Terror in the Balkans (62 page)

17. Schmider,
Partisanenkrieg in Jugoslawien 1941–1944,
215; Hoare,
Genocide and
Resistance in Hitler’s Bosnia: The Partisans and the Chetniks 1941–1943,
330.

18. Tomasevich,
War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941–1945: The Chetniks
, 237, 239; Schmider,
Partisanenkrieg in Jugoslawien 1941–1944
, 206–207.

324
Notes to Pages 219–225

19. The Chetniks’ involvement in the operations was complicated both militarily and

politically. For more detail, see Matteo J. Milazzo,
The Chetni Movement and the Yugoslav Resistance
(Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1975), chap. 6; Tomasevich,
War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941–1945: The Chetniks
, 231–243.

20. Schmider,
Partisanenkrieg in Jugoslawien 1941–1944
, 214–219. On the unrealistic planning for White I, see also Gaj Trifkovic, “A Case of Failed Counter-Insurgency:

Antipartisan Operations in Yugoslavia 1943,”
Journal of Slavic Military Studies
24

(2011): 314–336.

21. Trifkovic, “A Case of Failed Counter-Insurgency: Antipartisan Operations in Yugo-

slavia 1943,” 325.

22. MFB4/72341, 30581/3, 551–554. Bf. dt. Tr. Kroatien, 1/12/43. Operationsbefehl für

das Unternehmen “Weiss,” p. 2.

23. Milovan Djilas,
Wartime: With Tito and the Partisans
(London: Martin Secker and Warburg, 1977), 216.

24. Reproduced in Norbert Müller, ed.,
Deutsche Besatzungspolitik in der UdSSR 1941–

1944: Dokumente
(Cologne: Pahl-Rugenstein, 1980), 138–139.

25. MFB4/56160, 34404/2, 407–409. Bf. dt. Tr. Kroatien, 1/12/43. Befehl für die

Kampfführung im kroatischen Raum, p. 1. Emphasis in original.

26. Ibid., p. 2.

27. MFB4/56160, 34404/2, 396–397. Bf. dt. Tr. Kroatien, 1/7/43. Betr.: Ausübung der

vollziehenden Gewalt.

28. Schmider,
Partisanenkrieg in Jugoslawien 1941–1944
, 207–208.

29. MFB4/72341, 30581/3, 515–516. 369. Inf.-Div. Ia, 12/29/42. Divisionsbefehl Nr. 11.

30. MFB4/72341, 30581/3, 674–677. 369. Inf.-Div. Ic. Tätigkeitsbericht, Januar 1943, p. 3.

Date illegible.

31. MFB4/72341, 30581/3, 678–679. Aufruf an die Bevölkerung!

32. MFB4/72341, 30581/3, 583. 369. Inf.-Div. Ic, 1/22/43. Nachrichtenblatt Nr. 2.

33. Ibid.

34. MFB4/72341, 30581/3, 531. 369. Inf.-Div. Ia, 1/6/43. Divisionsbefehl Nr. 14.

35. MFB4/72341, 30581/3, 585. 369. Inf.-Div. Ia, 1/29/43. Divisionsbefehl Nr. 20.

36. MFB4/72341, 30581/3, 652–658. 369. Inf.-Div. Ia, 3/12/43. Einsatz der 369. Inf.-Div.

vom 1/9/-2/15/43, p. 5.

37. F. W. D. Deakin,
The Embattled Mountain
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971), 30.

38. MFB4/72341, 30581/3, 652–658. 369. Inf.-Div. Ia, 3/12/43. Einsatz der 369. Inf.-Div.

vom 1/9/-2/15/43, p. 5.

39. A point Schmider makes about the Germans in the NDH generally during 1943.

Schmider,
Partisanenkrieg in Jugoslawien 1941–1944
, 257.

40. MFB4/56160, 34404/3, 769–771. Betr.: Div. Kdr. Besprechung in Sanski Most am 2/16/43, p. 1.

41. Ibid., p. 2.

42. MFB4/56160, 34404/2, 496–498. Kampfgruppe Annacker, 2/14/43. Betr.: Erfah-

rungsbericht zum Einsatz Teslic, p. 2.

