Proletarec. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1906-19??, 1946-02-13
Many Jugoslavs in Dachau
BY JOSEPH DRAsLER
Formerly Assistant Editor of ProIeturec)

elusive shops was located right
downtown. Most of these clothes
were stolen from France and Other
countries, and the displaced PEG
j pies are acutely aware of it. What
a contrast between these German
and the people l saw in CzechoSlo-
vakia, where the people + wear
ing WOrnout clothes. And one can
we'll imagine what the situation is
in JugoSlavia and in all the other
countries the Germans pIundered.
The displaced people sec this and
are dumbfonded at our treatment
of the German people. They are
full of hatred for anything Ger
man, and with good reason. l be-
lieve that if they were given free
reign over defeated Germany there
wouldn't be a living German left
that is the extent of their hatred.
II will take scores Of years to erase
the tragedy from their minds and
the hate from their hearts.
All of these men-SlOvcneS, Ser
bianS and Croatians spent long
years as soldiers in the various ge-
rilla bands that fought first against
the Italians and then the Germans
and then among themselves, and
now as if they haven't suffered
and sacrificed enough, they are
men without q country. None Of
them know what has happened to
their families, their homes and
their loved ones, and this is their
greatest grief. According to my
own conviction, they have betrayed
unWitingly through ignorance, or
otherwise, the peoples Of JugoSla-
via by fighting against each other
in the name Of eX-king Peter and
his rOyaliSt folloWers,-but | can
not help but feel sorry for their
plight. | have spent many evenings
in their barracks talking to them,
men Of all ranks, from soldier to
colonel. They hope to become at
tached to our Army and stay here
as long as there is work for them,
and there is plenty for all, The food
for u American troops in south
ern Germany is unloaded and dis
tributcd from this point. They will
not be happy men-a longing for
their homeland and their OWE peo-
pie will be an endless punishment.
No other country lost as many
men in this war as JugoSlavia iE
comparison with it's population.
This was due to its early heroic
resistance to the naZiS and later,
due to the lack Of unity and mar
mony within the country, paved the
way for discussions, scllOuts and
conditions under which brother
was fighting against brother. In all
this tragic destruction l believe
that the ven-of-the-church played
a big part in leading the poor
unenlightencd people.
Marshall Tito has promised poll
teal amnesty to all who return to
JugOSlavia before the end Of Feb
ruary, yet they do not go. There
are approximately 10000 of these
former chetnicS, uStaShi, royalists
still in Austria, 5000 in Linz, 1900
in Spittal an der Drau, 10000 to
5000 chetnicS and uStaShi and
Hungarian rOyalistS in McrdmannS-
dOrf, Judenburg and Wolfburg.
What do they hope to do? They are
almost totally ignorant of what is
going on in the Free Jugoslav Re-
public. They will continue with
their propaganda among the Amer
leans and Whomever they may be
able to reach, relentless in their
fight to diScredit the PartiSans and
their new freedom, and try to e.
gain the political power for their
leaders. AS time will go on, and
vigilance will be relinquished, their
paid leaders will infiltrate back
into positions from where they can
carry on their work to bring back
the royalist clique and King Peter.
/ just surmise this aCtion--they have
not told me as much. Basing my
opinion upon the news that l get
from our American Slovene papers,
P~roletarec and Prosveta, and the
ct & IT, of Louis Adamic, they
will have, fortunately, very little
opportunity Of success. Time will
tell just how strong are the con-
Victions and how strong the will Of
the majority of the JugoSlav peo-
pie, The reactionary headways, if
there will be any, will no doubt
begin with the return of the flock
to the guidance from the pulpit.