by GLADIVM on 03 Sep 2003 08:05 Ante Pavelic , the Poglavnik of Croatia , was the only Axis leader to effect a succesfull escape afetr WWII , but detals about it are still sketchy , especially about the initial stages .
Some sources indicate that in early May 45 Pavelic and some of the Ustashi leadership left Zagreb by plane and landed in Austria , but this seems difficult as by then all airports were in dredfull conditions or in the hands of the Allied .
Other sources say that he left Zagreb with a big convoy of official cars and trucks toghtere with elements of his bodyguard but later on finished gasoline and due to road congestion he continued on foot from Slovenia and somehow managed to cross the border with Austria where instead most of the Croation forced were stopped by the British and eventually delivered to Tito's bands who slaughtered them in droves .
Also it is said that Pavelic was in british custody but was released at least twice and the americans later accused the british to protect Pavelic .
For which political reasons the british should have protected avelic in the summer of 45 escapes me as otherwise they delivered all their eastern prisoners to the Russians or other Eastern Europe communist states .
But Pavelic had at his disposal huge amount of money , it is mentioned a figure of 100 Millions US$ at the value of the times , so he might have been able to buy his freedom .
It seems he spent summer of 1945 at San Gilgen near Salzburg and later moved , always in the british zone to Klagenfurt and was guest in a villa owned by the Archibishop of Klagenfurt also he was reported to be in the Archibishop official residence in the city .
In July 45 he was arrested again but apparently not recognized and released , so he donned monk gear and hid in a monastery in the area .
Pavelic's daughter in an interview in 1990 gave a different account and said that he used to stay in chalet far in the mountains surrounding Klagenfurt and his only company was an italian woman as housekeeper .
She also mentioned the she and her mother met the Poglavnik frequently met him in the woods taking precautions of not being followed .
In April 46 believing that Klagenfurt was getting too dangerous he moved , probably by foot , to Rome where he was under the protection of Father Draganovic .
At that time Pavelic had a passport under the name of Don Pedro Gomes and posed as a priest , for few months he hid in the Pope summer residence of Castelgandolfo but believing to be under surveillance of the American OSS in July he left Rome and returned to Austria .
By the end of 1946 Pavelic was again in Rome and in feb 47 was reported to be hiding in the Istituto San Gerolamo of which Father Draganovic was secretary , in the same Institute also hid other Croatians and Germans .
The Americans seems knew of Pvelic whereabouts and of the protection granted to him by the Pope but not willing to embarass the Catholic Church as a bulwark against Communism was very useful to the americans at the beginning of the Cold war the left Pavelic alone .
Pavelic was reported to move freely in Rome form one Catolic insitution to another but always using official Vaticans vehicles which granted to him extraterritorial protection .
Finally he left Italy on 13 sept 47 by the vessel Sestriere under the name of Pablo Aranyos as Hungarian displaced person and reached Argentina where he was well received by Peron .
these infos are taken from various sources , the book Rat Lines of M.Arons & J Loftus , various history magazines , Pavelic daughter account & some internet sources .
Would anyone be able to add the missing pieces , specially in the early stages of Pavelic escape ??
Yours
GLADIVM
Axis History Forum
This is an apolitical forum for discussions on the Axis nations, as well as the First and Second World Wars in general hosted by Marcus Wendel's Axis History Factbook in cooperation with Michael Miller's Axis Biographical Research and Christoph Awender's WW2 day by day.
) Erich Lisak, colonel in Ustaša army.
