Ustaše Militia The Ustaše Militia ( ) was the party army of the Ustaše , established by the regime of Ante Pavelić in the Independent State of Croatia ( NDH ) during World War II . The Ustaše militia went through a series of re - organisations during its existence , during which it expanded to include all armed elements of the NDH government outside of the Croatian Home Guard , navy and air force . It amalgamated with the Home Guard in December 1944January 1945 to form the Croatian Armed Forces ( " Hrvatske oružane snage , " HOS ) , although the amalgamation did not result in a homogeneous organisation , and former Ustaše militia officers dominated its operations and held most HOS command positions . The Ustaše militia were responsible for some of the most egregious atrocities committed during World War II , including performing a key role in the establishment and operation of about 20 concentration camps in the NDH . It included such notorious units as the Black Legion ( " Crna Legija " ) commanded by Jure Francetić and Rafael Boban and the Ustaša Defence Brigades commanded by Vjekoslav Luburić . Formation and organisational changes . The Ustaše militia was created on 11 April 1941 when Marshal Slavko Kvaternik appointed a separate staff to control the various volunteer armed groups that had risen spontaneously throughout the NDH as the Yugoslav Army collapsed in the face of the Axis invasion . On 10 May 1941 , Ante Pavelić issued a special order which detailed its formal organisation . However , some of the groups that formed early in various locations were irregular or ' wild ' Ustaše units that were not included in the formal organisation , which initially numbered only 4 , 500 . The number of irregular or ' wild ' Ustaše across the NDH was reportedly as high as 25 , 000 – 30 , 000 . Both formal and irregular Ustaše units were soon involved in atrocities against Serbs , Jews , Gypsies and all alleged and actual opponents of the Ustaša regime . The militia consisted mostly of volunteers , and only 25 % of the officer corps were professionally trained . It was indoctrinated in Ustaše ideology and was committed to defending Pavelić and the Ustaša regime . Whilst Pavelić was its titular commander - in - chief , he exercised no practical control over its military operations , as Ustaše formations and units in the field were placed under command of Home Guard or Axis forces . The militia included a significant number of Muslims , although this reduced after mid 1943 , and there were no Muslim militia leaders and few promoted to higher rank . The Ustaše militia also included the small Volksdeutsche militia ( ) which was created in July 1941 , and which grew to a strength of 1 , 500 regular and 1 , 200 reserve troops by June 1942 . The main task of the " Einsatzstaffel " was to protect Volksdeutsche communities , mainly in Slavonia and Srijem . In August 1941 , the Ustaša Surveillance Service ( " Ustaška nadzorna služba " ) was created to combat anti - Ustaša activities throughout the NDH . The Surveillance Service consisted of four elements , the Ustaša Police , Ustaša Intelligence Service , Ustaša Defence Brigades , and Personnel . The head of the Surveillance Service was appointed by , and accountable directly to Pavelić . The lawless behaviour of the Ustaše in general attracted some criminal elements to the Ustaše militia . This was even recognised by Pavelić , although he used these elements as a convenient scapegoat for actions committed by the core of the Ustaša movement itself . Formation of special units . In late 1941 , an Ustaše militia unit known as the Black Legion ( " Crna Legija " ) was formed mostly from Muslim and Croatian refugees from villages in eastern Bosnia , where the Chetniks and Partisans had already committed large - scale massacres . The Legion , which had a strength of between 1 , 000 and 1 , 500 men , created a fierce reputation in fighting against both Chetniks and Partisans , and were also responsible for large - scale massacres of Serb civilians . It was initially commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Jure Francetić , and after he was killed by the Partisans in December 1942 , by Major Rafael Boban . It was used in different areas across the NDH , and became part of the HOS 5th Division in December 1944 , with Boban promoted to general to command the division . The other special force was the Ustaša Defence Brigades , commanded by Vjekoslav Luburić , who quickly attracted a reputation for extreme brutality . The Brigades ran the string of concentration camps established by the Ustaše regime . Like the Legion , they also fought the Chetniks and Partisans , and were responsible for large - scale atrocities and mass terror against the Serb population . 1942 reorganisation . On 18 March 1942 , a law decree on the armed forces organised them into the Home Guard , navy and air force , the gendarmerie and the Ustaše militia . By special decree on 26 June 1942 , the gendarmerie , which had previously been a part of the Home Guard , became part of the Ustaše militia and was placed under the command of a young Ustaše colonel , Vilko Pečnikar . In July and August 1942 , the militia took control of all armed forces of the NDH other than the Home Guard , navy and air force . The militia then consisted of the regular militia , Pavelić ' s personal guard , the railroad security troops , the gendarmerie , the regular police , the Ustaša Surveillance Service , the Ustaša educational establishment , the Ustaša preparatory service and the disciplinary court . The Ustaša Surveillance Service included the Ustaša Defence Brigades , which had been established in late 1941 . The Defence Brigades engaged in operations against both the Chetniks and Partisans , engaged in mass terror against the Serbian , Jewish and Roma segments of the NDH population , and administered the Ustaša concentration camp s , including Jasenovac . Following the dismissal of Marshal Kvaternik from his positions of Minister of the Army and commander - in - chief in October 1942 , relations between the Ustaša militia and the Croatian Home Guard deteriorated further , to the detriment of the Home Guard . 