OPINION
There's A Fascist Reawakening
In Yugoslavia Today
KLARA MANDIC
Special to The Jewish News
A
s a Jewish leader in
Yugoslavia who is
concerned about what
is happening in my country, I
submit the following for
consideration.
Today both Serbs and Jews
in Serbia and in Croatia feel
threatened by a fascist
resurgence in Europe. Few
outside Yugoslavia have
knowledge of the genocide
carried out against Serbs,
Jews and Gypsies during
World War II and are not
aware of more recent events
that generate echoes of the
past that are very disturbing.
Ankica Konjuh survived
the Croatian concentration
Dr Mandic is general
secretary of the Serbian-
Jewish Friendship Society,
Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
camp, Jasenovac, where tens
of thousands of Serbs, Jews
and Gypsies were exter-
minated during World War II.
The elderly Jewish woman
did not survive Croatian ex-
tremists in her own village of
Petrinja, who in September of
1991, according to witnesses,
shot her in the legs, tied her
to a fence, poured gasoline
over her and set her aflame
after she spoke out against at-
tacks on her Serbian
neighbors. Ankica Konjuh
was the first documented
Jewish victim of Croatian ex-
tremists in Yugoslavia's civil
war.
take appropriate action now.
In Germany there has been
a neo-Nazi resurgence with
neo-Nazi skinheads stoning
the housing of foreign
workers while neighbors
cheered them on in
Hoyerswerda last September.
This sparked a surge of
violent attacks against
foreigners which the German
government moved to deal
with only after weeks of
criticism.
The televised images of
these attacks are like an echo
from Germany's Nazi past. In
Yugoslavia the echo is even
louder.
Virtually unrecognized by
the world there is a
reawakening of fascism in
Europe today that is most evi-
dent in Croatia and in a
reunited Germany. The world
community must be awaken-
ed to this emerging threat to
humanity and stimulated to
In the secessionist republic
of Croatia, President Franjo
Tudjman has steadfastly
refused to disassociate him-
self and his government from
the World War II fascist In-
dependent State of Croatia
which was allied with Nazi
Germany and which carried
Yugoslavia's President Tudjman
Answers His Attackers
FRANE V, GOLEM
Special to The Jewish News
A
number of recent
newspaper and maga-
zine commentaries in
the U.S. have asserted that
the Government of Croatia
and our President have held
anti-Semitic views in the
past.
To put that bogus charge to
rest once and for all, Presi-
dent Tudjman has written an
open letter to members of
Congress, spelling out his per-
sonal views and the dramatic
steps our government has
taken since we replaced the
communists with a
parliamentary democracy in
1990.
Also, President Tudjman
sent a letter to the president
of the World Jewish Congress,
further documenting the af-
finity of interest the Govern-
ment of Croatia shares with
the Jewish community.
This is his letter to
members of Congress.
Dear Member of Congress:
I am deeply troubled by
these false allegations and
consider them to be a stain on
my personal character and
Dr. Golem is the authorized
representative in the United
States for the Republic of
Croatia.
honor, and by extension that
of the Croatian people. This
letter is meant to seek your
understanding as represen-
tatives of the American peo-
ple of my past and present
position on the subject.
1. In 1941, the Nazi puppet
regime in occupied Croatia
put a price on my head. The
same year, a leading Jewish
physician fled Croatia and en-
trusted me with the safe-
keeping of his son.
2. I fought the Nazis during
World War II as a member of
the resistance forces, attain-
ing the rank of General.
Many Croatians fought
against the Ustasha regime of
terror and evil and against
the Nazi-Fascist occupation.
3. My brother was killed by
the Nazis in 1943.
4. My Mother and Father
were killed by the Com-
munists in 1946.
5. I was jailed by the post-
war Communist regime
because of my anti-
totalitarian political views.
