Call M.M. when you want to smear Croatia

Written by Dr. Josip Stjepandic

Translated into English by Ina Vukic


The largest portion of the Croatian diaspora lives in Germany, which happens to be the largest country within the European Union. Almost half a million people with Croatian passports as well as several hundred thousand with Croatian ancestry who have received German citizenship and their descendants reside permanently in Germany. Croats are almost ideal immigrants: loyal, calm, hardworking, enterprising. Croats are known not to cause problems, the crime rate among them is low when compared to the rest of German population. It is no different in Croatia either. The crime rate in Croatia is the lowest in Europe and this becomes evident to the 3.3 million German tourists that visit Croatia regularly. The average German, therefore, does not have even the slightest of reasons to be suspicious of Croats as potential causers of unrest.

Croats in Germany are not only employees, but also entrepreneurs, especially in construction and gastronomy. Jure Vujcic has been running the restaurant “Marjan Grill” in Berlin since 1981. The restaurant is doing so well that you can only get a table by reservation. Adi Cerimagic, a Bosniak activist employed at ESI (European Stability Initiative), was among the restaurant’s numerous guests late last year. According to its own statement ESI advocates for democratic institutions and human rights. There is a justified suspicion that for ESI or employees thereof these ESI noble intentions do not apply to Croats; this is demonstrated by the ESI attitude towards the controversies in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where it openly advocates a pro-Bosniak and anti-Croatian position.

In his own words, Cerimagic warned the owner of the restaurant about the Croatian coat of arms on the front of the building. In his opinion, such a coat of arms is not permitted, because, he says, it is “Ustashe”, so it should be removed. The restaurant owner did not agree with that because it is a historical Croatian coat of arms that has been used continuously for over 500 years. Hence, no social group can have an exclusive right to it. Much like the Swiss cross. Cerimagic passed on his understanding of the coat of arms to Michael Martens, a correspondent of the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” (FAZ) newspaper for Southeast Europe, who proceeded to use it as a topic for one of his newspaper articles. Martens has a reputation of being a journalist of good quality and experienced who spent many years in Serbia (which harbours relentless enmities against Croats and Croatia) where he learned a lot of bad things about Croats and Croatia. Hence, in his occasional articles about Croatia, Martens mainly presents well-known Serbian stereotypes that are not anchored in facts nor have a foothold in facts.

Based on such attitudes, being a Croat is suspicious in itself, and if a larger group of Croats celebrates a sporting success together with their favourite singer, then it is absolutely reprehensible, even if there are no riots. Martens dismisses an argumentative reply as the work of a right-wing extremist.

Martens accepted Cerimagic’s recommendation and wrote an article entitled “Restaurant Review” (“Restaurantkritik”, 10.03.23), which is less of a restaurant review and more of a criticism of Croatian society and especially of Croats in Germany like Vujcic, who are supposedly pro-fascist and not even aware of it.

At the same time, Martens stays in the background with his judgment and gives the floor to university professors Ivo Goldstein (Zagreb), Florian Bieber (Graz) and Alexander Korb (Leicester), who seem to be competing against each other as to who will give a more severe criticism.

The essence of their criticism is that the Croatian red and white checkerboard coat of arms, which begins with the white field as the first field on the checkerboard, belongs exclusively to the Ustashas. The Ustashe were the military police formation in the World War Two Independent State of Croatia (NDH) created by Hitler in 1941 on the ruins of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, who established his government in it, which carried out his orders, such as the enforcement of racial laws.

The fact is that some Ustashas committed terrible crimes while others resisted committing crimes. This resulted in at least a quarter of the pre-war Jewish population being saved in the NDH even though Hitler’s strictest of orders were to exterminate them all. There are few such examples in Europe from the Second World War. There is a book about this based on archival material and authored by Esther Gitman: “When Courage Prevailed: The Rescue and Survival of Jews in the Independent State of Croatia 1941–1945”. I gifted Martens a copy of this book 4 years ago but it seems he hasn’t even read it. Meanwhile, almost no Jews survived in Serbia, which had a state administration similar to that of the NDH. Already in 1942, Serbia declared itself “judenfrei” (Jew free). Evidently, Martens does not care about this nor does this fact appear to interest him.

Goldstein comes from a hardline Yugoslav Communist family. There are several vanquishing reviews about his work, for example by Dr. Vladimir Geiger: “In his latest book ‚Jasenovac‘ Goldstein showed neither ‚good will‘ nor ‚common sense‘. On the contrary, he continues to lobotomise us by expressing everything but the willingness and ability to engage in scientific approach.”

