15 September 2015

0059 | Photo | 13. SS-Freiwilligen b. h. Gebirgs-Division (Kroatien)



Karl-Gustav Sauberzweig, SS-Brigadeführer and commander of the 13th SS Mountain Division, photographed in Neuhammer during a visit by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. Sauberzweig remained known mostly as an SS officer, even though he actually spent most of his career in the Army (Heer). He was born in Wissek (then in Germany, today in Poland), a soldier since the age of 17, and due to war injuries, he lost sight in his right eye. He was transferred into the Bosnian-Herzegovinian SS division from the Inspectorate of Army Training and Education (where he served as chief of staff) in August 1943. In June 1944, he was appointed commander of the newly-formed IX SS Mountain Corps, which he led (in the rank of SS-Gruppenführer) until November of the same year. Due to his health problems (mostly mental), and the falling out with Reichsführer-SS Himmler, he was transferred back to the Army in January 1945. At the very end of the war, as a corps commander within Army Group H, the exhausted Sauberzweig gave up fighting, opening the road to the advancing Allied troops. He committed suicide in captivity (in Hamburg), in order to escape the extradition to Yugoslavia and trial for war crimes (he was charged, inter alia, with mass murder, plundering, rape and torture). His Bosnian (Muslim) soldiers respected him as he did them, often calling them his children; on the other hand, he considered the Croatian (Catholic) volunteers the main cause of desertions. He was declared a war criminal by the Yugoslav State Commission and the United Nations Commission.

Text: Ivan Ž.

Photographer: Werner Mielke, SS Regiment "Kurt Eggers".
Date: November 1943.
Location: Neuhammer am Queis (district of Sprottau), Germany.
Original caption: "The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem with Bosnian volunteers of the Waffen-SS. [...]"

File source: National Archives, 242-JRP-62-45-21.

NOT ALLOWED: removing source credits from the files – using text without crediting the original author – using files and information for political propaganda and commercial purposes.



Karl-Gustav Zaubercvajg, SS-brigadefirer i komandant 13. brdske SS-divizije, snimljen u Nojhameru za vreme posete velikog muftije jerusalimskog. Zaubercvajg je ostao upamćen uglavnom kao SS-oficir, iako je najveći deo karijere zapravo proveo u vojsci (Heer). Rodom je bio iz Viseka (tada u Nemačkoj, danas u Poljskoj), vojnik od svoje 17. godine, a zbog ratnih povreda izgubio je vid u desnom oku. U bosansko-hercegovačku SS-diviziju prebačen je iz Inspektorata za obuku i obrazovanje vojske (gde je služio kao načelnik štaba), avgusta 1943. godine. U junu 1944. postavljen je za komandanta novoformiranog IX brdskog SS-korpusa, koji je vodio (u činu SS-grupenfirera) do novembra iste godine. Zbog zdravstvenih problema (pre svega psihičke prirode), i razilaženja sa rajhsfirerom SS-a Himlerom, vraćen je u vojsku januara 1945. Kao komandant korpusa pri Vojnoj grupi H, iscrpljeni Zaubercvajg je na samom kraju rata odustao od borbi, otvorivši put nadirućim savezničkim trupama. Izvršio je samoubistvo u zarobljeništvu (u Hamburgu), ne bi li izbegao izručenje Jugoslaviji i suđenje za ratne zločine (između ostalog, bio je optužen za masovni pokolj, pljačku, silovanja i mučenja). Njegovi bosanski (muslimanski) vojnici su ga cenili, kao i on njih, nazivajući ih često svojom decom; hrvatske (katoličke) dobrovoljce, s druge strane, smatrao je glavnim krivcima za dezertiranja. Proglašen za ratnog zločinca od Državne komisije Jugoslavije i Komisije Ujedinjenih nacija.

Tekst: Ivan Ž.

Fotograf: Verner Milke, SS-puk "Kurt Egers".
Datum: novembar 1943.
Mesto: Nojhamer na Kvisi (okrug Šprotau), Nemačka.
Originalni natpis: "Veliki muftija jerusalimski kod bosanskih dobrovoljaca SS-trupa. [...]"

Izvor fajla: National Archives, 242-JRP-62-45-21.

NIJE DOZVOLJENO: uklanjanje naziva izvora sa fajlova – korišćenje teksta bez navođenja izvornog autora – korišćenje fajlova i informacija u političko-propagandne i komercijalne svrhe.