Desarrollo de una herramienta software para diseño de moduladores SDTC

While the SS and the NDH government recruited volunteers for the division the ulema in Sarajevo recruited the Imams for the division.296 Several of the Imams were educated in Cairo and Alexandria and had served in the ex-Yugoslavian royal army. The oldest and most experienced Imam, who also were Imam in the ex-Yugoslavian royal army were, chosen to serve as the senior division Imam, this man was Abdulah Muhasilović. Imam Džemal Ibrahimović who served in the division explained in an interview how the actual recruiting was conducted:

We were invited to meet with the officials of the ulema-medžlis in Sarajevo. Pandža explained the circumstances to us: The situation was difficult for the Muslims in eastern Bosnia because of the (Četniks). More and more refugees were arriving in Sarajevo. I had in fact seen them myself at the refugee camp in Alipašin Most. This was the moment that we could stand up and help these people. We believed that we had to defend ourselves. From Sarajevo, we were taken to Zagreb by truck to Savska Cesta 77, where we were inducted, uniformed, etc. From there we were brought to Berlin-Babelsberg for the “Imam Training Course,” which consisted primarily of lectures and classes on the use of small arms.297

Obergruppenführer Gottlob Berger organised the Imam training course in a large villa; the course lasted three weeks. During the course the Imams were lectured on the Waffen-SS its organisation and ranks, the history of nationalism, German language instructions were also part of the course with excursions in Berlin. The Germans thought that the course was successful and promised to establish a permanent Imam institute for the training of Muslim Imams.298 The mufti al-Husseini told the Germans that the Imams should be thought that National Socialism would serve as a German national ideology while Islam would serve as the Arab national ideology, both would

296 _{Lepre 1997:71.}

297 _{Lepre 1997:71. The interview was conducted by telephone with Džemal Ibrahimović by George Lepre on 26}

February and 1 March 1996. Pandža in the quote is Muhamed Pandža who was the member of the ulema-medžlis.

battle their common foe which was Judaism, Anglo-Americans, Communism, Freemasonry and the Vatican.299 Both the Germans and the mufti reasoned that the Muslims of BiH racially belonged to the Germanic world, but spiritually they belonged to the Arab world.300 The mufti delivered a speech to the Imams in Babelsberg where he explained why Muslims in BiH should support the Germans. The mufti explained that the Germans battled world Jewry which was Islam’s principal enemy, he also stated that the Germans battled the British and her allies who had persecuted millions of Muslims, as well as Bolshevism which subjugated forty million Muslims and threatened the Islamic faith in other lands.301 Each Imam were assigned to a battalion with exception of the all-German battalions, each Imam were accountable to the division Imam Abdulah Muhasilović and to the divisions political officer.302

The Imams had five main duties that they performed in the battalions they were assigned to. The first duty was spiritual care in which, the Imam organised the Jumu’a prayer and lead the five daily prayers.303 The Imam should also work with the unit commanders and inform them on particular religious celebrations and advice them in all religious matters. The second duty was the burials; the men who died in action were buried in uniform, only the shoes were removed. The men who died of wounds were washed by the Imam and all necessary duties for the burial were performed by the Imam. The Imams also visited hospitals and the wounded men to provide spiritual care. The third duty was education, the Imam were obliged to deliver a lecture once a week to the men. The topics were selected by the political officer and the divisions Imam Abdulah Muhasilović among the topics were “Why the Muslims are Serving in Waffen-SS,” and “Titos Bandits, the Scourge of Bosnia.”

The Imams that knew German should also lecture the Germans in the division about Bosnian practises and customs. Once every month the Imams would report to the division Imam and the political officer of the progress of their duties, the Imams should also assist in the preparation of the division’s newspaper Handžar. The fourth duty was welfare of the troops and their families, the Imam were to spend as much time as possible with the troops both on and off duty. They should look after the men and their family’s well being. They should also look after of the soldier’s mental and physical well fare. The Imams also informed the local population in the

299 _{Lepre 1997:72.} 300 _{Lepre 1997:72.} 301 _{Lepre 1997:75.} 302 _{Lepre 1997:75}

mosques about the division and its aims; they arranged quartering for the division with the mayors in different towns in BiH. The Imams also settled quarrels between the civilians and the troops, the Imams interrogated Muslim civilians and enemy deserters. The fifth duty was to serve as a personal example, the commander of the division Sauberzweig demanded that the Imams were among the troops during the battles. They were expected to command a platoon or squadron in critical situations.304

The diet of the troops were an important issue, the Muslims were feed exactly as the Germans except for the pork and alcohol, one German butcher of the division explained in a letter following: “The Muslims only received beef and mutton from us. German salami (Dauerwurst) was also prepared. We Germans naturally ate pork. As far as I know there were never any difficulties with the rations. (Imam Muhamed Mujakić) was always on hand to ensure that everything was in order.”305