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{{Short description|Montenegrin-Serb assassin (1922–1999)}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name = Blagoje Jovović
| name = Blagoje Jovović
| image = File:BlagojeJovovic.jpg
| image = Blagoje Jovović.jpg
| alt =
| alt =
| caption = Blagoje Jovović
| caption = Blagoje Jovović
| birth_name = <!-- only use if different from name -->
| birth_name = <!-- only use if different from name -->
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1922|01|01}}
| birth_date = 1922
| birth_place = [[Danilovgrad]], [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes]] (now [[Montenegro]])
| birth_place =
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1999|06|02|1922|01|01}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1999|06|02|1922|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Rosario, Argentina|Rosario]], [[Province of Santa Fe]], [[Argentina]]
| death_place =
| nationality = Serbian
| nationality =
| occupation = Military officer, hotel owner
| other_names =
⚫
| known_for = Assassination of [[Ante Pavelić]]
| occupation = agent of the Yugoslav secret police
⚫
| known_for = wounding [[Ante Pavelic]]
}}
}}
'''Blagoje Jovović''' ({{lang-sr|Благоје Јововић}}, 1922 – June 2, 1999) was an agent of the Yugoslav [[UDBA|secret police]], [[Invasion of Yugoslavia|April War]] participant, and participant of the antifascist war in Yugoslavia in both [[Yugoslav Partisans|partisan]] and [[chetniks]]' movements. He is most notable for taking part in the attack on World War II criminal, [[Ante Pavelić]], on April 10, 1957.


'''Blagoje Jovović''' ({{lang-sr-cyrl|Благоје Јововић}}; 1922 – 2 June 1999) was a [[Montenegrin Serbs|Serb]] soldier and resistance-fighter, who was a participant of [[World War II in Yugoslavia]] initially as a member of the [[Yugoslav Partisans|Partisan]] and later the [[Chetnik]] movement. [[Croats|Croatian]] [[Ustaše]] leader [[Ante Pavelić]] died from the injuries sustained from an assassination attempt carried out by Jovović in Argentina.
⚫
== Biography ==
Jovović was born in Kosić, in the vicinity of [[Danilovgrad]].


⚫
==Biography==
In World War II he fought for the [[Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland]], and he was a member of the Bjepavlić army's Chetnik brigade. At the time when the World War II started, Jovović was serving in [[Strumica]], near the Yugoslav border with Greece. For his part in the April War he was honoured a medal. When the war was over, he came back to his birthplace, Kosić in Bjelopavlici.


Jovović was born in Kosić near [[Danilovgrad]] in today's [[Montenegro]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=de Oca |first1=Ignacio Montes |title=Ustashas: El ejército nazi de Perón y el Vaticano |date=2013 |publisher=Penguin Random House |isbn=978-9-50074-520-8 |page=159 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FZTeAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT159}}</ref> During World War II, he initially fought for the [[Yugoslav Partisans]] and then the [[Chetniks]],<ref name="Tokić">{{cite book |last1=Tokić |first1=Mate Nikola |title=Croatian Radical Separatism and Diaspora Terrorism During the Cold War |date=2020 |publisher=Purdue University Press |isbn=978-1-55753-892-5 |pages=92-93 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qi7eDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT92}}</ref> as a member of the Bjelopavlić Chetnik brigade.<ref name="N1">{{cite news |title=Belgrade honours Montenegrin Chetnic for trying to kill head of Croatian Ustashi |url=https://n1info.rs/english/news/a624956-belgrade-honours-montenegos-chetnic-for-trying-to-kill-head-of-croatias-ustasha/ |work=N1 Belgrade |date=30 July 2020}}</ref>
As of July 1941 he took place in antifascist war against Italy. With Kosić’s partisan unit he participated in the [[battle of Pljevlja]], and later he became the commander of that unit.


=== World War II ===
He denied to perform the order of his commander Ivan Milutinović to attack Baja Stanišić, who was planning to attack after he relised that communists were preparing an attack against their political opponents, because “he didn’t want to take part in the brothers’ killing war”.