When Goldstein says: “There is no doubt that anyone who today uses the checkerboard that begins with a white field declares himself a neo-Ustasha,” a serious analyst, such as Martens who is being portrayed as such, would have to interpret this as something like this: “Whoever uses a checkerboard that begins with a white field today shows himself to be a free-thinking man, who is not interested in the servings dished out by the Yugoslav communists”.

Goldstein is known to be a fan of the communist dictator Tito and he kept his portrait in his office while serving as the Croatian Ambassador to France in Paris from 2012. Despite being a supporter of one totalitarianism, as far as the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper is concerned, he has become qualified enough to judge another totalitarianism!?

In a television interview in 2018, he claimed that in March 1945, for the purposes of hiding their crime the Ustashe received a special corpse crushing machine from Germany with which they grounded and crushed the corpses of their victims. That statement, which he did not repeat again, and whose accuracy could not be confirmed by anyone else, earned him the appropriate nickname “the Crusher”.

Florian Bieber, known among other things for having signed the so-called The Sarajevo declaration on a common language, according to which Serbian and Croatian are one and the same language, and therefore Croatian, one of the languages of the European Union (!), does not exist at all. Matica Hrvatska, the leading Croatian cultural organization, considers this Declaration to be linguistic violence. Bieber says:

“A coat of arms with a white field at the beginning indicates support for the Ustasha regime or are right-wing extremist groups. The use of a checkerboard with a white field is clearly associated with a right-wing extremist meaning.”

With this categorical statement professor Bieber shows all his superficiality and ignorance. Obviously, he has never had in his hands the 1974 Constitution of the SFRY (Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia) which prescribes a checkered coat of arms with an initial white field for the then Socialist Republic of Croatia, a component of Yugoslavia. Following his statement, Tito supported the Ustasha regime in the last years of his life.

Evidently unaware of its consequences, Alexander Korb, a Holocaust professor in Leicester, England, makes the most drastic, albeit true, statement:

“The use of symbolism is primarily a signal that the ‘Independent State of Croatia’ from 1941 to 1945 is considered a historically legitimate project.”

This is precisely the position that Martens persistently expresses, and it originates from Greater Serbia Serbs and Yugoslav communists: “Since Adolf Hitler in 1941, with his spontaneous decision, fulfilled the centuries-old dream of many generations of Croats and established a Croatian state, it, like Hitler, would have to disappear and remain permanently banned! All Croats must suffer for all eternity because a group of Croats abused the power that was suddenly granted to them by Hitler in April 1941.”

The checkered Croatian coat of arms originates from Austria in 1495. Although heralds claim that it should start with the first red field, which symbolises gold, which is more valuable than silver (white field), it seems quite natural that both variants are used simultaneously.

The coat of arms in question was used in all countries where Croats had some form of identity (Austria, Austria-Hungary, Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Independent State of Croatia, SFR of Yugoslavia). There is also an opinion on this from the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia, which Martens unfortunately failed to request it seems:

“The historic Croatian coat of arms with a red and white checkerboard has existed for centuries in both heraldic forms, with an initial red or white field at the top left. Both forms are used today in Croatia as symbols on buildings or in associations. From the point of view of the Republic of Croatia, this coat of arms cannot be viewed as an anti-constitutional symbol, because it, as a free-standing symbol without additions, refers to belonging to Croatian culture and identity, and in no way to the military formations of totalitarian regimes.”

Several books have been published about the Croatian checkered coat of arms, for example Dr. Mario Jareb’s 2022 book: “From Checkerboard to Tricolor: Development and Use of the Croatian Coat of Arms and Flag Throughout the Centuries”. If only Martens and his interlocutors had taken a brief look at it, an article like the one mentioned above would probably not have been written. Dr. Jareb himself writes in an article: “Coats of arms and flags without the Ustasha tendril are not NDH coats of arms and flags.” Therefore, the insinuation that the flag which contained the coat of arms with the initial white field, with which the then Croatian president Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic took a picture with a group of Croatian emigrants in 2016, is “Ustasha”, is baseless. By the way, during the Second World War, the Ustashe movement did not have its own flag at all, so there was never an Ustasha flag.”

In the end, the question remains open as to why the Government of the Republic of Croatia did not regulate the issue of the Croatian checkered coat of arms in an appropriate manner (at least with a decree). Considering that the Independent Democratic Serbian Party (SDSS), which emerged from the Serbian rebels, who terrorised the Croats during the 4 years of war in 1991-95, and today are trying to realise their war goals with peacetime means. The passive attitude of the Government is also represented in the parliamentary majority is not surprising, although it is by no means acceptable, and is absolutely reprehensible. As long as this is the case, further attacks on Croatian national symbols can be expected.

