Zagreb, 1910 – Rio Cuarto, Argentina, 1962, politician and Ustasha functionary
Kvaternik was the son of the military commander, Slavko Kvaternik and Olga (née Frank, daughter of Josip Frank, leader of the Pure Rights Party). After leaving high school he began studying law but never completed his studies.
His involvement in politics brought him closer to the Croatian Rights Party. He often travelled abroad, where he met Ante Pavelić and other members of the émigré leadership of the Ustasha movement.
He emigrated in 1933 after a failed assassination attempt in Zagreb on King Alexander. He became one of Pavelić’s main associates. Working under false names (Eugen Rakovečki, Egon Kramer), he participated in the second assassination attempt on King Alexander. He was the commander and leader of the assassins until they reached Marseilles (France), at which point he withdrew and returned to Italy via Switzerland.
He spent two years in prison for this, but the Italian authorities refused to extradite him to France.
When he left prison in the spring of 1936, the Italian authorities allowed him to join the other Ustashas in internment on the island of Lipari. At the beginning of 1937 he became commandant of the Ustasha camp on the island and remained in the position until the camp was disbanded in April that year.
He returned to Croatia three days after the proclamation of the Independent State of Croatia and became a Commissioner, then on 18 April 1941 the Director of the Directorate for Public Order and Safety (RAVSIGUR). He was also appointed state secretary in the Ministry of Internal Affairs on 4 May 1941.
He was the head of the Ustasha Surveillance Service from its foundation on 16 August 1941 and was a member of the Poglavnik’s bodyguard.
He was responsible for the operation of all Ustasha camps in the Independent State of Croatia and implemented the repressive and genocidal measures of the Ustasha government.
He was relieved of all his duties in mid-September 1942, having expressed disagreement with Pavelić. In 1943 he went to live in Slovakia, then in Austria and Italy, and in 1947 emigrated to Argentina. He wrote and published articles in émigré circles.
He was killed in a traffic accident in 1962.