entered Zagreb later that same day and were greeted by cheering crowds. Before the war the Ustaše were a fascist, ultranationalist, racist and terrorist organization, fighting for an independent Croatia. Ustaše terrorists set off bombs on international trains bound for Yugoslavia, and were convicted in the 1934 assassination of the Yugoslav King and French foreign Minister in Marseilles. Ante Pavelić, Kvaternik and other Ustaše leaders were sentenced to death in absentia by French courts, as the true assassination ringleaders. The Ustaše "17 Principles" proclaimed that those who were not "of Croat blood" (i.e. Serbs and Jews), will not have any political role in the future Croat state. In his 1936 tract, "The Croat Question", the Ustaše leader, Pavelić, spouted anti-Serb and anti-Semitic hatred, calling Jews the enemy of the Croat people. On 12 April, Stepinac visited Kvaternik and pledged his loyalty to the NDH. The following day, when the Ustaše leader Ante Pavelić arrived in Zagreb, Stepinac did not participate in the welcome, but he did visit Pavelić on 16 April. These meetings and a radio broadcast all occurred prior to the capitulation of the Yugoslav armed forces on 17 April. That evening, Stepinac hosted a dinner party for Pavelić and the leading Ustaše. On 27 April, Stepinac recorded in his diary that Pavelić assured him he will act per the Catholic Church's desires, and that Pavelić stated he will “exterminate” the Old Catholic Church (which rejects Papal authority) and will not be tolerant of the Serbian Orthodox Church, because it was not the Church for him, but a political organization. Based on this Stepinac concluded in his diary that Pavelic is "a sincere Catholic and that the Church would enjoy freedom to carry out its work", although he recognised that difficulties lay ahead. On the same day, the official Croatian Catholic newspaper Nedelja praised both Pavelić and Hitler, saying: God, who directs the destiny of nations and controls the hearts of kings, has given us Ante Pavelić and moved the leader of friendly and allied people, Adolf Hitler, to use his victorious troops to disperse our oppressors and enable us to create an Independent State of Croatia. Glory be to God, our gratitude to Adolf Hitler, and infinite loyalty to our Poglavnik, Ante Pavelić. Immediately the Ustaše implemented draconian decrees specifying death as the sole penalty for those who attempt to act against the regime (April 17), opened the