Waffen SS Division, Prinz Eugen



By Walter Neuner

Translated by Hans Kopp


The justification for the German Waffen SS Prinz Eugen Division
comprised of men from the Banat.

Even today the member of the Waffen SS Prinz Eugen Division are still
frequently falsely accused by the Tito Partisan and the history writers
of Yugoslavia and other countries as having betrayed their country
while fighting against the Tito Partisan Terrorists in Yugoslavia.
These accusations were made either on purpose by Tito propagandist to
justify their actions or in ignorance to the actual facts by history
writers.

The facts as developed by the political events:

However, hardly a voice was raised in justification to the relationship
of the facts in honor of these brave soldiers serving in this unit. The
actual facts of the political events leading to the formation of the
Prince Eugene Division and the justification for the members’
involvement in the war were never presented factual by either Tito or
the allied nations. Connections are made between the Division and the
entire German Nationality Group in Yugoslavia and thus are collectively
accused of collaborating with the enemy.

This is the reason why the following facts of the political development
are extremely important to understand which explain the circumstances
the Division was place in and did perform their sworn duty in the best
interest of their homeland and not as accused against their homeland.
This presentation should shed a new light on the facts and why the
members of the unit acted the way they did.

Prior to these considerations one has to point out that it is untrue to
claim that the Waffen SS Prinz Eugen Division of the German Nationality
Group from the Banat fought against the Kingdom of Yugoslavia during
WWII. It is also untrue that the soldiers of the German Nationality
Group from the Banat made themselves guilty of treason during their
action in Yugoslavia.

When the war between Germany and Yugoslavia broke out on April 6th 1941
the men of of the Banat fought on the side of the Royal Yugoslavian
army as Yugoslavian soldiers against Germany and many died in the
Yugoslavian uniform for Yugoslavia. On April 17th a seize fire between
these countries was reached followed by the capitulation on April 18th
1941 and the Yugoslavian army disbanded. King Peter and his
administration left the country and went into self exile in England.
With King Peter leaving the country it created a totally new situation
in the country. The Croatians declared their independence; the
Batschka, the territory between Theiss and Danube was reclaimed by the
Hungary, Macedonia was taken by Bulgaria and Dalmatia and Slovenia were
occupied by Italy. The northern part of Slovenia the region of Lower
Styria and the Serbian Banat were placed under the administration of
the German troops.

The relative unfavorable situation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was
favored by the Yugoslavian Communists whose aim it was to oust the
capitalistic-monarchist government of Yugoslavia, to dissolve the
Constitution, the Royal Army and aimed to form a communistic government
in the sense of the international communist party of Moscow.  After the
seize fire agreement between Germany and Yugoslavia the communist party
in Yugoslavia did not undertake any steps against the German occupation
since Germany had a non aggression pact with Russia at the time.

As soon as Germany invaded Russia on June 22nd 1941 the communist in
Yugoslavia on demand of Stalin began to organize the Communist Partisan
Units. The first victims of their executions in Serbia were not German
soldiers but the Royal Gendarmes which remained loyal to the King.  It
must be understood that the majority of the German Nationality Group
from the Banat did not wish the downfall of the Yugoslavian Central
State, since the Central State insured their rights and saw that their
rights and their economic development as a minority would otherwise be
in jeopardy.

The Yugoslavian leaders knew exactly that after the withdrawal of the
German troops they would have a difficult fight against the communist
in their country and it was for this reason that they formed units to
oppose the communist partisans.

The Serbian General and Minister President Milan Nadic organized the
Serbian State Gendarmes, the right fascist national Tschetnik
organization was revitalized under the Royal Justice Minister Dimitrija
Ljotic which they already had done before the war and the Royal General
Draza Mihajlovic formed troops again which were loyal to King Peter
from men disbanded by the Royal Army of Yugoslavian after the seize
fire.

Further more General Rupnik formed the so called “White Guards” while
in Croatia the Ustascha under Poglavnik Ante Pavelic seized power. In
Bosnia the Moslem population later formed their own SS troop unit the
“Handzar” as protection against the Communist Partisans while in
Albania the “Skander Bag” fought their ideological enemies the
Communist in their country.

