Saturday, August 25, 2018

Čiča Dražu pokopali kod Belog dvora? / "Novosti" Aug. 6, 2018

Novosti
V. CRNjANSKI SPASOJEVIĆ
August 6, 2018

Čiča Dražu pokopali kod Belog dvora?

Uskoro će biti obelodanjena do sada nepoznata svedočenja o grobu đenerala. Dvorski kompleks nikada istražen. Mihailović držan u bunkeru.


Dražu Mihailovića dovode na suđenje. Fotodokumentacija "Borbe"

INICIJATIVA američkog kongresmena Teda Poa, predata premijerki Ani Brnabić prilikom posete Vašingtonu, da se obelodane detalji u vezi sa smrću komandanta Jugoslovenske vojske u otadžbini Dragoljuba Mihailovića, ima smisla, tvrdi Miloslav Samardžić, direktor kragujevačkih "Pogleda".

Komisija za istraživanje okolnosti pod kojima je Mihailović umro nikada nije završila posao, iako joj je, osim Ade, kao mogućeg grobnog mesta, prema rečima Samardžića, predočena još jedna lokacija - kompleks Belog dvora.

- Informaciju da je Draža sahranjen blizu crkve u okviru kompleksa Belog dvora dobili smo iz više izvora, i ja sam je preneo pokojnom Draganu Vlahoviću, u to vreme članu Komisije - priča Samardžić. - Dao sam mu i originalnu fotografiju mrtvog Draže, za koju je lično Ranković naložio da se uništi negativ. Svedočenje Petra Mićića, cimera s Pravnog fakulteta i prijatelja sudije Mihajla Đorđevića, o Mihailovićevoj egzekuciji i ukopu, emitovaćemo na jesen, u dokumentarnom filmu "Draža Mihailović".

Petra Mićića, koji više nije među živima, početkom dvehiljaditih snimio je za RTS Vlada Momčilović, ali emisija "Ravnogorska čitanka 2" nikada nije emitovana. "Pogledi" su do snimaka došli preko preduzeća "Vajat", koje je bilo producent.

Cela priča poklapa se sa onim što je Samardžiću još 1993. godine ispričala Zagorka Vasić, sekretarica pre rata u kabinetu premijera Dragiše Cvetkovića, a tokom rata Dražin obaveštajac i četnički ilegalac u Beogradu.

Miloslav Samardžić pokazuje ulaz u podzemno sklonište u kompleksu na Topčideru. Foto Iz filma "Draža Mihailović"

- Zagorka je krajem 1945, odnosno početkom 1946. godine, kao obaveštajac generala Miodraga Damjanovića, komandanta četnika u logoru Eboli, u Italiji, dobila zadatak da se ubaci u Jugoslaviju, nađe Dražu i ubedi ga da emigrira. Uspela je da ga nađe, međutim, general Mihailović nije hteo da beži iz zemlje - kaže Samardžić.

Pošto je u međuvremenu uhapšen, četnički ilegalci, kojih je još bilo u Beogradu, pokušali su da organizuju akciju spasavanja. Prema rečima Samardžića, u poslednjem momentu su osujećeni.


Kompleks Belog dvora sa crkvom u pozadini pored koje je navodno sahranjen Mihailović. Foto I. Marinković

- Da bi sprečili bilo kakvu akciju, nove vlasti su "aktivirale" lažnog Dražu, maskiranog, s bradom i naočarima, i svake večeri ga vodili u Đušinu, u zatvor Ozne, a odatle ujutro na suđenje. Za to vreme pravi Draža je sve vreme držan na 30 metara od Doma garde na Topčideru, gde je održavano suđenje u podzemnom skloništu. Tu je i ubijen, a telo je preneto na gornju stranu dvorskog kompleksa i sahranjeno blizu crkve - tvrdi Samardžić na osnovu iskaza Petra Mićića, ali i nekih drugih svedoka, svojevremeno bliskih tužiocu Milošu Miniću.

Građani dolaze u Dom garde na suđenje komandantu JUVO. Foto Iz filma "Draža Mihailović"

Kako kaže, podzemni grad je sazidan za potrebe vojske još pre Drugog rata, a oštećen je tek u vreme NATO bombardovanja 1999. Do danas je zatvoren za javnost.

