Karl von Krempler
Encyclopedia
Karl von Krempler was a senior SS Standartenführer
and SS-und Polizeiführer during World War II
responsible for recruiting Muslims from Bosnia and the Sanjak
region into the Waffen SS.
, Serbia
. He was the son of an Austrian
engineer. In 1915 he volunteered as a cadet for the Lower Austrian Infantry Regiment No. 84 (k.u.k. Niederösterreichischen Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 84). In 1920 he was released from active serive with the rank of Lieutenant (Oberleutnant).
He spoke fluent Turkish
, Serbian
and German
. He was considered a specialist within the SS on Islam and in 1942 was recruited by Heinrich Himmler
and Artur Phleps
to participate in the formation of a proposed Bosniak Handschar Division within the Waffen SS, the 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian)
. Unlike most SS personnel, Krempler was not a member of the Nazi Party.
"On 3 March [1942], Phleps met with fellow SS officer Karl von Krempler, who, together with Croatian government official Dr. Alija Šuljak, was to conduct the recruiting effort. The campaign began on the twentieth, when the multi-lingual von Krempler and Dr. Šuljak, accompanied by several other dignitaries began an eighteen-day recruiting tour through eleven Bosnian districts."
Dr. Alija Šuljak and SS Standartenführer
Karl von Krempler soon fell out over the aims and purposes of the proposed Division. The Bosniak doctor, an entirely political appointee, criticized von Krempler's spoken Serbian dialect and his use of traditional Islamic colours and emblems (green flags and crescent moons) rather than the new Ustaše
symbols during recruitment.
"Upon reaching Tuzla he [von Krempler] met with Major Hadžiefendić, and on 28 March the pair departed for Sarajevo, where Hadžiefendić introduced the German to leading Muslim autonomists, including the Reis-el-Ulema, Hafiz Muhamed Pandža."
Major Muhamed Hadžiefendić
had been an important Muslim officer in the Yugoslav Royal Army and came from a distinguished family in Tuzla
. Angry Ustaše
officials demanded that von Krempler be relieved of his duties and Envoy Siegfried Kasche
of the Reich
Foreign Affairs Ministry was also very critical of von Krempler's perceived interference in the internal affairs of Croatia
.
As he spoke Turkish von Krempler also helped liaise with and organise security for the visit to Bosnia by Mohammad Amin al-Husayni
, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, over 30 March and 14 April 1942. (The Mufti was Arab
but had served in the Turkish army during World War I
). Croatian authorities tried to interrupt the visit but von Krempler was instrumental in arranging an interview between the Mufti and several Bosnian community leaders.
Following his appointment to the post of Höhere SS-und Polizeiführer Sandschak (Higher SS and Police Leader Sanjak
) in September 1943, von Krempler came to be known as the "Sanjak Prince" after his relatively successful formation of the SS und Polizei Selbschutz Regiment (or Self-Defense Regiment “Sandschak”). He went to the Sanjak
region in October and took over the local volunteer militia of around 5000 anti-communist, anti-Serb Muslim men headquartered in Sjenica
. This formation was sometimes thereafter called the Kampfgruppe Krempler or more derisively the "Muselmanengruppe von Krempler". As the senior Waffen SS officer Karl von Krempler appointed a token local Muslim named Hafiz Sulejman Pacariz as the formal commander of the unit, but as the key military trainer and contact person with German arms and munitions, remained effectively in control.
Krempler was replaced in June 1944 by SS Oberführer
Richard Kaaserer, who commanded the Sandschak Regiment from 21 June 1944 to 28 November 1944. Kaaserer had been a member of the Austro-Hungarian Army
in World War I
. Unlike von Krempler, Kaaserer was extradited to Socialist Yugoslavia
after the war, and was tried and executed in January 1947 for alleged war crimes.
On 27 July 1944 he was awarded the Panzervernichtungsabzeichen (tank destruction medal).
Yugoslav Partisans, equipped with Allied
war material attacked and seized Sjenica
over 14–15 October 1944. The Kampfgruppe Krempler was effectively scattered : older men deserted or simply went home, whilst hundreds of younger men under the leadership of Pacariz travelled to Sarajevo
where they joined up with the notorious Ustaše Vjekoslav Luburić. (Pacariz was granted the rank of Pukovnik - leader - in the Ustaše Militia.) Karl von Krempler and his small contingent of German training personnel were reassigned during the latter part of October 1944.
In January 1945 he was re-assigned to the administrative staff of the 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian)
.
Karl von Krempler escaped the Communist regime of Josip Broz Tito
and died on 17 April 1972 in Salzburg
, Austria
.
Standartenführer
Standartenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in the so-called Nazi combat-organisations: SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK...
and SS-und Polizeiführer during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
responsible for recruiting Muslims from Bosnia and the Sanjak
Sanjak
Sanjaks were administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire. Sanjak, and the variant spellings sandjak, sanjaq, and sinjaq, are English transliterations of the Turkish word sancak, meaning district, banner, or flag...
region into the Waffen SS.
