Talk:13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian)/GA1

GA Review

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Reviewer: Wustenfuchs (talk · contribs) 22:17, 16 July 2012 (UTC)

There could be few minor improvements...

Mufri of Jerusalem

• "The Encyclopedia of the Holocaust states that "The Germans made a point of publicizing the fact that al-Husayni had flown from Berlin to Sarajevo for the sole purpose of giving his blessing to the Muslim army and inspecting its arms and training exercises". According to Aleksa Djilas in The Nation That Wasn't, al-Husayni: "accepted, visited Bosnia and convinced some important Muslim leaders that a Muslim SS division would be in the interest of Islam."

- It would be better if you would replace the "Dj" with the letter "Đ", as this letter is used in Serbian language. Dj is just a replacement for the "đ" letter, as such letter doesn't exists in the English alphabet.

Done

Croat Catholic recruitment

• "Hussein Biscevic (Husejin Biščević or Biščević-beg; born 28 July 1884) was the highest ranking (and perhaps the oldest) Bosnian military officer to volunteer. Biscevic had served in the Austro–Hungarian Army and he was appointed SS-Obersturmbannführer of the anti-aircraft battalion in August 1943. However, he was judged unsuitable and replaced with a German just before the division went into combat."

- Also here, can you please use the SC letters (Š and Ć)?

Done

Villefranche-de-Rouergue Mutiny (September 1943)

- It's about the tomb image... the tomb is gone now, it doesn't exist any more. Maybe you should note that ([1] nekadašnji means former). You can see here the new monument.

Done

• "On the night of 16/17 September 1943, while SS-Handschar was training in Villefranche-de-Rouergue in France, a group of pro-Partisan soldiers led by Muslim and Catholic junior officers[6] staged a mutiny within the Pioneer battalion. Led by Ferid Džanić, Božo Jelinek (aka Eduard Matutinović), Nikola Vukelić and Lutfija Dizdarevič, they captured most of the German personnel and executed five German officers, including battalion commander SS-Obersturmbannführer Oskar Kirchbaum. Apparently the mutineers believed that many of the enlisted men would join them and they could reach the western Allies."

- The citation at the end is missing.

Done

• "The revolt was put down with the assistance of the unit Imam, Halim Malkoć and unit physician Dr. Willfried Schweiger. Malkoć told the Bosnian enlisted men of 1st Company that they were being deceived, released the German NCOs and rallied the company to hunt down the ringleaders. Schweiger did the same with 2nd Company. Dizdarevič and Džanić were shot and killed during the fighting, Vukelić was captured, while Jelinek/Matutinović escaped."

- The whole paragraph is without any citation.

Done

• "Sources vary on the number of mutineers killed after the revolt was put down. Tomasevich[6] states that 78 of the worst offenders were executed, but Lepre lists only 14 executions[37] while four more deserters were located and shot in late September.[38] Cohen states that about 150 mutineers were killed immediately.[39] The Germans attributed the infiltration to Tito's suggestion that his Partisan followers enlist for police duty to receive superior weapons, uniforms and training. Enlistees who were deemed "unsuitable for service" or "politically unreliable" were subsequently purged. Some 825 Bosnians were eventually removed from the division and sent to Nazi Germany for "labor service" with Organisation Todt. Of these, 265 refused and were sent to Neuengamme concentration camp where dozens of them died."

- Why the labour service has the quotation marks?

Removed

• "Speaking of the Bosnian Muslim troops who had served in the Austro-Hungarian Habsburg army, Himmler later said, "I knew there was a chance that a few traitors might be smuggled into the division, but I haven’t the slightest doubt concerning the loyalty of the Bosnians. These troops were loyal to their supreme commander twenty years ago so why shouldn’t they be so today."[40] Himmler awarded both Malkoč and Schweiger the Iron Cross Second Class for thwarting the mutiny. Five soldiers, including Ejub Jašarević and Adem Okanadžić were also decorated."

- You should erase the Habsburg word here, it's unnecessary.

Done

We will continue this in the morning.

