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The division was named Handschar, after a local fighting knife or scimitar carried by [[Ottoman]] [[police]]men during the centuries that the region was part of the [[Ottoman Empire]]. It was the first non-Germanic Waffen-SS division, and its formation marked the expansion of the Waffen-SS into a [[multiculturalism|multi-ethnic]] military force. Composed mainly of [[Bosnian]] [[Muslims]] and mostly German Yugoslav ''Volksdeutsche'' officers and non-commissioned officers, the members of the division took an oath of allegiance to the German ''[[Führer]]'' [[Adolf Hitler]] and the Croatian ''Poglavnik'' Ante Pavelić.
The division was named Handschar, after a local fighting knife or scimitar carried by [[Ottoman]] [[police]]men during the centuries that the region was part of the [[Ottoman Empire]]. It was the first non-Germanic Waffen-SS division, and its formation marked the expansion of the Waffen-SS into a [[multiculturalism|multi-ethnic]] military force. Composed mainly of [[Bosnian]] [[Muslims]] and mostly German Yugoslav ''Volksdeutsche'' officers and non-commissioned officers, the members of the division took an oath of allegiance to the German ''[[Führer]]'' [[Adolf Hitler]] and the Croatian ''Poglavnik'' Ante Pavelić.
The division earned a reputation for brutality and savagery, not only during [[combat]] operations but also for atrocities committed against [[Serb]] and [[Jew]]ish civilians. Most of the members became [[Prisoner of war]] of the [[British]]. Subsequently, 38 officers were extradited to communist [[Yugoslavia]] after the war to face criminal charges, and ten were executed. Hundreds of former members of the division fought in the 1947–48 [[jihad]] in Mandatory Palestine]] and against the [[1948 Israeli War for Independence]].
The division earned a reputation for brutality and savagery, not only during [[combat]] operations but also for atrocities committed against [[Serb]] and [[Jew]]ish civilians. Most of the members became [[Prisoner of war]] of the [[British]]. Subsequently, 38 officers were extradited to communist [[Yugoslavia]] after the war to face criminal charges, and ten were executed. Hundreds of former members of the division fought in the 1947–48 [[jihad]] in [[Mandatory Palestine]] and against the [[1948 Israeli War for Independence]].
===Operation Overlord===
===Operation Overlord===