Jure Francetic
Encyclopedia
Jure Francetić was an World War II
Ustaše
Commissioner of Bosnia and Herzegovina
, responsible for the massacre of Bosnian Serbs and Jews.
on 3 July 1912. After gymnasium (high school) he went to study law at the University of Zagreb, were he joined the Ustaša movement. Soon after, he was exiled from Zagreb for five years as a result of his anti-Yugoslav political activities. He stayed in Otočac for a short time before emigrating to Italy
in March 1933. He took the Ustaša oath in the Borgotaro
camp on 24 April 1933, and then spent the following four years in Austria
, Italy
and Hungary
. In Hungary he joined the Ustashe terrorist group camp at Jankapuszta as "Laszlo".
After the assassination of King Alexander
, Francetić was interned on Sardinia
by Mussolini at the request of the Yugoslav government. After a general declaration of amnesty in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
, Francetić returned to Croatia in November 1937, but was immediately arrested and exiled to his hometown. The next year Francetić returned to Zagreb hoping to complete his study of law but was forced to complete his military service instead. In late 1940 he was arrested in Zagreb due to a congratulatory telegraph to Dr. Jozef Tiso
, president of the newly formed Slovak Republic, signed by a number of Croat nationalists. He was again exiled to his native Otočac. After delivering an inflammatory nationalistic speech at a local school's New Year's celebration in Otočac on 12 January 1941, he escaped to Germany
to avoid another arrest.
). Francetić became the leader of the Black Legion and earned the rank of colonel in the Ustaša army. Kvaternik believed that Francetić "a born guerrilla and a son of our mountainous Hercegovina" which was sufficient reason to put him in the role of military leader in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
He was named chief Ustasha delegate in Bosnia and Herzegovina and much of the party work in the province was put in the hands of Roman Catholic priests in order to consolidate the Ustashe party power, the most important of whom included Father Božidar Brekalo, a parish priest in Sarajevo, and Father Dragutin Kamber, a parish priest in Doboj, both proteges of then Archbishop Ivan Šarić
.Francetić's Ustashe took control over the local administration by dismissing all civil servants and teachers belonging to the category of "Srbijanci", as well as Jews. Killings, arrests, and deportation of Serbs and Jews was a regular duty of Francetić's henchmen—based and justified by the official Ustashe policy which demanded the total extermination of Jews and the murder (1/3) and/or expulsion (1/3) and/or forced conversion (1/3) to the Roman Catholicism of the ethnic Serbian Orthodox population in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Francetić personally arrested and interrogated prominent Serbian and Jewish leaders (Miškina, Albahari) and ordered the murders of some of these. Francetić turned his own Sarajevo apartment into a prison kitchen/laundry room. The Ustashe's savagery against Serbs and Jews reportedly prompted the German command to demand that Francetić, as the commander of the 1st Brigade Black Legion, be dismissed. Pavelić refused, promoting Francetić to commander of all Ustashe field formations.
on 22 December, his plane was downed by Yugoslav Partisans
near the village of Močile
, near Slunj
, which was Partisan
-held area. Both he and his pilot were immediately captured by Partisan villagers. Severely wounded, he was taken to NOVJ General Staff Hospital where Partisan surgeons attempted to save his life in order to exchange him for inmates of Ustaše camps and prisons, but failed.
in June 2000 by the Association of War Veterans ("Hrvatski domobran"). In late 2004 the Croatian government ordered the removal of the memorial plaque. In January 2005 in the outskirts of Split
, unknown persons raised overnight another memorial to Francetić and Mile Budak
.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Ustaše
Ustaše
The Ustaša - Croatian Revolutionary Movement was a Croatian fascist anti-Yugoslav separatist movement. The ideology of the movement was a blend of fascism, Nazism, and Croatian nationalism. The Ustaše supported the creation of a Greater Croatia that would span to the River Drina and to the border...
Commissioner of 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...
, responsible for the massacre of Bosnian Serbs and Jews.
Early life and activities prior to formation of NDH
Francetić was born in OtočacOtocac
Otočac is a town in Lika, Croatia. It lies in the northwestern part of Lika, in the Gacka river valley. The population of the town is 4,354 as of 2001, with a total of 10,411 people within the municipality at large, the majority of whom are Croats ....
on 3 July 1912. After gymnasium (high school) he went to study law at the University of Zagreb, were he joined the Ustaša movement. Soon after, he was exiled from Zagreb for five years as a result of his anti-Yugoslav political activities. He stayed in Otočac for a short time before emigrating to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in March 1933. He took the Ustaša oath in the Borgotaro
Borgo Val di Taro
Borgo Val di Taro is a town and comune in Emilia, Italy, in the Province of Parma, 63 km from the city of Parma.Borgo Val di Taro is an important centre for cattle husbandry in Emilia and it's one of the zones where Parmigiano-Reggiano is produced....
camp on 24 April 1933, and then spent the following four years in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
. In Hungary he joined the Ustashe terrorist group camp at Jankapuszta as "Laszlo".
After the assassination of King Alexander
Alexander I of Yugoslavia
Alexander I , also known as Alexander the Unifier was the first king of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia as well as the last king of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes .-Childhood:...
, Francetić was interned on Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
by Mussolini at the request of the Yugoslav government. After a general declaration of amnesty in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
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...
, Francetić returned to Croatia in November 1937, but was immediately arrested and exiled to his hometown. The next year Francetić returned to Zagreb hoping to complete his study of law but was forced to complete his military service instead. In late 1940 he was arrested in Zagreb due to a congratulatory telegraph to Dr. Jozef Tiso
Jozef Tiso
Jozef Tiso was a Slovak Roman Catholic priest, politician of the Slovak People's Party, and Nazi collaborator. Between 1939 and 1945, Tiso was the head of the Slovak State, a satellite state of Nazi Germany...
