Milutin Živković, PhD
Institute for Contemporary History, Belgrade, Republic of Serbia
Vol. XLIII, 2/2025, pp. 343–362
https://doi.org/10.29362/ist20veka.2025.2.ziv.343-362
ABSTRACT/RESUME:
The engagement of Muslims from Stara Raška with German armed forces in the course of the Second World War is almost “terra incognita” topic, at least with respect to domestic historiography. This article is, actually, an attempt to make a further step as regards the investigation of this topic. Our intention was to recon-struct the process of the SS legion establishment, its restructuring into the unit of police type, i.e. the destiny of the fighters who made it, on the basis of the original documentation and less available literature. The development process of the SS legion and SRS was analyzed through the constant conflict between the SS and the army, as well as through the local (disorganized) political, administrative, military, economic and other opportunities. The role of Karl von Krempler is particularly pointed out. The study on the legionaries from Stara Raška would not be complete without the analysis of their origin, social affiliation, economic power, etc. and the inspection of the personal data of several hundreds of Muslim fighters made it possible for us.
KEYWORDS: Muslims, Stara Raška, Germans, SS legion, Sjenica, Novi Pazar, Krempler, Meissner, recruits
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