Victims of Our-ism

Feral Tribune, Split, Croatia, May 17 1999

The violence of black shirts at the Victims of Fascism Square could have surprised only those individuals who had recently arrived to Croatia from Mars or those who, while living in Croatia, imagine that they are living on Mars. Stones which on May 9 fell on the heads of peaceful protesters who were demanding that the square be given its original, honorable name, were actually thrown in long gone 1990 when "young democratic authorities" decided to rehabilitate an evil from the past and sweep under the carpet its victims, both past and future. All these year, Croatian authorities, otherwise highly intolerant even with respect to the idea of tolerant civic society, have demonstrated tolerance with respect to fascist and para-fascist incidents unique for the region, let alone for the "rotten western democracies". Feral's small guide through the recent Croatian past recalls approach roads on which Croatian black shirts arrived to the Victims of Fascism Square, where this year they publicly and without hindrance switched from words to action. It also indicated to what extent it is useless in this country to draw attention to the process of transition of our small spoiled domestic fascism from a ghost from the past to the spirit of the times.

The stones which on May 9 fell on the heads of peaceful protesters have been flying on the Croatian skies for nine years. All warnings that those stones must at some point fall down and that at that time there will be blood, were ignored. Is the same fate reserved for the paraphrase of von Clausewitz which states that a civil war is a continuation of politics of reconciliation with other means?