The Yugoslavian Generals and patriots were convinced about their
actions to form units and in their fight against the left oriented
fascists of the communist Tito Partisans and that it would be the only
way to avoid a communist takeover of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Of
course they did not want the German troops occupy their country since
they were fighting the Germans, Hungarians and Italians prior to the
seize fire.  However, now the communist Tito Partisans presented a
greater danger to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and were considered the
more dangerous enemy since they know that the Germans would leave after
the war but the communist would not.

By 1942 the fight between the communist on one side and the royal loyal
patriots of the King had inflamed throughout the country.  The German
occupational forces watched this development of the battles between the
Yugoslavian rivals for some time without getting involved. But after
communist gangs on order of Stalin began to sabotage factories of
German suppliers and transport installation in the Banat (and
Batschka), they saw themselves committed to interfere and formed
defensive units to protect the Banat and recruited their men for
military duty.

The action by the partisan had been extended to the Banat, Batschka and
Slovenia and as protection of the territories against Partisans and
safety of the civilians in the region the 7th SS-Volunteer Mountain
Unit Prince Eugene was formed and it was the Men from the Banat which
were pressed into uniforms involuntarily. The Prince Eugene Division
was the first division, to which the attribute “Volunteer Unit” was
attached too. With this attribute “Volunteer” the International
agreement was circumvented which states: “that a country may not draft
soldiers from another country into their army”. The Germans from the
Banat were forced to serve like any other German from the “Reich” and
to refuse this order was punishable the same way as any other nation
had a right too. Certainly there were also Germans from the Banat in
the unit ranks who felt compelled and committed to serve for the cause
of the Banat to protect themselves and their land from being vandalized
by the communist terrorist groups and invisible Partisan troops.

It is correct to assume that it is against the law of nations to force
men from occupied countries to participate in the defense against their
own country. However, the Germans from the Banat did not fight against
Royal Yugoslavia; they were active against the communist terrorist the
very same the “Kings Loyalists” were fighting as well and it must be
looked as helping their countrymen fight a common enemy the “Communist
Tito Partisans Terrorists” not yet even recognized as the official
government of the Yugoslavia.

The troops formed in the Banat from Banater men in German uniforms
according to Article 43 of the “Haager Resolution” governing the rights
of countries during a war, saw themselves compelled in view of the
attacks on civilian installation within the Banat, to reestablish law
and order. In addition according to law of nation an occupational force
must provide law and order in an occupied country regardless whether
the entered the country rightfully or not.

The position and the situation of the political developments were
discussed and explained in details at a conference in Belgrade by Major
Upenkamp military commander of the occupational force to the Serbian
administrators in which he also pointed out that the actions taken by
the occupier is within the parameters of the “Haager Resolution” and as
such fully justified and work in the support of the interest of the
Serbian population loyal to the King till the end of their occupation.
It became quite clear to German nationalities in Yugoslavia if the
communists Titos Partisans would win against the Kings Loyalists their
private property would be confiscated and Russian type “Kolkhozes”
established on it.

The German recruits followed the explanation by the authorities and
were aware about the reasons presented to them. They were not acting
against the Yugoslavian Kingdom or against the interest of the King to
who they would have been loyal too and thus would not violate and laws
as outlined in the “Haager Resolution”. 

The communist Partisans under the leadership of Josip Broz “Tito” 
(Tajna Internationalna Teroristicka Organizatcia/Secrete International
Terrorist Organization) at this time it is not identical with the later
internationally recognized “Foderativen Jugoslawischen Republik”
(Federation of the Yugoslavian Republic). The Partisan units did not
represent the Kingdom Yugoslavia at that time. The legal representation
of Yugoslavia was the exiled King in London and his administration of
Yugoslavian. The exiled administration in London did not recognize the
leadership of the partisan as the rightful representative of the
country. The King however recognized the royal General Draza Mihajlovic
and named him as Minister of War on June 18th 1943 in20order to act on
behalf of the King. This situation in Yugoslavia was in effect till May
15th 1944 when the exile government was reorganized, but even then the
communist under Tito were not recognized by the government of
Yugoslavia in exile.

