Domovina Urednistvo
This response is in reference to a story published on June 11, 2023 by The Age entitled ‘Symbols of hate’ by Ben Schneiders and Simone Fox Koob.
It has been a splendid week for Croatians that have gathered from the diaspora in Dubrovnik to promote Croatian culture through the ‘Cravat’ project (Tie). A project uniting Croatians from all over the world under the banner of the globally famous ‘Tie’ with cultural exhibitions including film, poetry, song, the launch of a book titled ‘Croatians United by The Cravat’ and a painting called ‘The Tie’ by Charles Billich all being exhibited inside of the famous ancient walls of Dubrovnik.
Among the festivities was the Croatian premiere of my documentary film ‘Billich: Beyond the Canvas’ featuring Australia’s most renowned living International artist Charles Billich, who was born in Croatia. As a child he witnessed atrocities committed by the Yugoslav communists including the murder of members of his own family and was imprisoned for speaking out against the Yugoslav regime when he was a teenager. After serving time as a political prisoner, he escaped over the border to find the freedom he so desired, in Australia in 1956.
Like Charles Billich, my Croatian parents Katica and Radoslav escaped the same Yugoslav regime that murdered our people to find refuge and freedom in Australia affording me the luxury of being born and raised in Australia. We are all very grateful for the recognition, respect and welcoming we received as a people thanks to great nation of Australia and the likes of Prime Ministers such as Sir Robert Menzies who understood our tragedy and struggle for freedom.
In the 90’s we Croatians finally realised our dream of an independent Croatia after the collapse of communism in Europe. I myself volunteered my services in defending Croatian independence in various forms and providing support for victims of war atrocities after the Yugoslav Army and terrorist Chetnik aggressors initiated a bloody war against Croatia in objection to Croatian independence.
Last week I returned to Croatia for this monumental Cravat event and on Friday the 9th of June, I was honoured to have received a ‘Certificate of Recognition’ that honoured me for “constant pursuit of truth, justice and the promotion of human rights” which was awarded to me by the head organisers of the exhibition opening and festivities in Dubrovnik, the American Croatian Congress and their President Nada Pritisanac Matulich who is also the Croatian community representative to the United Nations. Declaring the event open was the Mayor of Dubrovnik, Mato Franković who referenced my documentary work in his speech in relation to communist crimes and the suffering that we had endured as a people and the freedom we now enjoy and share with all good people of the world.
However, this week’s beautiful festivities were marred by events back at home in Australia with a hurtful and discriminatory report that was published by The Age and written by my fellow Australians Ben Schneiders and Simone Fox Koob who regurgitated old communist propaganda and falsities about Croatians. The Age published defamatory information and even shamefully alluded to speculation to present their case against Croatians that were accused of crimes by a communist regime but never convicted of anything by anyone, anywhere.
The authors, Schneiders and Koob recited fictional material originally written by a genocidal dictator (Josip Broz Tito) and his regime that was since adopted and accepted without scrutiny or factual evidence. That is not intelligent reporting, but a blatant targeted attack on the Croatian community in Australia.
Schneiders and Koob, I would like to say that when you choose to persecute a community that suffered under a regime whose false narrative you are choosing to propagate and glorify, you deserve nothing less than to be called out for your blatantly discriminatory article.
There are no independent sources that verify most of the material you published apart from the fiction written by a communist dictatorship whose sole aim was to wipe Croatia and the Croatian people from history like we never existed. You published the lies of a Yugoslav regime that dispatched the likes of now convicted and imprisoned Yugoslav secret agents into the world like Josip Perkovic to assassinate Croatian freedom lobbyists in the diaspora during the era of Yugoslav tyranny. These agents now rot in prison after being convicted by the European courts.
You also fail to properly address the infiltration of such agents in the Australian community over the decades that were sent by the Yugoslav secret service with the sole purpose to create false flags against the Croatian community in collaboration with the likes of the highly controversial Lionel Murphy and now convicted murderer and former police detective Roger Rogerson who actively worked against the Croatian community.
Have we already forgotten about the shutting down of the Yugoslav Consulate in Sydney after the Yugoslav security guard shot an Australian Croatian teenage boy Joseph Tokić who was protesting against the Yugoslav occupation of Croatia? Fortunately, Tokić survived after having a bullet lodged in his neck.
