Ante Vokić
| Ante Vokić | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister of Traffic of the Independent State of Croatia | |
|
In office 11 October 1943 – 29 January 1944 | |
| Prime Minister | Nikola Mandić |
| Preceded by | Hilmija Bešlagić |
| Succeeded by | Jozo Dumandžić |
| Minister of Armed Forces of the Independent State of Croatia | |
|
In office 29 January 1944 – 30 August 1944 | |
| Prime Minister | Nikola Mandić |
| Preceded by | Miroslav Navratil |
| Succeeded by | Nikola Steinfl |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
23 August 1909 Mostar, Austria-Hungary |
| Died |
30 May 1945 Lepoglava prison, Croatia |
| Nationality | Croat |
| Political party | Ustaše movement |
| Spouse(s) | Dragica Vokić |
| Profession | Soldier, politician |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Croatia |
| Service/branch | Ustaše Army |
| Rank | Krilnik |
| Commands |
Ustaše Traffic Brigades Domobranstvo Ustaše Army |
Ante Vokić (23 August 1909 – 8 May 1945) was a Croatian/Ustaše politician, general and putschist.
Biography
Youth
Vokić was born in Mostar on 23 August 1909. He finished gimnasium in Sarajevo and attended Faculty of Law at University of Zagreb. He ended his study in 1929 and started working in train service in Sarajevo. He participated in founding of Croatian Academic Club "Kranjčević" and newspapers "Svijest" ("Consciousness"). He participated in activity of HKD Napredak. Because of his political activity and threats given from Yugoslav Gendarmery, he moved a lot, firstly in Bosanski Brod, then in Slavonski Brod, Karlovac, and, finally, in Zagreb.
World War II
Before the establishment of Croatian state, he was a member of Ustaše's branch in Zagreb. On 11 April 1941, by order of Slavko Kvaternik, he was placed in service of Headquarters of Ustaška Nadzorna Služba (Ustasha Surveillance Service), whose main task was "to lead the existing Ustaša combat formations, form and built up further formations". Later that year he was appointed Director of Train Service in Sarajevo. He was an organizer and commander of all Traffic Ustaša brigades. As an associate of Jure Francetić he was a founding member of Crna legija (Black Legion). In 1943 he leaves Sarajevo and moves to Zagreb. On 11 October 1943 he was appointed as Ministers of Traffic.
On the suggestion of Mladen Lorković he was promoted to a rank of Ustaše's colonel and named Minister of Armed Forces on 29 January 1944. That was done against the will of German ambassador Siegfried Kasche and German military attache Edmund Glaise von Horstenau. On 13 July 1944 Ante Pavelić promoted him to rank of Ustaše's highest rank, krilnik (General). He became close associate and friend of Mladen Lorković. Lorković introduced him to high society of Baroness Vraniczany and Baroness Zlata Lubienski, who later became his good friends. At the beginning of August 1944 he was a best man at Lorković's marriage to Countess Nada von Ghyczy.
Lorković-Vokić plot
Together with Mladen Lorković, Vokić lead a coup named Lorković-Vokić plot. The goal of the coup was switching sides of Croatia, that is, declaring war on Nazi Germany and alliance with Anglo-American allies. He visited Domobran and Ustaše units and their officers and said that they should expect big event. He got sympathies of Domobran officers, while lost sympathies of Ustaše's officers, because they were loyal to Ante Pavelić. He connected to attorney of Vladko Maček, the president of Croatian Peasant Party, Ivan Faroli. He told him about performance of coup which would bring down Ustaše's regime and give power to Croatian Peasant Party. That included replacement of Ustaše's officers with Domobran officers, loyal to Croatian Peasant Party, and also disarmament of German units on Croatian territory and possible Ustaše's rebels. Pavelić was aware of the coup, which he initially supported.
But later Pavelić was visited by a Gestapo officer and told about new weapons of Germany (V2) which would turn the war. So, on 21 August 1944, Pavelić informed Siegfried Kasche about the coup and announced actions against putschists. He also accused German general Edmund Glaise von Horstenau for involvement in the coup, because von Horstenau was coaxing Pavelić to accept the coup.[1] Vokić's friend, Ante Štitić, high ranking Police official, who was also involved in the coup, wrote a report after the meeting with Lorković (24 August 1944) and Vokić (25 August 1944) on four pages about those meetings and handed it to commander of Ustaše units, Ivo Herenčić, an old opponent of Vokić. Herenčić gave a report to Pavelić. That report was the main evidence presented against Vokić and Vokić's minister Mladen Lorković at trial for "high treason".
Death
At a sudden assembly of Government on 30 August 1944, Vokić was, together with Mladen Lorković, accused of conspiring against Pavelić and Croatian allies, mainly Nazi Germany. On the same day, they were removed from their duties and placed under house arrest. With Lorković, Vokić was brought in front of the court of Poglavnik's Bodyguard Unit. They convicted him, stripped him of his rank and expelled him from the unit. Later, he was interned in Novi Marof, from where he was moved to Koprivnica with Lorković. After that he was jailed in Lepoglava and on 8 May 1945, the day Germany surrendered, Vokić was executed.
References
- ↑ Marković, Marko. Jure i Boban - Povijest Crne legije, Zagreb, MBF Publishing (2003)
Sources
- Zdravko Dizdar. Tko je tko u NDH (Who is who in NDH)
- Jozo Tomasevich. War and revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941-1945: occupation and collaboration
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