"In prison."
"Who put dad in prison?"
"The reds, communists..."
This dialog was recorded by a diligent reporter of Slobodna Dalmacija. The dialog was between Mladen Rogic from the village of Vrana near Biograd and his three years old son. Three days earlier Mladen Rogic was taken into custody by the police in Zagreb - where he had gone to protest against the summit, Kostunica, or something like that - because he was wearing a cap with the letter "U" sewn on it. A few hours later he was released, and the judge fined him 579 kunas. Slobodna published Rogic's heartbreaking confession under this headline: "I was Taken into Custody by 40 Policemen Because of Letter 'U'!"
Who arrested dad? "The reds, communists...", said three-years-old Lovre. According to the reporter he had " already been taught to recognize permanent political enemies".
In the same issue, Slobodna published a report from the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of service of reverend Frane Franic, the archbishop in peace. This 88-years-old man shares the respected opinion of three-years-old Lovre. The new government, said Lovric, undoubtedly wants to be democratic, but that's not very useful, if "the most influential people cannot give up their Marx". The honored bishop, while tears soaked his cloak, then emphasized the magnificent historical role of the first Croatian president, Franjo Tudjman, the role that is today cruelly and unjustly diminished by the servants of Satan. Who buried dad? "The reds, communists...", answers three-years-old Lovre through the mouth of the eighty-eight-years-old Catholic clergyman.
It has been said that the letter "U" had never glittered on the pink cap of reverent Franic. He has been carrying it in his heart, as befitting the God-fearing servants of the Word of God, but he did not allow it to stay suppressed in terms of symbols. Two years ago, for example, he vehemently defended Ivo Rojnica, the former Ustasha official in Dubrovnik, known by the fact that he signed racial orders - such as curfews for Jews and Serbs, or orders to deliver their radios to the headquarters. He asked Tudjman's government to protect Rojnica from the attacks by the "red" heretics, those who "cannot give up their Marx", and to pay him a deserved recognition. Besides spiritual, this support also had its material side: "When we finally, after twenty years of asking, received permission to build the Saint Peter's Cathedral in Split, my friend, Ivo Rojnica reached deeply into his pocket and gave me $50,000... Because of this I think that Ivo Rojnica deserves a medal from the Croatian Government." And really, Rojnica was given a medal, while the spiritual supporter murmured his prayer and squeezed a rosary in his deep pocket.
Mladen Rogic, on the other hand, put his "U" on the cap. The misunderstanding under that cap is completely real, and it symbolizes much more than his private chaos. "I fought for five years in the Homeland War under that cap", said Rogic. "I was the commander of this narrowest free area of Croatia for 22 months. They didn't mind the cap while I was fighting. Today, after five years they arrested me and fined me 579 kunas!"
Of course that Mladen Rogic is right. He fought, even commanded for years under this fascist symbol, and if someone doesn't believe that the fight was pure, almost antifascist, he should read the Declaration on the Homeland War recently adopted by the Croatian Parliament, including those that "cannot give up their Marx". Or he should take a walk through Slunj and check out whether a monument to Jure Francetic, erected under the new government, and undisputed by any judge still stands there.
On the other hand, what is 579 kunas compared to $50.000 in the safe of reverend Franic? The only thing relevant for the Croatian future is three-years-old Lovre, intellectual colleague of the archbishop Franic, who is "taught to recognize permanent political enemies".
There is no doubt that the sacrifice made by Mladen Rogic - the first man in the independent and sovereign Croatia fined for wearing a fascist symbol - will find its place in our prayers, that his sacrifice will be cherished and polished like a convent relict, and that his head will soon be decorated with a halo of a national martyr.
The fine given to Rogic is legal, because the letter "U" is illegal and forbidden, said the reporter of Slobodna Dalmacija, "though it is ridiculous that police and a judge in the 21st century have the will and need to look who is wearing what insignia on their caps".
Yes, that is really ridiculous. Especially as this is already the 21st century. Actually, it is so ridiculous that the revolution workers such as Mladen Rogic deserve all due respect. They deserve hats off.