In Madrid: Ante Pavelic´s grave

According to Amy Tikkanen –Britannica.com- “Ante Pavelić, (born July 14, 1889, Bradina, Bosnia—died Dec. 28, 1959, Madrid), was a Croatian fascist leader and revolutionist who headed a Croatian state subservient to Germany and Italy during World War II. As a practicing lawyer in Zagreb, Pavelić entered the nationalist Croatian Party of Rights. In 1920 he was elected city and county alderman at Zagreb. From 1927 to 1929 he was a representative in the Yugoslav Skupština (parliament), in which he vigorously opposed centralization of the country. When King Alexander assumed dictatorial power (1929), Pavelić fled to Italy and organized a group of Croatian terrorists known as the Ustaše (q.v.). They achieved their greatest success in organizing the assassination of King Alexander in Marseille on Oct. 9, 1934. After the conquest of Yugoslavia by Axis forces in April 1941, Pavelić was installed as head (poglavnik) of the Independent State of Croatia, which included Bosnia and part of Dalmatia. Under the Ustaše regime, whose slogan was “Za dom Spremni” (“Ready for the Fatherland”), a brutal program of oppression was conducted against the Orthodox Serbs and the Jews. With the defeat of his German sponsors in May 1945, Pavelić left Croatia and went into hiding in Austria and Italy, finally escaping to Argentina in 1948. He survived an assassination attempt in 1957 but soon fled to Paraguay; he later settled in Spain.” Ante Pavelić Pavelić arrived in Madrid on 29 November 1957. He continued contacts with members of the Croatian Liberation Movement and received visitors from around the world. Pavelić lived secretly with his family, probably by agreement with the Spanish authorities. Though he was granted asylum, the Spanish authorities did not allow him public appearances. In the middle of 1958, he sent a message from Madrid to the Assembly of Croatian Societies in Munich. He expressed his wish that all Croats unite with the goal of re-establishing the Independent State of Croatia. Pavelić died on 28 December 1959 at the Hospital Alemán in Madrid at the age of 70 from the wounds he sustained in the assassination attempt. He was buried in San Isidro Cemetery, Madrid's oldest private burial ground. Hir wife Mara -died in 1984-, his son Velimir –died in 1995-and his daughter Visnja –died in 2015- are aslo buried in San Isidro Cemetery. These photos were taken in January 2022.