7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen The 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division " Prinz Eugen " was a German mountain infantry division of the Waffen - SS , the armed wing of the German Nazi Party that served alongside but was never formally part of the Wehrmacht during World War II . Formed in 1941 from " Volksdeutsche " ( ethnic German ) volunteers and conscripts from the Banat , Independent State of Croatia ( NDH ) , Hungary and Romania , it fought a counter - insurgency campaign against communist - led Yugoslav Partisan resistance forces in the Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia , NDH and Montenegro . It was given the title " Prinz Eugen " after Prince Eugene of Savoy , an outstanding military leader of the Habsburg Empire who liberated the Banat and Belgrade from the Ottoman Empire in the Austro - Turkish War of 1716 – 1718 . It was initially named the SS - " Freiwilligen " - Division " Prinz Eugen " ( SS - Volunteer Division " Prinz Eugen " ) . Background . After the invasion , occupation and dismantling of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers on 6 April 1941 , the Wehrmacht placed Serbia proper , the northern part of Kosovo ( around Kosovska Mitrovica ) and the Banat under a military government . Formation . The division was formed in late 1941 following the Invasion of Yugoslavia , initially from German - speaking Danube Swabian " Selbstschutz " in the Banat , which was an autonomous area within the Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia . A key figure in the organisation of the division was the Higher SS and Police Leader in Serbia , " SS - Obergruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Polizei " ( Police General ) August Meyszner . " After the initial rush of " Volksdeutsche " to join , voluntary enlistments tapered off , and the new formation did not reach division size . Therefore , in August 1941 , the SS discarded the voluntary approach , and after a favorable judgement from the SS court in Belgrade , imposed a mandatory military obligation on all " Volksdeutsche " in Banat , the first of its kind for non - Reich Germans . One of the reasons for the forced conscription of ethnic Germans was the disappointingly low amount of volunteers for the division after the initial recruitments ( no more than 5000 ) . While the division remained " volunteer " in name , few of the conscripted ethnic Germans actively sought entry into the unit . " SS Reichsführer " Himmler had announced that the wishes of the " Volksdeutsche " were irrelevant , while in connection with the Balkan Germans the SS head of recruitment Gottlob Berger remarked : " " kein Mensch [ kümmert ] [ sich ja ] darum , was wir unten mit unseren Volksdeutschen tun " " ( " no person cares what we do with our ethnic Germans in the South " ) . Ethnic Germans in the Balkans were therefore powerless and could not oppose conscription into the SS . The unwillingness of ethnic Germans to serve in the unit is illustrated by a mutiny of 173 Croatian Germans of the division in 1943 in Bosnia . Apparently the men of mixed ancestry did not speak German and were mistreated by their superiors as a result . Himmler intervened personally in the problem and even ordered any NCO that insulted the mother of the Croatian German troops to be shot on the spot ( the insulting of mothers being common in the Balkans ) . Many of these men preferred service in the Croatian Home Guard for a variety of reasons . In 1942 , the Pančevo - based unit was declared a Mountain Division . They were issued with a significant amount of non - standard German weapons and used captured equipment such as Czech machine guns like the ZB - 53 and French light tanks . They were provided with excellent German - made mountain artillery such as the 10 . 5 cm Gebirgshaubitze 40 howitzer and 7 . 5 cm Gebirgsgeschütz 36 mountain gun . When the division was formed , it was assigned to the Balkans as an anti - Partisan mountain division . 