At the time when World War II started, he was serving in [[Strumica]], near the Yugoslav border with [[Greece]]. When war broke out, Jovović reportedly returned to his birthplace, Kosić in [[Bjelopavlići]].<ref name="RTS">{{cite news |last1=Kostić |first1=Stefan |title=Blagoje Jovović, čovek koji je upucao Antu Pavelića |trans-title=Blagoje Jovović, the man who shot Ante Pavelić |url=https://www.rts.rs/page/stories/sr/story/125/drustvo/3833677/blagoje-jovovic-ante-pavelic-argentina.html |work=Radio Television of Serbia |date=31 January 2020}}</ref> In July 1941, he took part in an [[Uprising in Montenegro (1941)|antifascist uprising]] against [[Fascist Italy (1922–1943)|Italy]] and later participated in the [[battle of Pljevlja]] as a member of the Partisans.<ref name="RTS" /> He later switched allegiances and fought for the [[Chetniks]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dalje.com/en-world/the-secret-of-the-assassination-of-ante-pavelic/241081|title=The Secret of the Assassination of Ante Pavelic|last1=Zlatar|first1=Pero|date=9 March 2009|website=dalje.com|publisher=dalje.com|accessdate=24 June 2014|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140624012630/http://dalje.com/en-world/the-secret-of-the-assassination-of-ante-pavelic/241081|archive-date=2014-06-24|url-status=dead}}</ref> under the command of [[Bajo Stanišić]].
From later on, he started to fight for the Chetnik movement,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dalje.com/en-world/the-secret-of-the-assassination-of-ante-pavelic/241081
|title=The Secret of the Assassination of Ante Pavelic |last1=Zlatar |first1=Pero |last2= |first2= |date=March 9, 2009 |website=dalje.com|publisher=dalje.com |accessdate=24 June 2014}}</ref> with Baja Stanisic, who was his superior in [[military academy]] for noncommissioned.


In September 1944, he was part of the delegation led by [[Dušan Vlahović (Chetnik)|Dušan Vlahović]] and [[Jakov Jovović]], that was sent from [[Kotor]] across the [[Adriatic Sea]] to [[Taranto]] to negotiate with the British.<ref name="Zlojutro">{{cite web |last1=Zlojutro |first1=Darko |title=ANTE JE NALETEO NA ČETNIKA BLAGOJA, ČUO SE PUCANJ I PAVELIĆ JE PAO! Ustaški zlikovac smrtno je ranjen na dan NDH! |url=https://www.espreso.rs/svet/hrvatska/373607/ante-je-naleteo-na-cetnika-blagoja-cuo-se-pucanj-i-pavelic-je-pao-ustaski-zlikovac-smrtno-je-ranjen-na-dan-ndh |website=espreso.rs |date=10 April 2019}}</ref> There they were informed about the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] change of support in favour of [[Yugoslav Partisans|Tito's Partisans]] as a result of the [[Tehran Conference]] and they stayed in Italy until the remainder of the war.<ref name="Zlojutro" /> Jovović spent his time in Italy in several refugee camps. For a brief period, he worked in the Secret Intelligence Service of Britain. On one such occasion, he met [[Randolph Churchill]], of whom he reportedly did not hold a very high opinion.<ref name="Burzanović">{{cite book |last1=Burzanović |first1=Tiho-Tihomir |title=Dva metka za Pavelica |date=1998 |publisher=Kulturni centar Sveti Sava}}</ref> In 1948, Jovović emigrated to [[Argentina]] with the help of Jakov Jovović, a naval officer of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.<ref name="RTS" />
As of September 1944, he was a member of commission that was sent in Italy to discuss terms with the English.


=== Assassination of Ante Pavelić ===
Jovović spent his time in Italy in many immigration camps. Some time he served in the intelligence service. On that occasion, he met [[Randolph Churchill]].<ref name="Knjiga o Blagoju Jovoviću - Dva metka za Pavelića">[http://www.krajinaforce.com/kforce/knjige/dmsrpski/1.htm] Tihomir Tiho Burzanović, ''Knjiga o Blagoju Jovoviću - Dva metka za Pavelića.''</ref> For the time he served in the intelligence agency he met several Jewish people, who informed him that the Catholic Church was hiding [[Ante Pavelic]] in Italy under a false name. At that time, Jovović conceived the idea of finding and executing Pavelić.


