Pavelic poses with Fransiscan monks
Pavelic poses with Fransiscan monks
After the liberation of Yugoslavia the Government
appointed a commission to investigate the crimes committed by the Axis invaders,
by the Ustashi and by other collaborators. This commission paid special
attention to the question of how the high treason against the Kingdom of
Yugoslavia had been prepared. The well-timed stab in the back made it obvious
from the beginning that there probably had been close cooperation between the
German Wehrmacht and the fifth column. Careful investigation established the
fact that from the time of the revival of the Ustashi terrorist organization in
the late twenties the closest ties had existed between the Ustashi and sections
of both the lower and higher Catholic clergy. The investigating commission found
abundant evidence that the plot against Yugoslavia had been thoroughly prepared
over a long period by Hitler and Mussolini, by their Ustashi agents and by
influential representatives of the Roman Hierarchy in Yugoslavia.
An
overwhelming part of the evidence establishing the fact that treason and
conspiracy were participated in by the Roman Hierarchy and parts of the lower
clergy came from the culprits themselves. The investigating commission found
thousands of printed reports, along with articles in both the official
ecclesiastical press and the priest-controlled Catholic newspapers, which gave
an impressive picture of the manner in which the crime was prepared.
One
great error of supporters of the Independent State of Croatia was an
over-confident belief that it would endure at least as long as Hitler's
thousand-year Reich. This confidence explains why they did not hesitate to see
their plans and schemes exposed in print. Indeed, they boasted publicly, some of
the priests, about the conspiracy and about their close connections with the
Ustashi during the period when this organization was outlawed in pre-war
Yugoslavia. After the puppet state had been created they felt free to describe
in jubilant articles how zealously members of the clergy had worked for Der
Tag, how the monasteries had been used as clandestine headquarters for the
illegal Ustashi movement, how they had been in constant contact with the
plotters abroad, how they had organized the monks and the Catholic youth as
"Crusaders" for the coming uprising, and how they had endangered in many
different ways the very existence of pre-war Yugoslavia.
Evidence found
by the investigating commission gave a clear picture of the organizational
structure of the conspiracy. The whole plot was directed by responsible members
of the Roman Hierarchy. Practical execution of the plan was channeled through
"Catholic Action" and its various affiliated organizations such as the "Great
Brotherhood of Crusaders," the academic society Domagoj,the Catholic
student association Mahnich, the "Great Sisterhood of Crusaders," and
many others.
The presidents and members of the directing bodies of these
organizations were appointed by Archbishop Stepinac. They were in most cases
well-known priests or secretly sworn members of the Ustashi. All these forces
were mobilized for concerted action with the openly professed aim of spreading
fascist ideology. This propaganda persuaded the faithful that it would be a good
deed, in the highest interests of Croatia and the Catholic Church, to kill or
convert the Serbs and to exterminate the Jews. How boldly this propaganda was
published in the responsible Catholic press will be shown.
That
"Catholic Action" was the organizing power for the Ustashi uprising was
confirmed in a speech by Ante Pavelic a few weeks after he had taken over
leadership of the regime in Croatia. The Pavelic organ "Hrvatski Narod" in its
issue of June 24, 1941, printed a speech which Pavelic delivered when he
received the delegates of "Catholic Action". Pavelic was quoted as saying: "In
our political struggle it is certain that Catholic Action played an important
role." The editor of the Katolicki Tjednik (Catholic Weekly) Monsignor
Kralik praised, in the issue of April 27, 1941, the accomplishments of "Catholic
Action," of which he was an influential leader, in organizing the Crusader
Youth. He emphasized that the educational program was in accordance with the
political program of the Ustashi and concluded his article by stating that in
the future the sacrifices of the Crusaders should be even greater, and should be
in deeds rather than in words alone.
The main outlets for the political
work of "Catholic Action" were the "Brotherhood and Sisterhood of the
Crusaders." The "Great Brotherhood of Crusaders" was composed of about 540
societies with some 30,000 members, while the "Great Sisterhood of Crusaders"
had about 452 societies with 18,935 members. Under the cover of alleged
religious work, these organizations played an important role in inculcating the
spirit of fascism and religious and race hatreds on the youth. Members were
indoctrinated with the Ustashi ideas of nationalistic chauvinism. At meetings of
these organizations Pavelic and the Ustashi were hailed as liberators of the
Croat people, Hitler and Mussolini were praised as friends and allies, hatred
toward Serbs and Jews was spread and Yugoslavia, Great Britain, the United
States and the USSR were attacked.
