- Neo-Nazism in Croatia
Neo-Nazism in Croatia, sometimes called Neo-Ustashism [
IWPR : Dragotin Hedl: [http://www.iwpr.net/?p=bcr&s=f&o=246286&apc_state=henibcr1999 Croatia's Willingness To Tolerate Fascist Legacy Worries Many] ] , is a post-World War II political movement influenced by the Ustaša, aCroatia nfar-right organization supported by the Nazis during the war.The movement has included people who were either involved with the
Independent State of Croatia (NDH) during World War II; sympathizers; and people who utilise theirsymbolism . The movement mainly arose from a combination of the residual hatred from theYugoslav wars andCroatian nationalism , and is considered thefar-right of the Croatian political spectrum.Pro-Ustaša symbols and actions have been restricted by law in Croatia since 2003. The most common venue for expressing these beliefs is
graffiti , which mostly targets ethnicSerbs .De-Ustashification
At the end of
World War II , the Communist authorities pursued a strict set of policies which could be deemed as a form ofdenazification , only more similar to the Soviet style than to the American style. People who collaborated with theUstaše were often court-martialled at the end of the war, and theBleiburg massacre was committed. After the war was over, there were trials against suspected collaborators, and secret service control over citizens with links to the Ustaše.The modern
Croatia was formed long after World War II was over, and aside from occasional exceptions, there was no desire by the Croatian political elite to associate the new country with the formerIndependent State of Croatia , or to revisit the status of Croatia as a member of the winning side of that war. While significantly more courtesy was shown to the Ustaše for their desire to make Croatia independent, they were neither rehabilitated nor explicitly banned. Most people wished to leave that part of the past behind. Subsequently, no laws were ever passed that specifically targeted the issues ofNazism orfascism .President
Franjo Tuđman , who had been a Partisan general who had fought the Ustaše, claimed that the Ustaše state was an expression of the desire of Croats to regain their independence after centuries. Such a notion could be considered true in view of Croatia's long historical struggle for independence, but does not give enough consideration to thepuppet-state status of the NDH.In the absence of a specific policy or laws against it, instances of pro-Ustaše sentiment and
hate speech were rarely sanctioned, to the dismay of the left-leaning public, as well theSerbs of Croatia who were the most common targets. Anomosity towards Serbs had a lot to do with the Yugoslav wars in which notorious Serbian Paramilitaries committed numerous massacres in Croatia.On
July 11 ,2003 , theIvica Račan coalition government passed amendments to the penal code which outlawedhate speech , in a new section titled "Praising fascist, Nazi and other totalitarian states and ideologies or promotion of racism and xenophobia". OnJune 20 ,2006 Croatian prime ministerIvo Sanader issued a message ahead of the Antifascist Struggle Day (an official holiday in Croatia), in which he rejected extremism and radicalism, and said that "antifascism was a commitment weaved into the foundations of independent, democratic Croatia". [http://www.vlada.hr/default.asp?gl=200606200000016]Croatia has no laws against
historical revisionism orHolocaust denial . This can be attributed to the change of political system, and the entire system of values as the country became independent. Revisionism was not frowned upon because priority was placed on the re-evaluation of history as recorded during the Communist era, which was therefore deemed almost implicitly tainted.Fact|date=March 2007 The re-examination of the number of victims of the Independent State of Croatia, particularly theJasenovac concentration camp , was fairly common, as well as fairly controversial.Expressions of neo-Ustashism
Since gaining independence in 1991,
Croatia has often been accused of ignoring the crimes committed by theWorld War II -era fascist Ustaša regime, and of tolerating the symbols and the activities of individuals sympathetic to that regime. This has led to criticism of Croatia, particularly amongSerbs .The primary reason for the disregard of past fascism has been a lack of priority and care taken by the Croatian public and the mainstream politics towards the issue, because numerous other issues plagued the country at the time. The late
president of Croatia ,Franjo Tuđman , was a champion of reconciliation (Croatian "pomirenje"), whereby Croats of all political views should unite against the shared threat fromSerbia . This had the effect of also bringing pro-Ustaše Croats into the fray, their philosophy and ideas no longer taboo. After the war more anti-fascist-inclined people were no longer willing to set aside political differences with the more fascist-inclined. Fact|date=November 2007In recent times, mainstream Croatian politicians, such as
