Muslimové ve zbraních SS - Vzpomínky na bosenskou divizi Handžár (1943-1945) – Bernwald Zvonimir (2021)

The 13th Waffen Division of the SS "Handžár" was largely composed of 15,000 Bosnian Muslims who volunteered. The division was formed in March 1943 and deployed in northeastern Bosnia against Tito's partisans and Serbian Chetniks. Training initially took place in southern France and then at the military training area Neuhammer am Queis (now Świętoszów nad Kwisou) in Silesia. During training in southern France, a rebellion occurred in the town of Villefranche-de-Rouergue under the leadership of two Croatian and two Bosnian communists, during which five German officers were shot. The rebellion was suppressed after several hours. The author has been evaluating the materials and interviewing witnesses of that time for many years. As one of the last survivors, he further describes the reasons for the creation of this unique "non-German" SS unit and the role of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Amin al-Husseini. The collaboration of the Grand Mufti with Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler is still the cause of many heated discussions about the relationship between Islam and National Socialism.