1943 . In May 1943 , there were about 30 regular militia battalions of varying strength . At the time , 12 were deployed in the Italian zones of occupation , primarily in Zone III , while the remainder were working with the Home Guard light infantry and mountain brigades and the German - Croatian SS police . This pattern of deployment applied until the amalgamation of the Home Guard and militia in December 1944 . In June 1943 , the Ustaša Surveillance Service was abolished , and its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Interior . However , the Ustaša Defence Brigades under Luburić continued to operate independently . By September 1943 , shortly after the Italian surrender , the Ustaše militia included 25 battalions ( 22 , 500 men ) of the regular militia , plus Pavelić ' s personal guard of about 6 , 000 men , and the gendarmerie of about 18 , 000 men as well as many other smaller armed groups . In October 1943 , the German commander - in - chief in south - eastern Europe , Generalfeldmarschall Maximilian von Weichs made a proposal to the Wehrmacht operations staff which included the merging of the Ustaša militia into the Croatian Home Guard . The proposal effectively recommended removing the Ustaše from power as part of sweeping changes to the administration of the NDH . Although the proposal was considered by Hitler , the decision was made not to proceed with it due mainly to the additional German troops that would have been required to implement it . Amalgamation with Croatian Home Guard . On 1 December 1944 , the Ustaše militia and the Croatian Home Guard were amalgamated and organised into 16 divisions across three corps . At the time , the Ustaše militia consisted of about 76 , 000 officers and men . This figure did not include the Ustaša Defence Brigades , numbering about 10 , 000 , who remained outside the armed forces . Ustašas with appropriate experience along with some professional military officers with strong loyalty to Pavelić were placed in all key positions . The new force was named the Croatian Armed Forces ( Hrvatske oružane snage , HOS ) , but the amalgamation consisted only of the combining of existing formations such as Ustaše militia brigades and Croatian Home Guard regiments as separate elements under divisional command . Uniforms , equipment and supply appear to have remained as they were prior to the amalgamation . In March 1945 , the Ustaša Defence Brigades were incorporated into the HOS . Deployments within the NDH . When the Italians reoccupied Zones II and III in XXX 1941 , they assumed control of about one third of the territory of the NDH , and ordered all Ustaše militia units ( who they accused of excesses against the Serb population of the NDH ) and most Home Guard units to withdraw from those zones . The NDH government protested vigorously , but the Italians would not relent , and used auxiliary Chetnik units to maintain the peace in those zones instead . In fact , even in September 1942 , no more than about 1 , 000 Ustaše militia members were in Zone II , and even they were under close Italian command and supervision . In mid - 1942 , the Germans took full command of any NDH troops operating with them north of the German - Italian demarcation line . Fighting reputation . The Ustaše militia was different in almost all respects from the mostly conscripted Croatian Home Guard . While the Home Guard was poorly equipped and subject to mass desertions from late 1942 onwards , the Ustaše militia consisted of young , well equipped and indoctrinated volunteers who were loyal to Pavelić and the NDH . Although they were ill - disciplined , they liked to fight and were tough combat soldiers . It was not until mid 1944 that Ustaše militia units began to suffer from significant numbers of desertions , although these were never on the scale suffered by the Home Guard . As a result of their greater reliability , Ustaše militia units were used on the flanks of suspect Home Guard units fighting Partisans in order to discourage mass desertions during action . Anti - Partisan operations and atrocities . Ustaše militia committed many abuses and atrocities against the Serb population living in the territory of the NDH . In May 1941 , in a the town of Glina , only 50 kilometres from Zagreb , Ustaše from the surrounding areas herded about 260 local people into a church , killed them then set the church on fire . By September 1941 , over 118 , 000 Serbs had been expelled from the NDH , many Orthodox churches had been destroyed or desecrated , and many of the Orthodox clergy had been killed or expelled . In late July 1942 , all concentration camps in the NDH were officially transferred from the Ministry of Interior to the Ustaše Surveillance Service , which had been running the camps since August 1941 . There were about 20 large and medium - seized camps , the largest of which was a cluster of camps near the confluence of the Sava and Una rivers at Jasenovac . The camps there were notorious for the brutality , barbarism and large number of victims . Even after the Service was disestablished in January 1943 , Vjekoslav Luburić remained in charge of the camps through most of the war . In August 1942 , elements of the Ustaše militia , along with Croatian Home Guard and German forces , conducted a major anti - Partisan operation in Srijem . During this offensive , Ustaše militia units perpetrated large - scale atrocities against the Serb population of the region , then along with German units , sent thousands of Serb civilians , including women and children , as well as some Partisans , to the concentration camps at Jasenovac , Sisak , Stara Gradiška and Zemun .