Ante Vrban (15 January 1908 – 31 August 1948) was a Croatian major of the Ustaše Militia and later the Croatian Armed Forces of the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia ( sh, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; german: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; it, Stato indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist It ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He served as deputy commander of the Stara Gradiška concentration camp and was responsible for various atrocities committed there during the war. After the collapse of the Independent State of Croatia, he fled and sought refuge in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. In the summer of 1945, he returned to

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

with the intention of starting an

anti-communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...

uprising. He was arrested by Yugoslav authorities and charged with war crimes. Vrban was found guilty on all counts and hanged in August 1948.

Biography

Vrban was born on 15 January 1908 in Pejakuša, near Gospić. Before World War II, he worked as a trading assistant. After the formation of the

, he joined the Ustaše Militia, Ustasha Militia. In the summer of 1941, he took part in the Genocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia, killings of Serbs of Croatia, Serbs in Lika, as well as in the The Holocaust in the Independent State of Croatia, killings of Jews in Croatia, Jews in the Jadovno concentration camp. He arrived at the Stara Gradiška concentration camp, Stara Gradiška camp on 13 November 1941, and brought with him a group of captured Freemasonry, Freemasons. For some time he was the deputy commander of the camp which was commanded by Mile Orešković. At the post-war trial, he admitted to poisoning 63 sick children with Zyklon B. He took part in the Battle of Lijevče Field. After the collapse of the Independent State of Croatia, he withdrew to

, but in 1946 he returned briefly to Socialist Republic of Croatia, Croatia to establish contact with the Crusaders (guerrilla), Crusaders. The following year, the State Security Administration (Yugoslavia), UDBA captured him on Papuk, Mount Papuk, together with Ljubo Miloš. At the trial before the Supreme Court of the People's Republic of Croatia with Ustashas caught in Operation Gvardijan, Vrban was sentenced to death by hanging.

In popular culture

In the 1983 four-part Hrvatska radiotelevizija, TV Zagreb mini-series ''Zamke'' (''Traps''), Vrban is portrayed by Zdenko Jelčić. In the 2021 historical drama ''Dara of Jasenovac'' directed by Predrag Antonijević, Vrban is portrayed by Igor Đorđević.Full Cast & Crew of Dara of Jasenovac
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References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vrban, Ante 1908 births 1948 deaths Anti-Masonry Anti-Serbian sentiment Croatian people convicted of war crimes Croatian people convicted of crimes against humanity Croatian fascists Croatian irredentism Croatian collaborators with Nazi Germany Croatian nationalists Croatian people of World War II Executed Croatian people Fugitives Genocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia perpetrators Holocaust perpetrators in Yugoslavia People executed by Yugoslavia by hanging People from Gospić Romani genocide perpetrators Ustaše concentration camp personnel Ustaša Militia personnel Yugoslav anti-communists Executed Nazi concentration camp commandants Executed mass murderers