Aloysius Stepinac – Croatia, the War, and the Future

A Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Diaspora and Homeland/HAZUDD And Croatian World Congress Announcing Second Edition Of Esther Gitman’s “When Courage Prevailed – The Rescue and Survival of Jews in the Independent State of Croatia 1941 – 1945”

July 30, 2023 by inavukic 3 Comments

Esther Gitman (R) standing at the tomb of Blessed Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac in the Zagreb Cathedral; Photo: Ina Vukic

Esther Gitman’s “When Courage Prevailed …” – Second Edition Announced

The book that evidences the extraordinary courage needed for good deeds during World War Two in extraordinarily perilous times including those of Croatia’s Blessed Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac.

In the face of ugly falsification of history that we have all encountered to various degrees, there stand behind us many decades of long battles for the truth, which although the highest of values that can occupy a human mind and body, is the most difficult one to promote, or even find. This has been so because there will regretfully always be those who will for political or other reasons invent stories to nullify the truth. And that is why the world owes much gratitude to all those who work hard on historical research to reach the actual truth and display it to the world. And when more than twenty years ago Esther Gitman’s arduous historical research focusing on the rescue of Jews in the World War Two Independent State of Croatia (NDH), and the role in that played by Croatia’s Blessed Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac surfaced with exciting results, it was like a living testament to the words found in the Gospel of Mark:

“For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light.” (Mark 4:22).

Personally, I am deeply proud to have been a part of the joint project undertaken by the

Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Diaspora and Homeland/HAZUDD and

Croatian World Congress

in preparing and publishing the Second Edition of Esther Gitman’s book originally published in First Edition in 2011. The book itself will soon be available in printed copies as well as in online free access pdf version (free of cost), details of which I will post as they arrive!

I am also very proud to have been asked to write a FOREWORD TO THE SECOND EDITION and the following text represents that Foreword:

This book by Dr. Esther Gitman, When Courage Prevailed: The Rescue and Survival of Jews in the Independent State of Croatia 1941-1945, was originally published in 2011 by US New York based publisher Paragon House and made widely accessible to readers across the world. Focusing on the paramount importance for historiography of Esther Gitman’s historical research findings, the book was subsequently translated into the Croatian language and published by Kršćanska sadašnjost (Christian Contemporaneity), based in Zagreb, Croatia, in 2019, viz. Kad hrabrost prevlada: Spašavanje i preživljavanje Židova u Nezavisnoj Državi Hrvatskoj 1941 – 1945.

Since the original publishing of the book in 2011, among several lectures, essays, academic and scientific papers, Dr Esther Gitman has also written and published another major book, Alojzije Stepinac: The Pillar of Human Rights, 2019, on the role of Croatia’s World War II Archbishop Alojzije Stepinac, also known as Blessed Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac, in saving Jews and others from certain death during World War Two. These were times when racial laws were passed that led to horrific atrocities being committed against Jews across Europe, including Croatia.

In that environment of war and horror it is important to single out the courageous people who, despite deadly odds, embarked upon saving and rescuing thousands of Jews in a country (Croatia) in which the Ustaše (Ustashe), aiming for independence of Croatia from oppressive Yugoslavia, accepted the occupying Nazi ideology which held that no Jew deserved rescuing. Esther Gitman’s book can also be viewed as a compilation of genuine materials and documents that guide the reader and historical researchers to rescuers of Jews, in particular. Many of these rescuers were ordinary people, ecclesiastics, members of Partisan forces, members of the Ustashe forces and NDH regime, entire Croatian villages, but Blessed Alojzije Stepinac rises to the top of rescue efforts and associated sacrifices.

Individuals and groups who engaged in rescue activities did so at great risk to their own lives, endangered their families and friends, but also, serve as a reassuring fact that even in times of terrifying turmoil, there are people who manage to rise above circumstances that surround them to preserve the dignity of the entire humanity. This is such an important message that Dr. Gitman’s book also brings.