Stjepan Mesić , brought more focus to anti-fascist stances and veterans groups. Remembrance ceremonies at the site ofJasenovac concentration camp resumed, with support from the highest levels of government. Fact|date=November 2007Emigration
As Croatia emerged from communism in
SFR Yugoslavia , and a multi-party system was being established, theCroatian Democratic Union ("Hrvatska demokratska zajednica", HDZ) emerged as the dominant party. Their politicians, including its presidentFranjo Tuđman , actively lobbied for the financial support of theCroatian diaspora during the late 1980s and 1990s. Some of the most prominent members of the party were former emigres, such as the lateGojko Šušak ).Some emigrants who advocated Ustaša ideas were able to freely return to Croatia in the 1990s Fact|date=May 2007, although the relatively few remaining living Ustaše were elderly and attempts to restore Ustaše iconography were generally unsuccessful. Fact|date=November 2007
Defacement of monuments
In the early 1990s, during the
Croatian War of Independence , numerousanti-fascist monuments (erected in honour of the Partisans) have been damaged or destroyed throughout the country, and these incidents were generally not censured by the authorities at all. Furthermore, the devastation of WWII partisan monuments also often extended to those erected in honour of civilian victims of war, also with little or no intervention from the police. The defacements occurred during a period when communist parties lost power in much of Eastern Europe.Fact|date=November 2007National symbols
There were some objections to the name of the internationally accepted currency of Croatia - kuna, introduced in 1994, which was also flagged for use in 1939
Banovina of Croatia established within theKingdom of Yugoslavia , and subsequently used in the NDH (1941-1945). Using the same logic, a sizeable portion of Croatian cultural heritage would also be tainted because the Ustaša misappropriated numerous national symbols.The Croatian government points to the historical continuity of the use of the kuna (marten in Croatian) on the territory of Croatia, from the use of marten skins during Roman times, the use by Croatian bans (viceroys) of a marten-adorned silver coin between 1260 and 1380, to its reappearance in 1939 for the proposed currency of the
Banovina of Croatia ( [http://www.mfa.hr/MVP.asp?pcpid=958] ).In an interview for "
Slobodna Dalmacija " ( [http://iportal.net.hr/vijesti/page/2004/09/13/0140006.html] ), the leader of the Dubrovnik branch of the CroatianHelsinki Committee for Human Rights , Dr. Zdravko Bazdan proposed renaming the currency as a "final phase of de-ustashafication". He described it as an act of urgent need for the "spiritual health of the Croatian people".Names of squares and streets
A square in the central part of
Zagreb which was named the "Square of the victims of fascism" ("Trg žrtava fašizma") because during WWII over sixteen thousand people were deported via the square to concentration camps, was during the early 1990s renamed to "Square of great Croats" ("Trg hrvatskih velikana"). This decision was later reverted in December 2000 duringMilan Bandić 's mayoralty ofZagreb .In several Croatian cities, streets were renamed after
Mile Budak , a prominent Ustaša ideologist, on the basis that he was otherwise a poet. The moves to hail Budak this way, were supported by 120 university professors, scholars, and other public figures ( [http://www.index.hr/clanak.aspx?id=219120] ). Conversely, the leftist newspaper "Feral Tribune " regularly satirized the Mile Budak streets, and its journalists explicitly criticized this trend.The renaming of streets and squares after Budak (and other Ustaša-related people) has mostly been reversed by recent governments. In 2003,
Ivo Sanader 's government decided to finally deal with the issue which resulted in renaming all the streets bearing Budak's name. In 2004, a plaque commemorating Budak's birth in the village of Sveti Rok was removed by the same authorities. Fact|date=November 2007Popular culture
In the world of
popular culture , the pop/folk/rock singerMarko Perković ("Thompson") caused a scandal when the media obtained a copy of the fascist WW2 song "Jasenovac i Gradiška Stara " apparently sung by him. Perković was reportedly not prosecuted for this due to uncertainty as to whether it was really he who sang the song. [ [http://www.index.hr/xmag/clanak/thompson-na-maksimiru-trijumf-iz-drugog-pokusaja/351246.aspx Thompson na Maksimiru: Trijumf iz drugog pokušaja - Showbiz - XMag - Index.hr ] ] [ [http://www.index.hr/clanak.aspx?id=178032 Vijesti.net - Thompson - domoljub ili fašist? Konačan odgovor je ] ] [http://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/hrvatska-mrznja/351450.aspx] [http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/01/europe/croatia.php?page=1]Perković has appeared on public television, and can still sometimes be seen on it, even though mainstream TV stations do tend to avoid him in order to avoid controversy. He has performed a few concerts that have attracted tens of thousands of people, particularly in areas that were most impacted by the