The combination of red and white squares can be found in many patterns in Croatia, especially in sports. Designer Boris Ljubicic created many applications on that basis. Among them is our logo, which according to the logic of Martens & Co, should also be banned, because it starts with the first white field.

The Croatian checkered coat of arms is so widespread among Croats around the world that some form of state protection of origin and authenticity would be necessary. Outbursts like this article in the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” are the best proof of that. It is fortunate that German readers do not read or believe articles like this one.

It is unfortunate that FAZ, once a very respectable newspaper, allows the publication of articles that exude the spirit of Greater Serbian, Yugoslav-Communist enviers and charlatans in line with the principle: “Call M.M. when you want to smear Croatia.”

dr. Josip Stjepandic

President of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Diaspora and Homeland

Croatia: The Real Jasenovac

The need to resist falsifications of history in historical science of former Yugoslavia should and must be recognised by the Croatian government as a national problem and priority. The Croatian governments since year 2000 have failed consistently and, evidently purposefully, to recognise publicly and in their national strategy the need for corrective measures that would address historical misinformation and falsified Croatian history from World War Two. This need for corrective measures arose and persists given that falsifications have cruelly blackened the reputation of Croatian people worldwide and people and communities suffer because of that. It is a widely accepted fact that misinformation occurs when people hold incorrect factual beliefs and do so confidently. The problem, first conceptualised by the American political scientist James H. Kuklinski and colleagues in 2000, plagues political systems and is exceedingly difficult to correct. Over time, scholars have elaborated on the psychological origins of political misinformation and although there is an extensive body of research on how to correct misinformation, this literature is less coherent in its recommendations but, overall, scholarly research on political misinformation illustrates the many challenges inherent in representative democracy. And Croatia is no exception – relatively too many members of parliament are either former communists of Yugoslavia or their children who all, one may safely assume, either participated in falsification of Croatian WWII history or supported the falsifications.

It is regrettable that the Croatian government has not supported, nor does it support those whose research has taken them and takes them to uncovering the historical truth and correcting the misinformation sowed by Yugoslav communists and their supporters for decades throughout the world, often making the life of Croatian expats living in the diaspora a nightmare fuelled by lies, defamation and degradation spilling down from the communist agenda that relied on misinformation for its survival.  Whether, therefore, Croatian powers that be hold that lying is a virtue, just as communists did, is a question that may not be difficult to answer even though the answer shocks every decent and truth-loving human being. The fact that no Croatian government since year 2000 has in any shape or form supported the research undertaken to uncover the terribly defiled truth of WWII Jasenovac camp, such as the most credible research including the ones carried out and completed by Stipo Pilic and Blanka Matkovic or Igor Vukic … speaks volumes of how very profoundly the Croatian governments have been and are saturated with communist ideology, mental set and cover-up of communist crimes including those perpetrated at Jasenovac camp post WWII by communist Yugoslavia. Perhaps a future government, different from the Croatian Democratic Union/HDZ or Social Democratic Party/SDP ones Croatia has had so far will have the courage to assist the passage of historical truth to the surface. 

When people firmly hold beliefs that happen to be wrong, as is the case due to falsified history of WWII Croatia making it about victims of the Ustashi regime, grotesquely inflating the numbers of people that perished, instead of making it about the fight for freedom from oppressive and dictatorial, harsh Serb-led Kingdom of Yugoslavia,  efforts to correct the misinformation will be and is met with resistance and this resistance is frequently labelled as “revisionism” in the negative sense even though revisionism is a positive concept as it seeks to correct the wrongs. The truth will out though, eventually, thanks to dedicated historians some of whom I have mentioned above. The myth and lies about Jasenovac will fall one day under the overwhelming weight of truth.

The latest addition to the above-mentioned research and pursuits of truth about WWII Jasenovac is a new book titled “The real Jasenovac” (Stvarni Jasenovac), written by Tomislav Vukovic, with the subtitle “documents and discussions”. The book brings more than 150 documents, photos, and facsimiles, many of them for the first time in public! The book was published by the Society for the Research of the Triple Jasenovac Camp, and it strongly adds to the increasing body of scientific and truth research works on the World War Two (WWII) concentration camp in Jasenovac, Croatia, aiming to correct the misinformation about the camp (and WWII Croatia) served to the world by Yugoslav communists and their friends.