, president of the newly formed Slovak Republic, signed by a number of Croat nationalists. He was again exiled to his native Otočac. After delivering an inflammatory nationalistic speech at a local school's New Year's celebration in Otočac on 12 January 1941, he escaped to Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
to avoid another arrest.
War crimes
Francetić earned his only military education and officer rank while serving the Kingdom of Yugoslavia Army. He became a non-commissioned officer in the rank of sergeant. Regarding Francetić's military experience and knowledge, Eugen Dido Kvaternik wrote: "He did not have basic military knowledge and military education, nor did he have any talent for basic military organization." After establishment of the Independent State of Croatia in April 1941 he and 10 others organized the Black Legion (Croatian: Crna LegijaCrna Legija
The Black Legion was a militia unit active during World War II in Yugoslavia and later incorporated into the 5th division of the Croatian Armed Forces in December 1944...
). Francetić became the leader of the Black Legion and earned the rank of colonel in the Ustaša army. Kvaternik believed that Francetić "a born guerrilla and a son of our mountainous Hercegovina" which was sufficient reason to put him in the role of military leader in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
He was named chief Ustasha delegate in Bosnia and Herzegovina and much of the party work in the province was put in the hands of Roman Catholic priests in order to consolidate the Ustashe party power, the most important of whom included Father Božidar Brekalo, a parish priest in Sarajevo, and Father Dragutin Kamber, a parish priest in Doboj, both proteges of then Archbishop Ivan Šarić
Ivan Šaric
Ivan Šarić was a Roman Catholic priest who became the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vrhbosna in 1922...
.Francetić's Ustashe took control over the local administration by dismissing all civil servants and teachers belonging to the category of "Srbijanci", as well as Jews. Killings, arrests, and deportation of Serbs and Jews was a regular duty of Francetić's henchmen—based and justified by the official Ustashe policy which demanded the total extermination of Jews and the murder (1/3) and/or expulsion (1/3) and/or forced conversion (1/3) to the Roman Catholicism of the ethnic Serbian Orthodox population in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Francetić personally arrested and interrogated prominent Serbian and Jewish leaders (Miškina, Albahari) and ordered the murders of some of these. Francetić turned his own Sarajevo apartment into a prison kitchen/laundry room. The Ustashe's savagery against Serbs and Jews reportedly prompted the German command to demand that Francetić, as the commander of the 1st Brigade Black Legion, be dismissed. Pavelić refused, promoting Francetić to commander of all Ustashe field formations.
Death
Francetić died on either 27/28 December 1942, aged 30. While flying to GospićGospic
Gospić is a town in the mountainous and sparsely populated region of Lika, Croatia. It is the administrative centre of Lika-Senj county. Gospić is located near the Lika River in the middle of a karst field....
on 22 December, his plane was downed by Yugoslav Partisans
Partisans (Yugoslavia)
The Yugoslav Partisans, or simply the Partisans were a Communist-led World War II anti-fascist resistance movement in Yugoslavia...
near the village of Močile
Močile
Močile is a small settlement to the north of Stari trg ob Kolpi in the Črnomelj municipality in the Bela Krajina area of southeastern Slovenia. The area is part of the traditional region of Lower Carniola and is now included in the Southeast Slovenia statistical region.-External links:*...
, near Slunj
Slunj
Slunj is a town in the mountainous part of Central Croatia, located along the important North-South route to the Adriatic Sea between Karlovac and Plitvice Lakes National Park, on the meeting of the rivers Korana and Slunjčica...
, which was Partisan
Partisans (Yugoslavia)
The Yugoslav Partisans, or simply the Partisans were a Communist-led World War II anti-fascist resistance movement in Yugoslavia...
-held area. Both he and his pilot were immediately captured by Partisan villagers. Severely wounded, he was taken to NOVJ General Staff Hospital where Partisan surgeons attempted to save his life in order to exchange him for inmates of Ustaše camps and prisons, but failed.
Memorials raising
A memorial plaque to Francetić was raised in SlunjSlunj
Slunj is a town in the mountainous part of Central Croatia, located along the important North-South route to the Adriatic Sea between Karlovac and Plitvice Lakes National Park, on the meeting of the rivers Korana and Slunjčica...
in June 2000 by the Association of War Veterans ("Hrvatski domobran"). In late 2004 the Croatian government ordered the removal of the memorial plaque. In January 2005 in the outskirts of Split
Split (city)
Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and...
, unknown persons raised overnight another memorial to Francetić and Mile Budak
Mile Budak
Mile Budak was a Croatian Ustaše and writer, best known as one of the chief ideologists of the Croatian clerofascist Ustaše movement, which ruled the Independent State of Croatia, or NDH, from 1941-45 and waged a genocidal campaign against its Serb, Roma and Jewish minorities, and against Croatian...
.
See also
- Vjekoslav Luburić
- Ivica Matković
- Ante PavelićAnte PavelicAnte 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...
- Ljubo MilošLjubo MilošLjubomir Miloš was an official of the Croatian World War II regime. As an Ustaše, he was the head of the Independent State of Croatia secret service ....
- Petar BrzicaPetar BrzicaFather Petar "Pero" Brzica was a Croatian fascist and World War II war criminal. Before the war he was a scholarship student at the Franciscan college of Široki Brijeg in Herzegovina and a member of The Great Brotherhood of Crusaders....
- Miroslav FilipovićMiroslav FilipovicMiroslav Filipović was a Croatian Ustaše and Roman Catholic friar who was convicted of war crimes by both a German military court and a Yugoslav civil court and hanged in Belgrade.-Early life:Filipović's date of birth was 5 June 1915, but little else about his early years has been...
- Independent State of CroatiaIndependent State of CroatiaThe 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...
