Abstract: During the Second World War, several Cossack units served in the German armed forces, and their movements and combat operations were already the subject of scholarly research and popular historiography. Contrasting the majority of published works, based on German military sources and focused on deployment and anti-partisan combat activities, this paper aims to analyze and showcase the First Cossack Cavalry Division on the territory of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) from a perspective of civilian victims and Croatian authorities. Such perspective portrays the Cossacks as uncompromising and exceptionally efficient fighters against communism and resistance, but also as undisciplined villains, leaving the trail of crimes, robbery, rape, molest and murder of civilians. The paper is mostly based on unpublished historical sources from the Archives of Yugoslavia and the Military Archives in Belgrade.

Keywords: Cossacks, First Cossack (Cavalry) Division, NDH, crimes, anticommunism, Helmuth von Pannwitz

Summary

The First Cossack (Cavalry) Division was sent to anti-partisan operations in the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) territory at the end of September1943, as part of the 2nd Armored Army and German armed forces. Under the command of General Helmuth von Pannwitz, the division was made up of Cossacks from various geographical and socioeconomic backgrounds, ranging in age, military training, and combat experience. During 1943, the division operated independently or in collaboration with German and Croatian forces in Fruška Gora area, Srem, Slavonia, Banija, and Bosnia within NDH territory. Squadrons from the First Cossack Division had great success suppressing partisan groups, particularly on flat terrain that was ideal for Cossack combat techniques. Crimes and unrest among civilians nearly invariably followed the First Cossack division’s combat operations. General Jodl advised the division to employ „self-equipment tactics“, which included the deliberate and methodical theft of horses, and both horse and human food. Numerous historical sources describe the brutality, physical torture, theft of valuables, and killings of people committed by Cossacks under the pretext that they were resistance fighters or communists. Many rapes were documented on a regular basis, occasionally resulting in group rapes and fatalities. As the First Cossack division’s atrocities and violence strained relations between the Croatian people and the Germans, they swiftly grew into a political issue for the NDH. General von Pannwitz implemented tough discipline procedures to keep his soldiers in line and to alleviate civilian suffering. Although several executions and expulsions from the division were documented in historical sources, they did not put a halt to the crimes, which continued in the following months. Croatian military and civic authorities repeatedly petitioned German leadership, and subsequently Hitler personally, for the punishment or removal of the 1st Cossack division from Croatia. The German factor chose to relativize and overlook Cossack crimes, believing that these forces were successful and essential in combating the partisans. Such attitudes had a negative impact on Croatian-German political ties and harmed the Third Reich’s reputation among the Croatian public.