Yugoslav wars . It has been widely alleged that he achieved such large attendances with the support of right-wing political organizations who helped rally people to the concerts. He has been banned from performing inNetherlands and other states that do not allow display of Nazi symbols and celebration ofthe Holocaust , although his group (Thompson) performed at SS Cyril and Methodius Roman Catholic church inManhattan in November 2007, despite well-reported controversy, after the Archdiocese refused to order the engagement's backers to cancel the production. Fact|date=November 2007 Thompson himself has denied he has anything to do with Nazism numerous times.Thompson calls the campaign against him cheap propaganda. He calls himself a proud Croatian.. [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3Jbb3EKoKk - Thompson: I am not a Nazi! ] ]War of Independence
When Croatia began its portion of dissociation from
SFRY in the 1990s, there was widespread and growing antagonism between theCroats and theSerbs . The Croatian-Serbian animosity during theYugoslav wars has been viewed as an Ustaša-Chetnik rivalry. Fact|date=March 2007 To some extent, it is a consequence of wartimepropaganda , in the course of which such moralistic debasement is common. Among the organizations formed during wartime which were most commonly associated with neo-Ustashism was theCroatian Defence Forces ("Hrvatske Obrambene Snage", HOS), which emerged as the de facto paramilitary wing of theCroatian Party of Rights . Their symbols included dressing in black (reminiscent ofblackshirts to Serbs) and using the phrase "Za dom spremni".With respect to processing war crimes, both in WWII and in the Croatian war of independence, the Croatian Government has had a rather spotty record for processing those committed by Croats. Fact|date=November 2007 Pressure from the
European Union has helped rectify this in recent times. In 1999, Croatia extraditedDinko Šakić fromArgentina , one of the commanders of the Jasenovac concentration camp, and he was subsequently tried and sentenced to 20 years in prison.The highest penalty under Croatian law.Croatia has been cooperating with the ICTY in the legal prosecution of all war criminals, which has included Croatian officers. Fact|date=November 2007Nationalism and neo-Ustashism in mainstream politics
The conservative parties such as the
Croatian Party of Rights and theCroatian Democratic Union permeated in their support for heightened nationalism; particularly in the latter, which had a large membership and voter base, it was unclear whether actions of party members were part of actual party policy or result of factioning. Fact|date=November 2007Parties like the
Croatian Party of Rights which are most commonly associated with Ustašism generally aren't able to attract support from more than a few percent of the population. Fact|date=November 2007 In recent times, the Party's image of "pro-Ustaša" was repetitively shunned by its leaders in an attempt to sway more votes. Fact|date=November 2007 Neo-fascist symbols are by and large paired with nationalist ones. In recent protests, supporters ofAnte Gotovina and other suspected war criminals sometimes carried nationalist symbols together with pictures ofAnte Pavelić .This kind of conflation sometimes produces bizarre inconsistencies, as shown at picture on the right: at the time when the
ICTY wanted Croatian generalJanko Bobetko , the right-wing part of the public was adamant in its demands to prevent that, and some extremist painted graffiti saying so, together with neo-fascist symbols. At the same time, Bobetko was quite clearly not a neo-fascist himself, because his family was killed by the Ustaše Fact|date=November 2007, and he fought against them as part of theFirst Sisak Partisan Brigade .Catholic clergy
Controversy was caused on June 2008 when Croatian military bishop
Juraj Jezerinac recitated a song ofMarko Perković Thompson , the controversial singer mentioned above, during a sermon in a church inVukovar . [ [http://www.slobodnadalmacija.hr/Hrvatska/tabid/66/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/12498/Default.aspx Državni vrh protiv fašizma, Crkva protiv podaništva > Slobodna Dalmacija > Hrvatska ] ] The song contained also the NDH motto "Za dom Spremni ". [ [http://www.bljesak.info/content/view/12187/159/ Bljesak.info - Biskup Jezerinac na misi recitirao Thompsona ] ]Simon Wiesenthal Center directorEfraim Zuroff complained to the Croatian presidentStjepan Mesić about the funeral ofDinko Šakić , one of the leaders of the army of the Independent State of Croatia, who died on July 2008. At that funeral, Croatian Dominican priest paterVjekoslav Lasić held a speech in which he said that "the court that indicted Dinko Šakić indicted Croatia and Croatians", and that "every Croat should be proud of Šakić's name". [ [http://www.nacional.hr/articles/view/47685/2/ Zuroff Mesiću: Osudite organizatore Šakićevog sprovoda (Dnevne vijesti) – NACIONAL ] ]erbophobia
There are instances of explicit anti-Serb hate speech: the phrase "