History
Karl von Krempler was born on 26 May 1896 in PirotPirot
Pirot is a town and municipality located in south-eastern Serbia. According to 2011 census, the town has a total population of 38,432, while the population of the municipality is 57,911...
, Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
. He was the son of an Austrian
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
engineer. In 1915 he volunteered as a cadet for the Lower Austrian Infantry Regiment No. 84 (k.u.k. Niederösterreichischen Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 84). In 1920 he was released from active serive with the rank of Lieutenant (Oberleutnant).
He spoke fluent Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
, Serbian
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
. He was considered a specialist within the SS on Islam and in 1942 was recruited by Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
and Artur Phleps
Artur Phleps
Artur Martin Phleps was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian and German officer who held the rank of Obergruppenführer in the Waffen-SS during World War II. An Austro-Hungarian Army officer in World War I, he served in the Romanian Army during the interwar period, before joining the military forces...
to participate in the formation of a proposed Bosniak Handschar Division within the Waffen SS, the 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian)
13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian)
The 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar was one of the thirty-eight divisions fielded as part of the Waffen-SS during World War II. Its recruits were composed of Muslim Bosniaks. The Handschar division was a mountain infantry formation, the equivalent of the German "Gebirgsjäger" ...
. Unlike most SS personnel, Krempler was not a member of the Nazi Party.
"On 3 March [1942], Phleps met with fellow SS officer Karl von Krempler, who, together with Croatian government official Dr. Alija Šuljak, was to conduct the recruiting effort. The campaign began on the twentieth, when the multi-lingual von Krempler and Dr. Šuljak, accompanied by several other dignitaries began an eighteen-day recruiting tour through eleven Bosnian districts."
Dr. Alija Šuljak and SS Standartenführer
Standartenführer
Standartenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in the so-called Nazi combat-organisations: SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK...
Karl von Krempler soon fell out over the aims and purposes of the proposed Division. The Bosniak doctor, an entirely political appointee, criticized von Krempler's spoken Serbian dialect and his use of traditional Islamic colours and emblems (green flags and crescent moons) rather than the new Ustaše
Ustaše
The Ustaša - Croatian Revolutionary Movement was a Croatian fascist anti-Yugoslav separatist movement. The ideology of the movement was a blend of fascism, Nazism, and Croatian nationalism. The Ustaše supported the creation of a Greater Croatia that would span to the River Drina and to the border...
symbols during recruitment.
"Upon reaching Tuzla he [von Krempler] met with Major Hadžiefendić, and on 28 March the pair departed for Sarajevo, where Hadžiefendić introduced the German to leading Muslim autonomists, including the Reis-el-Ulema, Hafiz Muhamed Pandža."
Major Muhamed Hadžiefendić
Muhamed Hadžiefendić
Muhamed Hadžiefendić was Croatian Domobran senior officer and commander of the Croatian Home Guard unit 'Volunteer Detachment of People's Uprising' , a World War II Croatian Muslim militia in Independent State of Croatia.-Life:Muhamed Hadžiefendić was born in Tuzla...
had been an important Muslim officer in the Yugoslav Royal Army and came from a distinguished family in Tuzla
Tuzla
Tuzla is a city and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the time of the 1991 census, it had 83,770 inhabitants, while the municipality 131,318. Taking the influx of refugees into account, the city is currently estimated to have 174,558 inhabitants...
. Angry Ustaše
Ustaše
The Ustaša - Croatian Revolutionary Movement was a Croatian fascist anti-Yugoslav separatist movement. The ideology of the movement was a blend of fascism, Nazism, and Croatian nationalism. The Ustaše supported the creation of a Greater Croatia that would span to the River Drina and to the border...
officials demanded that von Krempler be relieved of his duties and Envoy Siegfried Kasche
Siegfried Kasche
Siegfried Kasche was an SA Obergruppenführer and ambassador of the Third Reich to the allied Independent State of Croatia during the Second World War. He was tried for "complicity in deportations and murders" by a Yugoslav court and was executed in June 1947.Kasche was born in Strausberg in...
of the Reich
Reich
Reich is a German word cognate with the English rich, but also used to designate an empire, realm, or nation. The qualitative connotation from the German is " sovereign state." It is the word traditionally used for a variety of sovereign entities, including Germany in many periods of its history...
Foreign Affairs Ministry was also very critical of von Krempler's perceived interference in the internal affairs of Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
.
As he spoke Turkish von Krempler also helped liaise with and organise security for the visit to Bosnia by Mohammad Amin al-Husayni
Mohammad Amin al-Husayni
Haj Mohammed Effendi Amin el-Husseini was a Palestinian Arab nationalist and Muslim leader in the British Mandate of Palestine. From as early as 1920, in order to secure the independence of Palestine as an Arab state he actively opposed Zionism, and was implicated as a leader of a violent riot...
, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, over 30 March and 14 April 1942. (The Mufti was Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
but had served in the Turkish army during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
). Croatian authorities tried to interrupt the visit but von Krempler was instrumental in arranging an interview between the Mufti and several Bosnian community leaders.
Sanjak
Sanjaks were administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire. Sanjak, and the variant spellings sandjak, sanjaq, and sinjaq, are English transliterations of the Turkish word sancak, meaning district, banner, or flag...
) in September 1943, von Krempler came to be known as the "Sanjak Prince" after his relatively successful formation of the SS und Polizei Selbschutz Regiment (or Self-Defense Regiment “Sandschak”). He went to the Sanjak
Sanjak
Sanjaks were administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire. Sanjak, and the variant spellings sandjak, sanjaq, and sinjaq, are English transliterations of the Turkish word sancak, meaning district, banner, or flag...
region in October and took over the local volunteer militia of around 5000 anti-communist, anti-Serb Muslim men headquartered in Sjenica
Sjenica
Sjenica , is a town and municipality in the Zlatibor District of Serbia. The population of the town, according to 2011 census, is 13,056 inhabitants, while the municipality has 25,448.-History:...
. This formation was sometimes thereafter called the Kampfgruppe Krempler or more derisively the "Muselmanengruppe von Krempler". As the senior Waffen SS officer Karl von Krempler appointed a token local Muslim named Hafiz Sulejman Pacariz as the formal commander of the unit, but as the key military trainer and contact person with German arms and munitions, remained effectively in control.
Krempler was replaced in June 1944 by SS Oberführer
Oberführer
Oberführer was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party dating back to 1921. Translated as “Senior Leader”, an Oberführer was typically a Nazi Party member in charge of a group of paramilitary units in a particular geographical region...
Richard Kaaserer, who commanded the Sandschak Regiment from 21 June 1944 to 28 November 1944. Kaaserer had been a member of the Austro-Hungarian Army
Austro-Hungarian Army
The Austro-Hungarian Army was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint army , the Austrian Landwehr , and the Hungarian Honvédség .In the wake of fighting between the...
in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Unlike von Krempler, Kaaserer was extradited to Socialist Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
after the war, and was tried and executed in January 1947 for alleged war crimes.
On 27 July 1944 he was awarded the Panzervernichtungsabzeichen (tank destruction medal).
Yugoslav Partisans, equipped with Allied
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
war material attacked and seized Sjenica
Sjenica
Sjenica , is a town and municipality in the Zlatibor District of Serbia. The population of the town, according to 2011 census, is 13,056 inhabitants, while the municipality has 25,448.-History:...
over 14–15 October 1944. The Kampfgruppe Krempler was effectively scattered : older men deserted or simply went home, whilst hundreds of younger men under the leadership of Pacariz travelled to Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
where they joined up with the notorious Ustaše Vjekoslav Luburić. (Pacariz was granted the rank of Pukovnik - leader - in the Ustaše Militia.) Karl von Krempler and his small contingent of German training personnel were reassigned during the latter part of October 1944.
In January 1945 he was re-assigned to the administrative staff of the 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian)
13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian)
The 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar was one of the thirty-eight divisions fielded as part of the Waffen-SS during World War II. Its recruits were composed of Muslim Bosniaks. The Handschar division was a mountain infantry formation, the equivalent of the German "Gebirgsjäger" ...
.
Karl von Krempler escaped the Communist regime of Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
and died on 17 April 1972 in Salzburg
Salzburg
-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
.
Awards
- Tank Destruction BadgeTank Destruction BadgeThe Tank Destruction Badge was an award given to individuals of the Wehrmacht who destroyed an enemy tank single-handedly by an hand-held weapon. Anti-tank units were not eligible for this award...
(Sonderabzeichen für das Niederkämpfen von Panzerkampfwagen durch Einzelkämpfer)
Literature
- Munoz, Antonio J., editor, The East Came West: Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist Volunteers in the German Armed Forces. (chapters 2 and 13) Bayside, NY: Axis Europa, 2001 ISBN 1-891227-39-4
- Malcolm, Noel (1996). Bosnia: A Short History. (New York University Press). pp. 174–176. ISBN 0814755615.
- Stein, George H., The Waffen SS: Hitler's Elite Guard at War, 1939-45. (Cornell University Press, 1984), ISBN 0801492750.
- Lepre, George (2000). Himmler's Bosnian Division: The Waffen-SS Handschar Division 1943-1945. Schiffer Publishing. ISBN 0764301349.
- "The Moslem Militia and Legion of the Sandjak" in Axis Europa Magazine, Vol. II/III (No. 9), July–August-September 1996, pp. 3–14.
Links
- http://www.serbianna.com/columns/savich/068.shtml
- http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=77761