Notes to Pages 225–228
325

43. Ibid.

44. Ibid.

45. MFB4/56160, 34404/3, 670–673. 718. Inf.-Div. Ia, 2/6/43. Lagebericht, 1/27/-2/6/43,

p. 4.

46. Schmider,
Partisanenkrieg in Jugoslawien 1941–1944
, 158–159.

47. Ibid., 255–256.

48. It is interesting to compare Dippold’s approach with that of one of his predeces-

sors, General Hoffmann, and that of his immediate successor, Lieutenant General

Karl le Suire. Under each of these two men—even though Hoffmann in his turn

was a
relatively
less brutal successor to
his
forerunner as commander of the 342nd Infantry Division, General Hinghofer—the 717th carried out what were arguably

the two most infamous mass killings that the Wehrmacht perpetrated in southeast

Europe. Walter Manoschek and Hans Safrian, “717./117. Inf.-Div.: Eine Infanterie-

Division auf dem Balkan,” in
Vernichtungskrieg: Verbrechen der Wehrmacht, 1941

bis 1944
, ed. Hannes Heer and Klaus Naumann (Hamburg: Hamburger Edition,

1995), 359–373; Hermann Frank Meyer,
Von Wien nach Kalavryta: Die blutige

Spur der 117. Jäger-Division durch Serbien und Griechenland
(Mannheim: Peleus,

2002). See also chap. 6.

49. High-level Partisan–German contacts went deeper than this in early 1943. Although

nothing came of them, the Partisans used the respite to help win time in which to

attack the Chetniks successfully in March. For more detail, see Djilas,
Wartime:

With Tito and the Partisans
, 229–245; West,
Tito and the Rise and Fall of Yugoslavia
, 148–153; Schmider,
Partisanenkrieg in Jugoslawien 1941–1944
, 243–253; Swain,
Tito: A Biography
, 57–60.

50. MFB4/56160, 34404/2, 407–409. Bf. dt. Tr. Kroatien, 12/1/43. Befehl für die

Kampfführung im kroat. Raum, p. 1.

51. RH 24–15/2. Bf. dt. Tr. Kroatien, 2/22/43. Erfahrungen bei Unternehmen Weiss I,

pp. 1–2; ibid., Anlage 2, p. 1.

52. MFB4/72341, 30581/3, 584. 369. Inf.-Div. Kommandeur, 1/23/43.

53. MFB4/72341, 30581/3, 591–592. 369. Inf.-Div. Kommandeur, 2/1/43. MFB4/72341,

30581/3, 615–616. 369. Inf.-Div. Ia, 2/13/43. Divisionsbefehl Nr. 27, p. 2.

54. MFB4/72341, 30581/2, 674–677. 369. Inf.-Div. Ic. Tätigkeitsbericht, Januar 1943, p.

2; MFB4/72342, fi le 45652/1, 4–5. 369. Inf.-Div. Ia. Tätigkeitsbericht, 7/1/-12/31/43,

p. 1.

55. MFB4/72341, 30581/3, 551–554. Bf. dt. Tr. Kroatien, 1/12/43. Operationsbefehl fuer

das Unternehmen “Weiss,” p. 3.

56. MFB4/72342, 45652/1, 37–41. 369. Inf.-Div. Ic, 8/22/43. Betr.: Unerlaubte Entfer-

nungen. To a large extent, these causes tally with causes of poor morale and deser-

tion amongst Croatian army units generally, as identifi ed in Tomasevich,
War and

Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941–1945: Occupation and Collaboration
, 425–428.

57. Schmider,
Partisanenkrieg in Jugoslawien 1941–1944
, 215.

58. In particular, divisional reports point to the fact that its levels of weaponry were frequently below full strength. MFB5/42177, 37733/2, 398. 118. Jäg.-Div. Ia, 4/17/43;

326
Notes to Pages 228–232

MFB5/42177, 37733/3, 672–676. 118. Jäg.-Div. Ia, 5/18/43. Betr.: Ausbau der 718. Inf.-

Div. zur Jäger-Division.