1942 . In October 1942 , the division led a German - Bulgarian anti - guerrilla offensive against the Chetniks in the Kopaonik , Goč and Jastrebac mountains of the Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia . The operation was aimed at the destruction of the Rasina Corps of the Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland , commanded by Major Dragutin Keserović , whose headquarters was located in the village of Kriva Reka . Germans and Bulgarians cleared the Chetnik free territory and in the process committed war crimes against the Serbian civilian population . The Chetniks successfully withdrew from the German - Bulgarian ring to territory that was beyond the reach of the occupation forces . Keserović and his troops had been participating in military operations against the Bulgarians and Germans for the previous year . The Chetniks were a threat to the Germans because they were able to break the German road communications and interfere with the movement of war materiel intended for Rommel ′ s forces on the African front — through the Morava − Vardar valley . Losses were inflicted on Keserovićev ′ s detachments and the local population by the constantly pursuing enemy forces . The Germans , worried about a potential attack on the Trepča mine near Kosovska Mitrovica , from which they pulled significant amounts of lead and zinc , decided in the spring of 1942 to launch an attack involving some 20 , 000 soldiers . In early October 1942 the division was deployed in southwestern Serbia , in Kraljevo , Užice , Ivanjica , Čačak , Raška , Kosovska Mitrovica , and Novi Pazar . Elements of the 9th Bulgarian Infantry Division were also assigned to the attack . The Rasina Corps at that time had about 1 , 500 fighters under arms . On 5 October 1942 Phleps ordered the German and Bulgarian forces to destroy the Chetnik forces . A comprehensive attack was planned : 20 , 000 well - armed and fully trained German troops would encircle the Serbians from four directions using a precisely defined plan of fire . Because of the perceived importance of this operation and to observe the first military operations of the newly established SS Division , Reichsführer - SS Heinrich Himmler travelled to Kraljevo in the German occupation zone . Himmler was in Kraljevo from 15 to 18 October 1942 and toured the division . German and Bulgarian forces began their attack on the Chetnik territory at dawn on 12 October 1942 . As planned , the attack proceeded from four directions . German combat group " North " marched to the top of Željin , and a secondary group to the top of Kavalj . Combat group " South " conducted a comprehensive movement in the area around Gobelja , located 17 km northwest of Raška . Combat group " West " concentrated its forces in the valley 5 km from Banje . Combat group " East " took a position west of Brus . Germans and Bulgarians made a ring around the Chetnik territory and forced the peasants into hiding . German combat groups " North " , " West " , and " South " proceeded along a front through the Chetnik territory in the direction of combat group " East " , which was assigned the role of forming a wall to stop the Chetniks . However , Keserović had intelligence about the preparations and the movement of large German forces for an attack , and did not consider it useful to meet the German and Bulgarian forces on a wide front . He ordered his units to regroup into smaller squads for easy maneuvering and penetration . His tactic meant the Chetnik Rasina Corps was able to escape from the ring of enemy soldiers . The Germans and Bulgarians committed reprisals against the civilian population and burned several villages . The village of Kriva Reka , the location of Keserović ' s headquarters , suffered the most : 120 civilians were locked in the village church and burned to death by members of the 7th SS Division . In other villages in Kopaonik 300 civilians were killed ; in the villages on Mount Goč 250 civilians were executed . The Germans killed a total of 670 civilians during this operation . The division ' s next action was in the Serbian - Montenegro border in the mountains east of the Ibar River and afterwards it took part in the Fourth anti - Partisan Offensive in the Zagreb - Karlovac area , where together with Italian forces attempted to defeat the Partisans commanded by Josip Broz Tito , the operation failed and most of the Partisans managed to evade the main attack . 1943 . In Operation Weiss I , the Division advanced from Karlovac area against NOVJ units resistance and on January 29 captured informal partisan capital Bihać . In Operation Weiss II it forced its way from western Bosnia to Mostar area in Hercegovina and also deployed units northwest of Sarajevo . In May the Division took part in operation against Chetniks . The Operation was successful and Draža Mihailović was forced to retreat to Serbia with his headquarters . From 15 May - 15 June , the division took a part in the Fifth anti - Partisan Offensive ( Operation Schwartz ) aiming to pin Tito ' s main force of about 20 , 000 Partisans against the Zelengora mountain , in southeastern Bosnia . During the battle , the division received a task to move through the Italian zone in order to block the possible advance of Partisans towards the Adriatic