Krempler spoke fluent Turkish, Serbian, and German. He was considered a specialist within the
SS on Islam and in 1942 was recruited by
Heinrich Himmler and
Artur Phleps to participate in the formation of a proposed
Bosniak Handschar Division within the
Waffen-SS, the
13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian). Unlike most SS personnel, Krempler was not a member of the
Nazi Party. "On 3 March 1942, Phleps met with fellow SS officer Karl von Krempler, who, together with Croatian government official
Alija Šuljak, was to conduct the recruiting effort. The campaign began on the twentieth, when the multi-lingual von Krempler and Dr. Šuljak, accompanied by several other dignitaries began an eighteen-day recruiting tour through eleven Bosnian districts." Alija Šuljak and Krempler soon fell out over the aims and purposes of the proposed Division. The pro-Ustasha, Croatian nationalist doctor, who was an entirely political appointee, criticized Krempler's spoken Serbian dialect and his use of traditional Islamic colours and emblems (green flags and crescent moons) rather than the new
Ustaše symbols during recruitment. "Upon reaching Tuzla he [von Krempler] met with Major Hadžiefendić, and on 28 March the pair departed for Sarajevo, where Hadžiefendić introduced the German to leading Muslim autonomists, including the Reis-el-Ulema, Hafiz Muhamed Pandža." Major
Muhamed Hadžiefendić had been an important Muslim officer in the
Yugoslav Royal Army and came from a distinguished family in
Tuzla. Angry
Ustaše officials demanded that Krempler be relieved of his duties and Envoy
Siegfried Kasche of the
Reich Foreign Affairs Ministry was also very critical of Krempler's perceived interference in the internal affairs of
Croatia. As he spoke Turkish, Krempler also helped liaise with and organise security for the visit to Bosnia by
Mohammad Amin al-Husayni, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, over 30 March and 14 April 1942. (The Mufti was
Arab but had served in the Turkish army during
World War I). Croatian authorities tried to interrupt the visit, but Krempler was instrumental in arranging an interview between the Mufti and several Bosnian community leaders. '' with a brochure about "Islam and Judaism", 1943
Role in Sandžak Following his appointment to the post of
SS-und Polizeiführer Sandschak (
SS and Police Leader Sanjak) in September 1943, Krempler came to be known as the "Sanjak Prince" after his relatively successful formation of the
Police Self-Defense Regiment Sandjak. He went to the
Sandžak region in October and took over the local volunteer militia of around 5,000 anti-communist, anti-Serb Muslim men headquartered in
Sjenica. This formation was sometimes thereafter called the
Kampfgruppe Krempler or more derisively the
"Muselmanengruppe von Krempler". As the senior
Waffen SS officer, Krempler appointed a token local Muslim named Hafiz
Sulejman Pačariz as the formal commander of the unit, but as the key military trainer and contact person with German arms and munitions, he remained effectively in control. One of Krempler's goals was to bring Muslim Militia and Chetniks together to fight against
Yugoslav Partisans. He ordered that Muslims and Chetniks under German command must be obedient and banned fighting between them with 'harshest possible penalties'. In November 1943. Muslim collaborator
Ćazim Sijarić was ordered by Krempler to stop attacking and plundering Serb villages and to return stolen cattle, and Sijarić had to comply with the order. Krempler was replaced in June 1944 by SS
Oberführer Richard Kaaserer, who commanded the Sandschak Regiment from 21 June 1944 to 28 November 1944. Kaaserer had been a member of the
Austro-Hungarian Army in
World War I. Unlike Krempler, Kaaserer was extradited to
Yugoslavia after the war; he was tried and executed in January 1947 for war crimes.
Yugoslav Partisans, equipped with
Allied war material attacked and seized
Sjenica over 14–15 October 1944. The
Kampfgruppe Krempler was effectively scattered: older men deserted or simply went home, whilst hundreds of younger men under the leadership of Pačariz travelled to
Sarajevo where they joined up with the notorious Ustaše
Vjekoslav Luburić. (Pačariz was granted the rank of
Pukovnik – leader – in the
Ustaše militia.) Krempler and his small contingent of German training personnel were reassigned during the latter part of October 1944. In January 1945 he was reassigned to the administrative staff of the
13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian). Krempler died on 17 April 1971 in
Salzburg,
Austria. ==References==