Indoctrinate children early and they could be ideological slaves forever. These are covers from the 1940s for the Croatian Ustaša — Croatian Revolutionary Movement — magazine for children. Not unlike a scouting magazine in democratic countries, they are designed to sell the allure of authoritarianism. The ideology of the movement was a blend of fascism, Nazism, Croatian ultranationalism, and Roman Catholic Clericalist Fundamentalism. The Ustaše supported the creation of a Greater Croatia and fought for a racially cleansed Croatia, promoting genocide against Serbs, Jews and Roma people.
The word ustaša (plural: ustaše) is variation of the word ustanik, derived from the verb ustati (meaning rise up).
The youth organization of the Ustasha Movement formed on 4 November 1941. The Ustaška Uzdanica (Utasha Trust) was divided separately for male and separately for female — covered age 7 to 11 — in primary schools produced the magazines shown here.
(Thanks to Mirko Ilic)
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