Seeking information regarding family member in Croatia

[Evy66]

Hi everyone,
First English isn't my first language so I apologize for my mistakes. Second, even though I have a general knowledge of WW2, I don't know much about what happened in Croatia (but I'm learning !).
Here are my questions :
I recently found a picture of my great uncle who died in late 1944 in Croatia. Unfortunately there aren't any family member left that can provide information about him. As I don't speak croatian, many websites i found are just useless for me.
I included the only 2 pictures I have of him.

His name was Ivan Gvozdan. I found a short letter that he sent to my grand-mother and got it translated, so I learnt that in november 1944 shortly before his death he was stationed near the Montenegro border and that he signed the letter with the Ustasha slogan : "For Homeland - Ready !"
I am curious to learn anything that could help me understand his situation during the war. Was he volunteer or could he have been enrolled against his will ?
In the portrait picture (unedited version) it is possible to see the croatian flag on his right arm. Anyone can tell me anything about his rank ? (He is on the right side on the second picture).
Are there any online (or not) archives where I could get any information, where should I start ?
Any help or advice appreciated and again my apologies if my questions seem stupid !

[Ivan Ž.]

Hello, Evy66, and

Your questions don't seem stupid, far from it.

A German army uniform, a Croatian flag on the right arm and the Yugoslav theatre of war indicate that your great uncle was a member of one of German-Croatian legionnaire divisions.

There were three of them:
- 369th (Croatian) Infantry Division, nicknamed "Devil's"
- 373rd (Croatian) Infantry Division, nicknamed "Tiger"
- 392nd (Croatian) Infantry Division, nicknamed "Blue"

Located near the Montenegrin border in November 1944 was the "Devil's Division" (the other two divisions were hundreds of miles away). So, he obviously belonged to this unit.

Legionnaire divisions were volunteer units (so, he wasn't enrolled against his will).

In the bridge photo, he wears a Gefreiter rank chevron (it's a soldiers' rank).

You may search/ask for more info on your great uncle here Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt) and here Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V. (I've already searched the Volksbund site, however, there is no info on Ivan Gvozdan or anyone with a similar surname).

Cheers,
Ivan

[Evy66]

Hi Ivan,

Thank you very much for your fast,very interesting and complete answer !
I had already found the Deutsche Dienststelle website but I wanted to get as much information as I could before asking them to search my for great-uncle's name.

Even though my grand-mother told me a few times that her brother would never willingly join the german army, all my research so far on the web were all pointing to him volunteering (including the only letter I found).
On the other hand, my grand-father's part of the family was from Serbia and at least 4 of them that I know of were deported to concentration camps.
Both my grand-parents had emigrated to France before the war and thus were safe.
I will go on looking for answers and would like to thank you again for your help !

Regards,
Evy

[Ivan Ž.]

Hello, Evy, and you're very much welcome.

If a man takes private photos of himself wearing a German uniform and sends them to his family, and ends private letters with a fascist greeting, he most certainly wasn't forced to join such a unit and follow such an ideology. But it's normal for his relatives, especially the female ones, to believe the opposite after the war, when anything related to such a uniform and ideology was declared evil/criminal. How can a sister tie her dear brother to anything bad? Her belief is only natural, but clearly wrong, at least to some point. Her brother most certainly didn't enlist into such a unit to become a war criminal; he probably thought that he was doing a patriotic thing, that he would earn some cash, see some adventure. He and his comrades were largely young boys, even teenagers. I doubt many of them knew what they were getting themselves into. They probably thought: "Hey, this is badass, cool uniforms, Mother Croatia, German brothers, hooray, let's go shoot and throw some grenades!"

If you wish, you may post the letter you mentioned, or send it to me privately, so that I/we could check if there's anything else that might reveal more details about his final days.

Cheers,
Ivan

[luda]

Maglaj.jpg (77.1 KiB) Viewed 11184 times

The photo was taken in Maglaj, Bosnia and Herzegovina, railway bridge across the river Bosna.

[Ivan Ž.]

A nice identification, luda, and another confirmation that Evy's great uncle was a member of the "Devil's Division" - whose elements spent quite some time in Maglaj during the summer/autumn of 1943 (when the bridge photo was taken), unlike other German-Croatian legionnaire units.

Cheers,
Ivan

[Evy66]

Hi !
You are both amazing ! I wasn’t even dreaming of getting so much information in such a short amount of time and being able to know where the picture was taken left me speechless ! You both put me on the right path and I’m learning more and more everyday.
Ivan, you are spot on on what you said about my great uncle, I have talked a lot with my mother and we both agree with you but kind of needed someone from the « outside » to make us see things in a different perspective. I’m trying not to be judgemental (which would be useless anyway) but just try to gather facts which are part of my family’s history whether I like it or not.
Anyway, I have also been able to find records of my grand-father’s part of the family (5 persons) who died in Jasenovac death camp in 1943. How weird is it to have close family members on each side of the fence ?
So glad that both my grand-parents were safe in the "Free zone" in France during that period.
Ivan, I need to scan my grand-uncle’s letter and if your offer to take a look still stands, I would very much appreciate your help.
Once again big thanks to both of you.
Regards,
Evy

[Ivan Ž.]

How weird is it to have close family members on each side of the fence ?