In Argentina, Jovović was known as the founder of the [[Serbian Orthodox]] community “[[Saint Sava]]”, and one of the founders of the Organisation of Fighters “[[Draža Mihailović]]” as well as the member of the Board of the “[[Njegoš]]” association.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lopušina |first1=Marko |title=Ko su argentinski Srbi |url=https://www.rts.rs/page/rts/sr/Dijaspora/story/1518/vesti/4042166/ko-su-argentinski-srbi.html |work=Radio Television of Serbia |date=8 August 2020}}</ref> While living in [[Argentina]] and running a successful hotel enterprise that he owned, he received tips about Pavelić's whereabouts in Argentina. In the assassination attempt, Jovović received assistance from several people including Jakov Jovović and Milo Krivokapić, an associate of Blagoje.<ref name="RTS" />
Jovović was the founder and a philanthropist of church community “Saint Sava”, one of the founders of the Organisation of Fighters “Draža Mihailović” and a member of the Board of the “Njegos” association.
With the help of some former Italian general, some basic information about Ante Pavelić has been revealed. (It was known that he lived in Argentina.) Jakov Jovovic has planned the assassination, and Blagoje Jovović voluntarily agreed to execute it. Afterwards they were joined by [[Milo Krivokapic]]. A decision has been made so the assassination takes its place on April 9, 1957, on the creation of the [[Independent State of Croatia]]’s anniversary. At that day Pavelić was accompanied with his wife and daughter, so it was decided that the assassination be delayed for the day after.<ref name="Knjiga o Blagoju Jovoviću - Dva metka za Pavelića" /> On April 10 at 9 o’clock PM, Pavelić, after he suspected that his first companion had been following him, he turned back and fired several shots towards Jovović. Jovović then started running after Pavelic and in his direction he fired five shots, out of which two hit him. He then staggered, bent and he was begging for mercy.<ref name="Knjiga o Blagoju Jovoviću - Dva metka za Pavelića" />


The assassination was scheduled to take place on 9 April 1957, on the eve of the [[Independent State of Croatia]]'s anniversary celebration, but they decided to delay the attack by a day.<ref name="Burzanović"/> On 10 April at 21:00, 16 years after the founding of the Independent State of Croatia, Pavelić suspected someone was following him as he walked down a street, so he turned back and fired several shots towards Jovović, who started running after Pavelić and fired five shots, two of which hit Pavelić who then, according to Jovović, staggered, bent and begged for mercy.<ref name="Burzanović"/> There are however, differing versions of how the attempted assassination unfolded.<ref name="RTS" />
The assassination is illustrated in the following excerpt from the book “Two shots for Pavelić” („''Два метка за Павелића''”):<ref name="Knjiga o Blagoju Jovoviću - Dva metka za Pavelića" />
{{Quotation|I go after him. Walking fast. Nearly running. I come seven-eight meters far-off. Pavelic sensed me, saw… He started shouting: “I fuck your Serbian-Jewish communist mother!” I hear the shot, dunno where it comes from. I’m not stopping. Running straight towards Pavelić. I come two-three meters far-off and then shot. Once. For the second time! I shot him in the back, as he was running away. Two times I shot him. He falls down. As he was carrying the purse, it falls aside in some garden. He fell down, doesn’t move, I can’t believe he’s pretending to be dead, if two bullets hit him. At that moment, I think – perhaps it’s better to have him alive, because he’s going to a hospital, people are gonna find out who he is, and then he's gonna be judged. Do I beat him? And then I looked at that purse. His documents? It’d be nice to get them… But, if the money is in the purse, and then they catch me and say I’m a thief? And that I killed him for the money! I leave both Pavelić and the purse. Somebody is shouting: “They run, they run!” And shots are fired in my direction. I turn back and shoot towards that place. I shoot three times. I start running around the buildings in a semicircular street. People come out. They ask – what happened? Such breathless I respond: “Look what that fools are doing there, drunk, and they shoot at everything!” “That guy is either drunk or crazy”, I yell so that the people on the windows could hear me. A gun was in my pocket. I left one bullet, just in case – picturesquely illustrates Jovović.
|Tihomir Tiho Burzanovic|Book About Blagoje Jovovic: Two Shots for Pavelic („Књига о Благоју Јововићу Два метка за Павелића”) |Sveti Sava}}


