Zvonimir Pospišil (9 June 1904 – 17 June 1941) was a Yugoslav revolutionary of Croatian origin, known as one of the main Ustaše terrorists who organised the assassination of King Alexander of Yugoslavia in 1934.
Zvonimir Pospišil | |
|---|---|
 Mijo Babić, Vlado Chernozemski and Zvonimir Pospišil (from left to right) | |
| Born | 9 June 1904 Vukovina, Croatia-Slavonia, Austria-Hungary (modern-day Croatia) |
| Died | 17 June 1941 (aged 37) Pržine, Eastern Herzegovina, Independent State of Croatia (modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina) |
| Allegiance |  Independent State of Croatia |
| Service | Ustaše militia |
| Battles / wars | Eastern Herzegovina Uprising |
Early life
editPospišil was born on 9 June 1904 in Vukovina, Austria-Hungary (modern-day Croatia) to Ladislav and Marija Kralj and was educated as a mechanic.[1][2]
Before World War II
editOn 22 March 1929, Pospišil, Mijo Babić, Marko Hranilović, and Matija Soldin murdered Toni Šlegel, the chief editor of newspaper Novosti from Zagreb and president of Jugoštampa, which was the beginning of the terrorist actions of Ustaše. Hranilović and Soldin were both arrested, convicted of murder, and executed by hanging. Stjepan Javor, the leader of the Croatian Rights Youth, the nationalist organization in which the assassins were members was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He died in prison in 1936.[3]
On 9 October 1934, Pospišil was involved in the assassination of King Alexander I of Yugoslavia in France. The assassin Chernozemski was killed, while Pospišil was arrested, along with Ivan Rajić and Milan Babić. All three men were found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison, albeit Yugoslav authorities had hoped they would be executed. Following the German invasion of France in 1940, the men were released from prison.[4]
Death
editOn 17 June 1941, during the battle in Pržine in the June 1941 uprising in eastern Herzegovina, Pospišil was killed in a battle between 600 Ustaše and rebels which lasted for two hours. Ustaše retreated toward Gacko and Avtovac and burned the village of Zborna Gomila, after four died on the battlefield including Zvonimir Pospišil.[5][6][7][8]
During the uprising in eastern Herzegovina the other two conspirators of the assassination of King Alexander, Mijo Babić and Antun Pogorelac, were also killed during their attacks on rebels.[9]
References
edit- ^ (Volkov 1983, p. 78):"Od sve trojice Zvonimir Pospišil je bio najkoloritnija ličnost. On je rođen 1904. u Hrvatskoj, u Vukovini. ...imao stalno zanimanje automehaničara.... a nekoliko razreda osnovne škole činili su ga najobrazovanijim od njih."
- ^ (Donat 1998, p. 195):"Zvonimir Pospišil iz Vukovine, kotar Velika Gorica. Rođen je 9. VI. 1904., sin Ladislava i Marije Kralj, mehaničar, položio ..."
- ^ (Colić 1973, p. 34):"Ustaške terorističke akcije počele su 22. marta 1929. godine u Zagrebu, gdje su Mijo Babić i Zvonko Pospišil revolverskim hicima ubili glavnog urednika zagrebačkih »Novosti« i predsjednika »Jugoštampe« Toni Šlegela. "
- ^ Tomasevich 2001, p. 33.
- ^ Istorija Radnickog Pokreta. 1965. p. 118.
Pošto su imale 4 mrtva (među njima i ustaški emigrant Zvonko Pospišil) 185 i 4 ranjene, ustaše su odstupile prema Avtovcu i Gacku. Kod Pospišila nađena je mašinka (ustaše su svu četvoricu poginulih ostavile na položaju) i isprave na osnovu kojih je identifikovan.
- ^ (Knežević 1961, p. 363):"Poslije odbijanja ustaša iz dokumenata ubijenog utvrdilo se da je to ustaša emigrant Zvonko Pospišil."
- ^ Bilten. Udruźenja. 1979. p. 25.
Из докумената нађених код тог усташе,сазнало се да је то био Звонимир Поспишил.
- ^ genocida, Muzej žrtava; zadruga, Srpska književna; veku, Odbor SANU za sakupljanje građe o genocidu protiv srpskog naroda i drugih naroda Jugoslavije u XX (1995). Genocid nad Srbima u II svetskom ratu. Muzej žrtava genocida i Srpska književna zadruga.
...у првом окрша]у погинуло неколико усташа меЬу ко]има и емигрант Звонимир Поспишил, ]едан од атентатора на краља Александра Карађорђевића
- ^ Dedijer, Vladimir; Miletić, Antun (1989). Proterivanje Srba sa ognjišta 1941-1944: svedočanstva. Prosveta. p. 342. ISBN 9788607004508.
Došlo je do krvavih borbi u kojoj su poginuli zloglasni Mijo Babić (Mijo Kralj) i Antun Pogorelac, atentatori na bl. poč. Kralja Aleksandra, oficiri ustaške milicije.
Sources
edit- Colić, Mladen (1973). Takozvana Nezavisna Država Hrvatska 1941. Delta-pres.
- Donat, Branimir (1 January 1998). Politika hrvatske književnosti i književnost hrvatske politike. Matica hrvatska. ISBN 978-953-150-157-6.
- Knežević, Danilo (1961). Četrdeset godina: zbornik sećanja aktivista jugoslovenskog revolucionarnog radničkog pokreta. Kultura.
- Tomasevich, Jozo (2001). War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941–1945: Occupation and Collaboration. Vol. 2. San Francisco: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-3615-4.
- Volkov, Vladimir Konstantinovich (1983). Ubistvo kralja Aleksandra--Hitlerova zavera. Nova knjiga.