The Bosnian Muslims sought protection and independence from the NDH, and saw German support as a means to achieve those aims. Prominent Bosnian Muslims were friendly towards Germany, and Bosnians were generally nostalgic over the former period of Habsburg (Austro-Hungarian) rule. This push was strongly opposed by Pavelić as counter to the territorial integrity of the NDH. By November 1942, these Muslim autonomists were desperate to protect their people and wrote to Adolf Hitler asking that he annex Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Reich. While this idea did not receive Hitler's approval, possibly because he did not want to create problems for Pavelić, "Reichsführer-SS" Heinrich Himmler saw this as an opportunity to create a "Waffen-SS" recruiting zone in the NDH to attract Bosnian Muslims. In early 1943, Hitler authorised the raising of the first SS division to be recruited from a non-Germanic people, the 13th "Waffen" Mountain Division of the SS "Handschar" (1st Croatian). The division was to be raised primarily from the Muslim population of the NDH.