Jovović described the assassination attempt in the following excerpt from the book ''Two Bullets for Pavelić'' („Два метка за Павелића”) by Tihomir-Tiho Burzanović:<ref name="Burzanović"/>{{Page needed|date=November 2020}}{{Quotation|I went after him, walking fast, nearly running. I got close, I was seven or eight meters from him. Pavelić sensed my presence, turned around and started shouting, 'Fuck your Serbian-Jewish communist mother!' I heard a shot, but couldn't see where it had come from. I didn't stop. I kept running straight towards him. Once I was two to three meters away from him, I started shooting. Once. Twice. I shot him in the back, as he was running away. Two bullets hit him and he fell. He dropped his briefcase and lay motionless. I was cautious. He might have been pretending to be dead. I started thinking that maybe it would be best to keep him alive and make him face a trial. I thought about beating him. Then I looked at his briefcase and thought of taking his documents. But, I thought, if there is any money in there and I get caught, I'd be labelled a thief and it may appear as if I had killed him just for the money. I decided to leave him and his briefcase as they were. Someone started shouting and shooting in my direction. I turned around and took three shots and started to run around the buildings on a semicircular street. Some people stepped out and asked me what had happened. Breathless, I responded, 'Look at those drunk fools, they're shooting at people for no reason!' I hid the gun in my pocket. I left one bullet for myself, just in case.}}
Pavelić never recovered from the injuries, as he suffered from diabetes. From the consequences of the attack, he died on December 28, 1959.


Pavelić required hospitalization following the attempt. As he recovered, the government of Argentina reached an agreement with Yugoslavia to extradite Pavelić.<ref name="Zander">{{cite book |last1=Zander |first1=Patrick G. |title=Fascism through History: Culture, Ideology, and Daily Life [2 volumes] |date=2020 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-44086-194-9 |page=362 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aBAFEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA362}}</ref> As a result, he fled to Chile before landing in [[Francisco Franco]]'s Spain.<ref name="Zander" /> He died on 28 December 1959 in [[Madrid]], [[Francoist Spain]] from complications as a result of the wounds.<ref name="Zander" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Fischer |first1=Bernd Jürgen |title=Balkan Strongmen: Dictators and Authoritarian Rulers of South Eastern Europe |date=2007 |publisher=Purdue University Press |isbn=978-1-55753-455-2 |page=211 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qMZaPjrHqYYC&pg=PA211}}</ref>
He visited Yugoslavia for the first time after 55 years in 1999 when he visited [[Ostrog monastery|Ostrog]], on which occasion he met [[Metropolitan Amfilohije]]. He told him that he was the person who shot Ante Pavelić.<ref name="Knjiga o Blagoju Jovoviću - Dva metka za Pavelića" />


By Jovović's own account, he acted on his own, independent of the Yugoslav or any other secret services.<ref name="Tokić" /> Most Croat émigrés believed that the Yugoslav state was behind the assassination attempt.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nielsen |first1=Christian Axboe |title=Yugoslavia and Political Assassinations: The History and Legacy of Tito’s Campaign Against the Emigrés |date=2020 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-78831-686-6 |page=286 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WcQAEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT286}}</ref> Jovović stated that he wanted to kill Pavelić in order to "avenge [[Genocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia|Serbian victims]]" from the "greatest butcher of Serbs".<ref name="Tokić" />
He died on June 2, 1999 in [[Rosario]], just few months after the visit to his birthplace.


