Srbe na vrbe!

The slogan Srbe na vrbe! (Serbian: Србе на врбе), meaning [Hang] Serbs from the willow trees! is hate speech calling for the extermination of Serbs. The slogan was first used by the Slovenian Marko Natlačen in 1914, at the beginning of the war of Austria-Hungary against Serbia, . [ [http://www.ff.uni-lj.si/oddelki/zgodovin/DANIJELA/HISTORY/_private/20th/bozorepe.pdf Slovene History – 20th Century, selected articles by Dr. Božo Repe, Department of History of the University of Ljubljana] and [http://www.index.hr/clanak.aspx?id=218775 the petition of 120 Croatian intellectuals] ]

It was popularized before WWII by Mile Budak, the chief architect of the Ustaše ideology and of genocide against Serbs. The slogan became a reality during World War II, with hanging becoming notable in terms of symbolism — if not in scope — in the Independent State of Croatia, as part of the Holocaust and the Ustaše's persecution of the Serbs. In present-day Croatia, Croatian neo-Nazis, extreme nationalists and people who oppose return of Serbian refugees often use the slogan. Graffiti with the phrase is common, and has appeared in 2004 and 2006. [ [http://www.spc.org.yu/Vesti-2004/04/28-4-04-e01.html#usta Information Service of the Serbian Orthodox Church, April 28, 2004] ] [ [http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rsd/rsddocview.html?tbl=RSDCOI&id=43cfae9e16 Human Rights Watch World Report 2006 - Croatia - January 2006] ]

The slogan is most commonly heard shouted by Croatian and Bosniak fans at sport events involving Serbian teams, players or fans. At a game featuring Cibona vs. Partizan in 2002, most of the audience was echoing the slogan in the Dražen Petrović Basketball Hall (capacity 5,000) in Zagreb; with one side of the audience yelling "Srbe" and the other replying enthusiastically "Na vrbe!". Other similar hateful slogans were also yelled, such as "Kill the Serbs". [ [http://www.svetlost.co.yu/arhiva/2002/332/332-4.htm Nezavisna Svetlost 332 ] ] When the Croatian club NK Rijeka signed the Serbian football goalkeeper Dragan Žilić, his initial plays were troubled by groups of fans denigrating him (and Serbs in general) with the slogan and other similar chants. [ [http://www.e-rijeka.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15966&Itemid=42&PHPSESSID=5039eccf4a0a774f953d6743d43ad1a4 e-rijeka.com ] ] The club management appealed to the fans to stop this, and eventually most of the Armada (the Rijeka supporters association) decided to leave Žilić alone. As time went by, only a few vocal fans continued to insult him. The supporters of basketball club Zadar, called Tornado, have been known to use the slogan as well; particularly when their club competes in the Adriatic League. [http://www.tornado.jadran.com/stranica/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30&Itemid=29] At a qualifier for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Sarajevo the slogan was sung by Bosniak supporters.

Footnotes