sea and Albania , to close the south - east part of the encirclement and then advance north over mountainous terrain to crush the Partisan forces . In 11 - day fightings from May 20 division captured Šavnik . For this success major ( " Sturmbannführer " ) Dietsche as well as commander Phleps received first two Knight ' s Crosses for the division . In the following days the focal point of the battle shifted westward . After the main group of the Partisans headed by 1st Proletarian Division broke out of the encirclement , two battalions of the division that were moved to cover the left bank of the Sutjeska river and block the Partisan ' s escape route were surprised by the attack of three battalions of 1st Dalmatian and one from 5th Montenegro Brigade at Tjentište pushing them back . They recovered their positions during a night battle and decimated most Partisan units . In the operation Schwartz the division suffered total losses of 613 men . In August 1943 , the division became a part of the XV Mountain Corps and was sent to the Dalmatian coast , to disarm the Italian forces in September 1943 after the Italian Government had surrendered to the Allies . In exploiting Italian capitulation , NOVJ succeeded in seizing control of the most part of the Dalmatian coast . In sixteen - days long battle the division , together with 92nd Motorized Regiment , pushed back NOVJ units and on September 29 reoccupied Split . In October , division participated in Operation Landsturm , another anti - Partisan operation in Omiš , Ploče and Biokovo . In battles for Split and Biokovo coastline , division suffered losses of 1582 killed , wounded and missing in action . The division was reorganized on 22 October 1943 and was renamed the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division " Prinz Eugen " . In November , the unit was attached to the V SS Mountain Corps and took part in anti - Partisan Operations Kugelblitz and Schneesturm in December 1943 . 1944 . In January 1944 the division was involved in more anti - Partisan actions in operation " Waldrausch " . In May division took part in Seventh anti - Partisan Offensive ( " Operation Rösselsprung " ) which began on 25 May 1944 . This operation had the task of killing or capturing Tito , and the operation was spearheaded by the 500th " SS Fallschirmjäger - Bataillon " and supported by the Brandenburg Regiment . In May June and July , the division also saw action in operations " Freie Jagd " , " Rose " and " Feuerwehr " . In August ( 12 – 30 August ) the division was engaged in operation " Rübezahl " , aimed to prevent offensive of NOVJ forces from Montenegro into western Serbia . In September , the Soviet Red Army had advanced to the Balkans and the division suffered heavy casualties in defensive battles against Bulgarian , Soviet and NOVJ forces in the Nish region . On 21 September , " Obergruppenführer " Artur Phleps — the division ’ s first commander — was believed to have been killed when en route from Montenegro to Transylvania . The division ' s next action was the defence of the Kraljevo Bridgehead ( " Brückenkopf Kraljevo " ) as the part of Army Corps Müller . This defence was essential for the success of Army Group E efforts to open a corridor which would allow the retreat of 350 , 000 German soldiers from Greece and the Aegean . In the beginning of November , the SS 1st Albanian " Skanderbeg " Division was disbanded and its remnants incorporated into the 14th Regiment of " Prinz Eugen " , which received its honor title " Skanderbeg " . 1945 . In January 1945 , the division was again in action against the Yugoslav army at Otok and Vukovar . In February it took part in Operation Wehrwolf against Yugoslav bridgehead in the Virovitica area . The retreat from Bosnia continued and " Prinz Eugen " retreated through the NDH in April 1945 . On 10 May , the division retreated towards Celje in Slovenia where it surrendered on 11May to Yugoslav forces . War crimes . The division is infamous for its cruelty and massive atrocities committed in the area of Nikšić in Montenegro : Commanders . The following officers commanded the division : Awards . Several members were decorated with high German military awards , including one Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oaks Leaves and Swords awarded to " SS - Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen - SS " Otto Kumm when he was the divisional commander . Divisional recipients of the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross included the first commander of the division , Artur Phleps and five others , all regimental or battalion commanders . One was awarded posthumously .