- Ubeđivao sam članove Komisije da se istraži i ta lokacija, ali mi je rečeno da je pritisak veliki da se prekopava Ada. Jedino dostignuće Komisije bilo je to što je raskrinkala udbašku podmetačinu da je Draža sahranjen na Adi, ali nije smogla snage da ide do kraja. Zato ima smisla inicijativa kongresmena Poa. Treba istražiti dvorski kompleks i uraditi ekshumaciju i DNK analizu - zaključuje Samardžić.

Ulazi u bunkere gde je bio zatočen Draža Mihailović.

REZULTATI KOMISIJE

DRAGOLjUB Draža Mihailović osuđen je na smrt 15. juna 1946, sa još devet osoba, među kojima je bio i ozloglašeni šef Specijalne policije i upravnik Grada Beograda Dragomir Dragi Jovanović. Komisija za istraživanje njegove smrti došla je do saznanja da je streljan u noći između 16. i 17. juna, kako su tvrdili, pored severnog zida zatvora na Adi Ciganliji.

http://www.novosti.rs/vesti/naslovna/drustvo/aktuelno.290.html:742367-Cica-Drazu-pokopali-kod-Belog-dvora


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If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

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Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Dražino streljanje u privatnoj arhivi? / "Novosti" Aug. 1, 2018

Novosti
V. CRNjANSKI SPASOJEVIĆ
August 1, 2018

Dražino streljanje u privatnoj arhivi?

Da li srpske vlasti mogu da odgovore zahtevu američkog kongresmena Teda Poa. kongres traži da Vlada objavi tajna dokumenta.


Foto A. Stanković / Članovi komisije na Adi ciganliji tražili posmrtne ostatke Draže Mihailovića

ZAHTEV kopredsedavajućeg srpskog Kokusa u američkom Kongresu, kongresmena Teda Poa, uručen premijerki Ani Brnabić, da se objave dokumenta vezana za suđenje i streljanje generala Dragoslava Draže Mihailovića, verovatno će ostati bez odgovora. Naime, sva dokumentacija koja je postojala u BIA i Arhivu Srbije već je obelodanjena u vreme rada Komisije za utvrđivanje okolnosti Mihailovićeve smrti 2009-2010.

- Jedino nerazjašnjeno ostalo je mesto gde je komandant Jugoslovenske vojske u otadžbini sahranjen, a toga u zvaničnim arhivama nema - kaže istoričar Srđan Cvetković, koji je u ime državne Komisije učestvovao u traženju Dražinih posmrtnih ostataka na Adi Ciganliji, na mestu gde je utvrđeno da je, 1946. godine, streljan.

“U duhu prijateljstva između SAD i Republike Srbije, najlepše vam upućujem zahtev da obelodanite materijal koji se odnosi na suđenje i ubistvo Draže Mihailovića”, piše u pismu iz Vašingtona. Dalje se navodi da je Mihailović igrao ključnu ulogu u spasavanju stotina stranih pilota tokom Drugog svetskog rata, i da su ljudi kojima je komandovao pokazali izuzetnu hrabrost u odbrani američkih pilota za vreme misije “Halijard”.

- Ne čudi me zahtev američkog kongresmena jer SAD već dugo obeležavaju u Pranjanima spasavanje američkih pilota, a 2005. je Dražinoj kćerki Gordani posthumno uručen orden kojim ga je predsednik Hari Truman odlikovao još 1948. Američka vojna misija je ostala u Dražinom štabu sve do kraja 1944, i pripadnici Ravnogorskog pokreta su tretirani kao saveznici - konstatuje Cvetković.

On dodaje da je istoriografija utvrdila nespornu činjenicu da je Srbija imala dva antifašistička pokreta, ali da i dalje ima kontroverzi oko hapšenja lidera JuVO. Recimo, ne zna se pouzdano da li ga je stvarno izdao Nikola Kalabić ili je Kalabić i sam bio žrtva.

- Nestao je i zapisnik sa izvršenja smrtne kazne. Ne zna se da li je on u nečijem privatnom posedu ili je uništen - konstatuje Cvetković, i dodaje da je Komisija, iako nikada nije okončala posao, rasformirana.

Istoričar Bojan Dimitrijević, član Komisije, veruje da će se ova tajna jednom ipak otkriti, kao što je tokom njihove istrage pronađen originalni primerak Dražine optužnice.


