Jure Francetić
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Jure Francetić was a member of the Croatian World War II Ustaše regime, the commander of Battle group Francetić better known as "Black Legion"/Crna Legija and later commander of all brigades of Ustaše army (Ustaška vojnica).
Francetić was born in Otočac on July 3, 1912. After gymnasium (high school) he went to study Law at University in Zagreb were he joined the Ustaše movement. Soon he was exiled from Zagreb for five years. He stayed in Otočac for short time and went to Italy were he took the Ustaše oath in the Borgotaro camp.
After formation of Independent State of Croatia he became the Ustaše representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he formed the first Ustaše army units in Sarajevo and later became the commander of the "Black Legion".
After his advance through eastern Bosnia to the Drina river, he was declared a national hero and received the Military Order of Iron Trefoil, 3rd Class. In September 1942 he escorted Ante Pavelić to Russia in his visits to Croatian troops on the Eastern front, and to Adolf Hitler in Vinica.
Francetić died on December 27 or 28, 1942 when his plane was forced to land by communist saboteurs who put liquid rubber into his fuel tanks. He landed near the village of Močile, near Slunj, which was Partisan-held area. He died, aged 30, from severe wounds to his head which he received in a gunfight with the village guard. Partisan surgeons attempted to save him in order to exchange him for numerous communists in Ustaše camps and prisons, but failed.
[edit] Memorial plaque controversy
In June 2000, the Slunj branch of Association of war veterans "Hrvatski domobran" erected a memorial plaque in honor of Francetić with the inscription Hrvatski vitez Jure Francetić ("Croatian knight Jure Francetić") in the town of Slunj in Croatia. The event caused nationwide controversy, but the government of Ivica Račan didn't intervene.
In 2004 the new government of Ivo Sanader intervened and, based on Article 107 of Croatian constitution, removed it together with memorial plaque to Mile Budak in the town of Sveti Rok. The operation was carried out at 6.30 a.m. on August 27 with strong special police protection and completed without incidents.
The plaque was restored two months later, only to be removed again after few days. Other such memorial plaques appeared in other parts of Croatia in the following months, and were removed promptly by the authorities.
