Tomislav Sertić (21 December 1902 – September 1945) was a Croatian military officer who served as the commander of all Ustaše Military Units, chief of staff of the

Ustaše Militia The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croatian fascist and ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaša – Croatian Revolutionary Move ...

and the Chief of the General Staff of the

Armed Forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

. He was captured at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and put to death as a war criminal. Sertić was born in

Udbina Udbina is a village and a municipality in historical Krbava, in the Lika region of Croatia. It is administratively a part of the Lika-Senj County. Geography Udbina is located in the large karst field called Krbava. It is approximately 45 kilomet ...

, he graduated from Military Academy in Belgrade. He served in the Royal Yugoslav Army, where he reached the rank of major. During this time, he secretly made contact with the Ustaše. He fled to Italy to join them in 1940. When the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia ( sh, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; german: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; it, Stato indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist It ...

was established in April 1941, Sertić traveled back to Croatia together with other Ustaše members. He was first appointed as the commander of all Ustaše military units and as the commander of the 1st Ustaše Regiment, but was dismissed from this position following quarrels with high-ranking Ustaše officials. He later served as the chief of staff of the Ustaše Militia and after that as a supervisor of all military schools of the Independent State of Croatia. While in this position he was heavily wounded during the Partisan siege of

Gospić 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 ( Ličko Polje). Gospić is the ...

. In 1944, Sertić was promoted to the rank of

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

in the Croatian Home Guard and later that year he was appointed Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces. Sertić was captured by the British forces in Austria after retreating from Zagreb. He was tried for war crimes in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 mi ...

and was found guilty on 22 September 1945. Sertić was sentenced to death, the date when he was executed is unknown.

Early life and education

Tomislav Sertić was born in

on 21 December 1902. He completed high school in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

and a

trade school A vocational school is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary or post-secondary education designed to provide vocational education or technical skills required to complete the tasks ...

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranea ...

. Sertić then finished military school in

Maribor Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, the seat of the Drava sta ...

and Military Academy in Belgrade in 1923. After finishing his education, Sertić became a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

Royal Yugoslav Army The Yugoslav Army ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Jugoslovenska vojska, JV, Југословенска војска, ЈВ), commonly the Royal Yugoslav Army, was the land warfare military service branch of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (originally Kingdom of Serbs, ...

, he was promoted to the rank of major on 6 September 1939. While in the Yugoslav Army, Sertić maintained a secret connection with

Ustaše The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croats, Croatian Fascism, fascist and ultranationalism, ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaš ...

(Croatian fascist organization) groups in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...

which helped him flee Yugoslavia in 1940. Sertić also delivered Yugoslav

military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

to Ustaše officer Adolf Sabljak who was tasked with handling Ustaše military espionage.

Ustaše officer

On 27 August 1940, Tomislav Sertić fled to Hungary and later moved to Italy where he met with several Ustaše leaders, including

Ante Pavelić Ante Pavelić (; 14 July 1889 – 28 December 1959) was a Croatian politician who founded and headed the fascist ultranationalist organization known as the Ustaše in 1929 and served as dictator of the Independent State of Croatia ( hr, l ...

, Dido Kvaternik and . He entered Ustaše service on 2 September 1940. Sertić was part of Ante Pavelić's escort when Pavelić traveled to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

to meet with Italian officials, Sertić took part in several of these meetings where military issues were discussed. Sertić traveled back to Croatia when

(NDH) was established during the April war. Sertić was appointed by Ante Pavelić for Commander of all Ustaše Military Units on 3 May 1941. At the same time, he was appointed as the commander of the 1st Ustaše Regiment. After two weeks he was dismissed from this position following quarrels with

Slavko Kvaternik Slavko Kvaternik (25 August 1878 – 7 June 1947) was a Croatian Ustaše military general and politician who was one of the founders of the Ustaše movement. Kvaternik was military commander and Minister of '' Domobranstvo'' (''Armed Forces''). O ...

and other high-ranking Ustaše officials. His conflict with so-called Rasovi continued through the whole war. Sertić was appointed as a commander of the newly established Officer School of

on 26 May 1941. While in this position, Sertić also commanded several Ustaše units which carried out operations against the Partisans and Chetniks in Western

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and Pars pro toto#Geography, often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of Southern Europe, south and southeast Euro ...

