Viktor Gutić
Viktor Gutić | |
|---|---|
Viktor Gutić in his Ustaše uniform | |
| Commissioner for Banja Luka | |
| In office 20 April 1941 – 10 August 1941 | |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Mirko Beljan |
| Grand Prefect of Pokuplje | |
| In office 10 April 1942 – 10 August 1942 | |
| Preceded by | Ante Nikšić |
| Succeeded by | Nikola Tusun |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 23 December 1901 Banja Luka, Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria-Hungary |
| Died | 20 February 1947 (aged 45) Banja Luka, PR Bosnia and Herzegovina, FPR Yugoslavia |
| Political party | Ustaše |
| Alma mater | University of Zagreb |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Independent State of Croatia |
| Branch/service | Croatian Armed Forces |
| Years of service | 1941–1945 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Battles/wars | World War II in Yugoslavia |
Viktor Gutić (23 December 1901 – 20 February 1947) was the Ustaše commissioner for Banja Luka and the Grand Prefect of Pokuplje in the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), an Axis puppet state during World War II. He was responsible for the persecution of Serbs, Jews and Roma in the Bosanska Krajina region between 1941 and 1942.
Having returned to his hometown of Banja Luka a week after the NDH's establishment on 10 April 1941, Gutić was summoned to Zagreb several days later by Ustaše leader Ante Pavelić and placed in charge of the territory of the former Vrbas Banovina. Gutić subsequently initiated a campaign of Croatianizing Banja Luka—banning the Cyrillic script, prohibiting Serbs and Jews from using public transportation, and initiating a series of massacres of Serbs so brutal that they shocked and alienated the NDH's German allies, as well as certain other Ustaše officials. In August 1941, after the Germans complained about his brutality, Pavelić transferred Gutić to Zagreb, but he continued to wield influence in Banja Luka and its surroundings. This culminated in the Drakulić massacre of 7 February 1942, which Gutić helped plan, and which resulted in the deaths of more than 2,000 Serb civilians. The following month, he was appointed as the Grand Prefect of Pokuplje, centred in Karlovac. By August 1942, partly due to his excesses and partly due to those of his brother, whom he had appointed as Banja Luka's police chief, Gutić fell out of favour with the Ustaše leadership and tendered his resignation. He subsequently moved to Zagreb, remaining there until the NDH collapsed in May 1945.
After the Allied victory, Gutić fled first to Allied-occupied Austria and then to Italy. He was arrested in Venice several months later after a Jewish refugee from Banja Luka recognized him and reported him to the authorities. He was subsequently imprisoned at an Allied prison camp in Grottaglie before being extradited to Yugoslavia in 1946. In February 1947, he was found guilty of collaboration and war crimes, sentenced to death, and executed by hanging in Banja Luka.