The Crusaders had their own "sport
courses" for military drill. The Crusader weekly Nedelja (Sunday) of July
11, 1943, printed an article telling of the military courses the Crusaders had
at their camps, where they were training officers for future Ustashi formations.
The same publication on April 27, 1941, had written about this military training
in the field.
The periodical Krizar (Crusader) of February, 1942,
wrote that the Crusaders organization served the Croatian youth from 1929 to
1934 as a place of refuge in the difficult struggle, and that a large number of
young men learned for the first time in the dark Crusader halls about the
Ustashi precursors, Starcevic and Kvaternik, about Dr. Ante Pavelic and the Lika
uprising -- an uprising against the Kingdom of Yugoslavia ten years before World
War II. Regular meetings were held in Pozega in 1940 -- before the attack on
Yugoslavia -- under the fictitious name of "Mary's Congregation" in the
Crusaders' home. Leaflets were brought from Zagreb, then mimeographed and
distributed. These meetings were attended by Priest Franjo Pipinic, who later
helped organize the disarming of the Yugoslav Army.
A wealth of evidence
makes it clear that the Brotherhood and the Sisterhood of the Crusaders were
used as blinds for illegal activities in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia of the
outlawed Ustashi movement. When the Kingdom of Yugoslavia collapsed many members
of the Crusaders and affiliated organizations assumed important functions in the
Ustashi state. From the first day of war the Crusaders put themselves solidly
behind Ante Pavelic. They greeted with extraordinary enthusiasm the formation of
the quisling state. The Catholic periodical Nedelja of April 27, 1941,
No. 15, carried an article on page 2 entitled "The Crusaders Extend Greetings to
The Croatian State and Its Poglavnik (Fuehrer)". This article reads, in part, as
follows:
"The Great Brotherhood of the Crusaders has sent through the Ustashi army chaplain, Dr. Ivo Guberina, and through Msgrs. Cvitanovic and Vitezic, the following greetings to the Poglavnik:
"'Our rejoicing and happiness is indescribable over the fact, to greet in the name of the Great Brotherhood of the Crusaders and of the entire Crusader organization our Poglavnik, the liberator of the Croatian people, the founder and chief of the Independent State of Croatia. Raised in the spirit of radical Catholicism, which knows no compromises so far as principles are concerned, they never knew what it meant to give in and abandon any part of the program of Croatian nationalism.
"Chieftain! The Crusaders greet you and express to you their great love and devotion. May the Almighty bestow on you and on our state His blessings in abundance, and the Crusaders will continue to build immortal souls for God and unbreakable characters for the Croatian people. God is alive! For the Fatherland we are ready!"
The Crusader organization was centrally directed
from Zagreb. Archbishop Stepinac personally confirmed the choice of its leaders.
For president of the organization Stepinac selected the widely-known fascist Dr.
Feliks Niedzielski, and as first curate and vice-president he appointed Msgr.
Milan Beluhan. After establishment of the Independent State of Croatia, Dr.
Niedzielski became a high Ustashi official in Bosnia.
What the actual
work of this purportedly religious organization was in pre-war Yugoslavia is
indicated by the words of its chief curate and vice-president, Msgr. Beluhan.
Together with a group of Crusader officers he visited Pavelic on June 1, 1941,
and on that occasion made the following statement:
"Chieftain! The Croat men and women Crusaders have begun their struggle for the souls of Croat youth in a time when the last Serbian tyranny has fallen upon the Croat people. While you, our chief, shook the foundations of bloody Yugoslavia with your hard work, sacrifice and persevering struggle from abroad, we visited the villages and towns of all parts of Yugoslavia and aroused faith and strengthened hope in the souls of our youth." (The Crusaders' weekly Nedelja June 29, 1941.)
This address, with its admission of the extended
activities of the Crusaders for the Ustashi cause, illustrates the tie between
the plotters abroad and the political arm of a certain section of the Roman
Hierarchy, the Crusaders. Archbishop Stepinac was well acquainted with the
activities of the Crusaders. After the annual convention of the organization in
1942, he received its leaders and, according to a report published in
Nedelja of October 18, 1942, told them: "The history of the Crusader
organization is well known to me. Let today's convention be an inspiration for
your work and at the same time proof of the widespread and active nature of your
organization."