- Zasada ne verujem da je moguće saznati bilo šta više iz državnih arhiva. Što se tiče svedoka, nijedan sa kojim smo razgovarali nije bio relevantan, jer nije bio očevidac. Svi dokazi bili su posredni. Iscrpljena su i naučna sredstva i politička volja da se dođe do istine - kaže Dimitrijević.

Komisije za utvrđivanje okolnosti smrti Draže Mihailovića i za otkrivanje masovnih grobnica posle septembra 1944. su 2011. izvršile iskopavanje mesta koje je na osnovu iskaza četiri svedoka, zatočena u nekadašnjem zatvoru na Adi, i izjave jednog oficira Ozne, locirano kao tačka pogubljenja generala Mihailovića. Umesto ljudskih pronađene su samo kosti životinjskog porekla. Posle ovoga od potrage se odustalo.

JUNSKI PUCNjI

SVEDOCI su državnoj komisiji potvrdili da su čuli pucnje u noći između 16. i 17. juna, kada su Dragoljub Draža Mihailović i još devet osuđenika, među kojima je bio i Dragomir Dragi Jovanović, ozloglašeni šef Specijalne policije, izvedeni na streljanje. Njih je Vrhovni sud osudio na smrt 15. jula. Do zatvora na Adi dovezeni su brodom, a raku su im iskopali zatvorenici.


http://www.novosti.rs/vesti/naslovna/drustvo/aktuelno.290.html:741530-Drazino-streljanje-u-privatnoj-arhivi

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If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

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Monday, August 13, 2018

VIDEO / INTERVJU: Miloslav Samardžić - Komunisti su silom nametali svoju ideologiju u Srbiji! / "Balkan Info" Aug. 9, 2018



VIDEO:

INTERVJU: Miloslav Samardžić - Komunisti su silom nametali svoju ideologiju u Srbiji! (9.8.2018)

Published on You Tube by: BALKAN INFO - Zvanični kanal
Published on Aug 9, 2018

"Gost emisije "Intervju" bio je gospodin Miloslav Samardžić, istoričar i književnik. Prvu knjigu napisao je i objavio kao stanar kragujevačkog studentskog doma, 1989. godine. Od te godine počinje i proučavanje istorije Drugog svetskog rata, a naročito Jugoslovenske vojske, odnosno četničkog pokreta generala Draže Mihailovića. Istraživao je arhivsku građu u nizu muzeja i arhiva. Najviše se bavio proučavanjem dokumenata Vojnog arhiva u Beogradu. Hiljade stranica pronađenih dokumenata citira u svojim knjigama. Dokumenta koja je prikupio su takođe bila veoma bitna u procesu rehabilitacije Draže Mihailovića i Nikole Kalabića. Preporučujemo da pogledate ceo intervju i saznate više o brojnim zanimljivim temama.

"Intervju je snimljen 26.07.2018. godine u našim prostorijama, u Beogradu. Emisiju je vodio novinar Aleksandar Pavković."



https://youtu.be/Aa12stm2A9U

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If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

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Friday, August 10, 2018

HALYARD MISSION FOUNDATION FUNDRAISER 2018 / Lt. Col. John Cappello / We invite all people of good will to help this Halyard Mission Foundation project / Позивамо све људе добре волље да се укључе у ову акцију [Операцији Халјард] 2018


"We invite all people of good will to help this project if possible. We recently met John during the events this past week in Washington DC and were impressed with his passion and commitment to this work. He is an American, former pilot who upon learning the story of Draza Mihailovic and Operation Halyard wanted to do more."

"Позивамо све људе добре волље да се укључе у ову акцију. Ми смо имали прилику да упознамо овог човека током дешавања у Вашингтону ових дана. Он је Американац и бивши пилот који је сам покренуо овај пројекат када је се упознао са причом о Дражи и пилоте који спашени у Операцији Халјард."

Serbian National Defense
on Facebook
July 31, 2018

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"The goal of the Halyard Mission Foundation is to educate, commemorate and increase awareness of the Halyard Mission, the rescue of over 500 US airmen during WWII, and the role the Serbs played in the success of the mission. goal of the Halyard Mission Foundation is to educate, commemorate and increase awareness of the Halyard Mission, the rescue of over 500 US airmen during WWII, and the role the Serbs played in the success of the mission."