The government in exile was in constant communication with the German
occupational administration and did not fight against the Germans but
they fought together with the Germans against the communist partisans
their common enemy. The Germans from the Banat saw a need to support
their King and the action against the communist Partisans as fully
legal and according to the laws of the land; they were not and did not
do anything which would be punishable. What they did was in the
interest of the “Law and protection of the Country” from 1922, which
was still im place and not that of the Tito Partisans. Only after
strong pressures from Britain, the King during a radio speech on
September 12th 1944 took a somewhat different position. Till to this
date King Peter refused to speak to Tito or to his Partisans.

The leadership of the Partisans was aware of this and because of all
their efforts they did not receive the recognition to represent
Yugoslavia from the exiled government therefore they ousted the exile
Government of Yugoslavia in London on their second day of their
“Antifasiticko Vece Narodnog Oslobodjenja Jugoslavije” (“Antifascist
Tribunal for the Liberation of Yugoslavia”) conference in Jajce, Bosnia
on November 29th 1943 in which forbid King Peter to return to
Yugoslavia and decided to reorganize the country into the “Federation
of the Yugoslavian Republic”. Several of the royal ministers were
accused as criminals and sentenced as such. The Royal Minister of War
General Draza Mihajlovic who was recognized as the representative of
the king until May 15th 1944 was captured and trailed after the war in
Belgrad as traitor and executed.

From all the facts presented the Tito Partisans were units operating as
illegal organization in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia during the war and as
such were not protected under international law nor did they recognize
and observe the international laws of wars, established under the
“Haager Resolution”.

This is why the Banater men who followed the draft into the “Waffen-SS
Division Prinz Eugen” and fought against the enemy of the King did not
commit any wrongdoing against the Yugoslavian law by fighting against
the Tito Partisans. All the communist organizations were illegal in
Yugoslavia according to the “Law for the Protection of the State” from
1922 until September 12th 1944 (Speech of King Peter). There is nothing
which could change that fact not even the speech by Churchill of May
25th 1944 where he was outspoken against the King decision not to
support Tito, although England and Russia supplied the terrorist
organization with weapons so that they could tie up the German troops
in the Balkan.

When on November 21st 1944 by declaration of the AVNOJ (“Antifascist
Tribunal for the Liberation of Yugoslavia”) Resolutions by the
Communist Tito Partisan, stating that all Germans in Yugoslavia will
have their citizenships revoked, and declared every person of German
decent enemies of Yugoslavia and their property declared property of
the state of Yugoslavia, they had no right to do so. In other words the
Germans in Yugoslavia lost all their rights by this decreed and thus it
became legal to do what they pleased with the Germans even murder them.

The Germans from the Banat in the Prince Eugene Division had as one can
see now, a rightful duty to fight along with the Kings Loyal against
the Tito Partisans, as we saw the political situation developing. The
idea of expelling all Germans was not a new one and was often said by
Tito that the Germans should have been expelled already after WWI. As
it becomes clear now Tito’s excuse that the Germans were traitors of
their country can not be accepted, but was only a convenient excuse to
disown the Germans and settle his loyal men who stood at his side on
the confiscated German property and he fueled their rage with false
propaganda, to make his followers take revenge against innocent Germans.

Because of the AVNOJ Resolutions the Banter German in the Prince Eugene
Division now no longer citizens of Yugoslavia, were given German
citizenship by declaration of the Third Reich and now as such came
under all the rights of the Haager War Resolutions as Germans.

The aftermath for the Banater German soldiers were the same as the
other German soldiers who after May 1945 capitulated to the allied
troops in the region between Rann and Zagreb and laid down their
weapons and should have had the same rights as any other German
soldiers. Without seeking after their identity the Tito Partisans
selected 3,500 soldiers and simply butchered them in the cruelest ways
totally ignoring the rights of a POW.  These were war crimes which
never were punished.

