Zorica Greguric – Croatia, the War, and the Future

Victims Of Post-WWII Communist Crimes Remembered At Jasenovac

May 2, 2017 by inavukic 14 Comments

Some of the participants
at Jasenovac 1st May 2017
commemorating post-WWII
victims of communist crimes at Jasenovac
Photo: Oskar Sarunic

In October 1917, the Bolshevik Revolution gave birth to the deadliest ideology in human history – Communism. That disease spread like wildfire. To date Communism has claimed more than 100 million lives worldwide and to quote Nigel Jones : “The 20th century witnessed death and slaughter on an unprecedented scale…Josip Broz Tito’s (described as belonging to the top 20 mass murderers of the 20th century) communist regime murdered some 570,000 political opponents…” and this figure does not account for family members, women and children that stack up a murderous toll. According to the world renowned academic and scientist R.J. Rummel, the democide committed by Tito’s communist regime after WWII amounts to 1,380,000 people (with the population of around 18 million at the time this figure is staggering).

Croat victims make up more than 500,000 within this number.

A free and independent Croatia cannot afford to forget the evils of Communism even if its former communists and todays so-called antifascists fiercely disagree. Tito’s atrocities cannot be allowed to fade into the background of history. The trail of blood and tears this utopian deception has left behind must not be forgotten.

It is a great moral failing that so many do not know the extent of Communism’s atrocities and an even greater moral failing that so many do their utmost to uphold and spread that moral failing. All the numerous commemorations held at hundreds of mass graves and pits filled with hundreds of thousands of victims of communist crimes have not moved Croatia’s authorities to seriously pursue condemnation and prosecution of these crimes; it’s as though the victims of communist crimes do not deserve the same dignity of justice offered to the victims of the Holocaust.

An atrocity of its own kind!

And so, to commemorate the victims of post-WWII communist crimes in Croatia at the same site where the gigantic flower-shaped monument to victims of what is known as the Holocaust – Jasenovac – would be an event that, sadly, makes many people turn the other way, shaking their heads in disapproval. The same denial is found in all former communist countries of Europe. One might well ask but why such cruelty (?) – victims are victims and all deserve the dignity of respect and remembrance.

Numerous academic works and historical facts point to the reality that Jasenovac camp was kept in “working order” by communist Yugoslavia authorities for the purposes of purging the Croats (and others) until 1952. Attempts to dig up the grounds around Jasenovac WWII campsite with view to researching the truth about the identity of victims’ remains have fallen on deaf ears repeatedly, or better said – hit the wall of resistance to the truth. In recent years there have been numerous fierce discussions about the future historical and cultural memory of the expanded Europe. The most controversially discussed areas were those pertaining to the history of formerly communist-ruled countries. Conflicts about memories and memorialisation were primarily ignited by the differing national perceptions of historical events and the evaluation of these events in the 20th century. The discussions focused on those states in which the assessment and treatment of national-socialist and communist crimes did not accord with the expectations and standards, which had developed over the previous decades in Western Europe, particularly in the Federal Republic of Germany.

The point was, and is, not merely which historical events should be remembered and how they will be, or rather should be, commemorated. How these historical events should be perceived and how they should be integrated into the respective national or transnational historical narratives were likewise a matter of heated debate. Discussions focused on the status accorded to particular historical events, their representation and memorialisation, compared to other historical events. The prominence given to the memorialisation of national-socialist crimes was/is hotly debated.

These discussions focus on the memorial cultures which have begun to develop in the formerly Soviet-dominated post-socialist nations of Central and Eastern Europe – nations which, during the course of the 20th century, were the site of crimes committed by those two big totalitarian systems: national-socialism and communism. In Croatia, bar few courageous individuals, the discussion regarding communist crimes is nowhere near to what they publically are in countries of Eastern Europe, and one cannot err in concluding that the fake antifascists, communist at heart, are responsible for such an atrocity against humanity that is reflected in a planned path of erasing a nation’s memory of those terrible communist crimes. The antifascists pursue that the authoritarian, repressive communist regime, which persecuted persons or groups for political, religious and/or ethnic reasons, would recede from view behind these memories.

But one fact and truth remain: memorialisation of events serves to promote the identity of a nation and is accompanied by a comprehensive externalisation of moral guilt and responsibility. In this lies the absolute responsibility and duty of today’s Croatia to face its past demons of communism and its crimes head on.

To some, an event that was organised Monday 1st May at Jasenovac may appear relatively insignificant in the grand scheme of things happening or not happening in Croatia regarding holding the nation’s attention focused on communist crimes.

But make no mistake – the event is significant!

