Blagoje Jovović

Blagoje Jovovic
File:BlagojeJovovic.jpg Blagoje Jovovic
Born	(1922-01-01)January 1, 1922
Died
Nationality	Serbian
Occupation	agent of the Yugoslav secret police
Known for	killing Ante Pavelic

Blagoje Jovovic (Template:Lang-sr, 1922 – June 2, 1999) was an agent of the Yugoslav secret police, April War participant, and participant of the antifascist war in Yugoslavia in both partisan and chetniks' movements. He is most notable for taking part in the attack on World War 2 criminal, Ante Pavelic, on April 10, 1957.

Biography

Jovovic was born in Kosic, surroundings of Danilovgrad.

In World War 2 he fought for the Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland, and he was a member of Bjepavlic’s army-chetnik’s brigade. At the time when the World War 2 started, Jovovic 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 birth place, Kosic in Bjelopavlici.

As of July 1941 he took place in antifascist war against Italy. With Kosic’s partisan unit he participated in the battle of Pljevlja, and later he became the commander of that unit.

He denied to perform the order of his commander Ivan Milutinovic to attack Baja Stanisic, 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”.

From later on, he started to fight for the chetniks’ movement, with Baja Stanisic, who was his superior in military academy for noncommissioned.

As of September 1944, he was a member of commission that was sent in Italy to discuss terms with the English.

Jovovic spent his time in Italy in many immigration camps. Some time he served in the intelligence service. On that occasion, he met Randolph Churchill. For the time he served in the intelligence agency he met several Jew people, who informed him that the Catholic Church was hiding Ante Pavelic in Italy under a false name. At that time, Jovovic first came to an idea to find and execute Pavelic.

Jovovic was the founder and a philanthropist of church community “Saint Sava”, one of the founders of the Organisation of Fighters “Draza Mihailovic” and a member of the Board of the “Njegos” association.

With the help of some former Italian general, some basic information about Ante Pavelic has been revealed. Jakov Jovovic has planned the assassination, and Blagoje Jovovic 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 Pavelic was accompanied with his wife and daughter, so it was decided that the assassination be delayed for the day after. On April 10 at 9 o’clock PM Pavelic, after he doubted his first companion, he turned back and fired several shots towards Jovovic. Jovovic 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.

The assassination is illustrated in the following excerpt from the book “Two shots for Pavelic” („Два метка за Павелића”):

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 Pavelic. 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 Pavelic 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 Jovovic.

— Tihomir Tiho Burzanovic, Book About Blagoje Jovovic: Two Shots for Pavelic („Књига о Благоју Јововићу Два метка за Павелића”), Sveti Sava

Pavelic never recovered from the injuries, as he suffered from diabetes. From the consequences of the attack, he died on December 28, 1959.

He visited Yugoslavia for the first time after 55 years in 1999 when he visited Ostrog, on which occasion he met Metropolitan Amfilohije. He told him that he was the person who shot Ante Pavelic.

He died on June 2, 1999 in Rosario, just few months after the visit to his birth place.

References

• The Secret of the Assassination of Ante Pavelic, an article on the dalje.com website
  • DVA METKA ZA USTAŠU: Ko je četnik Blagoje Jovović koji je ubio Anta Pavelića?, an article on Telegraf.rs
• Two Shots for Pavelic (Два метка за Павелића) (PDF)
  • Ljuti osvetnik sa damskim revolverom, an article on Blic.rs
• PERO ZLATAR: BLAGOJE JOVOVIĆ, CRNOGORAC KOJI JE HTIO DA PRESUDI PAVELIĆU, Pero Zlatar's work
  • Crnogorac koji je htio da presudi Paveliću, Portal Montenegrina