The need to make Dr Esther Gitman’s book When Courage Prevailed: The Rescue and Survival of Jews in the Independent State of Croatia 1941-1945 even more accessible to readers and history researchers everywhere has grown increasingly in the past decade and, hence, the need to “comb” through the First Edition text with view to ascertaining any needed changes or additions for a Second Edition. This took some time and the Second Edition of this book, now before you, contains corrections of several grammatical, spelling, or other content errors. Corrections and additions include, for example, year of King Alexander Karadjordjevic’s assassination on page XVI of First Edition as well as the insertion on this same page historian Vladimir Geiger’s 2020 debunking of historian Slavko Goldstein’s claims regarding alleged plans in NDH (World War Two Independent State of Croatia) in relation to “thirds” in its Serb population contained in the First Edition. These corrections and additions are deemed important enough to justify the publishing of a Second Edition rather than a reprint or revised edition of the First Edition.

It is important to remind the reading public that Dr. Gitman’s book When Courage Prevailed is based on her extensive research in the State Archives of the Republic of Croatia where, from 2002, she studied some 30,000 original documents from World War Two. Utmost credibility ascribed to her historical research on the saving and rescue of Jews in Croatia is also demonstrated by the fact that she was a recipient of the prestigious Albright Scholarship in support of her pursuits of historical truth and facts. Indeed, the content of Dr. Gitman’s book When Courage Prevailed, based on factual findings in the historical archives is an eye-opening reversal of the distorted narrative about Stepinac’s conduct during World War II that the world had been served with since the War.

Dr. Gitman discovered more than four hundred letters written by common Croatian people sent to NDH officials appealing for the release of the Jews with whom they lived and worked. Thousands of people signed these pleas even though such interventions were forbidden under the law and could result in dire consequences. She also found documentary evidence that some Ustashe NDH officials who rescued 147 Jewish physicians and their family members by sending them to the mountain region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Furthermore, she found that the Ustashe NDH government had created rescue categories of Honorary Aryans and a group of about 100 Jewish individuals who were granted Aryan Rights for themselves and their family members. Also, the NDH authorities were flexible with respect to Jews leaving for the part of Dalmatia under Italian occupation where the Jews were safer than in the NDH because Italians did not transport them to concentration camps in Germany. In 1942 the Governor of the Dalmatian zone, Bastianini, had noticed that a large number of Jews was aimlessly wandering around and he then suggested to transfer all of them to the NDH. When Archbishop heard it he immediately took action. He called upon Abbot Marcone, the Vatican representative in the NDH and jointly they appealed to the Vatican to prevent it. Stepinac proclaimed that they had all been baptized in the Catholic faith (as a measure to save their lives) and about 5,000 of them were saved by allowing them to stay in the same parts of Dalmatia. Dr. Gitman and her mother were among these refugees, a thousand of which were transferred to the Island of Korcula under the protection of the Second Italian Armata, and in 1943, after the capitulation of Italy to Allied forces, with the help of the locals, they were transferred to the refugee camp in Bari, Italy, where they remained until the end of 1945. The second group of approximately 3,600 was transferred to the island of Rab, they were protected by the Italian army and fed by humanitarian agencies. After capitulation of Italy the Partisans came to their aid and enabled the young and the able to join the Partisans while the women the children and elderly were sent to the already liberated territories.

All that considered, Dr. Gitman justifiably assessed that the rate of antisemitism in Croatia was low and the survival rate of Jews in the Croatian territories of that time was among the highest in Europe.

The past two decades, or since the First Edition of Dr. Gitman’s book When Courage Prevailed, have witnessed tremendous progress in the study of archival records from World War II by several prominent historians in Croatia and it is certain the Second Edition of her book will also assist further research into historical facts immensely.

The result of careful and thorough research, this book has considerable appeal beyond the academic and historiography circuits. Dr. Gitman frequently uses actual historical documents discovered in the archives to illuminate rescue actions and motivations, all of which appear downright heroic. She has often stated that Alojzije Stepinac is already a Saint for her and deserves much wider recognition for his extraordinary rescue work during World War Two than he has received up to now. It is towards the latter end that this Second Edition of her book should greatly serve.

