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 Movement. Its members murdered hundreds of thousands of Serbs, Jews, and Roma as well as political dissidents in Yugoslavia during World War II.
Ante Pavelić 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, a fascist puppet state built out of parts of occupied Yugoslavia by the authorities of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, from 1941 to 1945. Pavelić and the Ustaše persecuted many racial minorities and political opponents in the NDH during the war, including Serbs, Jews, Romani, and anti-fascists, becoming one of the key figures of the genocide of Serbs, the Porajmos and the Holocaust in the NDH.
The Independent State of Croatia was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, after the invasion by the Axis powers. Its territory consisted of most of modern-day Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as some parts of modern-day Serbia and Slovenia, but also excluded many Croat-populated areas in Dalmatia, Istria, and Međimurje regions.
Jure Francetić was a Croatian Ustaša Commissioner for the Bosnia and Herzegovina regions of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) during World War II, and commander of the 1st Ustaše Regiment of the Ustaše Militia, later known as the Black Legion. In both roles he was responsible for the massacre of Bosnian Serbs and Jews. A member of Ante Pavelić's inner circle, he was considered by many Ustaše as a possible successor to Pavelić as Poglavnik (leader) of the NDH. He died of wounds inflicted when he was captured by Partisans near Slunj in the Kordun region when his aircraft crash-landed there in late December 1942.
Slavko Štancer was a Croatia commander-in-chief and inspector-general of the land component of the Domobranstvo in 1941, the army of the Independent State of Croatia during the Second World War. His surname is also sometimes written "Stanzer" or "Stancer".
Tomislav Sertić was a Croatian military officer who served as the commander of all Ustaše Military Units, chief of staff of the Ustaše Militia and the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces. He was captured at the end of World War II and put to death as a war criminal.
Slavko Kvaternik 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. On 10 April 1941, he declared the creation of the Independent State of Croatia.
Franjo Šimić was a Croatian colonel, and later general, in the Croatian Home Guard.
During World War II the Independent State of Croatia awarded a number of orders, decorations and medals.
Medal of Poglavnik Ante Pavelić for Bravery is founded as a "visible sign of decoration for acts of personal bravery in combat". Poglavnik of Croatia has awarded with this medal officers, NCOs and soldiers of Croatian Armed Forces who showed personal bravery in combat. It was possible that medal be awarded to members of foreign armed forces, and those members were needed to be involved in combat along with Croatian soldiers. Medal for bravery had four grades:
Ante Vokić was a Croatian politician, general and putschist. Member of the Ustaše, he was the Minister of Armed Forces of the Independent State of Croatia from 29 January to 30 August 1944, succeeding Miroslav Navratil.
Edgar Angeli was a Croatian rear admiral who served as the commander of the Navy of the Independent State of Croatia between 1943 and 1944.
Vilko Begić was a Croatian military officer.
Eduard Bona-Bunić was a Croatian World War II soldier and member of the Bunić family, an old Austro-Hungarian noble family.
The Ustaše Militia was the military branch of the Ustaše, established by the fascist regime of Ante Pavelić in the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), an Axis puppet state established from a large part of occupied Yugoslavia during World War II.
The Croatian State Government was the government of the Independent State of Croatia from 16 April 1941 until 8 May 1945.
Vladimir Košak was a Croatian economist, lawyer, politician and NDH diplomat, hanged for war crimes after World War II.
Zdenko Blažeković was a Croatian fascist official who held several posts in the World War II Ustaše regime in the Independent State of Croatia (NDH). He was the student commissar at the Ustaše University Centre (USS), leader of the male Ustaše Youth organisation and a sports commissioner in the NDH.
Marijan Mijo Babić (1903–1941), nicknamed Giovanni, was a deputy of the Croatian fascist dictator Ante Pavelić, and the first commander of all concentration camps in the Independent State of Croatia. He was head of the Third Bureau of the Ustasha Surveillance Service, and was also a member of the main Ustaše headquarters, one of the two main deputies of Pavelić.
