In memoriam Josip Senić
Josip Senić
Josip Senić, born on March 18, 1936 in Nova Gradiška, already as a minor became a member of the organization Hrvatski nacionalni pokret (Croatian National Movement, t.n.) and thus came into conflict with the Yugoslav-Communist government. In 1956, he was sentenced to two years probation for hostile activities.
In 1957 Senić fled to Italy and from there moved to Australia, where he joined a group of young Croatian emigrants who founded the HRB (Hrvatsko revolucionarno bratstvo, Croatian Revolutionary Brotherhood, t.n.), in which he occupied one of the leading positions. After the disappearance of Geza Pašti, Senić came to Europe in 1965 to pick up where Pašti had left off.
Josip Senić’s file, which is kept in the Croatian State Archives, reads: “May 29, 1969: Consultation in Osijek on the question of operational-technical measures after Senić. Srećko Šimurin was present. Primary task: liquidation as the only correct measure. To this end, we are working to find a suitable person. The possibility of a connection with a ‘friend’ from Australia is being considered. We are ready to receive him as well as possible and to offer him a pleasant stay…”
Furthermore, “Osijek, March 2, 1971, in direct connection with the purpose of the processing – the execution of a special task – we are engaged in finding a suitable person for the execution of this task. The previous arrangement with the connection, ‘Friend’, is in progress. The ‘Friend’ is now located in the Federal Republic of Germany. Operative collaborator is Ivan Došlić.”
In Senić’s environment there was another dangerous UDBA collaborator – Vinko Sindičić. According to “Information No. 48” of the State Security Service Center Rijeka, which is stored in the Josip Senić’s file in the Croatian State Archives, Vinko Sindičić, a collaborator under the pseudonym “Mišo,” regularly reported on Senić’s movements and intentions to the UDBA. The above-mentioned “Information” states, “At the meeting in Zagreb on March 3, 1972, the collaborator ‘Mišo’ gave us a detailed diagram of the Croatian Revolutionary Brotherhood inn in Wiesloch.”
When the manager of the said inn in Wiesloch near Heidelberg entered the room where Senić was staying, on March 10, 1972, he found Senić dead, with his throat slit, and two bullets from a gun in his head. After killing Senić, the murderer examined his belongings and delivered some of them to the headquarters of the Croatian UDBA in Zagreb.
The UDBA was particularly interested in Senić’s address book, as can be seen from “Dispatch No. 291/61” by Melkior Baranović, the head of the UDBA in Zagreb at the time. The German criminal police suspected Vinko Sindičić of murder and took him into custody. However, after the intervention of employees of the German counterintelligence service BfV from Cologne, he was soon released. According to an official document, they hired a lawyer and paid bail for Vinko Sindičić.
Editorial/crimesofcommunism.net