The communist regime of Yugoslavia was relentless in its efforts to paint the worst possible picture of Croatians on a global scale in an attempt to eradicate the very existence of Croatia and Croatians, yet reporters like Schneiders and Koob choose to ignore the persecution of Croatians and instead publish material that has already been debunked. The communist lies and propaganda continue to resurface unnecessarily through journalists that act more like tabloid hungry rogue reporters or as if they have a vendetta against Croatians.
I shall now provide a history lesson 101 for the ignorant reporters of misinformation: While a variation of the salute ‘Za Dom’ may have been adopted during World War II, the fact remains that it dates back centuries and has been used throughout history by Croatians. It is most known for the Battle of Szigetvár of 1566, where Nikola IV Zrinski, Viceroy of Croatia and leader of the Croatian and Hungarian forces, took a heroic last stand said to be outnumbered ten to one against the invading Ottoman forces that were led by Suleiman the Magnificent. Although the Croatian and Hungarian fortress fell, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire died and the Ottomans were destroyed and unable to continue beyond the Croatian borders. This battle has been regarded to have saved the rest of Europe from an Ottoman invasion.
‘Nikola Šubić Zrinski’ is an internationally famous opera composed by Ivan Zajc in 1876 paying homage to the battle and has become a cultural export of Croatia. It is important to understand that this song that includes the salute ‘Za Dom’ is performed by choirs all over the world and was once banned by the communist regime of Yugoslavia. The actual song is even the anthem of a celebrated Japanese University glee club.
Croatian Ban Josip Jelačić also saluted his forces with ‘Za Dom’ (for the homeland) to which the troops would respond ‘Spremni’ (ready) in the 1800’s.
The salute was most recently used by legitimate and legal Croatian Defence Forces in the war for independence and these days is predominantly used in a symbolic nature as an expression of one’s willingness to be proudly representing the nation whether it be in sports, competition or even commerce or the arts.
The claim that Za Dom Spremni is fascist is offensive and absolutely false.
The Schneiders and Koob story claims that “In modern-day, democratic Croatia, the chant is considered an offence against public order for inciting hatred and can attract fines, with even stricter penalties implemented in April this year” is an extremely misleading statement to be making because the laws are in relation to context and intention. It is an offence to use it in context to World War II and the nazi salute (raising of the right hand).
The story also falsely stated: “One of the men in attendance was dressed in black while flying a Croatian military flag with “za dom, spremni” – the Ustasha salute – printed on it” is absolutely misleading and false. The flag is that of an official division of the Croatian Defence Forces during the war for independence in the 90’s. HOS is celebrated as a brave division that valiantly defended Croatian sovereignty in the war and no member was ever convicted of any war crimes whatsoever. The salute is recognised as the official salute of the HOS units and the flag is NOT illegal, but an official flag of the homeland wars in modern day Croatia and even though it is despised by the communists and admirers of communist history who are hellbent on vilifying and defaming Croatia.
While doing my speaking engagement in Dubrovnik, both the Dubrovnik Mayor Franković and myself acknowledged the relevance in honouring the HOS units and the Za Dom Spremni salute in both our speeches.
Don Markusic, a highly respected Australian lawyer who has a legal practice in Zagreb, Croatia and was also at the Dubrovnik events says, “I am very disappointed in The Age newspaper which I long believed to be authoritative and to see The Age journalists engage in such unbalanced, biased and unsubstantiated reporting is an indictment on professional journalism. Placing an image of Croatian Homeland War hero, Ante Gotovina, side by side with the World War II figure Ante Pavelic is a deliberate attempt at character assassination and to tarnish Croatia’s fight for independence. Such underhanded tactics and writing appear throughout the entire article. Glossing over the reference to the Slava Ukraini chant which world leaders today repeat and merely referencing the false flag of the Croatian 6 case in brackets clearly demonstrates that the sole intention of the journalists is to vilify the Croatian community in Australia.” Don Markusic has engaged experts on Croatian symbolism in Croatia to successfully refute similar attempts to vilify individuals of Croatian heritage in Australia.