• The first congress of The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) was held in early 1990 in Zagreb concert hall "Vatroslav Lisinski". The future president of that political party in his first public speech stated that "the Independent State of Croatia [NDH] during WWII was not simply a quisling state but also an expression of historical strivings of the Croatian people".
• Somewhat later, Franjo Tudman, then already the president of the Republic of Croatia, stated that he was "glad that my wife is neither a Serb, nor a Jew".
• Immediately after the establishment of the new authorities, the president of the Republic ordered that the name of the Victims of Fascism Square in the center of the Croatian metropolis be changed. Soon in all towns and cities in Croatia, the names of streets and squares with connections to the anti-fascist struggle in WWII were erased. Together with these names, more than 3,000 of memorial sites from the Popular Liberation War were erased from the face of the Earth.
• In parallel with the changing of "unsuitable" names, a street in Split was named after Mile Budak, the Ustashe minister for propaganda and author of the motto "Dogs, beat it over the Drina river" [i.e. Serbs go to Serbia]. Soon, the example of Split was emulated by other Croatian cities and towns, so that many streets, schools, and kindergartens all over Croatia were named after Budak. Also, Budak made it to text books as a respected writer, while his fascist past is never mentioned.
• At one time high-ranking HDZ member and former minister of defense Sime Dodan - in the role of Tudman's envoy - stated at a public event that "Serbs have smaller brains and pointy heads". There was no public reaction by the authorities to this statement.
• Dr. Ivica Kostovic, a former minister of science and technology and the current head of Tudman's office announced his project of a neurological institute in a newspaper with these words: "We shall investigate criminal Serb brains".
• Former minister of defense Gojko Susak - also as an envoy of the president of Croatia - used the Nazi salute at a public event [Sinjska Alka] in 1994. There was no reaction from the authorities.
• President Tudman publicly presented his idea about "all-Croat cemetery" in Jasenovac [site of the largest non-German run concentration camp in Europe during WWII, where Croatian fascists murdered about 100,000 Serbs, Jews, Roma and Croatian anti-fascists]. According to that idea, bones of killed anti-fascists and their murders would be mixed in that cemetery. Tudman borrowed the idea from generalissimus Franco. He ordered legal prosecution of Feral's journalists and editors Viktor Ivancic and Marinko Culic because they dared criticize his idea.
• A commission for the exhumation of Croatian bones was founded within the Croatian Parliament. The goal of that commission, led by representative Vico Vukojevic is to redesign history: namely, dig up as many as possible Croats who were killed as victims of anti-fascism and minimize as much as possible the numbers of the victims of fascism.
• Every year in mid-May in Bleiburg [Austria] in the presence of highest Croatian officials and under the auspices of the Croatian Parliament, an Ustashe happening spiced up with fascist salutes and Ustashe songs takes place. At one of these gatherings, academician Dubravko Jelcic stated that "the army of NDH was not a fascist army" and that "there were more anti-fascists among the Ustashe [German and Italian allies] than among the Partisans [fought against Germans and Italians]".
• In November 1997, the Croatian parliament changed its name from Sabor Hrvatske [the Parliament of Croatia] to Hrvatski Drzavni Sabor [the State Parliament of Croats]. An institution with the same name was established in January 1942 by Ustashe leader Ante Pavelic, and the historical sources indicate that the honorable house had never before and never since been referred to under that name.
• The President of the Republic decorated former Ustashe commander of Dubrovnik Ivo Rojnica with the decoration of the Order of Prince Trpimir. During WWII Rojnica issued racial decrees and organized persecution of Serbs and Jews in Dubrovnik.
• In 1995, Dinko Sakic, a former commander of the Jasenovac concentration camp, stated for a Croatian newspaper that he would "continue today where [he] stopped in 1945" and that, if he were offered such an honor, he "would again accept the same duty". The state authorities did not do anything regarding the mentioned gentleman.
• Former president of the Croatian Parliament Nedjeljko Mihanovic stated in May 1998 that "Jasenovac was neither a resort nor a torture chamber". He backed up his claim by the discovery that the camp inmates within a drama section staged Tijardovic's opera "Mala Floramye". The same gentleman, somewhat earlier, stated about the character of NDH: "That state had some deviations, but otherwise everything was in order".
• Since 1990, in Croatia, April 10, the day of the founding of the Independent State of Croatia in WWII has been openly commemorated. On that occasion, celebrants sing fascist songs and use fascist salutes. So far no one has been arrested nor questioned.
• Every year, at the end of December a mass is held for the peaceful rest of the leader of NDH, Ante Pavelic. Catholic clergy in Croatia has not so far taken any disciplinary steps against the priests who serve those masses, Fr. Vjekoslav Lasic and don Luka Prcela.
• Ante Pavelic's portraits have adorned and still do numerous state, party, and military offices. Besides, a portrait of Pavelic has been discovered on the wall of a parish office in Vostani near Trilj.
• Facades of many Croatian towns and cities are adorned by graffiti of fascist origin which call for the murder of Yugo-nostalgics, Serbs, Jews... The worst example was recorded in 1997 on the walls of the ancient town of Trogir. The culprits were never identified and caught.
• During the war, military unit "Rafael vitez [knight] Boban" was active within 114th Brigade of the Croatian Army. Following the example of the Ustashe Black Legion, the unit wore exclusively black uniforms and used Ustashe insignia. On every April 10, the same unit proudly marched through Split and no one tried to disturb its march. The unit "Vitez [knight] Jure Francetic" [another Ustashe war criminal] was active for years in Split as well.
• On April 10 1996, in the village of Trnbusi above the town of Omis [near Split] a plaque commemorating Ambrozije Andric and Pavo Vegar, members of the so called Bugojno group, was unveiled in front of approximately 200 persons. "In the embrace of mountains and your Croatian soil, you've finally welcomed a resurrected victory," says on the plaque. Thus, with all state honors, international terrorists were promoted into national heroes.
• For several years the infamous pro-Nazi magazine Hrvatski Vjesnik [Croatian Herald] was published in Vinkovci, Croatia. This publication, in one issue after another, published the most disgusting offenses, curses and threats against Serbs, Jews and other non-Croats. The state authorities failed to prosecute the publishers of the magazine.
• Since May 1995 the weekly Hrvatsko Slovo, established by a special decree of president Tudman has been published in Croatia. This publication "for culture" has published an enviable amount of fascist and racist articles and editorials. Most memorable articles remain "Zionists" by Marko Matic and the infamous "shooting squad" editorial by Dubravko Horvatic.
• Nezavisna Drzava Hrvatska [the Independent State of Croatia or NDH], the publication of the Croatian Liberation Movement founded by the Ustashe leader Pavelic has been published in Croatia for several years. This publication can be considered as a somewhat more sophisticated heir of Hrvatski Vjesnik.
• Members of the New Croatian Right [Nova Hrvatska Desnica] led by Mladen Schwartz have recently publicly distributed fliers with the motto "Jews out of Croatia". They also put together and publicly distributed lists of Croatian citizens who should be murdered, in their opinion. For his efforts, Schwartz has been rewarded by an apartment owned by the city of Zagreb.
• Zeljko Olujic, a former Croatian state prosecutor, and today the official attorney of the ruling party and the Tudman family has published in various newspapers articles which promoted the theory that Jews were responsible for a genocide against themselves.
• The book "Protocols of the elders of Zion" has been published in Croatia in several editions. This book was highly placed for weeks on the list of best selling non-fiction books in Croatia. Croatian editions of this book-murderer as a rule include anti-Semitic forewords.
• According to the testimony from the students at the department of Croatian studies in Zagreb, former deputy minister for science and technology and the professor of philosophy Dr. Jure Zovko used to start his lectures with a Nazi salute. Apparently, Dr. Zovko has not experienced any trouble because of that.
• At the end of 1997 school year best pupils in the Fifteenth High School in Zagreb received as a gift the book "Croatian Portraits" by certain Ivan Strizic. The book is a collection of essays which celebrate the Ustashe regime and its officials and leaders. The author did not even bother to hide his fascist inspiration.