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Andrija Artuković (19 November 1899 – 16 January 1988) was a Croatian
lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...
,
politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
, and senior member of the
fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...
Ustaše The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croats, Croatian fascist and ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaša – Croatian Revolutionar ...
movement, who served as the Minister of Internal Affairs and Minister of Justice in the
Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
of the
Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...
(NDH) during
World War II in Yugoslavia World War II in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia began on 6 April 1941, when the country was Invasion of Yugoslavia, invaded and swiftly conquered by Axis powers, Axis forces and partitioned among Nazi Germany, Germany, Fascist Italy (1922–1943), It ...
. He signed into law several racial laws against
Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...
,
Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
, and Roma, and was responsible for a string of concentration camps in which over 100,000 civilians were tortured and murdered. He escaped to the
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after the war, where he lived until he was extradited to
Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...
in 1986. He was tried and found guilty of several mass killings in the NDH and was sentenced to death, but the sentence was not carried out due to his age and health. He died in custody in 1988.


Early life and career

Andrija Artuković was born on 19 November 1899, in Klobuk, near
Ljubuški Ljubuški is a city in the West Herzegovina Canton, a federal unit of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Kravica (waterfall), Kravica cascades lie within the city, near the settlement of Studenci, ...
in Austro-Hungarian to Marijan and Ruža (née Rašić) Artuković. He was one of 14 siblings raised on a farm. He studied at a
Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...
'' gymnasium'' (high school) run by the friary in nearby Široki Brijeg, and obtained a doctorate in law from the
University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb (, ) is a public university, public research university in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the Unive ...
in 1924. From 1926 he was practising law in Gospić in the Lika region of the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...
.


''Ustaše'' activities

Artuković joined the Croatian nationalist and
terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...
Ustaše The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croats, Croatian fascist and ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaša – Croatian Revolutionar ...
organisation which had been formed in 1929 and 1932, he was one of the organisers of their small Velebit uprising in Lika, which involved an attack on a Yugoslav gendarmerie station by a group of Ustaše. Artuković fled Yugoslavia before the uprising commenced, escaping via
Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...
to
Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
on 31 August. On arrival in
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, the '' poglavnik'' (supreme leader) of the Ustaše, Ante Pavelić, appointed Artuković as an adjutant to Main Ustaša Headquarters and commander of all Ustaše in Italy, and Artuković adopted the pseudonym "Hadžija" (pilgrim). The uprising he helped organise was quickly and brutally suppressed by the Yugoslav authorities, which brought the Ustaše some public attention and prestige. In Italy, Artuković came into conflict with a group of supporters of fellow Ustaša Mijo Babić (known as "Giovanni"). In late 1933, Artuković left the country. After that, he went to
Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
and then
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
, where he was arrested and briefly detained in March 1934 before being expelled from
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
. He returned to Budapest, then after meeting Pavelić in
Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
in early October, he travelled to
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. He was arrested there after the Ustaše assassination of the Yugoslav King Alexander I in
Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
, France. After his arrest, he was handed over to French authorities and spent three months in a
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
prison. In January 1935, he was extradited to Yugoslavia, and after 16 months spent in prison in
Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
, he was acquitted by the Court for the Protection of the State. He was released on 16 April 1936 and briefly returned to Gospić before travelling to Austria in May. He later went to Germany, where he spread Ustaše propaganda. In early 193,7 he was living in Berlin when he was interrogated by the
Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...
, and under threat of arrest, he fled to France. This was followed by a stint in Budapest, after which he returned to Berlin. By the late 1930s, the Ustaše had adopted the fascist principles of their financial backer and protector, Italy.


