Vlado Singer (21 October 1908 – October 1943) was a

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 unt ...

politician and a prominent member of the

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

Ustaše The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croats, Croatian Fascism, fascist and ultranationalism, ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaš ...

movement.

Biography

Singer was born in

Virovitica Virovitica () is a Croatian city near the Hungarian border. It is situated near the Drava river and belongs to the historic region of Slavonia. Virovitica has a population of 14,688, with 21,291 people in the municipality (census 2011). It is als ...

on 21 October 1908 to a Croatian

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family.Davor Kovačić: Hrvatski institut za povijest: ''Vlado Singer, Stjepan Rubinić – od visokih policijskih dužnosnika Nezavisne Države Hrvatske do zatočenika koncentracijskih logora'', stranica 1. Later in life he converted to the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

faith. He believed that for

Jews in Croatia The history of the Jews in Croatia dates back to at least the 3rd century, although little is known of the community until the 10th and 15th centuries. According to the 1931 census, the community numbered 21,505 members, and it is estimated t ...

the only right way is total assimilation or identification with the Croatian national identity. Singer's political activities began during his studies in Zagreb at the end of the 1920s and in early 1930s. He publicly led the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb ( hr, Sveučilište u Zagrebu, ; la, Universitas Studiorum Zagrabiensis) is the largest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of ...

academics organized in the society called "Kvaternik". Singer with his colleagues,

Branimir Jelić Branimir "Branko" Jelić (28 February 1905, Donji Dolac, Kingdom of Dalmatia, Austro-Hungarian Monarchy – 31 May 1972, West Berlin) was an exiled Croatian nationalist and doctor of medicine. He was a member of the fascist Ustaše organization. ...

Mladen Lorković Mladen Lorković (1 March 1909 – April 1945) was a Croatian politician and lawyer who became a senior member of the Ustaše and served as the Foreign Minister and Minister of Interior of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) during World ...

and

Dido Kvaternik Eugen Dido Kvaternik (29 March 1910 – 10 March 1962) was a Croatian Ustaše General-Lieutenant and the Chief of the Internal Security Service in the Independent State of Croatia, a Nazi puppet state during World War II. Life Eugen Dido Kvat ...

, believed that the former political formations were dead and that a new movement which will be in charge of the revolutionary struggle needs to be created. On 6 March 1932 Singer organized a demonstration at the University of Zagreb against the dictatorship of

Alexander I of Yugoslavia Alexander I ( sr-Cyrl, Александар I Карађорђевић, Aleksandar I Karađorđević, ) ( – 9 October 1934), also known as Alexander the Unifier, was the prince regent of the Kingdom of Serbia from 1914 and later the King of Yug ...

. In March 1933 he started and edited nationalist paper "Naša gruda" (''Our land''). After only two published issues Singer was forced to exile in 1933. He moved to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

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 March 1934 he was arrested by the Austrian police at the request of the Yugoslav authorities in connection with an alleged assassination attempt of Petar Oreb against Alexander I of Yugoslavia. After six months he was released and moved to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. In Italy he resided in the Ustaša camps. Singer was again arrested after the assassination of Alexander I of Yugoslavia in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. He was a commissioner of the supreme organ of Ustaša – Croatian Revolutionary Movement called

Main Ustaša Headquarters The Main Ustaša Headquarters ( hr, Glavni ustaški stan - GUS) was the ruling body of the Ustaša party in the Independent State of Croatia, convened under the ''poglavnik'', Ante Pavelić. Establishment The Ustaše emigrants lived in many diffe ...

and was described as a skilled organizer. While in Italy, according to

Eugen Dido Kvaternik Eugen Dido Kvaternik (29 March 1910 – 10 March 1962) was a Croatian Ustaše General-Lieutenant and the Chief of the Internal Security Service in the Independent State of Croatia, a Nazi puppet state during World War II. Life Eugen Dido Kvat ...

, only Singer critically looked at

Ante Pavelić Ante Pavelić (; 14 July 1889 – 28 December 1959) was a Croatian politician who founded and headed the fascist ultranationalist organization known as the Ustaše in 1929 and served as dictator of the Independent State of Croatia ( hr, l ...

's way of life, but remained loyal. In April 1941, Singer returned to Zagreb with Pavelić and other Ustaše leaders and was shortly after put in charge of the Special department of the Main Ustaša Headquarters. In mid-June 1941, he was put in charge of the

Ustaše Surveillance Service The Ustaše Surveillance Service or Ustaška nadzorna služba (UNS) was an intelligence, counter-intelligence and political police service that operated during the existence of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH). The UNS was created by the merg ...

(UNS) office. On 14 September 1941 members of the

communist movement The history of communism encompasses a wide variety of ideologies and political movements sharing the core theoretical values of common ownership of wealth, economic enterprise, and property. Most modern forms of communism are grounded at least ...

performed a

sabotage at the General Post Office in Zagreb Sabotage at the General Post Office in Zagreb took place during the Second World War on Sunday, 14 September 1941. Zagreb was the capital city of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), a puppet state of Nazi Germany.

. At the Nazis' request Singer was arrested in connection with this incident and he was imprisoned in

Jasenovac concentration camp Jasenovac () was a concentration camp, concentration and extermination camps, extermination camp established in the Jasenovac, Sisak-Moslavina County, village of the same name by the authorities of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) in I ...

. While there, he was detained with

Vladko Maček Vladimir Maček (20 June 1879 – 15 May 1964) was a politician in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. As a leader of the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) following the 1928 assassination of Stjepan Radić, Maček had been a leading Croatian political fig ...

. In October 1943, after two year imprisonment, Singer was executed in the

Stara Gradiška concentration camp Stara Gradiška was a concentration and extermination camp in the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) during World War II. The camp was specially constructed for women and children of Serb, Jewish and Romani ethnicity. Victims also included commun ...

. Historians, writers and associates relate Singer's arrest and liquidation with his Jewish background and Vjekoslav "Maks" Luburić's personal antipathy towards him.

References

Bibliography

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Biography

References

Bibliography

Further reading