Weird indeed - but actually quite common in the wartime Yugoslavia. One of the best known examples is the leader of the Chetniks, Army General Draža Mihailović, one of whose sons fought and died by his side, while his other son and daughter switched to the Partisan (enemy) side. A member of the SS Division "Handschar" who recently published his memoirs, Zvonimir Bernwald, had a brother fighting on the Partisan side. But probably the most bizzare example (known to me) was described by an officer of the "Prinz Eugen" Division, SS-Hstuf. Pardatscher; there was a village chief (of a village they spent a night in) who had one son in the Serbian State Guard, one in the Chetniks, one in the German Security Service and one in the Partisans (daughter was in charge of the village defense). And this village chief told the Germans that it was actually him who ordered his sons to serve on different sides, so that at least one of them would survive the war and take over his inheritance.

Cheers,
Ivan

PS
Do let me know when you scan the letter, the offer stands of course.

[Evy66]

Hi Ivan,

I did scan the letter but as you might expect it's not very easy to read, I've tried working a bit on the contrast/light. Someone already gave me an approximative translation but parts were missing. Maybe you'll be able to tell me more. I also did a scan of the envelop as it might be interesting. I believe there are some writing by my grand-mother on it.
Still no luck in finding date of birth/date of death. We managed to contact someone in Croatia who told us that he was born in 1921 "from memory" so yeah, I guess I'll definitely have to find a better source.
Depending on the findings I'll probably plan a visit in Croatia in the next few months

I know I'm repeating myself but...thanks again !

Regards,
Evy

[luda]

Croatia (1. XI 44.) writes that it is located near Montenegro.
Self censure?
According to the source Znaci.net in Noveber 44th 369th Division was located in the vicinity of Mostar - Nevesinja (Herzegovina, BiH) at that time NDH.
In the October 44th they were in the vicinity of Montenegro and moved to Herzegovina.

DIE 369 . INFANTERIE-DIVISION (KROAT.) Aufstellung und Ausbildung

[luda]

Feldpost 26323D
26323
(Mobilmachung-1.1.1940) 7. Kompanie Infanterie-Regiment 45
(2.1.1940-27.4.1940) gestrichen, wurde Fp.Nr. 15978 D
(28.4.1940-14.9.1940) 1. Batterie Flak-Ersatz-Abteilung 24
(16.2.1941-18.7.1941) gestrichen
(15.2.1942-30.7.1942) Stab II u. 5.-8. Kompanie Kroatisches Infanterie-Regiment 370
(24.8.1943-5.4.1944) 3.1.1944 Stab II u. 5.-8. Kompanie Kroat. Grenadier-Regiment 370
http://www.axishistory.com/axis-nations ... 6000-26999

369th Division - II Battalion - 5-8 Comp.
https://axis101.bizland.com/CroatianFeldpost03.htm

[Ivan Ž.]

Hello again, Evy

The letter is quite hard to read, I'll need more time to decipher what's written. He was clearly writing in a hurry (just look at that last word, falling "off the cliff"). By the way, he was obviously a religious man; for example, he wrote: "...alive and well and wish you the same from the Lord God and my heart... thanks to dear God, everything went well..." It's quite ironic, isn't it - thanking God, yet fighting in a Devil's Division.

But there are some interesting details we can notice right away. As luda wrote, the field post number, for example, reveals his unit. And there is also his rank written on the envelope: Uffz. = Unteroffizier (a non-commissioned officers' rank).

So, we can conclude the following so far:

Name: Ivan Gvozdan
Rank: Unteroffizier
Unit: 8th Company, II Battalion, 370th Grenadier Regiment, 369th (Croatian) Infantry Division

When he wrote the letter, he was obviously located somewhere in Herzegovina (at the time part of Croatia). I know that his regiment's 1st and 3rd battalions were in the Nevesinje area at the time; however, I'm failing to find out where exactly was his own (2nd) battalion located.

Cheers,
Ivan

PS
Your grandmother wrote the following on the envelope: "It was the last letter from my only brother, Ivo." (Ivo = short/affectionate for Ivan)

[luda]

The letter is quite hard to read, I'll need more time to decipher what's written.

Hrvatska 1. XI - 44 godine

Srdačni pozdrav!
Draga seko i svače evo vam se javljam sa par riječi
živ i zdrav koje i vama želim od Gosp. Boga i srca
svoga.
Na dalje možem vam javiti dasam prije nekolikih
dana dobio pismo od vas ali mi nije nekako bilo snogu
dasam vam prije od pisao jer sam bio u velikom
neprilikama tako dasam svaki čas očekivao sudbinu
ali hvala dragome Bogu sve je dobro prošlo u največoj
sreči i zdravlju.
možem vam javiti dase nalazim negdje
u blizini Crne gore ali nadam se dačmo uskoro
na naš kraj u naš(u) slavnu i ravnu Slavoniju
a što vam možem javiti da kako sam došao od kuče
sa dopusta evo dva i pol mjeseca pa još nisam dobio
pisma neznam šta je i kako je kod kuče
a tako i od vas dobio sam samo jedno a ja
sam vama pisao dva puta.
Sada vam više nemam šta pisati nego
primite mnogo srdačni pozdrava od mene
i ostanite zbogom do drugog pismenoga razgovora

ZDS
Ivan

[Ivan Ž.]

Haha! Well done, luda

He made a lot of mistakes, but the point is understandable. Except for this part, this doesn't make sense:

ali mi nije nekako bilo mogu da_sam vam prije od pisao

Are you sure that that's what's written?

Ivan

[Evy66]

You know this awkward feeling when everyone gets the joke except you ? That's me now