Waffen-SS in and around Trieste during the Second World War

Abstract

Due to its geostrategic position and port, Trieste, the capital of the Province of Trieste, was an important garrison city during the German occupation in 1943–1945. As the centre of the newly created Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral (OZAK), it was also the headquarters of some German police and (para)military units, including the divisions and establishments of Waffen-SS. The article at hand presents those Waffen-SS divisions and establishments that operated in and around Trieste as well as their role during the Second World War, especially in relation to the National Liberation Army and Partisan detachments of Slovenia (or Yugoslavia), later renamed Yugoslav Army.