Ina Vukic, Prof. psych. (ZGB); B.A., M.A. Ps. (SYD), Vice President, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Diaspora and Homeland

COST–FREE ACCESS TO PDF VERSION OF THE BOOK CAN BE FOUND HERE: https://de.scribd.com/document/655273118/Esther-Gitman-When-Courage-Prevailed-2nd-Edition-2023-Open-Access

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Aloysius Stepinac, antisemitism in Europe, Archbishop Alojzije Stepinac, Blessed Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac, Croatia, Croatian ACademy of Sciences and Arts in diaspora and homeland, Croatian World Congress, Esther Gitman, HAZUDD, Holocaust, Honorary Aryans, Nazi, Rescue and survival of Jews in WWII Croatia, Rescue of Jews in Croatia, Ustashe, When Courage Prevailed

Open Letter To Pope Francis On Canonisation Of Croatia’s Blessed Alojzije Stepinac

September 26, 2020 by inavukic 33 Comments

25 September 2020

Dear Pope Francis, Servant of the Servants of God,

It is with a heavy heart that I must write to Your Holiness that your ongoing pursuit of dialogue regarding the canonisation of Blessed Alojzije Stepinac with the Serbian Orthodox Church and former communists of former Yugoslavia is causing moral chaos within the Croatian congregation of the Roman Catholic Church and wider.

From Australia, I learn from various media sources across the world that you have placed the canonisation of Blessed Alojzije Stepinac on hold because, according to Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Holy See State Secretary, your trusted and close associate who visited Croatia last week, you claim that “the canonisation of Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac must be a moment of togetherness for the entire Church, and not a reason for conflict or opposition…”. Furthermore, Cardinal Parolin said that in the matter of Stepinac canonisation you have chosen a methodology of trying to get closer to the Serbian Orthodox Church’s point of view on the matter, that dialogue with that Church is crucial for Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac to be canonised.

The fact remains that you have completed one phase of that dialogue and did not achieve any particular result because the views did not converge between the Catholic and the Serbian Orthodox churches. This, of course is not surprising when it comes to the views of Serbian Orthodox Church, which I believe will never ever back down from its persistent lies and historical fabrications against WWII Croatia and Blessed Alojzije Stepinac. It is without any doubt in my mind that the Serbian Orthodox Church had armed itself with input of people like Predrag Ilic, who wrote the book of historical discussions (Stepinac and the Holocaust in NDH/WWII Croatia), a book of utter historical tripe and cosmetically filtered or adjusted interpretations of historic documentation. I also have no doubt that, should misfortune continue and a second round of talks with the Orthodox Church is held on Stepinac, the Serbian Church will arm itself with the likes of Gideon Greif, a historian evidently on Serbia’s payroll who also wrote books on WWII Croatia (e.g. Jasenovac – Auschwitz of the Balkans) filled with twisting the history against Croats by overwhelmingly avoiding pursuit of facts as they actually were and obviously giving a credence to politically fabricated numbers of victims since WWII.

I would like to think that among other factual historical evidence on Blessed Alojzije Stepinac, you have made yourself aware of the independent research of WWII Croatia conducted by Esther Gitman and her books that have been published in the past two decades (e.g. “When Courage Prevailed – the Rescue and Survival of Jews in the Independent State of Croatia 1941 – 1945” or “Alojzije Stepinac – Pillar of Human Rights”). Esther Gitman’s findings on Cardinal Stepinac require no historical discussions, they require no interpretations because they are represented as facts found; as the truth. Esther Gitman’s factual discoveries about Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac’s work during WWII are indeed an ample demonstration of the Servant of God that he was. Same may be said for Robin Harris’s book “Stepinac – His Life and Times”. Our Catholic Church needs nothing more and nothing else to take a look at the Servant of God that Stepinac was, although there are ample other books and research papers that corroborate Stepinac’s existence, sacrifice and courage of a true Servant of God that our Catholic Church has for centuries listed among its saints.