Summary:

The German men from the Banat in the 7th Waffen SS Prinz Eugen
Volunteer Mountain Division as the only Donauschwaben division ever
organized drew a fate no other military unit in the German Wehrmacht
did experience. The Donauschwaben who settled after the Turkish war in
Hungary during the three Great Swabian Migration periods served in the
military units of the Royal Imperial K&K army of Austria-Hungary, the
Hungarian Honvéd, the Romanian army and the Yugoslavian Royal Army but
only once they served as a Unit in their own cause. The Unit marked as
Volunteer unit to circumvent the “Haager Resolution” the governing the
laws of nations during war times established at the Geneva Convention
were for the most part rubberstamped volunteers among actual volunteers.

The unit comprised of farmers and craftsmen would see action in the
mountains and valleys of Bosnia, Dalmatia, the Herzegovina and
Montenegro. They were continually opposed by an invisible enemy who
fought disregarding all established laws of war during the Geneva
Convention.  The in civilian clothes partisans attacked from ambush
positions and did not take prisoner but killed their captured solders
by torturing them first and then literally butchering them. A young
medical student assigned to a German Medical Unit was an involuntary
eye witness of such Partisans cruelties time and time again. They found
corpses with open bellies, limps and sex parts cut off. The reports of
cruelties committed by the Tito Partisans as told by this eye witness
were committed without mercy and a disgrace to humanity.  

During the later stages of the war the unit saw action against the Red
Army moving forward from Romania and Bulgaria to cover the retreat of
the German Army in the Balkan. They sacrificed their lives and fought
valiantly against world communism much like the American GI’s in Korea
and Vietnam. They were killed in action, murdered by Tito Partisan and
only very few of them survived. Their homeland would be overrun by the
Russians on October 2nd 1944, then by the Tito Partisans who created
havoc among the unprotected civilian German populations their
relatives, rounding up many and setting up tribunal style court
hearings on open fields outside of towns torturing them and then
killing them without mercy. One of the examples took place in the field
between the towns of Filipowa and Hodschag were 212 men found a cruel
death without mercy; one after the other was tortured and then
butchered in front of the others who had to watch the proceedings
wondering who would be next. Only one was able to escape through the
fire wall which was created around them by shear luck to tell the
story. The irony however is the town of Filipowa was one of the most
religious towns in the Donauschwaben regions which produced an
abundance of priests and nuns.

The civilian population of the Banater Schwaben had extreme difficult
times to flee across the Theiss River as a result of this, they became
subject of persecution by the Tito Partisans when they were expelled
from their homes and incarcerated into death camps and thousands lost
their lives. Nenad Stefanovic, a young Serbian author, brought this to
light in his book; “A people on the Danube” what was a history
distorted by the communist government after the war for half a century.

The men from the Prince Eugene Division learned of the tragedy their
family had to face and continued their fight without hope. When the
capitulation came and the end in Carinthia, Krain and Croatia, instead
of being treated as POW’s with all of the rights they should have
received they were betrayed and murdered by the thousands by Tito
Partisans. Some of them were driven into ravines, ditches or had to dig
their own graves prior of being executed.  There were also reports of
5-6 soldiers being tied together and thrown into the Save River where
they drowned.  

Finally driven on the so called revenge march of German POW’s who
surrendered in the regions of Cilli and Ljubljana toward Belgrade some
750 o 800 kilometers away without food or water and  most of them
poorly dressed, some without shoes because they were robed of their
clothes and shoes by Serbian civilian gangs. Those who lacked behind
because of illness or weakness were driven on by various ways of
mistreatments till they collapsed and died. The mistreatment partly
ordered by the Partisan leaders and tolerated by the victors. Their
treatments were „Criminal Acts against prisoners of war” punishable
under the war criminal acts, but they never were enforced in Communist
Yugoslavia as they should have been by the world organizations.

The survivors among the POW’s from this march were taken to the
coalmines of Bor in Serbia and again they were exposed to inhumane
conditions which took more lives. That some of them did actually
survive is a miracle attributed to their unyielding willpower and
determination to survive against all odds. Many of the leaders among
the soldiers were executed for even the smallest trumped up charges so
revenge could be taken against them. This explains the reason of why
only few of the Division survived the ordeals placed upon them. This
ends one of the most unheralded military units of all time who severed
their country faithfully. May we remember them always in our prayers.