SS-''Polizei Selbstschutz'' Regiment Sandschak (from

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

; "''SS-Police Self-Protection Regiment Sandžak''", ), also known as the Krempler Legion (, ) was a Schutzstaffel (SS) unit established on the territory of

Sandžak Sandžak (; sh, / , ; sq, Sanxhaku; ota, سنجاق, Sancak), also known as Sanjak, is a historical geo-political region in Serbia and Montenegro. The name Sandžak derives from the Sanjak of Novi Pazar, a former Ottoman administrative dis ...

by the senior

Waffen-SS The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscripts from both occup ...

officer

Karl von Krempler Karl von Krempler, later only Karl Krempler (Serbian Cyrillic: ''Карл Кремплер'', 26 May 1896 – 17 April 1971) was a German SS-''Standartenführer'' and SS and Police Leader during the Nazi era. In World War II, he was responsible ...

Axis occupied Yugoslavia World War II in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia began on 6 April 1941, when the country was swiftly conquered by Axis forces and partitioned between Germany, Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria and their client regimes. Shortly after Germany attacked the U ...

. He went to the Sandžak region (named after the Ottoman administrative unit ''"

Sanjak Sanjaks (liwāʾ) (plural form: alwiyāʾ) * Armenian: նահանգ (''nahang''; meaning "province") * Bulgarian: окръг (''okrǔg''; meaning "county", "province", or "region") * el, Διοίκησις (''dioikēsis'', meaning "province" ...

"'') in October and took over the local volunteer militia of around 5,000 anti-communist, anti-Serb Muslim men headquartered in

Sjenica Sjenica ( sr-cyr, Сјеница, ) is a town and municipality located in the Zlatibor District of southwestern Serbia. The population of the town, according to 2011 census, is 14,060 inhabitants, while the municipality has 26,392. Sjenica is si ...

. The SS-police "self-defence"

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscript ...

Sandžak was created by joining three

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions ...

s of Albanian collaborationist troops with one battalion of the

Sandžak Muslim militia The Sandžak Muslim militia was established in Sandžak and eastern Herzegovina in Axis occupied Yugoslavia between April or June and August 1941 during World War II. It was under control of the Independent State of Croatia until September 1941, w ...

. The Germans could not provide uniforms, arms and equipment for more than one battalion of Muslims, so other Muslim fighters remained within units of Muslim militia. This formation was sometimes thereafter called the ''

Kampfgruppe In military history, the German term (pl. ; abbrev. KG, or KGr in usage during World War II, literally "fighting group" or "battle group") can refer to a combat formation of any kind, but most usually to that employed by the of Nazi Germ ...

Krempler'' or more derisively the ''"Muselmanengruppe von Krempler"''. As the senior Waffen-SS officer, Karl von Krempler appointed

Sulejman Pačariz Hafiz Sulejman Pačariz (1900 — 1945) was an Islamic cleric of Albanian origin and commander of the detachment of Muslim militia from the village of Hisardžik (Prijepolje, modern-day Serbia) during the Second World War. When Germans took o ...

as the formal commander of the unit, but as the key military trainer and contact person with German arms and munitions, he remained effectively in control. At one point around 2,000 members of the SS regiment operated in Sjenica. The supreme commander of all police forces was SS and Police Leader August Meyszner who was responsible only to

Reichsführer-SS (, ) was a special title and rank that existed between the years of 1925 and 1945 for the commander of the (SS). ''Reichsführer-SS'' was a title from 1925 to 1933, and from 1934 to 1945 it was the highest rank of the SS. The longest-servi ...

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

regarding the police actions. All newly recruited members of this police were sent for two-months military training to Raška and

Vučitrn Vushtrri ( sq-definite, Vushtrria) or Vučitrn ( sr-Cyrl, Вучитрн), is a city and municipality located in the Mitrovica District in northern Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town of Vushtrri has 26,964 inhabitants, while the m ...

. They were trained by

Volksdeutsche In Nazi German terminology, ''Volksdeutsche'' () were "people whose language and culture had German origins but who did not hold German citizenship". The term is the nominalised plural of ''volksdeutsch'', with ''Volksdeutsche'' denoting a sing ...

. Besides military training they learned German language, first military commands and later to speak German. They sang German March songs while they marched through populated places. In August 1944 took part in operation Operation Rübezahl under command of

5th SS Mountain Corps __NOTOC__ V SS Mountain Corps was a Waffen-SS formation that existed in later periods of World War II. The Corps fought against Yugoslav Partisans in the Balkans as part of 2nd Panzer Army from October 1943 to December 1944. At this time it rarely ...

. On 14 October 1944

Yugoslav partisan The Yugoslav Partisans, Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НОВ); mk, Народноослобод ...

s defeated the regiment during a surprise attack in which they took Sjenica and pushed it back to Duga Poljana, to the east. This action marked the end of the unit in Sandžak, although Germans recaptured Sjenica on 25 October 1944. In November 1944, Pačariz together with his troops retreated to Sarajevo where the SS regiment was put under command of

Ustaše The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croats, Croatian Fascism, fascist and ultranationalism, ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaš ...

General

Maks Luburić MAKS or Maks may refer to: People *Maksim (Maks), a Slavic given name * Kees Maks (1876-1967) Dutch painter Places *Maks, a settlement in northern Poland Other uses *MAKS Air Show, an international airshow held near Moscow, Russia *MAKS (spacecr ...

. Pačariz was promoted to the rank of Ustaše Colonel. In 1945 Pačariz was captured near

Banja Luka Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city of Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is also the ''de facto'' capital of this entity. ...

, put on trial and found guilty for massacres of civilians. He was executed as a war criminal.

Annotations

*Name: **Selbstschutz-Regiment "Sandschak". **"Police Self-Defense Regiment Sandjak" (Polizei-Selbstschutz-Regiment Sandschak).

References

Sources

* * {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 History of Sandžak Montenegro in World War II Serbia in World War II World War II crimes in Yugoslavia Albanians in Serbia Kosovo Albanians Albanian militant groups Military units and formations established in 1943 Military units and formations disestablished in 1944 Sjenica Anti-Serbian sentiment 1940s establishments in Serbia Military units and formations of Germany in Yugoslavia in World War II