It was as recent as late April when Jasenovac saw three separate commemorative gatherings to honour the victims of WWII Holocaust. The victims of communist crimes whose remains also lie buried in that soil were completely forgotten, ignored and denied. And so, on 1st May a special commemoration was held at Jasenovac for the victims of communist crimes at that very site. Croatian government, sadly and in line with its political and practical reluctance to determinedly address the issues pertaining to communist crimes, played no part in this neither did the opposition – out of the same reasons as the government’s.

The 1st May event in Jasenovac was held to commemorate all the victims that fell in Jasenovac by the partisan and communist hand after the end of WWII, i.e., after 1945. Present at the commemoration were Zeljko Glasnovic, independent member of Croatian parliament, Bozidar Alic, Croatian people’s tribune, Zorica Greguric, president of Association of Zagreb veterans in the 1990’s battle for Vukovar, Mirna Zakman Sunic, a political prisoner in communist prisons, Stipo Pilic, a historian, dr. Tomislav Sunic, writer, translator and former university professor in the USA, Zeljko Koroman, president of state-building forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, representatives of Pure Croatian Party of Right from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ivan Pandza, former president of HVIDR (community of Croatian army Homeland War invalids), and others.

Prayers, the laying down of flowers and the lighting of candles for all the innocent victims murdered there in Jasenovac: Croats, Germans, Roma, Jews and Serbs, along with speeches and a cultural performance were the order of the day in Jasenovac on 1st May. This is hopefully the first of such events at Jasenovac where all the victims – those that perished during WWII and those that perished after it – are commemorated and their dignity uplifted there where it should be. Victims of communist crimes are thus bestowed the place in the terrible history that is rightly theirs – a place in lasting memory. Ina Vukic

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Bozidar Alic, communist crimes, Croatia, Ivan Pandza, Jaenovac post WWII communist crimes victims, Jasenovac, Mirna Zakman Sunic, Stipo Pilic, Tom Sunic, Zeljko Glasnovic, Zeljko Koroman, Zorica Greguric

George Soros’s Democracy Wrecking Ball In Croatia – Condemned!

February 15, 2017 by inavukic 43 Comments

Croatian National Ethics Tribunal
Saturday 11 February 2017
Photo: Oscar Sarunic

In July 2016 the globally influential financial analysts Zerohedge claimed George Soros “singlehandedly created the European refugee crisis”; Breitbart news said Soros’s funding of Black Lives Matter was part of an agenda to swing the US presidential election; and popular US radio host Alex Jones says “Soros is behind the Muslim takeover of the West”. In August 2016, hackers thought to be linked to the Russian government found thousands of documents from Soros’s foundation’s servers and put them online, the year prior to that Russian state prosecutor found that Soros’ Open Society fund was not desirable in Russia because it reportedly represented a threat to the national security and constitutional order in Russia. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban has recently ousted all Soros’ non-government organisations because, it was said, they serve global capitalism and are seeking political correctness at the expense of national interests. US President Donald Trump has accused Soros of being part of “a global power structure that is responsible for the economic decisions that have robbed our working class, stripped our country of its wealth and put that money into the pockets of a handful of large corporations and political entities.”

George Soros
Photo: Bloomberg NE WP

As the world turns to the right more and more, Soros and his Open Society network of organisations are increasingly under the watchful eyes of political and economic analysts with view to unraveling the complex mesh of damage it has done particularly to the transition into democracy and independence in former communist countries. We remember – he was credited with goals to help countries transition into democracy from communism, but it appears that was a sinister mask and disguise. As the analyses and moves to distance Soros from influencing non-government organisations with money it is to be expected that all moves of such distancing will be attributed to some hatred or conspiracy theories by the left. But the fact remains that the conservative side of politics has “smelled a rat” in Soros’ operations and the rat is real!

And so, there are a series of reasons why Croatia still, after a quarter of a century since it began its path to democracy and independence, suffers chokingly from communist mindset and habits. While the high-profile politicians on the left (former communists of Yugoslavia) received a great deal of attention in Croatia as it proceeded to secede from Yugoslavia, get rid of communism and develop a full democracy mirrored on Western democracy, people tend to forget that they were only able to push and maintain their anti-Croatian national agenda because the society had money injected into it to do so. One of the major sources for that money: radical leftist billionaire George Soros, who is single-handedly funding many of the left’s projects that concentrated on a good part of civil society playing a part in stifling the transition from communism. He has also wielded influence upon Croatian governments to fund organisations that push his agenda.