59. MFB4/56160, 34404/3, 743. 718. Inf.-Div. Ia/Org., 2/13/43. Betr.: Umgliederung der

Div. in Jägerdivision.

60. Ibid. For qualifi cations to this rosy picture, see MFB5/42178, 37733/4, 513–514. 118.

Jäg.-Div. Ia, 6/19/43. Betr.: Ausbau der 718. Inf.-Div. zur Jäger-Division. Bericht Nr.

7 über den Stand der Aufstockung der 118. Jäg.-Div.; MFB5/42178, 37733/4, 549–552.

118. Jäg.-Div. Ia, 6/25/43. Betr.: Ausbau der 718. Inf.-Div. zur Jäger-Division. Bericht Nr. 8 über den Stand der Aufstockung der 118. Jäger-Division.

61. RH 24–15/2. Bf. dt. Tr. Kroatien. Beurteilung der Lage, 1/7–1/16/43, p. 1.

62. MFB4/72346, 37165/1, 123–130. 373. Inf.-Div. Ia, 6/14/43. Betr.: Lagebeurteilung, p. 8.

63. MFB4/72346, 37165/1, 91–92. 373. Inf.-Div. Ia, 6/21/43. Betr.: Pioneer-Bataillon 373, p. 2.

64. MFB4/72346, 37165/1, 61. 373. Inf.-Div. Ia, 6/30/43. Tagesmeldung.

65. MFB4/72346, 37165/1, 142–143. 373. Inf.-Div. Ia, 6/10/43. Betr.: Stimmung und Hal-

tung der Truppe, Mai 1943, p. 1.

66. MFB4/72346, 37165/1, 343. 373. Inf.-Div. Ia, 3/25/43. Anlage 1 zu Ia Nr. 55/43.

67. MFB4/72346, 37165/1, 678. 373. Inf.-Div. Ia, 7/2/43. Divisionsbefehl für das Unternehmen im Raum Cardaci, p. 2.

68. MFB4/72346, 37165/1, 615. 373. Inf.-Div. Kommandeur, 7/15/43. Zellner was pro-

moted to the rank of major general on April 1, 1943. RH7, fi le on Emil Zellner.

69. A similarly extreme example, one that again contrasts with its neighboring units,

is the 45th Security Regiment, which fought under the 221st Security Division in

the rear area of Army Group Center during 1943. Ben Shepherd,
War in the Wild

East: The German Army and Soviet Partisans
(Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univer-

sity Press, 2004), 208–216.

70. Shepherd,
War in the Wild East: The German Army and Soviet Partisans
, 160–161.

The same process did eventually affect the 369th Infantry Division to an extent. See

Ben Shepherd, “With the Devil in Titoland: A Wehrmacht Anti-Partisan Division

in Bosnia-Herzegovina, 1943,”
War in History
16 (2009): 77–97.

71. Neidholt was from the family of a Protestant priest, Dippold from that of a Bavarian royal forester, but there is no information on the social origins of Fortner or Zellner.

See AppendixA.

72. Neidholt underwent “secret training” with the Reichswehr in 1921. Zellner was

an artillery offi cer during the Great War and a tactical instructor at the Austrian

Military Academy in 1930. Dippold underwent military-scientifi c training with the

Reichswehr in 1926. See Appendix A.

73. See AppendixA.

74. After this date, Zellner also served for an unspecifi ed period in the Bukovina on the eastern front, western Ukraine. The Honvéd was the Hungarian home army of the

pre-1918 Austro-Hungarian Empire. See Appendix A.

75. In a previous publication, it was mistakenly stated that the 384th was subordinate to the 369th Infantry Division. See Shepherd, “With the Devil in Titoland: A Wehrmacht Anti-Partisan Division in Bosnia-Herzegovina, 1943.”

Notes to Pages 232–235
327

76. Though Dippold, unlike Fortner, was interned in Switzerland and returned to the

western front as a company commander, presumably following a prisoner exchange,

in July 1918. See Appendix A.

