12. At the End of the
Rope
When Hitler's fascist fortress began to crumble
under attacks from the Allies and when the quisling Pavelic had to flee,
Archbishop Stepinac undertook all possible measures to relieve the situation for
the Ustashi and to help them. On the insistence of the Ustashi authorities
Archbishop Stepinac held a bishops' conference on March 24, 1945, from which
emanated a pastoral letter to the Croatian people. The letter defended the
criminal policies of Ante Pavelic during the war and sharply attacked the
National Liberation Movement as bolshevistic and anti-religious.
It was
supposed that the pastoral letter would raise the morale of Pavelic's Croatia, a
morale falling because of the swift progress of the Allied armies on all sides.
The president of the Ustashi government, Dr. Nikola Mandic, in a hearing before
the court, said that Pavelic and the Ustashi government expected great results
from the action of the Episcopate. They hoped that the situation would change,
and especially that Germany would use her "secret weapons," about which there
was much talk. Furthermore, it was supposed that the pastoral letter would have
an effect on the Americans and English as well, by emphasizing the battle of the
Croatian people was an ideological struggle against "bolshevism," and convincing
them of the necessity of retaining the Independent State of Croatia in one form
or another.
As the situation for Pavelic and the Ustashi became more
difficult, Archbishop Stepinac came to be regarded as the last hope by all those
elements that wished to save the Independent State of Croatia. Ten days before
the collapse of the Ustashi regime Pavelic asked Stepinac to take over
authority. Stepinac requested time to think it over, and began consultations
regarding the offer. In the meantime the debacle came quickly. When the Ustashi
had to flee Zagreb in disorder before attacking Yugoslav armies, they again
turned to Stepinac with the request that he recommend their cause to the Holy
See. Many Ustashi ministers, such as Canki, Balen and Petric, left their
personal belongings in the care of Archbishop Stepinac, and Minister Alajbegovic
buried the files of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Archbishop's palace.
When the last hopes for continuing the Independent State of Croatia vanished,
Archbishop Stepinac helped high-ranking Ustashi functionaries, such as Mints,
Smelled, Skull, Maric and others, go into hiding.
NEXT: Sharing the Spoils
THE CASE OF ARCHBISHOP STEPINAC
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