15. The Stepinac
Trial
Archbishop Stepinac was arrested in Zagreb on
September 18, 1946, on charges of having participated in a conspiracy against
the Federal Peoples Republic of Yugoslavia. Evidence against Stepinac had
accumulated during the course of other trials, especially that of a number of
priests accused of having been in close contact with Pavelic and other war
criminals in foreign countries. These priests had plotted with Eric Lisak, a
former Ustashi colonel and police commander in the Pavelic regime, against the
Yugoslav Republic. When it became known to the general public through testimony
in court that Lisak, who had entered Yugoslavia illegally as an agent of
Pavelic, had also established contact with Archbishop Stepinac and had secured
the assistance of the Archbishop's headquarters, Yugoslav authorities had no
alternative but to arrest Stepinac. He was placed on trial before the Supreme
Court in Zagreb, with 15 other defendants, as a collaborationist and plotter.
Archbishop Stepinac's trial started on September 30, 1946. His attorney
was Dr. Ivo Politeo. After ten days of hearing evidence, the court sentenced
him, on October 11, 1946, to 16 years imprisonment at forced labor. The official
indictment of 51 pages contained the following main charges against the
Archbishop:
"During the war and enemy occupation, the defendant Aloysius Stepinac participated in political collaboration with the enemy, giving the enemy and his agents, the Ustashi, help during the entire period."
"Thus, on April 12, 1941, while battles were still being fought against the German and Italian aggressors, he visited the Commander of the Army' Slavko Kvaternik, and congratulated him on the establishment of the Independent State of Croatia; on April 16, 1941, he officially visited the criminal Pavelic. During the first days of the occupation he gave in the archbishop's quarters a dinner to Ustashi emigrants and had his picture taken with them. On April 28, 1941, he issued an official circular to the clergy in the Zagreb archbishopric calling upon the priests to collaborate with the traitors, and told them to influence their parishioners to support the Independent State of Croatia. On June 26, 1941, as chairman of the bishops' conference, after a session at which it was decided to give wholehearted support to the Ustashi authorities, he led a group of Catholic bishops in an audience with Pavelic, and on that occasion greeted this fascist agent as head of the Independent State of Croatia and promised him sincere and loyal cooperation."
"Thus the defendant Stepinac even during the first days of the occupation of our country helped the occupier and the Ustashi, collaborated with them and called upon his clerical subordinates to collaborate with them as well, which hundreds of priests did very actively. He therefore set many priests and believers on a road which ended with treason and betrayal of their country and brought about many war crimes. "The collaboration stand, work and declarations of the defendant Stepinac made easier the treason of those Ustashi priests who had already been with the Ustashi and incited many other priests to participate in the disarming of the Yugoslav Army, to take over and to organize Ustashi authority, to organize Ustashi commissions, camps, and even Ustashi militia and so on."
"The Catholic press during the occupation was completely in line with the work and declarations of the defendant Stepinac who, as chairman of the bishops' conference and chairman of Catholic Action, had supreme control over the writing of the entire Catholic press in Yugoslavia. In that capacity he actively influenced the way this press wrote, and approved and supported its stand against the Yugoslav people."
"The Catholic press propagated fascism even before the war, as well as other undemocratic programs. From the very beginning to the very end of the occupation this press was pointed in one direction--making propaganda for the fascists and Ustashi, and praising Hitler and Pavelic. This press was full of slander and lies against the National Liberation Movement and sowed the seeds of national, religious and race hatred. How far these activities went can be seen from newspapers such as those that were directed to children and to the youth, Andjeo Cuvar(The Angel Guardian),Glasnik Sv. Josipa (St. Joseph's Courier),Crnce(The Little Negro),Glasnik Sv. Ante (St. Anthony's Courier),Mali Vrtic (The Little Garden), and so on. Many of Pavelic's pictures were published in these newspapers, and he and his Ustashi were praised and described as God's missionaries, the executors of God's providence, and of God's justice. In this manner the minds of young people were poisoned. From the children's and youth newspapers up to the adult ones, the newspapers, weeklies, official organs such as Katolicki List, Katolicki Tjednik, Bosna Iznad Svega(Bosnia Above All), Nedelja and so on contained continuous and inflexible propaganda for the Ustashi and fascists, most energetically defended the Pavelic regime and the occupiers, and called upon the people to fight against the National Liberation Movement and the Allies."
"This entire press, under the top leadership of the defendant Stepinac, industriously took note of all the activities of clerical fascist organizations which were in favor of the occupiers and the Ustashi."
"Various Catholic organizations from the group Catholic Action, of which the defendant Stepinac was president, Great Crusaders Brotherhood, Great Crusaders Sisterhood, Domagoj, etc., answered the call of the defendant Stepinac to collaborate with the Ustashi. They became pith and pillar of Utashism. The members of these organizations participated in disarming the Yugoslav Army, established Ustashi authorities, and many of them became functionaries in Ustashi commissions, camps, concentration camps and district councils. Many officers of Pavelic's army were recruited from their ranks and the majority of priests in the Crusaders organizations volunteered for Ustashi and Domobran army units. The president of the Great Crusaders' Brotherhood himself, Dr. Feliks Niedzelski, became an Ustashi vice district chief and administrative head for Ustashi youth."
"The defendant Stepinac upheld and approved such activities on the part of the Crusaders organizations. Many organizers of massacres of the Serbian and Croatian populations came from the ranks of the Crusaders."
"The defendant Stepinac misused even traditional religious ceremonies and turned them into political manifestations for the criminal Pavelic and the Ustashi. This can be seen from the organizations for which he held such ceremonies and by the sermons which he gave."