FROM LT. COL. JOHN CAPPELLO, PRESIDENT OF THE HALYARD MISSION FOUNDATION:

"Greetings from DC. I hope this note finds you well.

"I thought you might be interested in what we are doing in preparation for the upcoming Halyard Mission Commemoration Ceremony in September. This year the ceremony will take place on Saturday, 22 September, on Galovica Field, just outside the village of Pranjani.

"As you know, in addition to the commemoration ceremony we host each year, we commit to completing a project...a deliverable for the community.  Two years ago we erected seven historic markers at historically significant sites related to the rescue mission. Last year we provided recognition certificates to the families that assisted the airmen during the rescue. The US Ambassador presented over 40 families with these certificates...it was a nice event.

"We also commissioned an icon and dedicated it to the church in Pranjani. It is one of a kind...a beautiful work.

"This year we are working with the students at the Ivo Andric School in Pranjani. We asked them to write an essay about the Halyard Mission. What their grandparents told them, what it means to their families, community, and what it means to them. We will provide a small education stipend to each student that participates, and plan to incorporate their essays into this year’s ceremony. We are in the process of raising 7000 dollars for this project. I started a GoFundMe page to assist in this effort."

Here is the link:

https://www.gofundme.com/halyard-mission-foundation

Lt. Col. John Cappello
August 2018

Lt. Col. John Cappello retired from the United States Air Force (USAF) in 2014 after serving over 24 years.  He served as the USAF Attaché to Serbia and Israel. He is a Command Pilot having accumulated over 3,000 flying hours.

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Halyard Mission Foundation Fundraiser

"The goal of the Halyard Mission Foundation is to educate, commemorate and increase awareness of the Halyard Mission, the rescue of over 500 US airmen during WWII, and the role the Serbs played in the success of the mission.

"Each year the Foundation holds a commemoration ceremony on Galovica Field, outside the village of Pranjani, Serbia, the site where the rescue mission took place.

"Additionally, each year, we seek to complete a project, a deliverable to the community.

"We work closely with members of the Pranjani community to determine what projects we will support.

"This year we decided to work more closely with the children of the Ivo Andric Middle School. We asked each of the graduating 8th grade students to write an essay about the Halyard Mission. What stories did they hear from their grandparents and great grandparents? What does the story mean to their family? What does the story mean to them?

"We will award each of the participating students an education stipend during the ceremony on Saturday, 22 September 2018. The award ceremony will be held in the Ivo Andric School, where the US Ambassador to Serbia will award each child a certificate and monetary stipend. 

"The Halyard Mission Foundation is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization that relies on the generosity of those who support its mission. We have not raised a lot of money in the past, but plan to change that in the future.

"However, for this project, the school educational stipends, we rely on your support. All the money will go to the monetary awards for the children, and the ceremony honoring their essays.

"Thank you all in advance!!"

Lt. Col. John Cappello
July 31, 2018

https://www.gofundme.com/halyard-mission-foundation


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If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

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Wednesday, August 08, 2018

. . . ETHNIC CLEANSING THAT'S CONVENIENT [The Serbs in Croatia] / By Charles Krauthammer / "The Washington Post" August 11, 1995

Charles Krauthammer

The Washington Post
Charles Krauthammer
August 11, 1995

. . . ETHNIC CLEANSING THAT'S CONVENIENT

This week in four days [in August 1995] of blitzkrieg by the Croatian army, 150,000 Serbs living in the Krajina region of Croatia were ethnically cleansed, sent running for their lives to Bosnia and Serbia.

In the face of what U.N. observers in Croatia call the largest instance of ethnic cleansing in the entire Balkan wars, where were the moralists who for years have been so loudly decrying the ethnic cleansing of Bosnia's Muslims? Where were the cries for blood, the demand for arms, the call to action on behalf of today's pitiful victims? Where were the columnists, the senators, the other posturers who excoriate the West for standing by when Bosnian Muslims are victimized and are silent when the victim of the day is Serb?

On vacation, I suppose. The plight of the Krajina Serbs will be addressed just as soon as they return from the Hamptons.

Meanwhile 150,000 people are expelled from their homes. Why no anguish over the fall of Krajina, a region the Serbs have inhabited for 500 years, longer than we have inhabited North America? The reason for the deathly silence is the unspoken feeling that, well, the Serbs had it coming: Look at what the Serbs have done to the Muslims in Bosnia. What goes around comes around.