== References ==
=== Final years ===
* <small>Note: For creating this article in whole or in part, a page on the Serbian Wikipedia has been used as a source (URL: https://sr.wikipedia.org/sr/%D0%91%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%98%D0%B5_%D0%88%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%9B) under the [[Creative Commons license|CC BY-SA 3.0 License]] and the [[GNU Free Documentation License|GFDL]] with the understanding that a URL is sufficient for CC BY-SA 3.0 attribution.</small>
<br />
* [http://dalje.com/en-world/the-secret-of-the-assassination-of-ante-pavelic/241081 The Secret of the Assassination of Ante Pavelic], an article on the dalje.com website
** [http://www.telegraf.rs/vesti/861275-dva-metka-za-ustasu-ko-je-cetnik-blagoje-jovovic-koji-je-ubio-anta-pavelica-foto DVA METKA ZA USTAŠU: Ko je četnik Blagoje Jovović koji je ubio Anta Pavelića?], an article on Telegraf.rs
* [http://sveti-sava.org/biblioteka/Dva%20metka%20za%20Pavelica.pdf Two Shots for Pavelic] (Два метка за Павелића) (PDF)
** [http://www.blic.rs/Vesti/Reportaza/193003/Ljuti-osvetnik--sa-damskim-revolverom Ljuti osvetnik sa damskim revolverom], an article on Blic.rs
* [http://www.scribd.com/doc/209374983/Blagoje-Jovovic-M-Petrovi%C4%87 PERO ZLATAR: BLAGOJE JOVOVIĆ, CRNOGORAC KOJI JE HTIO DA PRESUDI PAVELIĆU], Pero Zlatar's work
** [http://montenegrina.net/nauka/istorija/crna-gora-u-xx-v/crna-gora-od-1945/crnogorac-koji-je-htio-da-presudi-pavelicu/ Crnogorac koji je htio da presudi Paveliću], Portal Montenegrina


[[File:Mural dedicated to Blagoje Jovovic, New Belgrade.jpg|thumb|right|Mural dedicated to Blagoje Jovovic in [[New Belgrade]]]]
=== Notes ===

⚫
<references />
In 1999, Jovović visited [[Serbia and Montenegro|Yugoslavia]] for the first time since he left and visited [[Ostrog monastery|Ostrog]], where he met [[Amfilohije Radović|Metropolitan Amfilohije]]. It was there that he first publicly confessed that he was the person responsible for the attempted assassination of Ante Pavelić.<ref name="N1" /> Jovović died on 2 June 1999 in [[Rosario]], [[Argentina]].<ref name="Danas">{{cite web |title=Blagoje Jovović dobija ulicu u Beogradu, a Đuza Stojiljković spomen-ploču |url=https://n1info.rs/english/news/a624956-belgrade-honours-montenegos-chetnic-for-trying-to-kill-head-of-croatias-ustasha/ |website=Danas.rs |date=24 December 2019}}</ref>

== Memorials ==

In 2020, a street in Belgrade was renamed after Blagoje Jovović. A memorial plaque was also installed.<ref>{{cite web |title=Memorial plaque unveiled, street named in Belgrade after Ante Pavelic's assassin Blagoje Jovovic |url=https://www.telegraf.rs/english/3221635-memorial-plaque-unveiled-street-named-in-belgrade-after-ante-pavelics-assassin-blagoje-jovovic |website=telegraf.rs |date=5 August 2020}}</ref>

==References==
⚫
<references/>

{{Authority control}}


{{Persondata
| NAME = Jovovic, Blagoje
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = Yugoslav assassin
| DATE OF BIRTH = January 1, 1922
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH = January 1, 1922
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jovovic, Blagoje}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jovovic, Blagoje}}
[[Category:1922 births]]
[[Category:1922 births]]
[[Category:1999 deaths]]
[[Category:1999 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Danilovgrad]]
[[Category:Serbs of Montenegro]]
[[Category:Serb nationalist assassins]]
[[Category:Yugoslav assassins]]
[[Category:Yugoslav assassins]]
[[Category:Yugoslav emigrants to Argentina]]

