From: josip@src.umd.edu (Josip Loncaric)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish
Subject: Re: Irony continues in our history
Date: 12 Aug 92 13:47:39 GMT
Followup-To: soc.culture.yugoslavia
Organization: Systems Research Center, Maryversity of Uniland, College Park

A note: This is not about Jewish culture, but you may be interested to
        switch to soc.culture.yugoslavia in the future.

In article <1992Aug12.023022.16913@cco.caltech.edu> simic@pollux.ccsf.caltech.edu (Petar Simic) writes:
>	Josip Loncaric writes:
>>>
>Mr. Stojanovic continues to manipulate history, trusting that it is too
>obscure for his audience...
><<
>
>	However, the refernces suggested by Josip as the "main-stream
> historians" are in fact Croatian historians with definite and far from unbiased
> point of view:  Ljubo Boban, Wayne Vucinich, etc. Suggesting that one should
> read them to get a fair picture of the horrors Serbs (750,000 exterminated)
> and Jews (60,000 (all) exterminated) were suject to in the Croatian
> concentration camps in the last Independent State of Croatia (which *included
> anexed Bosnia and Hercegovina* - surprised?), is an attempt on manipulation
> itself.

(1) Wayne Vucinich reference is one of the standard collections of papers
    on former Yugoslavia.  Mr. Vucinich himself, I think, is actually
    a Serbian American, but this is simply not relevant.  What is relevant
    is that history presented therein is based on facts.  Balkan history
    *does* have a mainstream historical opinion, shared by serious
    historians of all ethnic backgrounds, and Mr. Vucinich's collection
    represents one such example.

(2) Ljubo Boban is a professor of history at Zagreb University.  His paper
    is interesting because it explains the controversy created by
    politization, and compares various sources of historical data.

(3) There is no doubt that WWII was a tragedy for all peoples of the
    former Yugoslavia.  For example, the best available estimates say
    that Serbs lost about 500,000 people from all causes in WWII.  This
    conclusion was independently reached by historians Bogoljub Kocovic, 
    a Serb; and by Zerjavic, a Croat.  Kocovic concluded that Serbs
    lost 6.9% of population, Croats 5.4%, Bosnian Muslims 6.8% and
    Jews 77.9%. 

(4) Mr. Simic conveniently forgets that the Holocaust in former
    Yugoslavia was perpetrated by ALL Nazi puppets, including Serbia,
    which had the audacity to celebrate reaching "judenfrei" status
    by printing anti-semitic stamps in 1942.  He would have you believe
    that the Holocaust happened only in Croatia, but this was a crime
    of continent-wide proportions, and Serbia has participated in it
    with equal cruelty, by exterminating almost all of its Jewish
    population.  This is ugly history but Mr. Simic likes to
    skip the parts which are not useful to him.
>
>	------------------------------------------------
>
>>>... But, one can get out of his trap very easily: by consulting the
> mainstream historians and their writings. <<
>
>
> 	 I am all for it!
>
> 	Be aware, however, of ethnically biased historians, some of whom spent
> their lifetime in trying to minimize Serbian and Jewish suffering in the
> hands of Croats during the WWII, minimize the number of civilians exterminated, 
> and in the same time maximize number of Croats in the resistance, number
> which was in fact negligible till the end of the war, when it increased
> (to "small"); althought Tito tried hard to remedy this in the name of his
> hypocritical "unity and  brotherhood" policy, by changing the name of some
> of the overwhelmingly Serbian anti-fashist brigades to reflect their
> geographic origin (Croatia) and not their ethnic composition (Serbs from
> Croatia). 

Mr. Simic is under a misconception that history is being written
by maximizing this and minimizing that, an interpretation which would
horrify serious historians.  Furthermore, how come that this alleged
"overwhelmingly Serbian" resistance was organized by Tito, a Croat?

Mr. Simic forgets that Serbian royalists, led by Draza Mihajlovic,
got the support of ethnic Serbians, until their effort degenerated
into Chetnik massacres of other peoples and in collaboration with the
Nazis against Tito's partisans.  This Chetnik effort failed primarily
because of their silly idea that the 62% non-Serbian population would
fight for Serbian domination over themselves, and a monstrous notion
that terror could be used to coerce non-Serbs into obedience.  Tito's
partisans were the only anti-fascist alternative open to all nationalities,
so they won.  Mr. Simic's claim that Tito's partisans were
"overwhelmingly Serbian" until the end of the war is NONSENSE.

Josip