The Serbs? Which Serbs? Most Krajina Serbs had nothing to do with the war in Bosnia, let alone with the atrocities committed there by other Serbs. How, in particular, are the women and children and old people of Krajina -- now terrorized, displaced and universally unlamented -- responsible for the suffering of Sarajevo?

And what was the great crime of the menfolk, for which expulsion is now tacitly considered fit punishment? Yes, they did form a breakaway state within Croatia. Yes, when Croatia itself broke away from Yugoslavia in 1991, they did precipitate a war of independence within Croatia.

But they went to war for good reason. They did not want to live under a people that had massacred their parents. The Croatian state they rebelled against had, from its inception in 1991, adopted many of the symbols -- the coat of arms, the kuma (the Croatian currency) -- and much of the authoritarianism of the first Croatian state, the notorious Nazi puppet state of World War II, a genocidal state with Nuremberg Laws, concentration camps and a monstrous record of ethnic extermination that included the murder of hundreds of thousands of Serbs. (Present-day Bosnia, by the way, was part of that Nazi puppet state, which helps explain why Bosnia's Serbs have demanded independence too.)

The Serbs of Krajina had every reason to fear falling under Croatian sovereignty again. And this week, of course, their fears were borne out. The Croats shelled Serb villages and towns before advancing their armies, thereby terrorizing the population to flight. And once they fled, report U.N. observers in Croatia, refugees were indiscriminately shot at.

Where are the protests? Not only are there no protests, but the government of the United States (and Germany, Croatia's one-time patron) has quietly applauded the Croatian blitzkrieg.

The reason is a simple Realpolitik. This atrocity is a convenient one. It fixes the map. It solves Croatia's Serb problem. It neatly cleanses the Croatian state. It removes an ethnic pocket trapped by history and Tito's maliciously drawn (now internationally recognized) Yugoslav borders. This ethnic cleansing, President Clinton and his aides have indicated quite candidly, might make a Balkan settlement more possible.

Well then. It seems we have a new moral calculus for former Yugoslavia: Ethnic cleansing will be tolerated if it might help end the war. This is the logic: (1) The paramount moral imperative in former Yugoslavia is to end the fighting. (2) Given the history of these three peoples -- Serb, Croat and Muslim -- the only way to end it is by grouping ethnic populations within contiguous lines. (3) We don't care which lines so long as they separate the groups within reasonably defensible territory. And (4) if people -- 150,000 Krajina Serbs, for example -- need to be ethnically cleansed, so be it.

The Bosnia moralists -- those who denounce our refusal to help Bosnia's Muslims -- have long objected to such cold and cynical logic. Given their hypocrisy regarding the Krajina Serbs, however, it is hard to see how they can maintain their objection. There is either one moral standard regarding ethnic cleansing or none. There cannot be two.

Perhaps shame over the fate of the Krajina Serbs will now inject a note of realism into the overheated American debate about Bosnia. Perhaps it will put an end to the moral preening of those, who, in order to encourage American intervention, have played on Muslim victimhood exclusively, grotesquely invoking the Holocaust to create a morality play in which the Serbs are the Nazis and the Muslims are the Jews.

There are are many sides to the conflict in former Yugoslavia, and, both past and present, more than one victim.


Charles Krauthammer wrote a weekly political column that ran on Fridays. He died on June 21, 2018.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1995/08/11/ethnic-cleansing-thats-convenient/ad6a2dd9-4ebd-4bb7-95b9-8b988bff9255/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.9e018527510f

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If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

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Monday, August 06, 2018

FAILURE TO SINCERELY AND HONESTLY CONFRONT USTASHA CRIMES [CROATIA] / "The Jerusalem Post" July 31, 2018

The Jerusalem Post
Efraim Zuroff
July 31, 2018

FAILURE TO SINCERELY AND HONESTLY CONFRONT USTASHA CRIMES

Thompson is notorious for his ultra nationalist lyrics and his glorification of Croatia’s notorious genocidal World War II Ustasha regime.


VICTIMS OF the Nazi-backed Ustasha regime killed at the end of World War Two lay on the ground surrounded by posing Ustasha soldiers near the Sava river in Croatia in 1945. (Photo credit: REUTERS)


Two noteworthy events took place in Croatia during the past month that reflect in a very significant way on the phenomenon of Holocaust distortion, which is so rampant in post-Communist Eastern Europe.