From the back cover of the book we find that “the documents, photographs and reprints presented in this book show the real Jasenovac as opposed to the ideologised and exaggerated depiction of the camp as it prevailed in the period of communist socialist Yugoslavia. Such a distorted view has survived in some circles to this day in the independent Republic of Croatia. The author of the book is Tomislav Vukovic, a long-time journalist and the editor of the Zagreb Voice of the Council and a contributor to a number of other Croatian public media did what every historian dealing with this topic should do: he went to the Croatian State Archives and looked for documents about Jasenovac that were discussed in public. He found them, read them and photographed. On this basis, a newspaper feature in Glas Koncila was created, which was also the basis for this book. In addition to the documents, there are also a number of reviews and polemics with the advocates of the falsified and mythologised depiction of the camp in Jasenovac. The book is therefore a valuable contribution to the discussion of history the camp and the effort to present it in a realistic form…”

The book ‘Real Jasenovac’, authored by Tomislav Vukovic, is a continuation of Igor Vukic’s contribution to the elucidation of the ‘Jasenovac myth’. What particularly impresses is that the book was printed with financial assistance not from the Government or government agency but from the Canadian-based Croatian expat benefactor Dr. Ivan Hrvoic.

The book is full of valuable documents, photographs and sources of literature that can be checked and independently verified. The author of the book is well acquainted with the subject he is writing about, so the book is worth reading.

“WWII Independent State of Croatia/NDH and Jasenovac mythology”, which the world has been faced with for decades since WWII, are based on the fictional and malicious stories of how Croatia’s Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac personally slaughtered Serbian children in Jasenovac. Or that every fourth victim of ‘Jasenovac’ was a child, or that the Ustashas competed with each other who would kill more internees during the day, and many other ‘hunting stories’ designed and concocted to hide communist crimes.

Reading Vukovic’s book (based on documents) one learns that the Ustashas were not as the ‘anti-fascist’ (communist) literature describes them, and that the camps in ‘Jasenovac’ were treated better than in camps on other continents. Packages regularly arrived at the camp, work was done, crafts were studied, cultural events and sports competitions were held, etc.

Certainly, life in the camp was not a personal choice, and everyone who survived the camp or lost someone in it is rightfully outraged. But due to historical untruths, outright lies and fabrications, it is essential to rise above the personal level and look at the picture in a wider context.

In line of this Dr Ivica Tijardovic, Croatian scientist and publicist, put forth into the public domain recently that there are several questions that need to be answered when writing about or discussing the WWII Jasenovac camp.

First question: How many lives did “Jasenovac” save? In other words, those survivors would not have been so lucky in any other place.

Second question: How many criminals and how many political prisoners were imprisoned in the camp? It is known that many lawbreakers were taken to ‘Jasenovac’ to serve out their prison sentences.

Third question: How many inmates were released after serving their sentence or after being pardoned? The figures in this context from Vukovic’s book are astonishing.

Fourth question: How many inmates went to work in Germany or in real concentration camps somewhere in the north of Europe? It is also an interesting question worth investigating.

Fifth question: How many camp inmates were killed by the Ustasha, and how many by the partisans, i.e., ‘anti-fascists’ (Yugoslav communists)? Given that the Jasenovac camp, as we know it, remained operational after the arrival of the partisans in 1945; more research on this topic is more than welcome. Namely, in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, there were about eighty concentration camps with about 200 thousand internees a few years after the end of the Second World War.

Sixth question: Why was Croatian WWII history falsified, and there is still an unsuccessful attempt to hide the truth with which a growing number of people from Croatia and the world are becoming more and more familiar?

The only unequivocal answer to that question is the following. Given that the crimes against Croats after the end of the Second World War were so monstrous, with the ‘myth of Jasenovac’, thanks to the communist dictatorship, terrible atrocity in the long history of Croats was successfully hidden. The truth will out with all thanks to the several historians who pursue research, often at personal peril and cost, with view to present the truth of WWII Croatia history to the world and the financial and moral support they receive from the Croatian diaspora. Ina Vukic

New Film: US Airmen POW’s And Humane Glory Of Independent State Of Croatia 1941 to 1945

Not only should we all watch this thoroughly well-made and fact-based film about the events of the Independent State of Croatia that underpinned the Croatian spirit for independence, but we should secure a copy of this film by purchasing it and gifting it to our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren born in the Croatian diaspora after World War Two as well as those born in Croatia.