. Sertić's

criminal charge A criminal charge is a formal accusation made by a governmental authority (usually a public prosecutor or the police) asserting that somebody has committed a crime. A charging document, which contains one or more criminal charges or counts, can ...

states that he also participated in Ustaše operations in Lika where he equipped and morally prepared 1st Lika Battalion which was responsible for egregious crimes in battles against Partisans. It also states that Sertić formed the infamous Black Legion. He remained commander of the Officer School until 5 November 1941 when he was appointed for Chief of Staff of the Ustaše Militia, a position that he remained on until late August 1942. Between late August 1942 and 1 November 1942, Sertić served as Commander of Ustaše schools of Ustaše Militia. On 15 January 1943, he was appointed for Supervisor of all military schools of the Independent State of Croatia. He kept going to the battlefield and commanding units while in this position. On 1 May 1943, Sertić was heavily injured during the Partisan siege of

by what he claimed to be a bullet fired by Ustaše units. He was immediately flown to Zagreb where he spent a month in a hospital, recovering from this injury. For his actions during siege of Gospić he was awarded with Military Order of the Iron Trefoil of 3rd Class and

Wound Medal A wound is a rapid onset of injury that involves lacerated or punctured skin (an ''open'' wound), or a contusion (a ''closed'' wound) from blunt force trauma or compression. In pathology, a ''wound'' is an acute injury that damages the epid ...

. After recovering from the injury, Sertić continued to serve as supervisor of all military schools until September 1943 when he was again appointed for chief of staff of the Ustaše militia. For his accomplishments in this position Sertić was promoted to a rank of

in the Croatian Home Guard on 14 July 1944. Ministry of the Armed Forces of NDH was reorganized on 22 December 1944, it was split into the two departments; the administrative staff and the general staff of the

. Sertić was appointed Chief of the General Staff and he remained in that position until the end of the war. On 7 May 1945, Sertić together with several other Ustaše officers led by Ante Pavelić began retreating towards Austria. Sertić reached Krumpendorf before being captured by the British forces. On 18 May, he was handed over to the Partisans, who transferred him to Zagreb on 28 or 29 May where he was imprisoned and questioned.

Trial and death

Between 7 and 9 June 1945, Sertić was transferred from Zagreb to prison in

. He was

tried In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, ...

for war crimes along 34 other officers of NDH. During his trial,

Archbishop of Zagreb The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Zagreb ( hr, Zagrebačka nadbiskupija, la, Archidioecesis Zagrebiensis) is the central archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Croatia, centered in the capital city Zagreb. It is the metropolitan see of Croatia, an ...

Aloysius Stepinac Aloysius Viktor Cardinal Stepinac ( hr, Alojzije Viktor Stepinac, 8 May 1898 – 10 February 1960) was a senior-ranking Yugoslav Croat prelate of the Catholic Church. A cardinal, Stepinac served as Archbishop of Zagreb from 1937 until his dea ...

spoke in his defense saying that he "personally knew Sertić as a noble person, full of humanness, who always condemned injustice". On 22 September 1945, Sertić was found guilty and was

sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

. The exact date of Sertić's death is unknown; however, his friend and distant relative Zdenka Sertić who visited him during his imprisonment remarked in her

diary A diary is a written or audiovisual record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwritten but are now also often digital. A personal ...

that he was handed over to

OZNA The Department for People's Protection or OZNA ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Одељење за заштиту нaрода, Odjeljenje za zaštitu naroda, Odeljenje za zaštitu naroda; mk, Одделение за заштита на народот; sl, Oddele ...

on 27 September and that it was being said that he was executed on the same day either in

Banjica Banjica ( sr, Бањица, ) is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is divided between the Belgrade's municipalities of Savski Venac (western half) and Voždovac (eastern half). Location Banjica is located 5-6 kilo ...

or in

Jajinci Jajinci ( sr-cyrl, Јајинци, ) is an List of Belgrade neighborhoods, urban neighborhood located in the municipality of Voždovac, in Belgrade, Serbia. It was the site of the worst carnage in Serbia during World War II when German occupational ...

Croatian language Croatian (; ' ) is the standardized variety of the Serbo-Croatian pluricentric language used by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina, and other neighboring countries. It is the offici ...

biographical reference publication ''Tko je tko u NDH'' gives Sertić's date of death as unknown day of September 1945.

Notes

References

Footnotes

Sources

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sertic, Tomislav 1902 births 1945 deaths Royal Yugoslav Army personnel Croatian military personnel of World War II Croatian collaborators with Fascist Italy Croatian collaborators with Nazi Germany Croatian nationalists Executed Yugoslav collaborators with Nazi Germany People from Udbina Executed Croatian people Yugoslav anti-communists World War II prisoners of war held by the United Kingdom Ustaša Militia personnel Croatian Home Guard personnel Recipients of the Military Order of the Iron Trefoil