Srbe na vrbe! " (meaning "hang Serbs on the willow trees!") frequently appears ingraffiti and as slogans of Croatian football hooligans.Ultranationalist Croats use to shout the slogan "Kill the Serb" frequently during public events.Fact|date=May 2008 According to some Croatian media, a group of youths chanted this during a concert by
Marko Perković Thompson . [ [http://dnevnik.hr/bin/article.php?article_id=48080&page=5&p_all_items=44 60 tisuća ljudi po nevremenu dočekalo Thompsona, vikalo se i 'Ubij, ubij Srbina!' - Dnevnik.hr ] ] [ [http://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/thompson-pozdravio-norca-rulja-uzvikivala-ubij-srbina/388987.aspx Vijesti.net - Thompson pozdravio Norca, rulja uzvikivala "Ubij Srbina!" ] ]ports
Some Croatian football supporters or other sports fans regularly display
Ustaše symbols. In 2007, Croatian football fans formed the letter U in a stadium during a match in Bosnia. [ [http://fildzan.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1651&Itemid=32 www.fildzan.info - Koševo: Navijači Hrvatske formirali "U" ] ]In October 2007, the Croatian newspaper
Slobodna Dalmacija reported thatNK Imotski 's official clothing items featured Ustaša-related symbols (The letter U and theIndependent State of Croatia -resembling coat of arms inside the letter. That was, in fact, the logo of the club's leading sponsor, the edile company gUj (meaning "Gojko Und Jure"). Some historians and critics claim the symbols display is an open praising of the Ustaše. [ [http://www.jutarnji.hr/dogadjaji_dana/clanak/art-2007,10,28,imotski_U,95909.jl Imotski nogometaši nose na dresovima ustaško znakovlje - Jutarnji.hr ] ] The club's president, Nediljko Tolo, said: "As long as the sponsor finances our club, we will carry those symbols on our dresses". [ [http://www.slobodnadalmacija.hr/20071028/novosti02.asp Slobodna Dalmacija ] ]In early November 2007, the Croatian Second League Association announced that
NK Imotski violatedFIFA ,Croatian Football Federation rules and laws of theRepublic of Croatia . NK Imotski had to end a sponsorship deal with gUj until the company changes its logo. NK Imotski had to find new uniforms for the players and remove all gUj advertisements around the stadium. [ [http://dnevnik.hr/naslovnica/vijesti/hrvatska/20071101_29476.php NK Imotski s 'ustaškim' majicama prekršio zakon - Dnevnik.hr ] ]In November 2007, it was reported that members of the
Hajduk Split supporters' group,Torcida Split , were wearing blackT-shirt s featuring the words "Hajduk jugend" (alluding to Hitlerjugend) in Fraktur and aneagle atop Hajduk's logo (resembling a Nazi Party symbol). The T-shirts were also being sold on Torcida's website. Stipe Lekić, the secretary of Torcida said to reporters that "Torcida has always been leaning to the right", but rejecting accusations that the T-shirts have connections withNazism . He said that he was wearing the T-shirt because he liked the symbols. [ [http://www.jutarnji.hr/dogadjaji_dana/clanak/art-2007,11,2,torcida_nacizam,96530.jl Torcida blati Split nacističkim orlom - Jutarnji.hr ] ] [ [http://www.torcida.org/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=848&Itemid=134 partnersuche travel media shopping computers at torcida.org ] ]Also in November 2007, a
Swastika appeared onOsijek 'sGradski vrt football field, together with the slogan "Play, fags!". That was, reportedly done before the match with Međimurje.NK Osijek 's and their Kohorta fan association condemned the acts. [ [http://www.net.hr/sport/page/2007/11/06/0623006.html Net.hr ] ]Footnotes
External links
* [http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/01/europe/croatia.php A Croatian rock star flirts with Nazi past] , July 1, 2007, International Herald Tribune
* [http://www.iwpr.net/?p=bcr&s=f&o=246286&apc_state=henibcr1999 "Croatia's Willingness To Tolerate Fascist Legacy Worries Many"]
* [http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/news/opendoc.htm?tbl=NEWS&id=42f38b084&page=news "Home again, 10 years after Croatia's Operation Storm"]
* [http://www.novilist.hr/Default.asp?WCI=Rubrike&WCU=286028632859285A2863285A28582858285C286328962897289E286328632859285A28592861285C286028632863286328582863W Article detailing an example of a man from Zadar carrying Ustasa symbols]
* [http://www.index.hr/clanak.aspx?id=301266 Tabloid article reporting the alleged playing of an Ustasha song during the interval of a club (European) volleyball match]
* [http://www.novilist.hr/default.asp?WCI=Pretrazivac&WCU=285A28582863285D2863285A28582858285E2863286328632859285A28592860285A286028632863286328592863R Article on war veterans march in Zadar with some participants sporting Ustasha memoriabilia ]
* [http://www.novilist.hr/default.asp?WCI=Pretrazivac&WCU=285A285C2863285D2863285A28582858285E2863286328632859285F2859285F2861285828632863286328592863V Tabloid article reporting the sale of Ustasha memoriabilia in Zadar]
* [http://www.vaticanbankclaims.com "Link to information about the ongoing lawsuit to recover the Ustasha treasury and post war money laundering by the Ustasha]
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