The film covers moving stories of the kind and considerate treatment in Croatia of US Airmen shot down over Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina during the Second World War and held as POWs by the Croatian forces and it also tells of the terror and suffering of Croats by the Serbian Monarchy dictatorship in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia that gave Croats no choice but to fight for independence and dear life.

Nikola Knez, Croatian American film maker, director of documentaries on the Croatian Operation Storm (from August 1995) and the Bleiburg Tragedy (from May 1945), has directed and together with Damir O. Rados produced a new film titled:

The “American POW’s in Croatia 1941 – 1945”.

I asked Nikola a couple of days ago what prompted him to direct and produce this documentary film:

Considering that I am a part of the generation born during the communist Yugoslavia, for many years I was exposed to the educational and propaganda intellectual-psychological treatment of Tito’s ideological criminal one-mindedness. Lies and deceptions, turning good into evil were everyday tools aimed at hiding and obscuring the truth, depriving those who want to build the world, especially the Croatian Statehood, of common sense and historically correct facts. When I received materials about American pilots who resided, lived, and survived as prisoners of war in the Independent State of Croatia, I knew that this was not only a great story but also part of the light of truth that would dispel some of the dark deceptions to which the Croatian people were exposed for decades.

The truth, which is revealed in this film, not only means exposing the communist-Yugoslav lies to which we have been exposed for 75 years, but it also makes us realise how just our people were, which is yet another foundation for a free and independent Croatian state through the centuries to come. With this film, I also wanted to point out that during the Second World War, the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) found itself under the influence of foreign powers. In the conditions of the struggle for survival, defence, and preservation of its natural territorial territory, it became an incredible host and protector of almost a hundred American pilots who crashed over Croatian territory and were captured by members of the NDH armed forces.

Through the personal testimonies of several prisoners of war and a young American priest who was put at the centre of all these events by faith and war, the film testifies first-hand to the events and gives us an insight into the true state of historical facts. The film relies on the research of Charles Michael McAdams, a historian, US Marine and friend of the Croatian people.

The American pilots survived, not by accident, but thanks to the intervention and protection offered by the political and military leadership of the Independent State of Croatia, as well as religious leaders and the citizens of Croatia themselves. Although all American pilots returned home safely at the end of the war, this was not the case with a large number of Croats who were massacred by Tito’s partisans. Croatian Air Lieutenant Dubai (Dubac), who tried to negotiate with the partisans on the transfer of American pilots to a safe zone, was shot on the spot by the partisans,” replied Knez.

What do you think are the main messages of this film, I also asked Nikola Knez:

 “The main message of this film is a testimony of the truth that breaks the false deceptions about the Independent State of Croatia. At the same time, the film itself is an invitation to people not to give up in search of the truth, to educate themselves about their history, to think for themselves and to reject as ready solutions the worldview ideological postulates to which we are exposed through media services, educational institutions, and political activism.

Although all American pilots were returned home after the war, their story was kept aside in America itself, i.e., it was not used in positive examples that would indicate the human and humane character of Croats and the Independent State of Croatia. Instead, the narrative of the British puppet state of Yugoslavia was accepted, which, although created and founded on crimes, gained legitimacy while its maintenance was possible only with the help of intellectual lobotomy, production of fear, terror and lies. Although this artificial political creation began with the terrible sacrifice of Bleiburg and ended its existence with the sacrifice of Vukovar, its Yugoslav like-minded people are still fighting to prevent the truth from seeing the light of day.

Hence, this unique testimony given in the film is a great example of breaking the cult of communist-Yugoslav structures. Why is this important? Because history is repeating itself again. Today, we are living witnesses of how media-political propaganda are trying to turn the honourable and defensive Homeland War from a just war into the opposite. A media campaign has been intensified in which the victim is found guilty, and the crime committed by the Serb aggressor is placed on the level of a justified act. The right of the Croatian people to freedom and statehood is denied. The same process prevailed during Yugoslavia. We must all be aware that military victory in the Homeland War is a big part of achieving our statehood, but the overall struggle in all fields for the survival of our nation is a present and future determinant whose course we must constantly follow in the light of freedom, unity and building richer, happier, better and a stronger Croatian society.

The right to life, liberty and homeland are postulates shared by all peoples of the civilised world. We Croats have been fighting for the same high ideals for centuries. It is important to keep that awareness alive and not allow other people’s interests to rule with deceit our right to our sovereignty. We should strive to set, speak, and bear witness to the truth about our great people and honourable history with positive examples. As American citizens and as Croats throughout the diaspora, we acknowledge and thank Croatian political, military, and religious participants as well as individual citizens of the time for their determination, courage, and humanity, a full 75 years later,” replied Knez.

