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The 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS ''Handschar'' (1st Croatian) was a mountain infantry division of the Waffen SS, an armed branch of the German [[Nazi Party]] that served alongside the [[Wehrmacht]]. From March to December 1944, the division fought a counter-insurgency campaign against Yugoslav anti-Nazi partisan resistance forces in Independent State of Croatia, a [[fascist]] [[puppet state]] of [[Nazi Germany]] and [[Italy]] that encompassed almost all of modern-day Croatia, all of modern-day [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]] and parts of [[Serbia]].  

The 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS ''Handschar'' (1st Croatian) was a mountain infantry division of the Waffen SS, an armed branch of the German [[Nazi Party]] that served alongside the [[Wehrmacht]]. From March to December 1944, the division fought a counter-insurgency campaign against Yugoslav anti-Nazi partisan resistance forces in Independent State of Croatia, a [[fascist]] [[puppet state]] of [[Nazi Germany]] and [[Italy]] that encompassed almost all of modern-day Croatia, all of modern-day [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]] and parts of [[Serbia]].  

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 [[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 [[prisoners 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 [[prisoners 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]].