The Ustashi character of the Crusaders became very clear
in the days of the German-Italian attack on Yugoslavia. At that period of great
danger for Yugoslavia's continued existence, members of the Crusaders attacked
and wherever possible disarmed units of the hard pressed Yugoslav Army, and
simultaneously formed the nuclei of the first Ustashi military units. In the
horrible Ustashi massacres which began a little later the Crusaders were
outstanding for their cruelty.
A similar role in the dissemination of
Ustashi propaganda in pre-war Yugoslavia was played by other religious
organizations, among which Marijina Kongregacija(Congregation of Mary)
and Sveucilisno Katolicko drustvo Domagoj (The Domagoj Catholic
University Society) were most prominent. These Catholic organizations all
carried on their activities within the framework of Catholic Action, which was
directed by Archbishop Stepinac.
The War Crimes Commission established
the fact that the first meeting of the Ustashi, early in 1929 (twelve years
before the attack on Yugoslavia), was held in the canon's house (kurija),
across the street from the Archbishop's residence on the Kaptol in Zagreb. When
the Ustashi came to power in 1941 a plaque was placed, with solemn ceremony, on
the building in memory of that meeting. The War Crimes Commission found also
ample evidence that in pre-war Yugoslavia many churches and monasteries had
served as secret meeting places for the Ustashi. To cite but a few, meetings of
the leaders of the illegal Ustashi movement in Yugoslavia and of Pavelic's
delegates from Italy and Germany were held in the Franciscan monastery in
Cuntic. One of the most important centers for the dissemination of Ustashi
propaganda was the Franciscan monastery on Siroki Brijeg in Hercegovina, where,
according to Hrvatski Narod of June 4, 1941, the Franciscan cleric Dr.
Radoslav Glavas founded a secret Ustashi organization among high school boys.
Priests held positions of great trust in the illegal Ustashi
organization; many took advantage of their privileges as priests to perform
courier service between the various Ustashi organizations, and others even
organized secret Ustashi groups. The priest of the parish of Ogulin, Honorary
Canon Ivan Mikan, was the main organizer of illegal Ustashi activity in Ogulin.
The Franciscan Dr. Peter Berkovic, head priest in Drnis, founded several Ustashi
organizations in his district and for years held office as a trusted Ustashi
official for the entire Drnis district.
In a petition to the Ministry of
Agriculture, dated May 7, 1942, con. No. 638, Dr. Berkovic recounted the
following services rendered to the Ustashi organization:
"During 14 years that I spent as priest in Drnis, my parish house was in a true sense of the word an Ustashi home. It was the meeting place of all Ustashi, not only for those from our region but also for all those who came there to organize the Ustashi movement. Ustashi leaflets were received there, and were distributed from there. Before the uprising I was an Ustashi confidante and a state commissioner, and I took in my hands all civil and military powers, and with the Ustashi I disarmed one entire division."
The services rendered by Dr. Berkovic to the Ustashi movement are also seen from the following document issued by the Ustashi Tabor in Drnis on July 25, 1941:
"Affidavit by which this Ustashi Tabor testifies that Fra Peter Dr. Berkovic, priest in Drnis, is a good and honest Croatian, and that he has never sinned against the interests and honor of the Croatian people but has fearlessly spent 14 years fighting for the Ustashi movement. Until April 10, 1941, he was Ustashi confidante for the Drnis region. On April 11, 1941, he was appointed Ustashi confidante for the entire district of Knin. In that capacity he took in his hands all civil and military powers and together with the Ustashi disarmed an entire division of the Yugoslav Army."
Secret meetings of Ustashi leaders were held for
years in the parish house of Vilim Cecelja, priest from Kustosija near Zagreb,
according to the paper "Hrvatski Narod," No. 67, 1941. One of those attending
these meetings was the leader of the illegal Ustashi organization in all
Yugoslavia, Slavko Kvaternik, [4] later Supreme Commander
of the military forces of quisling Ante Pavelic. Others included Dr. Mladen
Lorkovic, later Minister of Foreign Affairs in Pavelic's government; Dr. Mile
Budak, later Minister of Education and Pavelic's deputy.