"At the beginning of 1941 and until liberation, the defendant Stepinac held holy masses every April 10th to celebrate the Independent State of Croatia, and transformed the church holiday of Saint Anthony into a political manifestation for the criminal Pavelic."
"The defendant Stepinac used every possible way during the war and enemy occupation to express his solidarity with the German and Italian conqueror, participating in many official functions, celebrations and congratulations which the representatives of the German and Italian occupation authorities prepared in Zagreb. Thus, for instance, he attended the opening of University Week for German and Croatian soldiers in company with the Ustashi government and German generals led by General Gleise von Horstenau; and also the opening of the Zagreb convention with German, Italian and Ustashi functionaries; as well as the anniversary of the fascist march on Rome, and so forth."
"When the Ustashi threatened the Serbs in Croatia, Bosnia and Hercegovina with massacre unless they joined the Catholic faith, Stepinac accepted this and rechristened' tens of thousands of Serbs, who had a knife at their throat. In this way he approved and incited the Ustashi to commit further crimes."
"In numerous cases those 'rechristened' were later killed in spite of the fact that they had passed into the Catholic faith. In many cases groups of them were killed even as they gathered to be rechristened."
"During such 'rechristenings' of the Serbs, a plenary session of the Catholic episcopacy was held on November 17, 1941, under the chairmanship of the defendant Stepinac. At this meeting Stepinac and the other bishops not only did not condemn but on the contrary accepted the Ustashi 'rechristenings' and gave canonic sanction to this revolting war crime."
"At the beginning of 1942 the Vatican appointed the defendant Stepinac apostolic army vicar for Pavelic's Ustashi and Domobran, and the defendant Stepinac accepted this duty and appointed as his deputies the famous Ustashi priests Stipa Vucetic and Vilim Cecelja. Thus the defendant Stepinac officially became the highest military clergyman in Pavelic's army. All other army priests were subordinate to him and these are the priests who in the ranks of Ustashi and Domobran formations incited the soldiers to commit crimes or themselves committed crimes against the people."
"Before the fall of the Independent State of Croatia the defendant Stepinac kept the files of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Independent State of Croatia as well as papers from the Chieftain's office in the Archbishop's headquarters. He did this with the intent of hiding them and in agreement with Pavelic. Besides this, the defendant Stepinac hid phonograph records containing all of Pavelic's speeches in the Archbishop's quarters. These records were found carefully concealed among the files of the Archbishop's Spiritual Board in Zagreb."
"Early in the spring of 1945 the Yugoslav Army finally liberated our country from the occupiers and was cleaning them out. Pavelic, Macek, Stepinac and all anti-people's elements could see the evident fall of the Axis. They made a plan for the renewed occupation of our country by other foreign powers, and in that way planned to overthrow the people's government which had already been established throughout Yugoslavia."
"The Ustashi government found itself in a terrible position. It drew up a memorandum which was submitted to the Supreme Allied Command for the Mediterranean asking for occupation.... Thus they represented the situation in Yugoslavia as a civil war to the Allies, and on the basis of that asked for intervention. According to the plan, contact with Anglo-American armies was to be made as soon as possible. "The defendant Stepinac was active in these plans. He met with Pavelic, talked with Pavelic's delegates Alajbegovic, Edo Bulat and others, and in that connection went to visit Mack with Moskov."
"The defendant Stepinac, remaining in the country after the liberation, had a systematic plan for sustaining the hope that the 'regime' (as he called it) would soon change."
"On September 19, 1945, the defendant Stepinac received in his Archbishop's quarters the Ustashi colonel and former director for public security, Erich Lisak, and on September 17 and October 3, 1945, he received two letters from the Ustashi colonel Ante Moskov. Both Lisak and Moskov came illegally from abroad to organize, activate and gather together the scattered Crusader groups. On November 8, 1945, Stepinac received an Ustashi student-emigrant who brought him from Salzburg 'The Pledge of Ustashi Intellectuals' that they would fight on for the liberation of the Croatian people. He also received the spy Lela Sopijanec, who went illegally to and from Trieste several times with messages for him. He approved of and covered up the terroristic activities of his secretary, Ivan Salic and the priest Josip Simec who, encouraged by the attitude and activities of the defendant Stepinac, created a terrorist organization together with Dr. Pavle Gulin and Josip Crnkovic, which organization served as a center for the various terrorist groups in the country, and helped them."
The evidence produced by the state prosecutor in
support of these charges consisted of files of the Catholic press, confiscated
letters and reports and the sworn statements and testimony of numerous
witnesses.
On the basis of the evidence Archbishop Stepinac was found
guilty of collaboration with the enemy and of conspiracy against the Federal
Peoples Republic of Yugoslavia. The manner in which Archbishop Stepinac
conducted himself during the trial should be noted. No serious attempt was made
to deny the charges. The argument with which Stepinac most frequently contented
himself was that he could not be held accountable for misdeeds of the lower
clergy, and that in any case he was responsible only to God. With the world
press in attendance at the trial, Archbishop Stepinac thus failed to take
advantage of an unequalled opportunity to state his case and clear himself, if
he felt able to, before mankind.
All officials participating in the
trial were Croatians and Roman Catholics. Following the conviction, the Vatican
excommunicated all persons who had taken part in or were considered responsible
for the prosecution of the Archbishop, on the grounds that no member of the
Catholic clergy could be prosecuted without consent of the Vatican.
THE CASE OF ARCHBISHOP STEPINAC
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