6. I am unalterably opposed
to oppression from the right
and the left, and I condemn in
the strongest terms possible
the evil genocide which the
Nazis and their puppet col-
laborators in Croatia and
other countries perpetrated
against the Jews, Gypsies,
Croatians, Serbs and other
groups.
The systematic process the
Nazis developed and im-
plemented to exterminate the
Jews of Europe made it,
undeniably, one of the
greatest crimes in history
against mankind.
In this regard, the Ustasha
regime of the Independent
State of Croatia committed
countless war crimes and
crimes against humanity. I
deeply regret the fact that the
Jewish Community of Croatia
was victimized as part of the
Holocaust of World War II.
As President of the
Republic of Croatia, I will op-
pose the specter of anti-
Semitism in Croatia
whenever it rears its ugly
head. I will not tolerate anti-
Semitism in any form what-
soever. All Croatians in-
cluding Croatian Jews know
this.
Since my election on April 1,
1990, I have taken the follow-
ing steps in support of this
policy:
1. I have issued an appeal
seeking funds to restore the
destroyed Jewish synagogue
in Zagreb, and I am working
with Croatian Jews to achieve
that objective. In addition, I
have returned the property
Continued on Page 10
Artwork from Newsday by Gary Viskupic. Copyright. 1991, Newsday. Distributed by Los Angeles Times Syndicate.
out a vicious policy against
Serbs, Jews and Gypsies that
claimed hundreds of
thousands of victims. As
President Tudjman led
Croatia toward secession
after his election in 1990
there was systematic escala-
tion of intimidation and
violence aimed at Serbs and
abuse of their human rights.
President Tudjman revived
the symbolism of the World
War II fascist Independent
State of Croatia in a new
Croatian flag, demanded
written declarations of loyal-
ty to the new Zagreb govern-
ment, arbitrarily fired
thousands of Serbs from their
jobs, denied them the right to
use the Cyrillic alphabet and
prohibited them from
operating their own schools.
Serbs in Croatia, not
unreasonably, fear a repeti-
tion of the horror they ex-
perienced in World War II at
the hands of an Independent
State of Croatia. Their fears
are heightened by President
Tudjman's attempts to
minimize the number of vic-
tims of Croatian fascist
genocide in World War II and
his admission that the
Croatia of that period
"reflected those centuries-old
aspirations of the Croat peo-
ple."
The world knows little
about the genocide carried
out against Serbs, Jews and
Gypsies in World War II
because after the war
Yugoslays were forbidden by
Tito's communist government
from talking about it.
Decades have passed. Com-
munism has passed. But fear
of a new genocide grows.
The first major foreign
policy initiative of a reunited
Germany has been to press
for immediate recognition of
the secessionist republics of
Slovenia and Croatia. This in-
itiative was undertaken
despite the fact that recogni-
tion encourages Croatia to
continue the war and under-
cuts the efforts of the United
Nations to secure a lasting
cease-fire.
Despite opposition from the
United States and the U.N.
Secretary General, the Euro-
pean Community, in a conces-
sion to German demands,
agreed to recognize Croatia
and Slovenia on Jan. 15,
1992, after requiring that the
republics meet some require-
ments for democratic rule and
give guarantees of human
rights. But the echoes of
history grow louder and in
view of Croatia's history, no
Serb in Croatia can feel con-
fident that such guarantees
will be honored.
During World War II, many
Serbs took great personal
risks, many died to hide and
protect Jewish families in
Yugoslavia from Croatian
fascists and Nazis. Ankica
Konjuh knew this. She took a
stand when her Serbian
neighbors were threatened by
Croatian Neo-fascists.
Serbs in Croatia should
have the same right to self-
determination as Croatians
who wish to secede from
Yugoslavia and create an in-
dependent state. Any just set-
tlement must recognize that
Serbs in Croatia cannot, with
good reason, feel secure in an
independent state of Croatia.
Serbs have been the first vic-
tims of a secessionist Croatia.
Ankica Konjuh was the first
Jewish victim. Who among us
will be the next? ❑
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
7