After the
retreat of the Ustashi from Zagreb, documents found in their files listed the
names of people proposed for decoration as members of the Ustashi organization,
prior to October, 1934, that is before the Marseilles assassination of King
Alexander. Among others these documents named the following priests: Vilim
Cecelja, Dr. Radoslav Glavas, Ivan Mikan, Dr. Franjo Binicki, Canon Dr. Tomo
Seferovic, Ivan Jakovic, Franciscan Didak Ceric, Franciscan Mladen Barbaric,
etc.
Mention has been made of the fact that many Catholic priests took
advantage of the full freedom of movement allowed them to act as couriers for
the illegal Ustashi organization. Others went still further and, on their
official trips abroad, especially to the Vatican on church business, carried
messages from the Ustashi in Yugoslavia to Ante Pavelic in Italy. Branimir
Zupancic, a priest from Bosnian Gradiska, on a trip through Italy, met with
Pavelic on December 7, 1938. Zupancic told the investigating authorities that an
Italian priest made it possible for him to meet Ante Pavelic in the sacristy of
his church. This statement is confirmed by an article in Hrvatski Narod
of August 30, 1941, describing an interview in which Zupancic gave details of
this meeting. When this priest got into trouble later with the Yugoslav police,
Archbishop Stepinac intervened in his behalf.
That one section of the
Catholic clergy abused its privileges to maintain contacts between the Ustashi
exiles in Italy and the fatherland was admitted in Katolicki List on May
7, 1941. In the column "Church News" an audience Pavelic granted to a committee
of the assembly of the Zagreb Spiritual Youth is described. Pavelic told this
group, according to Katolicki List, that during "his most difficult days
he received the greatest amount of help and understanding from .the young monks,
especially from Hercegovina. They came when no one else could bring him news."
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| Saric and Pavelic in Sarajevo |
The highest priests in the Catholic Hierarchy engaged in the same kind of activities. The Archbishop of Sarajevo, Dr. Ivan Saric, visited Ustashi leaders in South America and wrote openly of this in the Katolicki Tjednik of May 18, 1941. During one of his trips to the Vatican, in 1938, Archbishop Saric met Pavelic, at that time under death sentences imposed by both French and Yugoslav courts, in the Basilica of St. Peter's and later wrote a poem, "Ode to the Chieftain", about this encounter. The poem was printed in the Ustashi newspaper Nova Hrvatska (New Croatia) on December 25, 1941; in Katolicki Tjednik (Catholic Weekly), and in various other Catholic publications. It starts:
In the Basilica of St. Peter
In the eternal city the poet saw you,
Your embrace was dear to me
As our home is to all of us.
There is no room for doubt that part of the
Catholic clergy had systematically prepared for the coming uprising. Their
professed plan was to destroy Yugoslavia and all possibility of Serbo-Croat
unity and to create Independent Croatia as a fascist state. From a wealth of
evidence, a few samples may be sufficient to illustrate how their thinking ran.
Hrvatski Narod of April 25, 1941, wrote that young priests in
Dubrovnik propagated the Croatian nationalist program, calling for complete
separation from Serbia, as early as 1925. Nova Hrvatska of June 1, 1943,
wrote that the Canon in Ogulin, Ivan Mikan, was in closest cooperation with the
future minister, Dr. Lovro Susic, and that he was preparing the spirit of the
people for the establishment of Croatian independence. As an uncompromising
nationalist, he welcomed Pavelic's Independent Croatia enthusiastically and
proudly.
In the organ of the Archbishopric of Vrhbosna, Nos. 3 and 4 for
March and April, 1942, Dr. Dragutin Kamber, Catholic priest, stated editorially
that it was "superfluous to emphasize the fact that the Croatian Roman Catholic
priests are profoundly happy in having their independent state; their enormous
majority belonged to that spearhead which was preparing the arrival of
Independent Croatia." He concluded that "Words are too weak to describe the
feeling with which they welcomed their state."
Thus did the editor of an
official diocese publication declare openly that the majority of the Roman
clergy welcomed puppet Croatia as "their state."
NEXT: Creation of the Nazi Puppet State
THE CASE OF ARCHBISHOP STEPINAC
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