Minister of the Interior of the Independent State of Croatia and one of Ante Pavelic's most trusted deputies, later becoming the highest-ranking war criminal to find safe haven in America. Studied at a Franciscan monastery at Siroki Brijeg in Hercegovina. Led uprising in Velebit Mountains in the 1930s, escaping arrest and joining the Ustase in exile. In England in 1934, allegedly planned a second conspiracy to assassinate Yugoslav King Alexander should the Ustase plot in Marseilles fail, for which he was arrested but later released. Named Interior Minister of the Independent State of Croatia after the Nazi invasion of Yugoslavia, April 6, 1941.

As Interior Minister approved practically every aspect of the Ustase terror, and personally ordered the extermination of 4,000 Serbs in his native Siroki Brijeg in May 1941. Approved construction of a system of concentration camps in September 1941, including Jasenovac. Fled with Pavelic, Archbishop Ivan Saric and other Ustase leaders to Austria in May 1945. Allegedly freed by British from detention camp in Spittal. Deviated from the usual Ratline escape route, hiding first in Switzerland and then Ireland until entering the United States on July 16, 1948 on a tourist visa obtained with a forged Irish identity certificate. Through a mystifying pattern of logic, an immigration judge stayed an order of deportation indefinitely, saying that Artukovic would suffer from "physical persecution" should he be deported to stand trial on war crimes charges in Yugoslavia. The case was reopened more than twenty years later, and Artukovic was finally deported in 1986, primarily due to an outcry by Jewish organizations. Became a martyr for right-wing American groups who continue to plead his case as a red herring for anti-Semitism. Tried and sentenced to death by firing squad in Yugoslavia, Artukovic (who was by now enfeebled) was in custody of a prison hospital there in 1988 when he died.

The Career of Andrija Artukovic
Book excerpt from Wanted: The Search for Nazis in America

Stepinac Letters to Artukovic
April 1941-November 1942: Letters from Archbishop Stepinac to Interior Minister Artukovic on application of the NDH racial decrees

News: Jews as the "Insatiable Parasites"
February 26, 1942: Transcript of Artukovic's speech to parliament, later published in the official NDH gazette, denouncing "Judeo-Communists" as ""poisonous and insatiable parasites"

Letter: The Fate of Father Franjo Rihar
November 17, 1942: Artukovic sends a Catholic priest to Jasenovac for refusing to celebrate the NDH and its Poglavnik

Court Testimony: The Trial of Adolf Eichmann (Excerpt)
Andrija Artukovic's role in the Holocaust

Court Transcript: The Trial of Adolf Eichmann: Judgment (Excerpt)
"only 1,500 out of 30,000 Croatian Jews remained alive..."

CIA File: Organization of the Ustase Abroad
October 1946: Intelligence report listing names of Ustase cells throughout Italy and Austria with their area of expertise

News: Exile Denies Tito Charge
May 6, 1951: United Press article dating from Artukovic's first extradition hearings

News: As the Surviving Jews Remember Artukovic
March 9, 1958: Transcript of an article from the Yugoslav press on Zagreb Jews' memories of Andrija Artukovic

Letter: "The Hand of the Ustasha"
1958: The editor of a Jewish newspaper in California reports receiving death threats after writing about Andrija Artukovic

News: The LA Times on Artukovic's Extradition Hearing
March 11, 1958: The US Supreme Court rejects the original ruling that Artukovic's role in the slaughter in the NDH constituted a "political crime"

Letter: Artukovic in California
August 22, 1958: Report from the American Jewish Congress on Artukovic's appearance as a "featured speaker" at the Catholic Maritime Club

Congressional Bill: "For the Relief of Andrija Artukovic"
January 6, 1961: A shocking attempt to forestall the extradition of Andrija Artukovic by a United States Congressman

Letter: The American Jewish Congress on the Artukovic Bill
February 13, 1959: Response by a representative of the AJC to an earlier attempt by the same US politician to grant Artukovic permanent residency

Unidentified Document: United Croats of America
September 3, 1964: Document among the papers of the American Jewish Congress on the "Second Convention of Croatian Unity" in America

Book Excerpt: The Extradition of Nazi Criminals
Overview of the extradition of Andrija Artukovic

Court Decision: Order for the Extradition of Andrija Artukovic
February 6th, 1986: Final decision by a United States Federal Court ordering Artukovic's deportation to Yugoslavia to stand trial on war crimes charges

 

Essay: The Lawsuit Against the Vatican and the CIA
Reference to Artukovic's long California refuge.

 

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