Ivan Tomašević (soldier)


Ivan Tomašević was a Croatian general who served as a captain in the Austrian-Hungarian Army and as colonel in the Royal Yugoslav Army. After the establishment of the Independent State of Croatia, Tomašević joined the Croatian Home Guard.

Military career

In the Croatian Home Guard, he was at first, from October 1941 until November 1942, a commander of the 2nd Infantry Division. In November 1942 he was named commander of the Lika Littoral Sector. At the end of 1943 he was named ground liaison officer with the German XV Army Corps. At the beginning of 1944 he was promoted to general, and between May and August 1944 he was once again a commander of the Lika Littoral Sector. Tomašević was also a commissionaire of the GRAVSIGUR, the Croatian security police, for districts of Modruš, Vinodol-Podgorje, Lika-Gacka, Krbava-Psat, Bribir and Sana-Luka.
During the Lorković-Vokić plot, Tomašević offered his help to the Allies if they invade the Dalmatian coast in August 1944. The plot failed and its main leaders were arrested.
In December 1944, Tomašević was named commander of the Bihać Division. At the end of war, in May 1945 he retreated to Austria along with rest of the Croatian Armed Forces. However, in the same month he was extradited to the Yugoslav Partisans back to SFR Yugoslavia. He was tried infron of the Military Council of the Court Martial in Belgrade and sentenced to death on 19 September 1945.
Tomašević is also remembered for his career during World War I, as he was a commander of a company in which Josip Broz Tito, the future authoritarian President of Yugoslavia, served as a sergeant.