One of the events was attended by at least 200,000 people and viewed all over the world by millions of others on television and the Internet, while the other was attended by a small select group of prominent guests, was closed to the public and was hardly mentioned in the media. Both, however, are important, if we seek to understand the threat posed by the attempts to rewrite the narrative of World War II and the Holocaust in the region, and why the efforts to combat this plague have hitherto not been particularly successful.

The first was the public reception for the Croatia national soccer team held on July 16 upon its triumphant return to Zagreb following its surprising second-place finish in the recent World Cup competition held in Russia.

Although Croatia has an excellent tradition in many sports, no one expected its team to go as far as it did, knocking off highly favored Argentina and England in the process. The string of upset victories aroused tremendous support in the Balkan nation of only 4.2 million people, and an estimated 200,000 supporters showed up in Jelecic Square in the middle of Zagreb to greet their heroes.

Hoping to avoid any controversy, the organizers of the reception announced beforehand that no politicians or performers would appear, but that is not what happened.

Marko Perkovic, probably the most popular singer in Croatia, and better known by his nickname of “Thompson” (for the British machine gun he carried as a Croatian soldier in the wars of the nineties), went to Zagreb Airport to greet the players personally, and they asked him to accompany them and later sing two of his songs at the reception, which cast the entire event in a totally different light.

Thompson is notorious for his ultranationalist lyrics and his glorification of Croatia’s notorious genocidal World War II Ustasha regime, often opening his concerts with the Ustasha salute “Za dom spremni” (For the homeland ready). Thus, instead of being an uplifting celebration of Croatia’s magnificent World Cup performance, it became a neo-fascist extravaganza, with the players singing all the lyrics along with him by heart. No one openly protested his performance, and those criticizing it in the media and social networks, myself included, were subjected to derision and the usual nasty messages. And if anyone thought that Thompson’s popularity was primarily among the marginal elements of Croatian society, President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic herself has said openly that he was her favorite performer.

None of this is particularly surprising, since the failure to sincerely and honestly confront Ustasha crimes has plagued Croatia since it obtained independence. From the very beginning, president Franjo Tudjman adopted the ultranationalist narrative, and although his successor Stjepan Mesic was a staunch anti-fascist who unequivocally denounced the Ustasha regime, the ultranationalists continued to have power and influence, and the school system never took the measures necessary to effectively educate the younger generations about the horrific crimes committed by the Croatian regime against Serbs, Jews, Roma and its political opponents during World War II.

Even the museum at Jasenovac, the largest of the Ustasha concentration camps and the symbol of Ustasha cruelty and mass murder, presents a sanitized version of the events, does not have a single photo of any of its five commanders, all mass murderers, or any mention of the 1999 trial and conviction by democratic Croatia of Dinko Sakic, one of the commanders and a fanatic Ustasha.

All of these phenomenon hardly attracted any attention or criticism, with the exception of Serbia and some of the Jewish world.

In Israel, for example, Croatia was never taken to task for its serious failures in this regard, which is hardly surprising, since – at least for the last two decades, until the controversy over the recent Polish Holocaust bill – Israel never sought to combat Holocaust distortion in Eastern Europe in a serious manner.

THAT IS, until last week, when President Reuven Rivlin visited Jasenovac and delivered what most probably was the most important speech of his life on a Holocaust-related issue. In his words:

“The Ustasha regime, one of the terrible regimes which collaborated with the Nazis, emerged here in Croatia. We know that there were also others, but they were a minority. The [Ustasha] regime were active partners in the murders. There are those who prefer to repress their past and consider it a “black hole” which does not require examination or soul-searching. There are those who think, especially today... that the fact that they were under Nazi occupation frees them from any moral, personal or national responsibility for the atrocities which took place in their country....

“We expect to see the efforts of the Republic of Croatia to ensure that these historical black pages will not be forgotten. Confronting the crimes of the past is a long journey, which must be pursued with perseverance despite all the difficulties, with determination and courage. Croatia’s ability to deal with its past and not ignore the impact of the past constitutes a moral debt of every just society, and will be an important element in the friendship between Croatia and the State of Israel.”

