Mijo Babià(1 September 1903 â 3 July 1941), also known as Mijo Kralj, nicknamed Giovanni, was a deputy of the Croatian fascist dictator Ante PaveliÃÂ, and the first commander of all concentration camps in the Independent State of Croatia. He was head of the Third Bureau of the Ustasha Surveillance Service (), and was also a member of the main Ustaà ¡e headquarters, one of the two main deputies of PaveliÃÂ.
On 22 March 1929, BabiÃÂ, Zvonimir Pospià ¡il, Marko HraniloviÃÂ, Matija Soldin murdered Toni à  legel, the chief editor of Novosti and president of Jugoslovenska à ¡tampa, in Zagreb. At that time, Babiàwas a chauffeur for the Siemens plant in Zagreb and, according to official reports, he murdered one and wounded another of the policemen who came to arrest him, and managed to escape. The order to kill à  legel came from PaveliÃÂ, who suspected that he was an informant. Publicly, he maintained that the murder had been committed by assassins from Belgrade. Hraniloviàand Soldin were both arrested, convicted of murder, and executed by hanging. Stjepan Javor, the leader of the Croatian Rights Youth, the nationalist organization in which the assassins were members was sentenced to 20 years in prison; he died in prison in 1936. Following their arrests, a number of terrorist attacks took place in Zagreb, including an incident in which a police station was bombed.
BabiÃÂ fled to Italy where he stayed until Yugoslavias entry into World War II. Italian police considered BabiÃÂ a very dangerous man who was capable of the worst crimes.
While he was in Italy, the Ustaà ¡e spent years planning for a genocidal campaign in their native country and trained a small band of followers for a takeover. As early as 1932, BabiÃÂ, as one of the propagandists of PaveliÃÂ, had written: Babiàbecame one of PaveliÃÂ's most trusted confidantes. During their exile in Lipari, he killed twenty men suspected of being disloyal to the Ustaà ¡e leader. In January 1938, the Italian authorities intercepted a letter addressed to Paveliàfrom Babiàand Ljubomir Kremzir outlining a plan to secretly return to Yugoslavia and carry out various terrorist attacksâÂÂincluding the assassinations of prime minister Milan Stojadinoviàand prince regent PaulâÂÂwith the aim to "trigger the revolution in Croatia".
Babiàparticipated in preparations for the establishment of Danica concentration camp. At the end of May or beginning of June 1941, he went to Pag island, based on the order of Andrija ArtukoviÃÂ, where he established Slana concentration camp. Babiàalso organized the Kruà ¡ÃÂica concentration camp near Travnik.
Babiàhad an important role in the Blagaj massacre on 9 May 1941. Against PaveliÃÂs order, Babiàbrought several trucks of Ustaà ¡e from Zagreb to massacre 520 Serb peasants in the region of Kordun, where they had lived together with Croats for many centuries.
Organized by BabiÃÂ, Ivo HerenÃÂiÃÂ, Jure Francetiàand other Ustaà ¡e officers, killings of Serbs were extensive in eastern Herzegovina.
In June 1941, Babiàand a group of Ustaà ¡e officers, on the orders of Andrija ArtukoviÃÂ, went to Herzegovina to organize killings of its Serb population. On 16 or 17 June 1941, Babiàcame to ÃÂapljina. He and other Ustaà ¡e commanders had been instructed to suppress rebellions and undertake the complete extermination of the Serb population of the region and settle people from other parts who would be loyal to the Ustaà ¡e movement.
Babiàand a group of Ustaà ¡e officers were organizing a struggle against rebels during the June 1941 uprising in eastern Herzegovina.
According to Vladimir Dedijer, Babiàwas killed by a rebel unit commanded by Dukica Graovac. BabiÃÂ's machine gun, a present from Ante PaveliÃÂ, was first taken by Vlado à  egrt and later by Spira SrzentiÃÂ. Babiàheld the rank of Major at the time of his death. His body was transported through Sarajevo to Zagreb where Paveliàordered eight days of mourning for members of his Bodyguard Battalion. Following his demise, a newspaper in Croatia dedicated a whole page to coverage of BabiÃÂ's "heroic" death battling against "Serbian Chetniks".