fought hard against what they saw happening.
Just as many Germans tried to fight but were given a one way ticket to the ovens. (Talk to my grandfather, he was beaten, interned and my family which once numbered 100s is now down to 5.) Many people came out of poverty and decided it was easier to go along than to be slaugtered. Many did it to protect their families. Many of us are here today because our great grandparents and grandparents decided to just go with the flow. But do not try to make a connections between Islam and Nazis, just as I do not make a connection between Americans and bingo halls and trailer parks.

A question...would you go along with something that you morally or religiously disagreed with to keep your daughter from being raped....from your children being starved to death, from you getting a bullet to the head? If you said yes, and really mean it...you have my respect....to those who said no...you are human.

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