The fact that these authors used Mark Biondich as a reference, a ‘Canadian’ historian who has supposedly studied Croatian fascism and nationalism’ is someone many believe has a hatred for Croatians reflected through his literature. His studies could only really be compiled from history interpreted by the communist regime of Yugoslavia. A regime that burned and destroyed Croatian archives.
The story continues “But in Australia, such views can be even more pronounced. In 2014, when Croatia’s centre-left prime minister Zoran Milanovic visited Australia, he was subject to a boycott from some local groups. He said he had been criticised as “Tito’s puppet”, even though he was never a communist party member”. This is a total downplay and very misleading because Milanović was actually boycotted by practically the entire Croatian community including clubs and churches and it is a well-known fact that he is an admirer of Josip Broz Tito and attends events in the former dictator’s honour.
Although boycotted by the community, Milanović was invited to the Billich Gallery by famous Australian Croatian artist Charles Billich for the unveiling of a new painting. The painting that was unveiled was that of Yugoslav dictator Josip Broz Tito depicted as a blood thirsty murderous vampire. It was a blatant message to Milanović expressing Billich’s dismay with Milanović considering Billich witnessed the atrocities committed by Tito’s regime that imprisoned him as a young man.
To make myself clear, we as a Croatian community do not embrace fascism. We are opposed to fascism, Nazism, communism or whatever regime may compromise national sovereignty and individual freedoms for any of its people. We do not condone any individuals that promote any actual Nazi or fascist symbolism or associate Croatian patriotism with Nazi symbolism. Fascism, Nazism and communism are all ideologies that undermined Croatian sovereignty.
In contrast to the agenda driven narrative of the authors, ‘Deseti Travanj’ represents the true will of the Croatian people to have a free and independent nation. This is why the day was generally acknowledged by leaders and Governments all over the world. The hard reality is that if Croatians had a choice, Croatia would not have been aligned with Mussolini and Hitler. Half of Europe was aligned with Hitler and the Axis powers and like Croatia, not by the will of the people but out of fear of being occupied by dictator Stalin and the Soviets. In fact, the western allies abandoned the Croatian people by rejecting Croatian independence so as not to displease Joseph Stalin who was a staunch supporter of Tito and the Yugoslav communist movement. Western Governments deliberately abandoned a friend in Croatia so as to appease the west’s subsequent Cold War enemy Joseph Stalin and the USSR.
The fact remains that the Croatian diaspora in Australia and all over the world escaped death and persecution by Yugoslavia and that half the Croatian population including men, women and children were either killed post World War II or fled to countries all over the world.
These are actual facts that cannot be denied. The story by Schneiders and Koob glorifies history written by the murderous dictator Tito and his regime without any independent sources apart from so called historians that parrot one sided lies. These historians simply recite the communist lies that contradict the communist’s very own statistics.
Do these authors really expect us to believe the history written by a dictatorship that killed members of our families and from which our parents and grandparents escaped? These authors do not reference any credible independent sources or any witness accounts. I’ve always been of the opinion that the alleged mass graves like Jasenovac should be excavated to prove once and for all what really happened. This has never been done so society is merely going by the words of the Yugoslav regime that occupied Croatia.
In stark contrast to the alleged atrocities committed by Croatians, the mass graves of Croatians killed by the communists have been excavated and verified.
Nobody is suggesting there were no killings committed during World War II, we are merely suggesting that there is a need for transparency and accuracy relating to the events of World War II and post war activities so as to bring genuine closure for all and no more of this finger pointing which the authors are partaking.
The authors should also be aware of the fact that the mass grave in Jasenovac which they reference in their story is also full of victims killed by the communists in the post-World War II genocide of Croatians, yet the names of victims listed have all been classified as victims of fascism with no reference acknowledging the fact that people buried there were also actually slaughtered by the communists of post-World War II Yugoslavia.
We should not be expected to believe lies nor should we be intimidated into being ashamed of our symbols or emblems or salutes that have nothing to do with fascism. We should not be ridiculed and labelled in society due to trash journalism that aims to falsely paint our community as fascist and offend the families, relatives and friends of those that were killed by the communist regime.
Pandering to Yugo-nostalgists and their communist propaganda that continues to lobby against a sovereign Croatia is hurtful, offensive and appalling and the June 11 article by Schneiders and Koobs is a disgraceful act of discrimination against the Croatian community.
Steve Ravic