I strongly believe that I am not the only person in the world, far from it, who considers that your pursuit of dialogue with the Serbian Orthodox Church regarding the canonisation is fundamentally wrong on many fronts as far as the Roman Catholic congregation is concerned and as far as justice is concerned, including:

Firstly, it is wrong to place Pope John Paul II beatification in 1998 of Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac on such degraded ground. Pope John Paul II, now Saint John Paul II, did not need to justify to any other than the Catholic Church his and Roman Catholic Church’s convictions at the time as to deserved merits for Cardinal Stepinac within his and our Church and faith! The “history” Your Holiness pointed out existed at times of John Paul II only he was not as wealthy in the knowledge of facts as you are today; Pope John Paul II did not have the benefit of facts discovered about Blessed Alojzije Stepinac only after the communist Yugoslavia ceased to be and historical archives opened up and still knew the fact that Stepinac was truly a Servant of God.

Secondly, it is utterly wrong and cruel towards the Croatian people who fought for freedom and independence from the scourge of and aggression by Greater Serbia politics, always deeply rooted within the Serbian Orthdox Church, to decide upon the Sainthood of Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac under a condition that Serbs might agree with that decision. No, Your Holiness, Croatians did not exchange moral or cultural values with the Serbian Orthodox Church – ever. Whenever Serbs invaded or attacked Croatia (whether by military or politically diplomatic manoeuvres) they destroyed parts of our culture, shook our faith in God, falsified our history, stole our lands…and the Serbian Orthodox Church stood right behind them, encouraging their aggression. It is far from even an inkling of possibility that a dialogue with the Serbian Orthodox Church will result in any consensus on matters where a member of the Croatian people, such as Blessed Alojzije Stepinac, will result in pointing a shining light upon Croats and to the benefit of Croatian people.

Thirdly, in May of 2019 Your Holiness stated that “the canonisation of Stepinac is a historic case. He is a virtuous man for this Church, which has proclaimed him Blessed. But at a certain moment of the canonisation process there are unclear points, historic points, and I should sign the canonisation, it is my responsibility, I prayed, I reflected, I asked advice, and I saw that I should ask Irinej, a great patriarch (of Serbian Orthodox Church), for help…” and I would like to remind you, if you already are not aware that this “great” patriarch, like all of his predecessors in living memory, is a politician as much as he is a priest, most likely a politician more than a priest. Known for his nationalist statements justifying Serbian imperialism—a transgenerational project which underlies every 20^th-century war on the territory of former Yugoslavia – Irinej’s wicked observations about Stepinac, that he “did not want to hear the children’s cry” in concentration camps, are a first-class manipulation and evil fabrication directed at the Croatian Roman Catholic congregation.

Fourthly, it may be a prudent pursuit by Your Holiness to pursue dialogue with non-Catholic Christian communities, to pursue and invigorate relations with the Russian Orthodox Church via the Serbian Orthodox Church as a link, but it is far from acceptable to judge the life of Blessed Alojzije Stepinac, as a prerequisite for canonisation, with the information supplied by the Serbian Orthodox Church headed by Irinej, or any other Greater Serbia bandit.

Fifthly, regarding any talks held with those that since year 2000 may have held or currently hold government power in Croatia or Serbia regarding the canonisation of Blessed Alojzije Stepinac, please know this: you have more likely than not spoken with former communist party of Yugoslavia members (or their children) who persecuted Croatian practicing Catholics during the life of Former Yugoslavia either by degrading their value to society or taking away their human right to religion, they mass murdered Croatian Catholic priests during and after WWII as well as hundreds of thousands of innocent freedom loving civilians and disarmed soldiers … In short, know this please Your Holiness: these former communists or their offspring, brought up in the communist mindset, are of no value whatsoever when it comes to presenting the truth of Stepinac’s life and deeds, especially those of extraordinary courage and sacrifice in saving thousands of persecuted people of different races and ethnicity during WWII.

