BandenKampfer

Was he transferred over to the SS, I cant picture a Wehrmacht officer leading SS men.

upper breast pockets? we dont need no stinkin breast pockets! lol Was cutting the breast pockets off a practice used outside of Handschar?

the description of the incident is pretty vague, it's a second hand account. Its the same as the Hermann Fegelein (another person who never saw Handschar in action) claim, where he says the Bosnian soldiers killed only with bayonets, cut the hearts out of their enemies and slaughtered captured POWs Fegelein was hundreds of miles away from the division. Something like this would've been significant enough to be mentioned in modern literature on the division. Im sure the partisans would've also documented something about it (as they have on many other massacres cases) The partisans were an important factor in determening who was responsible for such acts. Cetnik massacres were often acredited to the Handschar division because of their close cooperation at some points. If it was the Serbian civilians that were killed it would've angered their cetnik "allies" and caused a change in diplomacy. Theyre all rumors and today you have 70% of people who hear about the division believe the Fegelein claims. Muslim domobran and ustasa units (all wore the fez) are time and again mistaken for Handschar. Further adding massacre after massacre to Handschar's tally. Like the rediculous Koritska Gorge fairy tale. I'll believe it when I hear it from the mouth of an infantryman who was there, not a rear echelon doctor.

Also I have to add that whole "you better not be captured by the SS or partisans" thing...... Handschar caught nearly 2,000 partisan POWs in 1944, all of which werent harmed, but rather transferred over to the German police units for questioning. Also.....there was an amnesty for a long time for foreign SS men, Ustasa and Domobran units who wanted to join the partisans. They were accepted. Entire units changed sides overnight. That being said, I have not heard of an SS member from Handschar being caught or surrendering to the partisans in battle. In the counterinsurgency battles in the Balkans, those numbers are often listed as missing in action or deserted. Victors write the history books. thats all I can say on that.

what that doctor was talking about didnt happen while he was with the Handschar division I guarantee you. Handschar was constantly in engagements with the partisans, to the point that the division was near exhaustion. It had no time for the mass killings that the serbian propaganda machine pumps out. a common engagement was where a partisan division attacked an outnumbered Handschar battalion. So thats, 5,000 men vs 700 SS men. At the end of the day what won the day for the SS was combined arms, artillery and superior tactics. my best argument is right here http://www.fantompow...itska_gorge.htm total crap disguised as historical evidence and a first hand testimonial here's some more on the division http://panzergrenadi...hp?f=25&t=13540