Beginning on 23 June, 54 officers, 187 non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and 1,137 enlisted men of the 13th SS Division that had been selected for transfer to the 23rd SS Division "Kama" were assembled in Bošnjaci in Posavina County of the NDH, and they were moved into Bácska on 15 July. They included three NCOs from every company of the 13th SS Division, and one cavalry squadron, one battery from each of its artillery battalions, as well as specialist troops. German officers and NCOs were also provided by "Waffen-SS" replacement units. The divisional area lay along the Franzen Canal, with garrisons in Szenttamás () and Kúla () and on either side of the line Zombor-Verbász (). The 10,000 men for a full-strength division were to be obtained from volunteers, from Muslim conscripts born in 1926 and 1927 (with some exceptions), and if necessary, from the various Muslim militias in the NDH. The conscripts were subjected to the draft by the NDH government then transferred to German command along with the others, who were then transported to "Waffen-SS" recruiting depots at Zombor and Bošnjaci. These men were to report by 15 September 1944, but in mid-August, "Waffen-SS" recruiting officer "SS Obergruppenführer" (Lieutenant General) Gottlob Berger reported to Himmler that there would be insufficient reliable Muslim men available, and Catholic Croats would also have to be accepted into the 23rd SS Division. During Pavelić's visit to Hitler in September 1944, General Đuro Grujić, chief of Pavelić's Military Office, indicated to the Germans that it would be difficult to recruit another 5,000 men to complete the division after 5,000 had already been assigned. Many "Volksdeutsche" from the NDH and a few from Hungary were recruited into the division to act as interpreters between the Bosnian Muslims and the German cadre and to enhance unit cohesion.