In 1940 he became a corresponding member of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts (JAZU) and his works were featured in the 1940 documentary film "Croatian Sculptors" (German title: "Bilhauerkunst in Kroatien") filmed by Oktavijan Miletić. During the war Augustinčić remained active and was commissioned to sculpt a bust of the Croatian "Poglavnik" Ante Pavelić. In 1943, he defected to the Yugoslav Partisans' movement and the same year made the bust of Josip Broz Tito in Jajce. In 1946 Augustinčić became a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, and after the war he was made a member of the People's Assembly.