GERMAN WWII CROATIAN 13th WAFFEN SS MOUNTAIN DIVISION "HANDSCHAR" EM/NCO COLLAR TABS

SS Handschar enlisted mans collar tabs for the 13th Waffen SS division.

Himmler’s Bosnian Muslim volunteers unit.  SS Handschar Machine-embroidered off-white collar tabs shows a Swastica  next to a hand holding a sword on a black wool base.

The collar tabs are mounted on a tan buckram backing.

The 13th Waffen SS Mountain Division "Handschar" (1st Croatian Division) was approved to form as an SS unit February 13, 1943, as the first non-Germanic SS foreign volunteer division. These men were not authorized wear of the SS runic emblem, and they wore this distinctive collar insignia instead.

26,000 men were recruited by mid-1943. In February 1944, the division served in Bosnia, Serbia, and Sirmium completing anti-Partisan operations.

Late 1944, the Division served in southern Hungary in front-line fighting against the advancing Russians.

May 8th 1945 the division surrendered to British troops.