Newsgroups: soc.culture.croatia,soc.culture.yugoslavia,soc.culture.bosna-herzgvna
Subject: Re: WWII, again
From: stojanov@husc11.harvard.edu (Milan Stojanovic)
Date: 20 Dec 92 12:17:53 EST
Organization: Harvard University Science Center


I am not able to respond, lack of time to every valid point that deserves
discussion and further explanation. I would like to especially thank to 
Zoran and to try to comment on one of his lines:


In article <1h02bsINNnjo@agate.berkeley.edu> kurtovic@gold.cchem.berkeley.edu (Zoran Kurtovic) writes:
>
>Fear of a massacre does not justify a massacre.  Neither does one massacre
>justify another.
>

Exactly.  I could not agree more.  Blind revenge is what has to 
be avoided and ideas of collective guilt, practised by the Germans in
WWII is invalid.  The communist thought that they had finished job by 
killing many people after the war, without proper courts. They have killed
equally those who participated in massacres and those who were 
their ideological opponents, thus mixing up many things.

My point is that while searching for the political solution - a just
one- certain things had to be taken into account.  Those are:

-  Lands where now fighting is going one is where the greatest massacres
of Serbs happened.  Not only while Bosnia was under Croats!
-  After the WWII nothing was done to finally solve the situation. Instead
of denazification of Croatia, in the name of brotherhood and unity false
symmetry was established by comparing Nedic and Pavelic ( read Neubacher
about this ) by distorting DM movement  ( read again German 
analysis of the situation, German analysis of his movement ), by hindering
any attempts to scientifically reach to the conclusions how many people 
were killed in Jasenovac, (slightly better is with Gradiska and Sajmiste ),
by screwing up the census data ( yes, 1948 census is according to Kocovic
far from good, but only one available!) etc. This is not to say that
Croats were not oppressed.  As Nora Beloff said, nations were made to look
at each other as enemies, instead of viewing Tito the communist as one!
Enough room was left for claims like Mr. Loncarics as well for the 
claims that one million Serbs dead in Jasenovac. 
- The result of the lack of denazification is clearly seen nowadays. 
The first one who came out and claimed that Croats were equally victims 
as Serbs in Pavelic's Croatia is voted out as president!   As one Croat
claimed on McNeil&Lehrer news Tudjman cleared their minds of burden
( I can find the exact quote ). Compare with East Germany!
- The exact role of Muslims in the Ustasha state was never clarified.
Only recently I have seen serious study - in NIN by Hasan Delic -
about autonomy movement in the NDH by Muslims - but even I was
able to find clear mistakes in facts there!  
- The way Tudjman led his election campaign was enough to convince 
every Serb that he/she should go to forest and take up arms.  Milosevic
played there secondary role.
-Izetbegovic has never said what his present days opinion about 
"Islamic Declaration" is.  He stated that now Islamic state is impossible, 
but what would happen in few years, when they are majority? That is 
exactly taken from his book - "when Muslims become absolute majority." 
-Muslims were the first one to form national-based party in Bosnia,
Serbs were the last one.
-If Croats were allowed right for self-determination, if Muslims
were, why not Serbs?  The answer to this one I have never heard.
If Yugoslavia was allowed to colapse, why would Bosnia stay together?
If Muslims did not want to live with Serbs in Yugoslavia ( one man
one vote democracy with two chamber system ) why would Serbs stay in 
Bosnia with Muslims?  If Croats did not want to stay in Yugoslavia
with Serbs, why would Serbs stay in Croatia with Croats?  Because 
EEC and Germany say so ( Germany pushed for early recognition,
without border corrections )? Becuse there are historical reasons?
Because of Tito's legacy?  
-Why did Izetbegovic sign the cantonization taking into account the 
present ethnical composition, only to back away from it a day later?

Many other why-s.  That has to be taken into account before reaching
any conclusion.

>
>Zoran
>
>

Regards,

Milan N. Stojanovic