--Wustenfuchs 23:03, 16 July 2012 (UTC)

Operation Maiglöckchen

• "On 17–18 May 1944, the division, along with the local Majevica-Tuzla Chetnik unit commanded by Radivoj Kerovic, commenced Operation Maiglöckchen (May Bell) to destroy several Partisan brigades in the Majevicas. The Partisans were encircled in the Stolice heights. An attempt by the Partisan 16th Vojvodina Division to relieve the surrounded force was defeated by the reconnaissance battalion and elements of the 28th Regiment. The relieving column was driven back across the Spreća. After heavy bombardment by the artillery regiment, the trapped Partisan force escaped south out of the pocket under cover of darkness on 18 May. The Partisans suffered considerable casualties, the 17th Majevica Brigade alone losing 16 killed and 60 missing. At the conclusion of Operation Maiglöckchen, the 27th Regiment remained near Zvornik and the 28th Regiment deployed near Srebrnik."

- Please, use the "ć" letter at the end of his surname.

Done

• "After Operation Maiglöckchen, the division shifted to a largely defensive posture aimed at denying Partisans access to the security zone. Since its arrival in the zone the division had been assisted in this task by local forces of varying reliability. These included four groups of Chetniks numbering 13,000, Nešad Topčić's Zeleni Kader (or Green Cadres, a Muslim nationalist militia) most of which eventually joined the Partisans and both Ustaša militia and Croatian Home Guard, neither of which was effective. These same groups, along with the Partisans, had simultaneously been trying to encourage Bosnian and Croat members to defect. Between March and June 1944, these attempts were largely fruitless, producing fewer than 200."

- In Bosnian language it is "Zeleni kada", the "kadar" word isn't spelled with first capital letter.

Done

Operation Fliegenfänger

• "Launched on 14 July 1944, Operation Fliegenfänger (Flypaper) was to destroy a Partisan makeshift runway in the Osmaci area about 26 km southeast of Tuzla south of the Tuzla–Zvornik road and destroy the Partisan forces guarding it. The airstrip was just north of the southern boundary of the security zone and was being used by Allied aircraft to bring in supplies and evacuate wounded Partisans to Italy. The airfield was defended by elements of the 19th (Birac) Partisan Brigade of the 27th (Eastern Bosnia) Division. Two battalions of the 27th Regiment, along with a battalion of Chetniks captured the towns of Osmaci and Memići and destroyed the airfield despite stiff resistance. Forty two Partisans were killed, while the division's losses were four dead and seven wounded. The Partisan force withdrew south to the Vlasenica-Rajici area. The cooperation with the Chetnik battalion was described in the IX SS Mountain Corps war diary as 'effective'"

- Please, use the "č" letter for Birač and "ć" letter for Rajići.

Done

August 1944–May 1945

• "On 17 August 1944 Tito had offered a general amnesty and many in the division took advantage of this opportunity. During the first three weeks of September, while hard fighting continued, over 2,000 Bosnians deserted, many taking their weapons with them. Some went home, some joined the "Zeleni Kader" militia and some went over to the Ustaŝe. Many defected to the Partisans, with over 700 having joined the Partisan III Bosnian Corps by early October."

- Again, the same thing with the "kadar" word.

Done

Infobox

The country of this division isn't the Third Reich, but the Independent State of Croatia, while the division's allegiance is for Germany. So you need to fix this also. --Wustenfuchs 11:51, 17 July 2012 (UTC)

This division was made up of German and Yugoslav Volksdeutsche officers and NCOs, with citizens of the NDH (Catholic and Muslim) making up the rank-and-file. It was part of the order of battle of the Third Reich and the Waffen SS, and was not created, supplied, organised or controlled by the NDH. In my view the country of the unit is the Third Reich. This is consistent with the other 'foreign' Waffen SS divisions such as 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Ukrainian), 15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Latvian) and 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian). I believe the Country entry in the infobox is correct.

After your explanation, I agree with you. --Wustenfuchs 17:05, 17 July 2012 (UTC)

Image problems

Rm pics due to Fair Use RulesPeacemaker67 (talk) 02:10, 18 July 2012 (UTC)

The best thing is that you remove the images that could have the copyright issues. --Wustenfuchs 11:58, 17 July 2012 (UTC)

The memorial photo is on Commons, which I believe means it is OK. I know that User:Grandiose is a bit of a guru on images, and if it is OK with you, I will ask them for an opinion on that image?

The other two images likewise. I personally scanned them at low res from a book in my possession after I searched exhaustively for alternative free images and believe they both meet the WP non-free use rules, but again, I would like to ask User:Grandiose to have a look before I remove them, as I believe they are both useful illustrations of the accompanying text.