Independent State of Croatia

In late March 1941, Yugoslavia joined the Axis. Still, two days later, a pro- Allied
coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...
overthrew the government that had signed the treaty. In response,
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
decided to invade and dismember Yugoslavia. The German-led Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in early April comprehensively defeated the Yugoslav military, and the country was divided up between the Axis powers. Before the Yugoslav government had capitulated, the Germans engineered the creation of the
Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...
, and placed Pavelić and the Ustaše in charge. Slavko Kvaternik, the most senior Ustaše still in Yugoslavia, proclaimed the
Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...
on 10 April 1941, and Artuković and the other
émigré An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social exile or self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French verb ''émigrer'' meaning "to emigrate". French Huguenots Many French Hugueno ...
Ustaše returned to Zagreb. On 12 April, Kvaternik formed an interim government, which included Artuković. Pavelić arrived in Zagreb on 15 April, and on the following day, Artuković became the Interior Minister in the first Croatian government. As a member of Pavelić's trusted inner circle, Artuković carried out the orders he was given. On 17 April, to provide authority for Ustaše policies targeting
Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...
,
Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
, Roma, and anti-Ustaše Croats within the NDH, Pavelić proclaimed the Law Decree on the Defence of the People and the State. It prohibited any person from acting against the Croatian people and their interests, for which the penalty was death. Such alleged offences were to be dealt with in a summary manner by a panel similar to a
court martial A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the mili ...
. On 22 April, Artuković announced that the NDH government would solve the "Jewish question" in the same way as the German government, and a week later, he issued further racial laws, and advocated a policy of terror. These first and subsequent racial laws were vaguely worded, permitting broad interpretation. The organisation charged with enforcing these laws was the Directorate of Public Order and Security, which was subordinated to Artuković's Interior Ministry. The Directorate was established in May and was headed by Eugen "Dido" Kvaternik, the son of Slavko Kvaternik. In the meantime, Artuković participated in the Croatian-Italian border negotiations that took place between Pavelić and the Italian Foreign Minister Count
Galeazzo Ciano Gian Galeazzo Ciano, 2nd Count of Cortellazzo and Buccari ( , ; 18 March 1903 – 11 January 1944), was an Italian diplomat and politician who served as Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Minister in the government of his father-in-law ...
in Italian-annexed
Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...
on 25 April 1941. The Italians claimed the entire eastern shore of the Adriatic. Still, Pavelić made a counter-offer of that part of
Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...
that had been offered to Italy in the secret Treaty of London of 1915. The earlier Pavelić-Ciano agreement became the basis for the Treaties of Rome, which ceded these areas to Italy, and Artuković also accompanied Pavelić to the signing of those treaties in mid-May. On 6 June, Artuković accompanied Pavelić during his visit to
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
. On 24 February 1942, at the opening of the
Croatian Parliament The Croatian Parliament () or the Sabor is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Croatia. Under the terms of the Constitution of Croatia, Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the nation, people and is vested with legislative power. ...
(), Artuković announced the creation of the Croatian Orthodox Church, which was intended to replace the
Serbian Orthodox Church The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodox Church#Constit ...
for Serbs living within the NDH. During the same speech, he promised that the NDH would take more radical action against Jews than Nazi Germany, referring to the Jewish people of the NDH as "insatiable and poisonous parasites" who would be destroyed, and stating that Croats had been forced to serve the Jews in pursuit of their "filthy" profits and "materialistic and grasping" ambitions. This speech preceded a systematic campaign against Croatian Jews which included mass deportations to NDH concentration camps and German extermination camps. After the government reshuffle on 10 October 1942, Artuković became Minister of Justice and Religion, then from 29 April 1943 until 1 October 1943 he was again the Minister of Interior. He was Secretary of State from 11 October 1943 until the collapse of the Independent State of Croatia on 8 May 1945.


