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Danilo Kovač, PhD
Institute for Contemporary History, Belgrade, Republic of Serbia

 

THE KVATERNIK FAMILY: AXIS DIPLOMACY, THE HOLOCAUST, VIOLENCE, AND POWER STRUGGLES IN CROATIA (1941–1942)

Vol. XLIV, 2/2026, pp. 403–424
https://doi.org/10.29362/ist20veka.2026.2.kov.403-424

 

ABSTRACT/RESUME:

The German and Italian authorities supported the Ustaše and played a key role in establishing the Independent State of Croatia. This paper analyses the roles and removal of Slavko Kvaternik and his son, Eugen Dido, two leading figures in the Croatian armed and police forces, and raises several key questions. First, it investigates the circumstances surrounding their roles, with particular emphasis on their dismissals and the foreign influences involved. In this context, it examines the Independent State of Croatia’s capacity to make autonomous decisions regarding certain internal matters. Second, it explores the Italian-German rivalry for influence in Croatia as reflected in the Kvaternik family’s position. Third, it considers the responsibility of both Dido and Slavko for the violence in Croatia, analysing how Italian, German, Spanish, and Vichy diplomats in Zagreb perceived Dido Kvaternik’s involvement. The paper also assesses the extent to which this violence damaged the NDH’s reputation among its allies and contributed to the deterioration of its relations with some of them. Furthermore, it considers the stance of Italian officials in Croatia, and of Benito Mussolini himself, on Ustaše violence. Finally, the paper identifies two key directions for further research: the Austro-Hungarian legacy within the Croatian armed forces and wartime Croatia, and an insufficiently explored aspect of the Holocaust – Italian-German-Croatian relations in the context of the fate of the remaining Jews in Croatia in 1942. The study draws on and cross-references Croatian, Serbian, Yugoslav, Italian, French, Spanish, and German sources and literature.

 

KEYWORDS: Slavko Kvaternik, Dido Kvaternik, Ustaše, Holocaust, Independent State of Croatia, NDH

 

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