[[Category:Date of birth unknown]]
[[sr:Благоје Јововић]]
[[Category:Argentine people of Montenegrin descent]]
[[Category:Chetniks of World War II]]

Latest revision as of 08:24, 24 December 2024

Blagoje Jovović
Blagoje Jovović
Born1922
Danilovgrad, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (now Montenegro)
Died2 June 1999(1999-06-02) (aged 76–77)
Rosario, Province of Santa Fe, Argentina
Occupation(s)Military officer, hotel owner
Known forAssassination of Ante Pavelić

Blagoje Jovović (Serbian Cyrillic: Благоје Јововић; 1922 – 2 June 1999) was a Serb soldier and resistance-fighter, who was a participant of World War II in Yugoslavia initially as a member of the Partisan and later the Chetnik movement. Croatian Ustaše leader Ante Pavelić died from the injuries sustained from an assassination attempt carried out by Jovović in Argentina.

Biography

[edit]

Jovović was born in Kosić near Danilovgrad in today's Montenegro.[1] During World War II, he initially fought for the Yugoslav Partisans and then the Chetniks,[2] as a member of the Bjelopavlić Chetnik brigade.[3]

World War II

[edit]

At the time when World War II started, he was serving in Strumica, near the Yugoslav border with Greece. When war broke out, Jovović reportedly returned to his birthplace, Kosić in Bjelopavlići.[4] In July 1941, he took part in an antifascist uprising against Italy and later participated in the battle of Pljevlja as a member of the Partisans.[4] He later switched allegiances and fought for the Chetniks,[5] under the command of Bajo Stanišić.

In September 1944, he was part of the delegation led by Dušan Vlahović and Jakov Jovović, that was sent from Kotor across the Adriatic Sea to Taranto to negotiate with the British.[6] There they were informed about the Allied change of support in favour of Tito's Partisans as a result of the Tehran Conference and they stayed in Italy until the remainder of the war.[6] Jovović spent his time in Italy in several refugee camps. For a brief period, he worked in the Secret Intelligence Service of Britain. On one such occasion, he met Randolph Churchill, of whom he reportedly did not hold a very high opinion.[7] In 1948, Jovović emigrated to Argentina with the help of Jakov Jovović, a naval officer of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.[4]

Assassination of Ante Pavelić

[edit]

In Argentina, Jovović was known as the founder of the Serbian Orthodox community “Saint Sava”, and one of the founders of the Organisation of Fighters “Draža Mihailović” as well as the member of the Board of the “Njegoš” association.[8] While living in Argentina and running a successful hotel enterprise that he owned, he received tips about Pavelić's whereabouts in Argentina. In the assassination attempt, Jovović received assistance from several people including Jakov Jovović and Milo Krivokapić, an associate of Blagoje.[4]

The assassination was scheduled to take place on 9 April 1957, on the eve of the Independent State of Croatia's anniversary celebration, but they decided to delay the attack by a day.[7] On 10 April at 21:00, 16 years after the founding of the Independent State of Croatia, Pavelić suspected someone was following him as he walked down a street, so he turned back and fired several shots towards Jovović, who started running after Pavelić and fired five shots, two of which hit Pavelić who then, according to Jovović, staggered, bent and begged for mercy.[7] There are however, differing versions of how the attempted assassination unfolded.[4]

Jovović described the assassination attempt in the following excerpt from the book Two Bullets for Pavelić („Два метка за Павелића”) by Tihomir-Tiho Burzanović:[7][page needed]

I went after him, walking fast, nearly running. I got close, I was seven or eight meters from him. Pavelić sensed my presence, turned around and started shouting, 'Fuck your Serbian-Jewish communist mother!' I heard a shot, but couldn't see where it had come from. I didn't stop. I kept running straight towards him. Once I was two to three meters away from him, I started shooting. Once. Twice. I shot him in the back, as he was running away. Two bullets hit him and he fell. He dropped his briefcase and lay motionless. I was cautious. He might have been pretending to be dead. I started thinking that maybe it would be best to keep him alive and make him face a trial. I thought about beating him. Then I looked at his briefcase and thought of taking his documents. But, I thought, if there is any money in there and I get caught, I'd be labelled a thief and it may appear as if I had killed him just for the money. I decided to leave him and his briefcase as they were. Someone started shouting and shooting in my direction. I turned around and took three shots and started to run around the buildings on a semicircular street. Some people stepped out and asked me what had happened. Breathless, I responded, 'Look at those drunk fools, they're shooting at people for no reason!' I hid the gun in my pocket. I left one bullet for myself, just in case.