You are aware that some countries have policy when an image is old enough it is automatically in public domain? I know that, for example in Croatia, if photo was taken before 1949, it's in public domain. I believe that those images are somewhere in Yugoslavia, so you could use a template. See some images of Ustaše and Chetniks and see their license. You can do the same on the photos you uploaded. --Wustenfuchs 17:03, 17 July 2012 (UTC)

Possibly, but I suspect the insignia pic may not have been taken in Yugoslavia, and given the subject was German, I think more likely in France or Germany during training. But it's impossible to know, the book doesn't say. Peacemaker67 (talk) 02:38, 18 July 2012 (UTC)

More issues found

NDH and Ante Pavelić

• "After the fall of Sarajevo to Nazi Germany on 16 April 1941, the extreme Croat nationalist and fascist Ante Pavelić, who had been in exile in Benito Mussolini's Italy, was appointed Poglavnik or leader of a new Ustaše state - the Independent State of Croatia (Croatian: Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH). The NDH consisted of several provinces (Serbo-Croatian: banovina) of the Yugoslavia which were reconstituted as an 'Italian-German quasi-protectorate'.[9] NDH authorities, led by the Ustaše, launched a vicious campaign against the Serb population"

- The NDH didn't consisted of several "banovina", but župas (singular: župa, plural: župe).

Thanks. I have clarified this, I meant that the NDH incorporated the territory of several banovina of the defeated Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

Recruitment

• "Phleps travelled to Zagreb to begin formal negotiations with the NDH government on 18 February 1943. He met with German foreign ministry envoy Siegfried Kasche and NDH Foreign Minister Dr. Mladen Lorković who represented Pavelić. Pavelić had already agreed to raise the division, but the Waffen SS and NDH governments had very different ideas of how it would be recruited and controlled. Lorković suggested that it be named "SS Ustasa Division", a Croatian unit raised with SS assistance, with familiar regimental such as Bosna, Krajina and Una. Pavelić and Kasche was concerned that an exclusively Muslim division might aid a Muslim bid for independence. As a compromise, the word "Croatian" was included in its official title and some Croatian Catholic officers were recruited.[20] Himmler and Phleps largely prevailed and created the division as they saw fit, leaving NDH very unhappy with the outcome, particularly regarding its ethnic composition."

- Add the "š" letter in the "Ustasa" word. --Wustenfuchs 12:14, 17 July 2012 (UTC)

Done

Thanks, I'll get on to the issues you have identified, and will indicate in bold as I address them under each specific comment. Regards, Peacemaker67 (talk) 12:24, 17 July 2012 (UTC)

All issues fixed except Country in infobox (see comments) and images (will ask User:Grandiose for an opinion on copyright) Peacemaker67 (talk) 14:19, 17 July 2012 (UTC)

OK, I've looked at the three images above:

• the licence for File:Spomenik_u_Villefranche_de_Rouergueu.jpg is (as above) technically correct; it's a case of whether we believe the licensor. It's a typical snapshot (it looks like) and therefore it is entirely believable that it is a public domain image. It's regrettable that it was deleted off the local Wikipedia, but I would overall accept it.
• File:Hampel_and_Chetnik.jpg: I would accept the FUR. I would encourage the sue of the standard template, but it has strong historical value with no obvious replacement.
• File:13th SS Divisional insignia.jpg: I don't think insignia markings are good enough to justify what is a fairly high barrier for a FUR. It could be illustrated with other images, and it is certainly possible that a modern version exists.

Also please delete the fair use images off this page, as clearly this review isn't going to pass a FUR. Grandiose (me, talk, contribs) 16:31, 17 July 2012 (UTC)

On the third image I meant alternatives might be a smaller image like this or this. The article mentions three items of insignia, so I think this ought to be possible. Wikipedia places a high bar on non-free content, agreeing at least partly with the veganism parable. It places a lot of weight on criteria addressing why this image is necessary, rather than why what this image shows is necessary. The difference, as is common, is important as regards the image in question.

There is rightly the question of whether the image is in fact in the public domain anyway. I'm afraid I know very little about even which copyright law would apply, let alone the details of Balkans (or German) copyright law. This is likely to be difficult to know - we may well need (certainly) its country of origin and (probably) the date of first publication. Grandiose (me, talk, contribs) 10:27, 18 July 2012 (UTC)

Thanks, I feel it would be best to remove it for now and re-visit in the medium term when I have a chance to look for images of the individual insignia. Peacemaker67 (talk) 10:33, 18 July 2012 (UTC)

All Done.

OK, I'll promote the article now. --Wustenfuchs 14:47, 18 July 2012 (UTC)