Eugen Dido Kvaternik (29 March 1910 – 10 March 1962) was a Croatian

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

General-Lieutenant and the Chief of the Internal Security Service in the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...

, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Life

Eugen Dido Kvaternik was the son of Slavko Kvaternik, a general in the

army and a member of the Ustaše, and Olga Frank, daughter of Josip Frank, a Catholic convert whose parents were Jewish. Kvaternik was sentenced to death in absentia by France for organizing the assassination of

King Alexander I of Yugoslavia Alexander I Karađorđević (, ; – 9 October 1934), also known as Alexander the Unifier ( / ), was King of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes from 16 August 1921 to 3 October 1929 and King of Yugoslavia from 3 October 1929 until Alexander I of Y ...

. However, at the time, he was imprisoned by authorities in

Fascist Italy Fascist Italy () is a term which is used in historiography to describe the Kingdom of Italy between 1922 and 1943, when Benito Mussolini and the National Fascist Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictatorship. Th ...

, who refused to hand him over for execution. He was released in 1936, having served two years, whereupon he joined the exiled Ustasha members on the island of Lipari. He instituted a regime of terror against Serbs, Jews, Gypsies and other "enemies of the State". In 1943, after a falling-out with Pavelić, the leader of the Independent State of Croatia, he and his father, Slavko, the Croatian Minister of War, went into exile in

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

, and after the war fled to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. From Argentina, he directed activities against

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito ( ; , ), was a Yugoslavia, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who served in various positions of national leadership from 1943 unti ...

. He reorganized Ustaše supporters and continued to publish actively.

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

's multiple extradition requests were all turned down, and Kvaternik was never tried. Dido Kvaternik died in a car crash in Río Cuarto, Argentina in 1962.

Family

Kvaternik met Marija Cvitković in 1941; the two married on 10 January 1942. The couple had three children: Slavko, Davor and Olga. Slavko later became a professor of political sciences in Argentina, and Davor became a cardiologist in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Massachusetts. Dido and Olga both died in a car accident on 10 March 1962.Milan Blažeković: ''Bio-bibliografski leksikon suradnika Hrvatske revije''. Školske novine-Pergamena, Zagreb 1996, S. 262-263;

References

Bibliography

External links

Eugen Dido Kvaternik profile
, jusp-jasenovac.hr; accessed 25 December 2022. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kvaternik, Dido, Eugen 1910 births 1962 deaths Croatian exiles Croatian people convicted of murder Croatian people of German descent Croatian expatriates in Argentina Croatian people of Jewish descent Genocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia perpetrators Holocaust perpetrators in Yugoslavia Military personnel from Zagreb People from the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia Road incident deaths in Argentina Romani genocide perpetrators Ustaša Militia personnel People convicted of murder by France Prisoners and detainees of Italy