Pavelić required hospitalization following the attempt. As he recovered, the government of Argentina reached an agreement with Yugoslavia to extradite Pavelić.[9] As a result, he fled to Chile before landing in Francisco Franco's Spain.[9] He died on 28 December 1959 in Madrid, Francoist Spain from complications as a result of the wounds.[9][10]

By Jovović's own account, he acted on his own, independent of the Yugoslav or any other secret services.[2] Most Croat émigrés believed that the Yugoslav state was behind the assassination attempt.[11] Jovović stated that he wanted to kill Pavelić in order to "avenge Serbian victims" from the "greatest butcher of Serbs".[2]

Final years

[edit]
Mural dedicated to Blagoje Jovovic in New Belgrade

In 1999, Jovović visited Yugoslavia for the first time since he left and visited Ostrog, where he met Metropolitan Amfilohije. It was there that he first publicly confessed that he was the person responsible for the attempted assassination of Ante Pavelić.[3] Jovović died on 2 June 1999 in Rosario, Argentina.[12]

Memorials

[edit]

In 2020, a street in Belgrade was renamed after Blagoje Jovović. A memorial plaque was also installed.[13]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ de Oca, Ignacio Montes (2013). Ustashas: El ejército nazi de Perón y el Vaticano. Penguin Random House. p. 159. ISBN 978-9-50074-520-8.
  2. ^ a b c Tokić, Mate Nikola (2020). Croatian Radical Separatism and Diaspora Terrorism During the Cold War. Purdue University Press. pp. 92–93. ISBN 978-1-55753-892-5.
  3. ^ a b "Belgrade honours Montenegrin Chetnic for trying to kill head of Croatian Ustashi". N1 Belgrade. 30 July 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e Kostić, Stefan (31 January 2020). "Blagoje Jovović, čovek koji je upucao Antu Pavelića" [Blagoje Jovović, the man who shot Ante Pavelić]. Radio Television of Serbia.
  5. ^ Zlatar, Pero (9 March 2009). "The Secret of the Assassination of Ante Pavelic". dalje.com. dalje.com. Archived from the original on 2014-06-24. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  6. ^ a b Zlojutro, Darko (10 April 2019). "ANTE JE NALETEO NA ČETNIKA BLAGOJA, ČUO SE PUCANJ I PAVELIĆ JE PAO! Ustaški zlikovac smrtno je ranjen na dan NDH!". espreso.rs.
  7. ^ a b c d Burzanović, Tiho-Tihomir (1998). Dva metka za Pavelica. Kulturni centar Sveti Sava.
  8. ^ Lopušina, Marko (8 August 2020). "Ko su argentinski Srbi". Radio Television of Serbia.
  9. ^ a b c Zander, Patrick G. (2020). Fascism through History: Culture, Ideology, and Daily Life [2 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. p. 362. ISBN 978-1-44086-194-9.
  10. ^ Fischer, Bernd Jürgen (2007). Balkan Strongmen: Dictators and Authoritarian Rulers of South Eastern Europe. Purdue University Press. p. 211. ISBN 978-1-55753-455-2.
  11. ^ Nielsen, Christian Axboe (2020). Yugoslavia and Political Assassinations: The History and Legacy of Tito’s Campaign Against the Emigrés. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 286. ISBN 978-1-78831-686-6.
  12. ^ "Blagoje Jovović dobija ulicu u Beogradu, a Đuza Stojiljković spomen-ploču". Danas.rs. 24 December 2019.
  13. ^ "Memorial plaque unveiled, street named in Belgrade after Ante Pavelic's assassin Blagoje Jovovic". telegraf.rs. 5 August 2020.
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