77. See Appendix A

78. See Appendix A

79. See Appendix A

80. Walter Manoschek,
“Serbien ist judenfrei”: Militärische Besatzungspolitik und Judenvernichtung in Serbien 1941/42
(Munich: Oldenbourg, 1995); Walter Manoschek, “The Extermination of the Jews in Serbia,” in
National Socialist Extermination Policies: Contemporary German Perspectives and Controversies
, ed. Ulrich Herbert (Oxford: Berghahn, 2000), 163–185; Walter Manoschek and Hans Safrian, “717./117. Inf.-Div.: Eine Infanterie-Division auf dem Balkan,” in
Vernichtungskrieg: Verbrechen der Wehrmacht, 1941 bis 1944
, ed. Hannes Heer and Klaus Naumann (Hamburg: Hamburger Edition, 1995).

81. Christian Promitzer, “The South Slavs in the Austrian Imagination: Serbs and Slo-

venes in the Changing View from German Nationalism to National Socialism,” in

Creating the Other: Ethnic Confl ict and Nationalism in Habsbgurg Central Europe
, ed. Nancy M. Wingfi eld (Oxford: Berghahn, 2003), 183–210.

82. See Appendix A.

83. Alon Rachamimov,
POWs and the Great War: Captivity on the Eastern Front
(Oxford: Berg, 2002), 54–58, 87–107. See also Reinhard Nachtigal,
Rußland und seine österreichisch-ungarischen Kriegsgefangenen (1914–1918)
(Remshalden: Greiner, 2003);

Reinhard Nachtigal, “Die Kriegsgefangenen-Verluste an der Ostfront. Eine Übersicht

zur Statistik und zu Problemen der Heimatfronten 1914/15,” in
Die vergessene Front:

Der Osten 1914/15
, ed. Gerhard P. Groß (Paderborn: Schöningh, 2006), 202–216.

84. Richard Germann identifi es Eglseer as having belonged to an “Austrian network,” a

small coterie of National Socialist–minded former Bundesheer offi cers who fl ourished

in the Wehrmacht. Richard Germann, “‘Österreichische’ Soldaten in Ost- und Südos-

teuropa 1941—1945: Deutsche Krieger—Nationalsozialistische Verbrecher—Öster-

reichische Opfer?” (PhD thesis, University of Vienna, 2006), 347.

85. AdR Vienna, Bundesheer-Akten. Personnel fi le on Karl Eglseer. Staatssekretär

Angelis, 3/13/38. Betr.: GM Adalbert Szente, Inf. Brig. Der 6. Division. Beurlau-

bung; ibid., Kommando der 6. Division, 3/25/38.

86. MFB4/56147, 37291/2, 299. 714. Inf.-Div. Ia, 3/26/43. Geheim! Betr.: Verhalten

deutscher und kroatischer Soldaten bei Überfälle; MFB4/56147, 37291/4, 425–427.

114. Jäg.-Div. Kommandeur, 4/6/43. Geheim! Richtlinien (Nr. 1) für einheitliche

Anschauungen und Arbeit in der Div.

87. MFB4/56147, 37291/2, 247–248. 714. Inf.-Div. Ia, 3/28/43. Merkblatt für Verhalten

von Versorgungskolonnen im bandengefährdeten Raum. Emphasis in original.

88. See chap. 2.

89. Hoare,
Genocide and Resistance in Hitler’s Bosnia: The Partisans and the Chetniks,
330, 335.

90. On these phases of the White operations, see Milazzo,
The Chetni Movement and the
Yugoslav Resistance
, 118–131; Tomasevich,
War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941–1945:
The Chetniks
, 237–256; Schmider,
Partisanenkrieg in Jugoslawien 1941–1944
, 219–239.

328
Notes to Pages 236–241

c o n c l u s i o n

1. For the best general discussion of why the Axis failed militarily against the Par-

tisans, see Klaus Schmider,
Partisanenkrieg in Jugoslawien 1941–1944
(Hamburg:

Verlag E. S. Mittler, 2002), ch. 8.

2. Ibid., 535–541, 553.

3. Ibid., 525, 548.

4. Ibid., 525, 529–534.

5. Ibid., 568–569.

6. Ibid., 547.

7. Ibid., 550–552.

8. Ibid., 552–553.