In conclusion, Rivlin emphasized: “We are all obligated to make every effort to respect the memory of those murdered, and not to promote any legislation or blow or attempt to silence historical research about crimes by the Nazis and the regimes which were their allies. Only by honestly and courageously confronting the past and educating younger generations will we be able to promise in this terrible place that ‘Never Again.’” (Croatia recently passed a law closing personal files for longer periods of time, which might make research on individuals who committed crimes during World War II more difficult.)

For the first time in years, an Israeli leader makes the issue of historical truth an important element that will affect the bilateral relations with an Eastern European country whose nationals actively participated in the mass murder of Jews during the Holocaust.

Unfortunately, however, little notice was made in Israel of this wonderful speech. In fact, it was not reported in any of the major media, with one or two exceptions, and reverberated only in Serbia (Rivlin’s next stop), where it was warmly welcomed by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and given extensive coverage in all the media, which is par for the course.

Apparently, for Israeli politicians, Croatia doesn’t count like Poland, and until that changes, we will unfortunately be forced to live with the dangerous phenomenon of rampant Holocaust distortion throughout Eastern Europe, and the shameful silence of our political leaders.



The writer is the chief Nazi-hunter of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the director of the center’s Israel Office and Eastern European Affairs. His latest book, with Ruta Vanagaite, is Masa im ha-Oyev (Journey with the Enemy), which chronicles Lithuanian complicity in Holocaust crimes and the efforts of Lithuanian governments to hide the scope of local complicity.


https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Failure-to-sincerely-and-honestly-confront-Ustasha-crimes-563879

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If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

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Sunday, August 05, 2018

23 years since Croatia expelled more than 200,000 Serbs / Serbian Commissariat for Refugees and Migration marks 23 years since Croatia's military-police operation "Storm" [OLUJA] / "B92" Aug. 3, 2018

B92
SRBIJA.GOV.RS
Aug. 3, 2018

23 years since Croatia expelled more than 200,000 Serbs

The Serbian Commissariat for Refugees and Migration has marked 23 years since Croatia's military-police operation "Storm."



The operation resulted in more than 200,000 Krajina (ethnic) Serbs expelled from their homes in Croatia.

More than 2,000 people were killed or went missing, and the memory of a dozen kilometers long column of refugees who arrived in Serbia through Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) testifies to one of the most massive exoduses ever in this region.


Since the beginning of the wars in the territory of the former Yugoslavia in 1991, 610,000 Serbs from Croatia and BiH took refuge in Serbia, of whom approximately 18,000 still have the status of a refugee from Croatia.


Although more than two decades have passed, numerous attempts to establish a climate of trust in the region have not yielded much result.


Croatia will celebrate 4 August as a victory day, while Serbs will light candles crying for the victims and grieving for lost homes.


Despite the progress made through the process of regional cooperation and the implementation of the Regional Housing Program, there are still many outstanding issues, like unpaid pensions, dinar and foreign currency savings, people who were stripped off of their tenancy rights, the lack of reconstruction of more than 10,000 Serb houses that were destroyed in the areas where there were no war conflicts, and the return of the seized agricultural land.


What is particularly worrying is the lack of an adequate response from competent institutions of the Republic of Croatia to the growing number of ethnically-motivated attacks arising from hate speech, as well as absence of the protection of the Serbian language and script.


Such moves clearly show that refugees are directed exclusively at integration in the Republic of Serbia, because the return process has almost been stopped.


The return of the Serbs to Krajina is sporadic, and the Croatian state is doing everything so that it never happens in a large number by creating an atmosphere that brings the region back into the nineties.


The Commissariat for Refugees and Migration of the Republic of Serbia thanks international organizations, bilateral donors and the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia on all the funds invested in resolving the housing needs of refugees, but we should not forget the outstanding open issues that make it difficult to reach a lasting solution for the refugee population.


The Republic of Serbia considers that the continuation of the implementation of Annexes E and G of the Succession Agreement has a high priority, as well as other activities that lead to the resolution of refugee problems.


In that sense, further support from the international community is expected, and the Republic of Serbia is ready to cooperate and will continue to fulfill all its obligations.


A commemoration to the victims will be held on Sunday, 5 August at 11.00 at St. Mark's Church in Belgrade, as well as in many municipalities throughout Serbia, according to the statement.



https://www.b92.net/eng/news/society.php?yyyy=2018&mm=08&dd=03&nav_id=104784

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If you would like to get in touch with me, Aleksandra, please feel free to contact me at ravnagora@hotmail.com

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