Crippa, Paolo/Maressi, Giovanni The Landschutz of the Adriatic Coast (OZAK). Photos & Images from World Wartime Archives

After the Armistice and the consequent German occupation of the Julian regions, which were in fact annexed to the German Reich with the creation of the Zone of Operations of the Adriatic Coast, the German military authorities decreed the establishment of territorial self-defense units, formed by Italian, Slovenian and Croatian citizens, to flank the German units in the fight against the partisan phenomenon. The Landschutz was thus organized, an ethnically based corps, which had to - contribute to the maintenance of order and security -, and was formally established by Supreme Commissioner Rainer on October 1, 1943. In the varied panorama of units created during the war with non-German personnel, not enough importance has ever been given to these small units of Territorial Defense, and this volume attempts to provide as in-depth an analysis as possible of the life of the Landschutz.

This was the birth of the "Landschutz", an ethnicity-based unit that "had to contribute to the maintenance of order and security" and was officially founded by Chief Commissioner Rainer on 1 October 1943. In the rich spectrum of units created during the war with non-German personnel, these small local defence units have mostly been overlooked by research to date. This volume attempts to provide as thorough an analysis as possible of the history and deployment of the "Landschutz" units.