Miroslav Filipović

Miroslav Filipović
Miroslav Filipović, c. 1941–45
Born(1915-06-05)June 5, 1915
DiedJune 29, 1946(1946-06-29) (aged 31)
Cause of deathExecution by hanging
NationalityCroatian
Other names
  • Brother Satan
  • Devil of Jasenovac
Known forSlaughtering inmates at Jasenovac
ReligionCatholic Church

Miroslav Filipović (5 June 1915 – 29 June 1946), also known as Tomislav Filipović and Tomislav Filipović-Majstorović, was a Croatian Franciscan friar and Ustaše military chaplain who participated in atrocities during World War II in Yugoslavia. Convicted as a war criminal in a Yugoslav civil court, he was executed by hanging in 1946.

For the duration of the war, the Vatican continued to recognize the Yugoslav Government-in-exile, following the principle of not recognizing new states in time of war. However, it also developed relations with the Independent State of Croatia and was briefed on the efforts of the Ustaše to convert ethnic Serbs to Catholicism. Some former priests, mostly Franciscans, particularly in, but not limited to, Herzegovina and Bosnia, took part in the atrocities themselves. Filipović-Majstorović joined the Ustaše on 7 February 1942, and participated in the Drakulić massacre. He was reportedly subsequently dismissed from his order. He became the Chief Guard of the Jasenovac concentration camp where he was nicknamed "Fra Sotona" ("Brother Satan") due to his sadism. When he was hanged for war crimes, he wore his clerical garb, although he had been reportedly defrocked in 1942.