The 392nd Infantry Division was a division of the Wehrmacht

Wehrmacht

The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...

 which accepted volunteers from the Independent State of Croatia

Independent State of Croatia

The Independent State of Croatia was a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany, established on a part of Axis-occupied Yugoslavia. The NDH was founded on 10 April 1941, after the invasion of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers. All of Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed to NDH, together with some parts...

. It was commonly known as the Blue Division .

The division was established August 17, 1943 in Döllersheim

Döllersheim

Döllersheim was, since the mid 19th century, an Austrian municipality in the Waldviertel, the northwestern part of Lower Austria near the border with Bohemia. It included the hamlet of Strones, where Alois Hitler, the father of Adolf Hitler, was born to Maria Schicklgruber in 1837. Strones was very...

. It was commanded by Generalleutnant Johann Mickl

Johann Mickl

Johann Mickl was a highly decorated Generalleutnant in the Wehrmacht during World War II, and one of only 882 recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. Born in Zenkovci in prekmurian-German family...

. The majority of the officers were German. The division's uniforms were German, with a Croatian coat-of-arms on the right sleeve. The division participated in the clearing of Partisans from the island of Korčula

Korcula

Korčula is an island in the Adriatic Sea, in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia. The island has an area of ; long and on average wide — and lies just off the Dalmatian coast. Its 16,182 inhabitants make it the second most populous Adriatic island after Krk...

.

Generalleutnant Johann Mickl was killed in action after being ambushed by Yugoslav Partisans near Senj on April 9, 1945. The unit subsequently withdrew to north of Rijeka

Rijeka

Rijeka is the principal seaport and the third largest city in Croatia . It is located on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and has a population of 128,735 inhabitants...

. There the German officers released the Croat volunteers from service, where they then surrendered to the Yugoslav Partisans.

Post-war fate

On April 3, 2009 the Croatian Helsinki Committee

Croatian Helsinki Committee

Croatian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights is the leading organisation for protection and promotion of human rights in Croatia...

 announced that mass graves containing the remains of approximately 4500 members of the division were discovered near Zaprešić

Zaprešic

Zaprešić is a city in Zagreb County in Croatia. Its population is 25.875 inhabitants for the city proper, and over 51,000 for its seven-municipality metropolitan area. Zaprešić is the third-largest, and most densely populated division of the county. It is located northwest of the Croatian capital...

. Locals have indicated that the 21st Serbian Division was to blame for the massacre.