Aptly, before the matters covered in the film it begins with reminding us of George Orwell’s renowned saying: “In an age of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”

And then the film contains these well articulated statements of facts pertaining to the history of Independent State of Croatia (NDH 1941-1945) that clearly delineate what occurred prior, during and after World War Two for freedom-loving Croatians and include the following quotations from the film:

In 1941 as Word War Two raged the city of Zagreb was the capital of the Independent State of Croatia. For centuries Croatia had sought unsuccessfully to realise its destiny as a fully independent nation embodying the fundamental principles of freedom, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Although Croatia had achieved independence World War Two was a complex time of domestic and foreign aggression, dubious allegiances, and conflicting interests. The Independent State of Croatia (NDH) found itself under the influence of both the German and the Italian military and police formations. The well-financed Serbian paramilitary Chetniks and Tito’s Stalin-backed communists the young Croatian state faced those challenges at the military, political and diplomatic levels. One could argue that no other nation drawn into World War Two experienced as many conflicts of competing interests within the confines of its borders as did the tiny nation of Croatia; that beautiful piece of real estate nestled along the Adriatic coast.  

Over the course if the War Croatia became the unlikely host and protector of nearly a hundred of US Airmen who had crash-landed there and had been taken prisoner by the Croatian Armed Forces. The fate of the American POW’s lay in the uncertainties of military and political drama that was unfolding. Through the personal accounts of the several of the POW’s as well as that of a young American priest fate and war placed in their midst, we follow the advance that transpired…”

… Under one name or another for 23 years the most brutal methods of the times were sanctioned, financed, and imposed on the Croatian people by the Serbian King Alexander and Peter II governments in Belgrade involving the dissolution of the centuries old Croatian Parliament and the abolition of municipalities, provinces, schools, and judicial systems. The arbitrary and capricious military imposition of taxes, the nationalisation of state properties including forests, mines, public buildings, and monetary fund.  Systematic denial of Croatian language and the arrogant theft of Croatian culture.  Sanctioned and financed the Serbian paramilitary terrorism on Croatian soil, violation of human rights, denial of free speech, due process, assembly, and suffrage. The list of grievances was long and real. By any definition this is genocide in progress…”

Proudly – on 10 April 1941 the birth of the Independent State of Croatia was proclaimed with Dr Ante Pavelic, the exiled revolutionary leader of the Croatian Uprisers (Ustashe), at its helm. The proclamation was received with enthusiasm by the Croatian people and was seen as a victory after 23 years of Serbian genocidal policies towards the Croatian people. The call for liberation was clear and seen as just.

After the proclamation of the Independent State o Croatia the loosely organised students, workers and intelligencia deposed the Yugoslav government with minimal casualties before the arrival of the first contingents of German and Italian armies, their political attaches and diplomatic core. Croatia was de facto and de jure recognised by 25 states and legations in Europe, Asia, and the Americas… 

Croatia wanted its independence, Italy wanted Croatia to become its colony, Germany accepted Croatia’s independence with the expectation that Croatia will be incorporated into the domain of the Reich to counteract Italian expansion. Croatia’s thirteen-hundred-year dream of independence was shattered.

Occupied and facing the domestic rise of Tito’s communists the country became a killing ground. With American entry into the war American planes joined the air war, bombing German sites. Many US bombers hit by German flag were suffering heavy damage in aerial combat with German air force flew over Croatia as they attempted to return to Italy from their bombing missions. American bombers crash-landed all across the Croatian territory. Those airmen who survived were picked up by the regular Croatian Army and treated as prisoners of war/POW’s.”

“… All of the American POW airmen remained safe and protected until the end of the war when they were safely repatriated to their units. Their protectors did not fare as well. The war and its aftermath were costly; Croatian population was decimated, their political system scarred deeply…”

Many of Croatian airmen were killed by Tito’s partisans after the war ended. Croatian air commander Vladimir Dubai who tried to negotiate with the partisans for the transfer of US airmen to a safe zone was shot on the spot. May he and other Croatians who gave our American pilots safe shelter during those harsh times forever be remembered for their bravery and their kindness.”   Ina Vukic

Click on the Red Button to watch the film or on the Yellow to purchase a copy.

 http://hfi.mobi/page-10.html

Click on this link for the film version with Croatian subtitles as well as to purchase a copy. http://hfi.mobi/page-3.html

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