Ustashe

The Ustaše was a Croatian fascist and ultranationalist organization active from 1929 to 1945. The group was founded by Ante Pavelić and its ideology was characterized by extreme nationalism, anti-communism, and virulent antisemitism and anti-Serb hatred. The Ustaše sought to create an ethnically pure Greater Croatia, independent of Yugoslavia.

Following the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in 1941, the Ustaše were installed as the ruling party of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), a Nazi puppet state. Under Ustaše rule, a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide was carried out against Serbs, Jews, Roma, and Croat communists. Concentration camps, most notably Jasenovac, were established where hundreds of thousands of people were systematically murdered through various horrific methods.

The Ustaše regime maintained close ties with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Its military forces, the Ustaše Militia, were responsible for widespread atrocities and were known for their brutality. The ideology permeated all aspects of public life in the NDH, promoting racial purity and absolute loyalty to Pavelić.

With the defeat of the Axis powers in 1945, the Ustaše regime collapsed. Many Ustaše leaders fled, while others were captured and prosecuted for war crimes. The legacy of the Ustaše remains a deeply controversial and painful subject in Croatian history.