Dinko Šakic
Encyclopedia
Dinko Šakić was a convicted Croatian
war criminal, an army leader of the fascist Independent State of Croatia
(NDH), established under Third Reich and Italian tutelage, and commander of the Jasenovac concentration camp
during World War II.
, in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
(present day Bosnia and Herzegovina
) on September 8, 1921.
He became a committed member of the nationalist organisation Ustaša from a very young age. Following the German-led invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941 the new Independent State of Croatia set up detention facilities for Serbs, Jews, Roma and anti-fascist Croats. Šakić joined the concentration camp administration in 1941. At the age of 21 Šakić came to Jasenovac
, south-east of Zagreb
, the biggest of the 20-odd camps set up by the Ustasha regime, as an assistant commandant. In April 1944 he was promoted to commander and served for seven months. His rapid rise was the result not only of his enthusiastic and loyal support for the policies of Ante Pavelić
; in 1943 he had married Nada Luburić, the half-sister of Vjekoslav Luburić, a veteran Ustaša official, who had been a force behind the creation and oversight of Croatia's network of concentration camps. After the defeat of the Axis forces, he emigrated to Argentina
.
In 1994, Šakić spoke with Magazin and stated that "I’d do it all again". He said that he hoped more Serbs had died at Jasenovac and that "I sleep like a baby."
Having been tracked down by the Nazi hunter
Efraim Zuroff
, the District Attorney in Zagreb
brought charges against Šakić on April 20, 1998 for war crimes during World War II when he was the chief of the Jasenovac concentration camp
.
Šakić also ordered the reprisal against inmates in June 1944, in light of the escape of Ivan Wollner, who played the orchestra for the red-cross delegation, and feared for his life. He then fled (or, alternatively, taken by the Ustase) to Dubica
, where the Ustase garrison caught him and beat him to death. After the retrieval of his body to the camp, a muster of the Jewish inmates was held in front of a machine-gun, during which 100 Jews, who lived in the same barracks with Wollner or played in the orchestra with him, were selected. By utilizing a record called "the directory", Šakić himself selected 25 inmates to be taken to the "Zvonara", where they were put in solitary, starved and tortured.
Šakić was extradited from Argentina, found guilty by a Croatian court and sentenced to 20 years in prison, which was the maximum penalty under Croatian law at the time.
in Novi Zagreb
at the age of 86.
He was buried at Zagreb
crematory on July 25, 2008. His funeral was attended by some Croatian right wing politicians (i.e. Anto Kovačević
).
Simon Wiesenthal Center
director Efraim Zuroff
complained to the Croatian president Stjepan Mesić
about Šakić's funeral. At that funeral, Croatian Dominican
priest pater Vjekoslav Lasić held a speech in which he said that "the court that indicted Dinko Šakić indicted Croatia and Croatians", and that "every Croat should be proud of Šakić's name". He also claimed that the Independent State of Croatia
(NDH) formed a ground for establishing the modern state of Croatia
.
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
war criminal, an army leader of the fascist Independent State of Croatia
Independent State of Croatia
The Independent State of Croatia was a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany, established on a part of Axis-occupied Yugoslavia. The NDH was founded on 10 April 1941, after the invasion of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers. All of Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed to NDH, together with some parts...
(NDH), established under Third Reich and Italian tutelage, and commander of the Jasenovac concentration camp
Jasenovac concentration camp
Jasenovac concentration camp was the largest extermination camp in the Independent State of Croatia and occupied Yugoslavia during World War II...
during World War II.
Biography
He was born in StudenciLjubuški
Ljubuški is a town and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina, located in thewestern part of Herzegovina.-1971:28.269 total* Croats - 26.198 * Muslims by nationality - 1.812 * Serbs - 118 * Yugoslavs - 49...
, in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...
(present day Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
) on September 8, 1921.
He became a committed member of the nationalist organisation Ustaša from a very young age. Following the German-led invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941 the new Independent State of Croatia set up detention facilities for Serbs, Jews, Roma and anti-fascist Croats. Šakić joined the concentration camp administration in 1941. At the age of 21 Šakić came to Jasenovac
Jasenovac
Jasenovac is a village and a municipality in Croatian Slavonia, in the southern part of the Sisak-Moslavina county at the confluence of the river Una into Sava.The name means "ash tree" or "ash forest" in Croatian, the area being ringed by such a forest....
, south-east of Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
, the biggest of the 20-odd camps set up by the Ustasha regime, as an assistant commandant. In April 1944 he was promoted to commander and served for seven months. His rapid rise was the result not only of his enthusiastic and loyal support for the policies of Ante Pavelić
Ante Pavelic
Ante Pavelić was a Croatian fascist leader, revolutionary, and politician. He ruled as Poglavnik or head, of the Independent State of Croatia , a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany in Axis-occupied Yugoslavia...
; in 1943 he had married Nada Luburić, the half-sister of Vjekoslav Luburić, a veteran Ustaša official, who had been a force behind the creation and oversight of Croatia's network of concentration camps. After the defeat of the Axis forces, he emigrated to Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
.
In 1994, Šakić spoke with Magazin and stated that "I’d do it all again". He said that he hoped more Serbs had died at Jasenovac and that "I sleep like a baby."