Emigration, repatriation, and trials

With other members of the Government, he left Zagreb on 6 May 1945 in the Independent State of Croatia evacuation to Austria. He was detained in an Allied camp in Spittal an der Drau. On 18 May 1945, the British extradited some Croatian ministers and Prime Minister
Nikola Mandić Nikola Mandić (; 20 January 1869 – 7 June 1945) was a Croatian politician and one of the leading political figures in Bosnia and Herzegovina under Austrian-Hungarian rule. He also served as a Prime Minister of the Independent State of Croati ...
to the Yugoslav authorities. Artuković was not extradited, but he was released soon with the remaining ministers. He left the British occupational zone and then went via the American to the French occupational zone, where his family was. In November 1946, he crossed the Austria–Switzerland border. He declared a false name, Alois Anich, and a false visa in Switzerland. In February 1947, he asked Swiss authorities for a Nansen passport. Some months later, they found out his real identity. Switzerland offered him the chance to keep his Nansen passport, provided that he and his family would leave Switzerland until 15 July 1947. Exactly at that date, they took a plane to
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
. About one year later, they entered the United States on a tourist visa and settled in Seal Beach, California. He worked at a company owned by his brother. As an accused war criminal, Romani Holocaust perpetrator and Ustaše official, he did not qualify for legal status in the United States. He remained in the country after overstaying his visa. In July 1945, the Yugoslav State Commission for Investigation of Crimes of Occupiers and Their Allies declared Artuković a war criminal. The Government of the FPR Yugoslavia requested his extradition on 29 August 1951. Their request met with a seven-year-long bureaucratic delay in
Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
due to the influence of the Croatian émigré community and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, to whom Artuković and his family had appealed. On 15 January 1959, U.S. Commissioner Theodore Hocke rejected Yugoslavia's extradition request; the INS's grounds for refusing extradition was ''"...since the crimes for which extradition was requested were deemed 'political' by the court, if Artukovic were deported to Yugoslavia, he would be "subject to physical persecution".'' When the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) raised the question of the legal basis of the stay in the US of a large number of associates of and/or collaborationists with
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
, the Yugoslav authorities, under the initiative of the Special Investigation Court of the U.S. Department of Justice, renewed their request for Artuković's extradition. He was arrested on 14 November 1984, and a court process began in New York. Artuković remained in custody until his deportation. In 1985, he was transferred to the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in
Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the List of cities in Missouri, third most populous city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County, Missouri, Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...
due to his health problems. Artuković was prosecuted by the Office of Special Investigations of the U.S. Department of Justice as the "Butcher of the Balkans". He was ordered extradited to Yugoslavia on 11 November 1986, where he was tried in the Zagreb District Court. He was found guilty of: *ordering the deaths of a lawyer and former member of the Yugoslav National Assembly, Dr. Ješa Vidić, in early 1941; *ordering the deaths by machine-gun fire of 450 men, women and children in late 1941 because there was no room for them in a concentration camp; *ordering the killing of the entire population of the town of Vrginmost and its surrounding villages in 1942; and *ordering the execution of "several hundred" prisoners at Samobor Castle near Zagreb in 1943 by having them driven into an open field, where they were machine-gunned and then crushed by tanks. The court held that Artuković's intent had originated with "his Ustaša orientation, by which persecutions, concentration camps and mass killings of Serbs, Jews, Gypsies, as well as Croats who did not accept the ideology, were part of the implementation of a program of creating a 'pure' Croatia". In sentencing him to death, the court described him as one of the "ruthless murderers, who under the cover of 'protecting purity of race and faith' and to realise their Nazi-Fascist ideology, .. killed, slaughtered, tortured, crippled, exposed to great suffering, and persecuted thousands and thousands of people, among whom were women and children." He was sentenced to death, but the sentence was not carried out due to his age and poor health.


Death

Artuković died of natural causes in the prison hospital in Zagreb on 16 January 1988. His son, Radoslav (a
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
native), requested information about his father's burial from the Yugoslav authorities. A special law was passed in Yugoslavia that the remains of those convicted and sentenced to death but who escaped execution, were to be disposed of as those of executed persons. It is unclear what happened to his remains. In 2010—also at Radoslav’s request—the president of the Croatian Helsinki Committee, Ivan Zvonimir Čičak, called for authorities to investigate what happened to the remains.


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Books

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Websites

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Artukovic, Andrija 1899 births 1988 deaths Anti-Serbian sentiment Croatian collaborators with Fascist Italy Croatian collaborators with Nazi Germany Croatian lawyers Croatian mass murderers Croatian people convicted of crimes against humanity Croatian people convicted of war crimes Croatian people who died in prison custody Croatian prisoners sentenced to death Croatian Roman Catholics Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina convicted of war crimes Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb alumni Genocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia perpetrators Government ministers of the Independent State of Croatia Holocaust perpetrators in Yugoslavia Loss of United States citizenship and deportation by prior Nazi affiliation People extradited from France People extradited from the United States Foreign nationals imprisoned in the United States People extradited to Yugoslavia People from Ljubuški Persecution of Eastern Orthodox Christians Foreign nationals imprisoned in France 20th-century prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government Prisoners sentenced to death by Yugoslavia Prisoners who died in Yugoslav detention Romani genocide perpetrators Ustaše members Croatian emigrants to the United States Croatian exiles Yugoslav anti-communists Yugoslav lawyers Yugoslav emigrants to the United States People deported from Austria