Artur Phleps, SS-Gruppenführer and commander of the SS Division "Prinz Eugen", observes the sky above the Gacko Field during Operation "Black". Phleps was born in Biertan (Hun. Berethalom), Transylvania; an ethnic German, an officer of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Kingdom of Romania, and, finally, the Third Reich. He was an extremely authoritative and charismatic person, a passionate strategist and logistician, strict but fair to his subordinates and ruthless to his enemies. He was loved by his soldiers, who fondly called him "Papa", and appreciated and respected by his superiors. He enlisted in the Waffen-SS after the German invasion of the Soviet Union – at first under his mother's maiden name, Stolz. He initially served in the "Wiking" Division, as a staff officer, and then as commander of its "Westland" Regiment. He came in Yugoslavia, whose terrain he knew well, half a year later and, in March 1942, founded an SS division made up of Banat Swabians, which would bear the name of "Prinz Eugen". Phleps led it through Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, through operations "White" and "Black" – until June 1943, when he was appointed commander of the newly-formed V SS Mountain Corps (in the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer). He was also in charge of the formation of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian SS Division "Handschar", in March 1943, and the Albanian "Skanderbeg", in April 1944. In late August of the same year, after Romania switched sides and joined the Soviets, Phleps asked to be transferred to his homeland, to aid the German refugees, and in September 1944 he was appointed SS and Police Commander in Transylvania. But without troops at his disposal. The same month, accompanied only by his adjutant and driver, he entered a German village (near Arad), unaware that the Soviet troops were already there; all three were captured, and shot the same day. Among the last lines in his diary, he confidently wrote: "Should I fall, I will be leaving an honest name to my people." But what Phleps and his soldiers truly left behind were ruins and a sea of corpses of brutally murdered civilians – their former hosts. He was the holder of countless awards, including the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, and he was declared a war criminal by the Yugoslav State Commission and the United Nations Commission.
Text: Ivan Ž.
Photographer: Hugo Kemps, SS War Correspondent Battalion.
Date: 7 June 1943.
Location: Gacko Field (district of Gacko), Yugoslavia.
Original caption: unknown.
File source: National Archives, 242-JRP-41-15-36.
Date: 7 June 1943.
Location: Gacko Field (district of Gacko), Yugoslavia.
Original caption: unknown.
File source: National Archives, 242-JRP-41-15-36.
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.
Artur Fleps, SS-grupenfirer i komandant SS-divizije "Princ Ojgen", osmatra nebo nad Gatačkim poljem, za vreme operacije "Crno". Fleps je rodom bio iz Biertana (mađ. Berethalom) u Transilvaniji; folksdojčer, oficir Austrougarske monarhije, Kraljevine Rumunije i, na kraju, Trećeg Rajha. Bio je izuzetno autoritativna i harizmatična osoba, strastveni strateg i logističar, prema podređenima strog ali pravičan, a prema neprijateljima nemilosrdan. Njegovi vojnici su ga voleli i od milja zvali "tata", a nadređeni cenili i poštovali. U SS-trupe je stupio po nemačkoj invaziji na Sovjetski Savez – u prvi mah pod majčinim devojačkim prezimenom, Štolc. Prvobitno je služio u diviziji "Viking", kao štabni oficir, a potom kao komandant njenog puka "Vestland". U Jugoslaviju, čiji je teren dobro poznavao, dolazi pola godine kasnije i, u martu 1942. godine, osniva SS-diviziju sastavljenu od banatskih Švaba, koja će nositi ime "Princ Ojgen". Fleps ju je vodio kroz Srbiju, Hrvatsku, Bosnu i Hercegovinu, Crnu Goru, kroz operacije "Belo" i "Crno" – sve do juna 1943, kada je postavljen za komandanta novoformiranog V brdskog SS-korpusa (u činu SS-obergrupenfirera). Bio je zadužen i za formiranje bosansko-hercegovačke SS-divizije "Handžar", u martu 1943, i albanske "Skenderbeg", u aprilu 1944. Krajem avgusta iste godine, nakon što je Rumunija promenila stranu i pridružila se Sovjetima, Fleps traži prekomandu u svoju domovinu, da bi pomogao nemačkim izbeglicama, i u septembru 1944. postaje komandant SS-a i policije u Transilvaniji. Ali bez trupa na raspolaganju. Istog meseca, praćen samo ađutantom i šoferom, ulazi je u jedno nemačko selo (u blizini Arada), ne znajući da se u njemu već nalaze sovjetske trupe; sva trojica su zarobljeni, i istog dana streljani. Među poslednjim redovima u svom dnevniku samouvereno je zapisao: "Ako padnem, svom narodu ostavljam časno ime za sobom." Ali ono što su Fleps i njegovi vojnici zaista za sobom ostavili bila su zgarišta, i more leševa mučki ubijenih civila – svojih bivših domaćina. Bio je nosilac bezbrojnih odlikovanja, među kojima je bio i Viteški krst sa hrastovim lišćem, a za ratnog zločinca proglasile su ga Državna komisija Jugoslavije i Komisija Ujedinjenih nacija.
Tekst: Ivan Ž.
Fotograf: Hugo Kemps, Ratnodopisnički bataljon SS-a.
Datum: 7. jun 1943.
Mesto: Gatačko polje (srez Gatački), Jugoslavija.
Originalni natpis: nepoznat.
Izvor fajla: National Archives, 242-JRP-41-15-36.
Mesto: Gatačko polje (srez Gatački), Jugoslavija.
Originalni natpis: nepoznat.
Izvor fajla: National Archives, 242-JRP-41-15-36.
NIJE DOZVOLJENO: uklanjanje naziva izvora sa fajlova – korišćenje teksta bez navođenja izvornog autora – korišćenje fajlova i informacija u političko-propagandne i komercijalne svrhe.