George Soros, the ardent supporter under whose patronage grew pro-liberal associations and societies in the post-communist countries of Eastern Europe; his so-called Open Society operates in over 50 countries throughout the world, by rule and no exception its impetus is on destruction and the weakening of the conservative or the patriotic side of politics. Soros is said to come from an anti-Semitic Jewish family. “My mother was quite anti-Semitic, and ashamed of being Jewish,” Soros said in an interview with The New Yorker (2010). “Given the culture in which one lived, being Jewish was a clear-cut stigma, disadvantage, a handicap-and, therefore, there was always the desire to transcend it, to escape it.” Soros later said in an interview with US 60 Minutes’ Steve Kroft that he did not feel any remorse “about confiscating property from Jews as a teenager.” No wonder all the former communists or their supporters love Soros in Croatia – many still live in WWII and post-WWII confiscated/nationalised properties.

George Soros, or better said – his money, has been present in Croatia since 1993, when he (mainly due to the support he received from Croatia’s two former presidents, anti-Tudjman operators, anti Croatian independence operators, Stjepan Mesic and Ivo Josipovic) founded his Open Society branch there, under the guise that it’s important “to study the ways in which the existing system would push through so that it may be possible to act from within.” He had said that his goal was to topple “Franjo Tudjman’s dictatorship!” As years passed many associations and organisations were founded as part of civil society of non-government organisations. According to Kamenjar portal, out of 1400 associations formed in Croatia the strongest ones among them were the ones in the business of acting against the sovereignty of Croatia: Croatian Open Society, Croatian Helsinki Committee, Croatian Legal Centre, Centre for Peace Studies, GONG, B.A.B.E., Rekom, Platforma 112, Documenta (leader of which, Vesna Terselic, was personally ethically convicted by the Croatian National Ethics Tribunal for treason).

Prof. Zvonimir Separovic
President Croatian National Ethics Tribunal
Saturday 11 February 2017
Photo: Oskar Sarunic

“In the literary sense of the word they are destroyers. The are the opponents of the sovereignty of the Croatian state,” said Prof. Zvonimir Separovic, president of the Croatian National Ethics Tribunal in his summation on Saturday 11 February 2017, emphasising and paraphrasing Blessed Alojzije Stepinac that enormous effort is needed in order to sustain our sensitive, vulnerable Croatia and the lasting victim that Croatian people are. He added that Stepinac himself was a victim. Established in 2014 the Croatian National Ethics Tribunal is made up of distinguished Croatian intellectuals whose aim is and has been to examine ethically the behaviour of individuals and the operations of some institutions.

On Saturday 11 February 2017 the Croatian National Ethics Tribunal (members: Zvonimir Separovic, Nikola Debelic, Josip Pecaric, Josip Jurcevic, Nevenka Nekic, Zorica Greguric and Zdravko Tomac) held its public meeting in Zagreb at which George Soros was declared persona non grata. In its conclusions the Tribunal said the following:

1. Ban George Soros’ and his organisations’ work in Croatia and declare George Soros a persona non grata in Croatia.
2. We need to examine the financing of the civil society in Croatia and place under strict control all form of financial assistance from abroad.
3. We propose to the government of Croatia and to the Croatian Parliament to pass a law on control of financing of non-government organisations, along with banning finances from overseas if the organisations are used for subversive aims against Croatia’s sovereignty and interests.
4. The meeting especially emphasised that it was essential to: condemn practices of hatred against Croatia especially in the media, to prevent the implementation of (Serbia’s) SANU Memoranum II that has the aim of destabilising Croatia, to protect the dignity of supreme authorities, Church and values in Croatia, to condemn corruption in Croatia, e.g. at HAVC (Croatian Audiovisual Centre), to protect our citizens before the court in the Hague.
Well done Croatian National Ethics Tribunal and keeping pressing on! Ina Vukic

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Alojzije Stepinac, Croatia, Croatian National Ethics Tribunal, Franjo Tudjman, George Soros, George Soros persona non grata, Josip Jurcevic, Josip Pecaric, Nevenka Nekic, Nikola Debelic, Zdravko Tomac, Zorica Greguric, Zvonimir Separovic

Croatia – New Government Appointments Disappoint Masses

October 19, 2016 by inavukic 32 Comments

From left:
Nina Obuljen, Andrej Plenkovic and Zlatko Hasanbegovic
Photo: Hanza Media

We live in times when more often than not we find ourselves among the ever increasing number of people that are dissatisfied with the make-up of their government cabinet or choice of ministers. More often than not there is a huge gap or shortfall between peoples’ expectations of government and what government delivers. Trust in government has been declining fast and certainly gives no room for a new Prime Minister to make steps that are bound to stir up a whole new round of public disappointment and outcries that in many ways make the work of the government more difficult than what it should be.

