June 5, 1915 - Miroslav Filipović
A Franciscan friar turned Ustaše officer, Filipović occupies a particular place in the history of wartime atrocity — a man whose religious vocation did not restrain but appeared to coexist with, and then give way entirely to, documented participation in mass killing. His role at Jasenovac, one of the most lethal concentration camps operated by the Axis-aligned Independent State of Croatia, brought him into direct contact with systematic murder on a significant scale. The nickname his victims and guards assigned him was not a rhetorical flourish but a measure of how his conduct was perceived even within that environment.
From Wikipedia
Miroslav Filipović (5 June 1915 – 29 June 1946), also known as Tomislav Filipović and Tomislav Filipović-Majstorović, was a Croatian Franciscan friar and Ustaše military chaplain who participated in atrocities during World War II in Yugoslavia. Convicted as a war criminal in a Yugoslav civil court, he was executed by hanging in 1946.
For the duration of the war, the Vatican continued to recognize the Yugoslav Government-in-exile, following the principle of not recognizing new states in time of war. However, it also developed relations with the Independent State of Croatia and was briefed on the efforts of the Ustaše to convert ethnic Serbs to Catholicism. Some former priests, mostly Franciscans, particularly in, but not limited to, Herzegovina and Bosnia, took part in the atrocities themselves. Filipović-Majstorović joined the Ustaše on 7 February 1942, and participated in the Drakulić massacre. He was reportedly subsequently dismissed from his order. He became the Chief Guard of the Jasenovac concentration camp where he was nicknamed "Fra Sotona" ("Brother Satan") due to his sadism.
- Last updated on .