Sixthly, if it is true that you are seeking a moment of “togetherness” within the Catholic Church regarding the canonisation of Blessed Alojzije Stepinac and in that togetherness you count on those who have started attending Holy Mass after Croatia was victorious in its secession from Communist Yugoslavia, for personal gain in political careers, please abandon that trail to Stepinac’s Sainthood. These men and women will abandon the Church at a drop of a hat should political winds in their country so dictate, just like they did during the life of Former Yugoslavia, just like their fathers and mothers had as followers of the Communist Party. Your Holiness, these people or their parents persecuted Blessed Alojzije Stepinac in 1946 with trumped up charges, not alleging but stamping him falsely as a Nazi collaborator, when the truth was that at the threat to his own life he saved thousands. Do you truly believe that these people will now confess this horrid sin of theirs?

And so, it is with a Christian fortitude and knowledge of forces, particularly those belonging to the Serbian Orthodox Church congregation, which have purposefully pursued the destruction of Blessed Stepinac’s good reputation that I write this Open Letter to Your Holiness today, 25^th September, on St. Sergius of Radonezh’s Feast Day, the Patron Saint of Russia who worked not only to spread monasticism and the sanctity of monastic life, but also to become a messenger of Christian values in a country then threatened by various internal divisions and external tensions.

God’s commandments are a most welcome help for conscience to get to know the truth and hence to judge verily. God’s commandments are the expression of the truth about our good, about our very being, disclosing something crucial about how to live life well and to bear false witness against our neighbour is a grave sin committed against Blessed Alojzije Stepinac by the Serbian Orthodox Church including Patriarch Irinej.

Your Holiness, Blessed Alojzije Stepinac deserves to bask in the glory of the truth and his name to not endure false witness for a moment longer.

Please announce his canonisation!

So please, Your Holiness, find the courage to stop this impasse in faith and this moral chaos your pursuit of dialogue on the canonisation of Blessed Alojzije Stepinac is causing. As the supreme authority of the Catholic Church, it would be one of most important, courageous and Christian act of your entire mandate because it would represent standing firmly on truth and rejecting historical fabrications and falsehoods that have been devastatingly promoted for decades. While we all are desirous of and pray for peace and unity, the Croatian and multitudes of other Roman Catholics will thank you and so would the great soul of Blessed Alojzije Stepinac who perished from torture and false witness against him, saying: “When they take everything from you, you will be left with two hands; put them together in prayer and then you will be the strongest.”

Ina Vukic, Prof. Psych. (ZGB); B.A., M.A.Ps, (SYD)

Open letter to Pope Francis in the Croatian language/Please click the picture below.

Otvoreno pismo papi Franji na hrvatskom jeziku/ Molim pritisnite na sliku dolje.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Aloysius Stepinac, Canonisation of Alojzije Stepinac, Croatia, Esther Gitman, Gideon Greif, Letter to Pope Francis, Pope John Paul II, Predgrag Ilic, Robin Harris, Roman Catholic Church, Serbian Orthodox Church

Spokes In The Wheel For Truth For Croatian Alojzije Stepinac

February 9, 2020 by inavukic 13 Comments

Poster for documantary film: Stepinac – Cardinal and his Conscience

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the death of Blessed Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac, the Croatian Catholic University and Interfilm held at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb on Saturday, February 8, the premiere of the new documentary film “Stepinac: The Cardinal and His Conscience”, authored by Croatia’s acclaimed writer, journalist, screenplay writer and its director Visnja Staresina.

Reportedly, Staresina has been preparing for the film for ten years. Her aim is said to have been to avoid the way Cardinal Stepinac has so far been portrayed through the Croatian-Serbian disagreements, in which the Serbian propaganda machine had constantly insisted on painting Cardinal Stepinac as a Ustashe collaborator despite the fact that post-2000 historical research, when Yugoslav Archives were open to researchers in Croatia, prove beyond any doubt that Stepinac in fact rescued many persecuted Jews. Of particular note are most thorough historical research findings by USA historian dr. Esther Gitman.

