Danish Waffen-SS Soldiers in Croatia, Autumn 1943: The Fighting at Glina and Hrastovica

Abstract

On 23–25 November 1943, Regiment Dänemark of the 11th SS-freiwilligen Panzer-Grenadier-Division “Nordland” became involved in two cases of local combat with Yugoslav Partisans. Both took place in a small area of the so-called Independent State of Croatia. The events have attracted interest among Danish scholars as well as in popular literature. Unfortunately, western scholarship has largely been restricted to memoirs by former Waffen-SS soldiers and a few reports from German military units. Narratives were developed in almost complete isolation from sources and literature in the region of former Yugoslavia. As a result, a number of misunderstandings and factual errors concerning the events became repeated in the latest scholarly work. This article adds the Partisans’ perspective to the episodes, thus contributing to a more complete picture of clashes that cost both Danish and Yugoslav lives. In addition, it highlights the importance of critical source evaluation in the analysis of controversial historical events.