Križar: List za vjersko-prosvjetni uzgoj mladeži, br. 1.

Križar was a periodical for the high school youth of the Teachers' School in Osijek, and the first issue (January–February 1942) was published as the mouthpiece of the local branch of the Crusader Movement during the existence of the Independent State of Croatia. The Crusader Movement (Križari) was a Catholic youth organization established in 1930 after the banning of the Orlovstvo, it operated in the spirit of Catholic Action and had a strong role in the religious and educational education of Croatian youth. In the NDH, it continued its work, often in cooperation with the Ustasha regime and the Ustasha youth, emphasizing Catholic identity, Croatian patriotism and moral education.

The paper is intended for students of the Teacher's School in Osijek and represents a typical example of high school periodicals of that time — a mixture of religious texts, patriotic content, literary articles, reports on the work of the Crusader societies and pedagogical topics. As the youth organ of the local Crusader branch, it promoted the values ​​of sacrifice, the Eucharist and the apostolate, with an emphasis on the Catholic education of future teachers.

In the context of the NDH (1941–1945), such papers served to strengthen the ideological and religious unity of youth, often with anti-Serbian, anti-communist and anti-liberal overtones. Križar from Osijek testifies to the strong presence of the Crusader Movement in Slavonia and to the role of Catholic organisations in the education system of the NDH.

Today this first issue is a real rarity, interesting to researchers of Croatian Catholic periodicals, the history of education and political culture in the NDH. It represents part of a wider network of Crusader publications (e.g. the Zagreb Križar) which shaped the worldview of a part of Croatian youth during the turbulent war period. Copies are kept in national and regional archives and libraries.