“When I started working on the film, I was surprised at the way in which Alojzije Stepinac was perceived out there. For example, my reference was the American media out there, and I tried to make sure that the participants in the film are the people who are not part of this existing paradigm,” said Staresina last week.

In this new documentary, Stepinac’s involvement in rescuing Jews during WWII is enveloped in the story of Renata, a girl whose entire family disappeared in the Holocaust during WWWII in Croatia. She emigrated to Israel in 1952 and decided to forget everything. The film reconstructs and follows the rescue of Renata Bauer.

In this documentary film “I let him (Stepinac) speak through his sermons, through his letters, through his spiritual testament, where you see him condemning racism since 1937, not 1942 or ’43. New York Times, articles published by the Jewish News Agency in 1943, which mention sermons from the Archbishop of Zagreb. It wasn’t very simple to say these things at the time, and it wasn’t easy to become news in the New York Times,” Staresina comments on her film.

This documentary film has been translated into English so that it can reach more people throughout the world, and the aim of its author is to get as many people as possible to know the truth about Cardinal Stepinac.

Croatian National Theatre Zagreb
Premiere of film “Stepinac – Cardinal and his Conscience”
Photo: Pixsell

Among other things, the film “Stepinac: Cardinal and His Conscience” reveals how Stepinac, as a human being, a man and Archbishop of Zagreb, faced and dealt with the greatest challenges of the 20th century. For Alojzije Stepinac that challenge was, undoubtedly, how to execute good deeds and save as many persecuted people from sure death as possible. This indeed was no easy task in the madness of a vicious war where the fight for independence (of Croatia) and the fight against that independence (to retain Yugoslav federation of states) took the nation into often dark pursuits for victory (as all wars do), regardless of whose that victory may surface as the outcome of the war. The film delves into the challenge of talking about the global and universal significance of Stepinac’s work; it explores the reasons why his character and the works that accompany him are not globally accepted and grounded on the truth to this day.

Apart from emphasising the relevance of Stepinac’s exemplary actions and morality, which contain messages that are applicable universally to this day, this documentary film, filled with Stepinac’s courageous and righteous actions despite fatal adversities, fits so aptly into the story of Croatia within the 20^th century Europe.

Stepinac’s personal involvement in organising the rescue of Jews during WWII Croatia is presented in this documentary film through interviews with historians, researchers, as well as through personal testimonies of Holocaust survivors and their descendants; likewise, through testimonies of descendants of families who participated in these WWII rescue operations.

At the film’s premiere, its director and screenwriter Visnja Staresina stated that her guiding idea was to make a film that would show why Stepinac was globally relevant in his time, not just at Croatian local levels. “From the moment he was elected the youngest bishop in the world, through his anti-racist sermons reaching out from conquered Europe, from the Independent State of Croatia to the free world as a rarity, through the trials that made him globally known and the condemnation of the trials that provoked major protests from New York to Chicago and Dublin seeking his release. Finally, at the time of his death, leading commentators wondered what would happen between the Church and the communist regimes now,” said Staresina.

Cardinal Josip Bozanic (C) dr Zeljko Tanjic (R)
Photo: Pixsell

The Catholic University of Croatia in Zagreb joined this documentary film project primarily because Blessed Cardinal Stepinac, in addition to being an important church and historical figure, is also the patron saint of that University. Since its founding in 2006 the University has been involved in various ways with view to making the truth about blessed Stepinac known worldwide. Many public lectures have been given about him, students had opportunities to study the character and work of Blessed Stepinac through elective subjects, and professors participated in various conferences and scientific conferences. The Croatian Catholic University, together with the Archdiocese of Zagreb in 2016, organised a scientific conference attended by historians from Croatia and Serbia, and a large collection of papers on the Blessed Archbishop Stepinac and the Serbs in Croatia in the Context of World War II and Post-War was published. Together with the publishing house Christian Contemporaneity (Kršćanska sadašnjost), the University also published a book by Dr. Esther Gitman, “Alojzije Stepinac – Pillar of human rights” (2019).

