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Vojvodina and the Kama SS Division by Carl K. Savich Bosnia 's Nazi Past Heinrich Himmler sought to create two Bosnian Muslim SS Divisions and two Albanian Muslim SS Divisions for Kosovo and Western Macedonia. In a May 22, 1944 letter to Artur Phleps, Himmler stated: My goal is clear: The creation of two territorial corps, one in Bosnia , the other in Albania. These two corps, with the Division 'Prinz Eugen', as an army of five SS mountain divisions are the goal for 1944. Adolf Hitler approved the formation of the second Bosnian Muslim Waffen SS Division, 23rd Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS "Kama", on May 28, 1944. Kama was the second Bosnian Muslim SS Division formed by Himmler. The name was derived from the Turkish word "kama", meaning dagger, from the Ottoman period. Transfers and recruitments for the cadre personnel had been begun on June 10.The objective was to recruit a Waffen SS Division of over 19,000 troops but by September 10, 1944 , the number of men in the still forming division was 126 officers, 374 NCOs, and 3,293 men, 3,793 men in all. The Kama Division was commanded by SS Standartenfuehrer Hellmut Raithel, who had earlier commanded the 28th Regiment of the Handzar Division. Raithel commanded the division from July 1, 1944 to September 28, 1944. The Quartermaster was SS Hauptsturmfuehrer Ernst Fritscher. The order of battle consisted of Regimens 55 and 56, Artillery Regiment 23, and a medical and anti-tank battalion.. The Kama Division was formed and trained in the Bacska/Bachka/Batschka region, formerly part of Yugoslavia , at that time annexed by Hungary. The region for the initial formation of the division was in the area between the Sava , Bosna, and Speca rivers. Later, the division was transferred to the Bachka region of the Vojvodina region of Serbia to avoid attacks by guerrillas. The two recruiting depots for Kama were located in Sombor and Bogojevo in Vojvodina, in the Bachka region then annexed to a Greater Hungary. The 3 rd and 4 th regiments of Kama were based in the region between Sombor and Vrbas. The Kama artillery regiment was located near Kula. It was in this region of Vojvodina that the Kama Nazi SS Division was formed and assembled. The Kama SS Division was made up of Bosnian Muslim, Croat, and German troops. Himmler created Kama to reinforce the Handzar Division, then engaged in combat in eastern Bosnia. Kama and Handzar were meant to occupy eastern Bosnia and create a Muslim autonomous area under the SS. Himmler wanted to exploit the jihadist nature of Islam for the Nazi cause. Fredo Gensicke, a Reichdeutsche SS sergeant who was transferred to the Kama Division on July 20, 1944 , described the Bosnian Muslim troops in Kama as follows: There were forever complications with the Bosnian soldiers.... On the other hand, there were those Muslims so fanatical in their religion that one could get a knife stuck in the back if you would twist your head around, forcing the tassel on the Fez hat to move around. The subsequent advance of the Russian Red Army and the retreat of the German forces in Yugoslavia forced the Germans to disband the Kama Division by September-October, 1944, after a roughly five month existence. SS Oberfuehrer Gustav Lombard commanded Kama in its final stages, from September 28 to October 1, 1944. In October, the personnel from the Kama division were transferred to the newly forming 31 st SS Freiwilligen Grenadier Division "Batschka" made up of volksdeutsche or ethnic Germans in the Bachka region of 9ojvodina. Lombard commanded the Batschka division until April, 1945 when SS Brigadefuehrer August-Wilhelm Trabandt assumed commanded. Trabandt surrendered the division on May 8, 1945 at Koniggratz. The Kama Division was formed at too late a stage in the war to have an impact. Kama was formed when the German forces in the Balkans were in retreat and under heavy assault by the Soviet Red Army. The Kama Division was formed to create a Bosnian Muslim autonomous statelet in eastern Bosnia , an SS security or recruitment zone.
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