Having been tracked down by the Nazi hunter
Nazi hunter
A Nazi-hunter is a private individual who tracks down and gathers information on alleged former Nazis, SS members and Nazi collaborators involved in the Holocaust, typically for use at trial on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity...
Efraim Zuroff
Efraim Zuroff
Efraim Zuroff is an Israeli historian of American origin, who has played a role in bringing Nazis indicted for war crimes to trial...
, the District Attorney in Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
brought charges against Šakić on April 20, 1998 for war crimes during World War II when he was the chief of the Jasenovac concentration camp
Jasenovac concentration camp
Jasenovac concentration camp was the largest extermination camp in the Independent State of Croatia and occupied Yugoslavia during World War II...
.
Trial
Dinko Šakić was a part of the panel of the "mobile martial-court" that committed investigations under means of torture at Jasenovac. Šakić took part in the torture of Remzija Rebac, who led, along with Dr. Milan Boskovic, a group of 20 internees that organized an uprising and stole corn. Rebac was tortured with a flamethrower. Šakić ordered the group executed by hanging during a camp "public performance" (general muster) on September 21, 1944. Primorac Silvestar asked one of the inmates, Hadzija, whether he forgave him. Hadzija said he never will, and Silvestar answered: "until we meet again in the other world". Dr. Milan Boskovic asked to be shot in the head, facing his death, instead of being hanged. Šakić also ordered the hanging of Dr. Marin Jurcev, the manager of the Ustase hospital, which aided a defected Ustase to smuggle information of Jasenovac to the partisans, his wife and three internees held in the village of Jasenovac were hanged. Mrs. Jurcev had to be pulled to the scaffold by her hair since she fell off three times. Šakić set and watched the hanged bodies with interior minister of the NDH, Andrija Artuković. Food quality became worse after these executions.Šakić also ordered the reprisal against inmates in June 1944, in light of the escape of Ivan Wollner, who played the orchestra for the red-cross delegation, and feared for his life. He then fled (or, alternatively, taken by the Ustase) to Dubica
Dubica
Dubica is a toponym used for two towns divided by the state border at the Una river:* Dubica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the right bank, in Bosnia* Hrvatska Dubica, on the left bank, in Croatia...
, where the Ustase garrison caught him and beat him to death. After the retrieval of his body to the camp, a muster of the Jewish inmates was held in front of a machine-gun, during which 100 Jews, who lived in the same barracks with Wollner or played in the orchestra with him, were selected. By utilizing a record called "the directory", Šakić himself selected 25 inmates to be taken to the "Zvonara", where they were put in solitary, starved and tortured.
Šakić was extradited from Argentina, found guilty by a Croatian court and sentenced to 20 years in prison, which was the maximum penalty under Croatian law at the time.
Death
On July 20, 2008, Dinko Šakić died in hospital at the Remetinec prisonRemetinec prison
Remetinec prison is a closed-type prison located in the Remetinec neighborhood of Zagreb, Croatia.The prison's capacity is 560 inmates, making it the largest prison in Croatia. , it housed 850 prisoners and detainees. The prison's overcrowding problem is also a major problem of the Croatian prison...
in Novi Zagreb
Novi Zagreb
Novi Zagreb is the part of the city of Zagreb located south of the Sava river, on the way from the Pleso airport to the city center...
at the age of 86.
He was buried at Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
crematory on July 25, 2008. His funeral was attended by some Croatian right wing politicians (i.e. Anto Kovačević
Anto Kovacevic
Anto Kovačević is a Croatian right-wing politician.He has obtained a PhD degree at University of Vienna.A native of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Anto Kovačević entered Croatian politics in early 1990s as one of the most prominent members of Croatian Christian Democratic Union...
).
Simon Wiesenthal Center
Simon Wiesenthal Center
The Simon Wiesenthal Center , with headquarters in Los Angeles, California, was established in 1977 and named for Simon Wiesenthal, the Nazi hunter. According to its mission statement, it is "an international Jewish human rights organization dedicated to repairing the world one step at a time...
director Efraim Zuroff
Efraim Zuroff
Efraim Zuroff is an Israeli historian of American origin, who has played a role in bringing Nazis indicted for war crimes to trial...
complained to the Croatian president Stjepan Mesić
Stjepan Mesić
Stjepan "Stipe" Mesić is a Croatian politician and former President of Croatia. Before his ten-year presidential term between 2000 and 2010 he held the posts of Speaker of the Croatian Parliament , Prime Minister of Croatia , the last President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia , Secretary General...
about Šakić's funeral. At that funeral, Croatian Dominican
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
priest pater Vjekoslav Lasić held a speech in which he said that "the court that indicted Dinko Šakić indicted Croatia and Croatians", and that "every Croat should be proud of Šakić's name". He also claimed that the Independent State of Croatia
Independent State of Croatia
The Independent State of Croatia was a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany, established on a part of Axis-occupied Yugoslavia. The NDH was founded on 10 April 1941, after the invasion of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers. All of Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed to NDH, together with some parts...
(NDH) formed a ground for establishing the modern state of Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
.