“We are convinced that with the image, the word and the new testimonies presented in this film about blessed Alojzije will once again show the greatness of a man who, in the difficult years of Croatian and European history, was faithful to his call, resolutely and courageously, advocating especially for the endangered, led the Zagreb Church. To those who had not met him the film will give the opportunity to do so and encourage them to reflect upon his person. And also, for those who disagree with us the film gives the opportunity to evaluate his work and gives another documented insight into his life and work,” said at the premiere the Croatian Catholic University Rector Dr. Zeljko Tanjic.

Visnja Staresina (C) Esther Gitman (CR)
at the premiere of film: Stepinac – Cardinal and his Conscience
Photo: ika.hkm.hr

The wheels of justice turn slowly, but grind exceedingly fine. Have you ever heard that quote? It’s actually a paraphrase of an ancient Greek proverb. The Greek biographer Plutarch referred to this proverb in the first century A.D. when he made the following complaint. He said: “Thus, I do not see what use there is in those mills of the gods said to grind so late as to render punishment hard to be recognised, and to make wickedness fearless.”

One of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow‘s translations was a 17th century poem, ‘Retribution,’ by Friedrich Von Logau: “Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small; Though with patience he stands waiting, with exactness grinds he all.”

The analogy I venture to bring here is related to the fact that even though ample evidence of Alojzije Stepinac’s good deeds in rescuing Jews and other persecuted people during WWII those to whose advantage it is to continue suppressing this truth and continue promoting the Serb-led (or communist Yugoslavia-led) fabrications about his collaboration with the Nazi’s are not likely to abandon their wicked ways any time soon. Why? Well, to bring out the obvious, it is of political advantage to them to continue walking in dark corridors where truth has no chance of being illuminated. And so, regretfully, instead of turning in the right direction, the wheels of justice for blessed Alojzije Stepinac on the international level have mainly been turning in the other direction, grinding out stones that become even coarser. That has sadly been the power of politics and political interests.

The problem is that political interference which has had a devastating effect on the truth ever since the trumped-up charges against Stepinac by Yugoslavia’s communist regime in 1945 continues in many ways. The communist Yugoslavia totalitarian regime ensured that the willingness and ability to investigate injustice and corruption that would show the communists up as liars and falsifiers of history was suffocated and incapacitated. This went on until 1990’s when Croatia broke away from Yugoslavia and only since then were all researchers able to access the archives and the truth. But even when a significant mass of that truth was found to not resemble the truth communists were peddling for decades, that illuminated real truth continued to be treated with some scepticism and avoidance by even the politicians in power in Croatia, majority of whom belonged to the communist echelons of former Yugoslavia! Such cold and apparently dismissive reception of the truth, which in fact redeems Alojzije Stepinac from all the communist trumped-up charges, from all the false accusations regarding his deeds or “omissions” during WWII, is in fact part and parcel of what still goes on in Croatia: corruption and fraud perpetrated by well-connected politicians and by their allies and like-minded persons in the country and outside it. If it weren’t like that, then even common sense tells us that the Croatian government would have long ago stood behind the clearing of Stepinac’s name through research and presentation of findings and opened up its “wallet” to support such projects. It has not done that and the presentation of truth that is of national importance (because the brush that tarnished Stepinac also tarnished the freedom-loving Croatian people) still remains within the realms of good will of people and institutions willing to back such projects financially.

Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac (inset photo of Zeljko Tanjic)
Photo: Screenshot Croatian TV

This is why this documentary film by Visnja Staresina (2020), why books by Esther Gitman (“When Courage Prevailed The Rescue and Survival of Jews in the Independent State of Croatia 1941-1945”; “Alojzije Stepinac – Pillar of Human Rights”) and dr. Robin Harris (“Stepinac: His Life and Times”), the documentary film “When Truth Prevails” authored by Jadranka Juresko-Kero (2011) and other many works on this subject are crucial spokes on the wheel of justice and truth not only regarding Alojzije Stepinac but also regarding Croatia during WWII and after. The wheel of justice turns in the right direction by the force of these spokes despite the political sabotage of the truth. Ina Vukic