I stand deeply disappointed and sad in fact, that Croatia’s Prime Minister designate Andrej Plenkovic has in the evening of Tuesday 18 October 2016 announced that Dr Zlatko Hasanbegovic will not serve as minister in his new government but instead, the culture portfolio is given to woman who has been the subject of alarming scandals over past weeks – Nina Obuljen Korzinek – who as member of the Croatian Audiovisual Centre’s management board is said to have been instrumental during the recent past in permitting and supporting the production and the distribution of anti-Croatian films that, according to many, muddy the name and the reputation of the Croatian Homeland War.

From Left: Zeljko Glasnovic and Zorica Greguric
Protesting new government appointments
Photo: Robert Anic/ Pixsell

General Zeljko Glasnovic, member of parliament, has along with Croatian volunteer war veteran Zorica Greguric already protested against this choice for minister Plenkovic has made. “Croatia is morally and economically on its knees, especially culturally on its knees because a ‘cultural Leninist’ is leading her,” stated Glasnovic in Zagreb Croatia.

Governments have traditionally been organised to administer, not to foster and enable. But if increasingly complex challenges call for the government to become an enabler, then it needs to be able to push forward with policy, not just deal with pushback. When it comes to Plenkovic it would seem he has missed the heeding of the former New York mayor, Michael Bloomberg’s famous words “In God we trust, everyone else, bring data“, who reiterated through his work those famous words initially attributed to W. Edwards Deming, the father of modern quality management. Bloomberg’s data-driven rationalism reduced crime and allocated resources more efficiently to those who needed them. But data can also be used to rationalise decisions and get public on side. Evidently, even if Plenkovic had data regarding the public’s opinion about Hasanbegovic and about Obuljen, and if Plenkovic had respect and acknowledgement of the data regarding the ceaseless public outcries regarding the lack of adequate attention towards victims of communist crimes, that is a burning divisive issue needing resolution so that Croatia can move on into a better future, then he would not have named a person as minister of culture whose nomination automatically creates bad blood across the very society he says his government will unify or work for towards betterment.

Perhaps Hasanbegovic’s widespread popularity was becoming personally threatening for Plenkovic? Whatever it was that helped him make this decision regarding his new culture minister must be removed from his mindset for it does not appear right. If he was intent on nominating another person instead of Hasanbegovic then, knowing that false allegations against Hasanbegovic to do with alleged neo-fascism or revisionism resurfacing in Croatia, he had the duty to install such a person into that ministry whose very nomination would assist the government in quashing the complex reputation challenges these allegations have brought to the Croatian nation as a whole. But then again, Andrej Plenkovic is no Michael Bloomberg or W. Edwards Deming – sadly. But, there is always time to put ones pride aside and change ones decision even if one is a Prime Minister.

Not a good start for Andrej Plenkovic as Prime Minister even if he may insist on justifying or explaining his decision with the enthusiasm new, fresh faces bring – he would fail miserably in showing that any new, fresh faces must bring novelty and freshness with them – not create bigger wounds of old ones. “When we talk about the new people (in his government), it’s a combination of experience. A notable contribution of people who are in the prime of strength in their energy and experience and some younger people...” Plenkovic said describing his new team. Oh dear, what new Prime Minister has ever said anything different about his/her chosen government team.

“He is not the only minister who worked within a delicate context…Hasanbegovic was the culture minister, he is elected into the Croatian parliament, he will be a member of our parliamentary team, we will find him the most competent position,” said Plenkovic commenting his decision not to appoint Hasanbegovic a minister.

Zlatko Hasanbegovic
Photo: Robert Anic/ Pixsell

Well frankly, whether Plenkovic or HDZ find anything “most competent” to do for Hasanbegovic or not, the fact remains that Hasanbegovic already has a most competent position on his own merit, without Plenkovic’s “handouts” – Hasanbegovic was elected into parliament at September elections with an overwhelming number of votes from the electorate. Andrej Plenkovic, whose father is said to have been an active communist party of Yugoslavia operative, has not even been sworn in as the PM yet and prognoses for shaken stability of his new government are already beckoning: watch this space. The fact that Plenkovic has named Davor Ivo Stier, whose grandfather is said to have been a colonel in the WWII Ustashe forces in Croatia, as his foreign minister, will not help a single bit with the public’s anger against Obuljen’s appointment as minister of culture. The issue of Nina Obuljen as utterly unsuitable as culture minister at this time of unrelenting pressure to unite the Croatian society by reconciling its post-WWII history to the full will not go away any time soon for society at large. It will most likely give rise to a serious split in HDZ party ranks as well. Ina Vukic, Prof. (Zgb); B.A., M.A.Ps. (Syd)