Book excerpt: "A detailed look into the brutal anti-partisan warfare in Yugoslavia during the Second World War. The SS war against the partisans, dubbed Bandenkampf (literally "fight against bandits") at the time, differed greatly from the conventional war at the front. The 24. Waffen-Gebirgs [Karstjager] -Division der SS anti-partisan unit was mostly comprised of Yugoslav recruits and operated in the Karst border area of Austria, Yugoslavia, and Italy in 1943-1945. This book is not only a history of this infamous SS division - including details of formation, training, commanders, and operations - but is also a look at the German Anti-Partisan War Badge in Gold, and its recipients from the unit. Very rare examples of actual badges as well as award documents and soldbuchs are presented, and includes nerve before seen war era images." --- from back cover.