ZAGREB, 14 May 2022 - Serb National Council (SNV) president Milorad Pupovac said on Saturday, in a comment on the commemoration of the Bleiburg tragedy, that every victim deserved to be commemorated and remembered but that criminal ideologies and their executors deserved condemnation and social and moral contempt.

"Each victim deserves their suffering to be commemorated and remembered. Ideologies that are criminal deserve condemnation and contempt. Perpetrators of crimes deserve social and moral contempt. Those who do not want to make this kind of distinction are not guided by the highest of moral principles," Pupovac said at Petrova Gora, where the SNV, the Association of Antifascist Fighters and Antifascists (SABA) and local officials marked the 80th anniversary of a Partisan attack launched to break from enemy encirclement on that mountain in Karlovac County.

The operation helped establish a free territory and save 10,000 refugees and is considered the first organised case of resistance to fascism in Europe.

Reporters asked Pupovac how he interpreted today's commemorative events for the Bleiburg victims, to which he said that the preamble to the Croatian Constitution spoke of the Partisan movement and decisions by the State Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Croatia (ZAVNOH), of which the Partisan field hospital at Petrova Gora was part.

Preamble to Constitution does not communicate what present-day Croatian policies communicate

"The preamble to the Croatian Constitution and the part of the Mirogoj cemetery dedicated to the Ustasha and Home Guards do not communicate what our policies today communicate," he said.

The SNV said that at Petrova Gora today it remembered May 1942, when 730 Partisan fighters launched an attack on Ustasha and Italian fascists whose forces were ten times bigger, broke out of the encirclement and established a free territory, saving 10,000 people who had fled their villages.

"This is a very important place in the modern history of Croatia and in the struggle of the peoples of Croatia and Yugoslavia for freedom, against Nazi, fascist and local (collaborationist) forces," the SNV president said.

He called for restoring the Partisan hospital complex at Petrova Gora so that the place is given the treatment it deserves "in line with the freedom-loving traditions of Croatia and Europe."

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated politics section.

ZAGREB, 14 May 2022 - Mass was held on Saturday outside the Church of Croatian Martyrs in Udbina, about 150 kilometres south of Zagreb, to commemorate victims of the Bleiburg tragedy and the Way of the Cross of the Croatian people of 77 years ago.

The event at Udbina was organised by the Bleiburg Victims Commemoration Committee and held under the auspices of the Croatian parliament. Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković and several hundred pilgrims were in attendance.

The events of 77 years ago are embedded in the history of the Croatian people because at the time an endless column of refugees, soldiers and civilians set out for Austria in the hope that they would be granted protection by the Western Allies who handed them over to the Yugoslav Partisans near the Austrian town of Bleiburg, the organisers said.

Đakovo-Osijek Auxiliary Bishop Ivan Ćurić said that many other places of execution, pits, deportations and abductions from towns and villages - when a large number of priests and nuns were taken away - were kept hidden and without a memorial. Since then, new suffering has occurred - the Homeland War in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the ongoing war in Ukraine, said Ćurić.

Patriotism must not be marred by vengefulness

The dignitary said he wished today's memorial day may encourage love and unity in the Croatian people as well as cooperation among nations and cultures and successful ecumenical dialogue so that patriotism is not marred by vengefulness.

The pilgrims at Udbina complied with the Committee's request to display only their parish and national flags, in line with Croatian laws and for the sake of commemorating the Bleiburg tragedy with dignity.

"Today's commemoration is a prayer gathering for the victims, it is by no means a political gathering," the organisers said.

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ZAGREB, 14 May 2022 - Delegations of the Croatian Parliament, Government and the Bleiburg Guard of Honour laid wreaths at Zagreb's Mirogoj Cemetery on Saturday to commemorate the 77th anniversary of the Bleiburg tragedy and the Way of the Cross of the Croatian people at the end of the Second World War.

The commemoration was organised by the Bleiburg Guard of Honour and co-organised by the Croatian Bishops Conference under the patronage of the Croatian Parliament and the co-patronage of the Croatian National Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The joint wreath of the Parliament and Government was laid by Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković and Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman. The delegation included Deputy Speakers of Parliament Željko Reiner and Ante Sanader, member of the European Parliament Karlo Ressler and about 20 members of the Croatian Parliament.

The wreath of the Bleiburg Guard of Honour (PBV) was laid by Deputy Chairman Milan Kovač. He was accompanied by Honorary Chairman Vice Vukojević, Chairman of the PBV Supervisory Board Vladimir Šeks, member of the PBV Court of Honour Anton Sujić and treasurer Zlatko Goršanić.

Addressing the press after the commemoration, Jandroković said that this tragedy of part of the Croatian people, which occurred in May 1945, had been suppressed for 45 years.

"This crime, committed by the communist authorities of the former Yugoslavia, has been kept secret for 45 years and could not be discussed in public. This is logical because the perpetrators of this crime were those who represented the communist system.They suppressed the truth about this event and protected those responsible," Jandroković said.

Tens of thousands of Croatian civilians and soldiers of the defeated pro-Nazi Independent State of Croatia (NDH) surrendered to allied forces at Bleiburg, Austria in May 1945, but were handed over by British troops to Yugoslav forces. Some were executed on the spot, while many perished during so-called death marches, known in Croatia as the Way of the Cross, on their way back to Yugoslavia in the second half of 1945.

Tens of thousands of people were killed "brutally and without a trial". "We are here today to remember those events, commemorate and pay tribute to the victims and express our sympathy with their families," the Parliament speaker said.

Noting that the crimes were committed in the aftermath of the Second World War, he said that "we remember those people regardless of their faith, nationality, party or ideological affiliation."

"As a civilised democratic society, it is our duty to keep the memory of anyone who was killed without a trial and without evidence. We are doing it now and will continue to do so in the future," Jandroković said.

As part of today's commemorative ceremonies, Mass will be held in the Church of Croatian Martyrs in Udbina, about 200 kilometres south of Zagreb.

Responding to questions from the press, Jandroković said that police would certainly take action against anyone who might display Ustasha symbols at the Mass.

"I believe that everyone attending the Mass today will be there to commemorate the victims, remember those who were killed in a cruel and perfidious way. We are not commemorating or celebrating the defeated ideology and regime but are remembering the victims. We have a duty to do so, that is a civilisational achievement, and that is what every democratic and civilised country does," he added.

PBV Deputy Chairman Kovač also emphasised that they were paying tribute to the victims who were killed "brutally and without a trial when there was already peace in Europe."

Kovač recalled that the commemoration was taking place at Mirogoj because the Austrian authorities had banned it from taking place in the Bleiburg Field. He rejected the explanation of the Austrian authorities that commemorations at Bleiburg had celebrated the pro-Nazi Ustasha regime, expressing hope that this false accusation would be disproved on appeal.

"We did not celebrate any ideologies or regimes there but prayed for the souls of our ethnic kin as pilgrims, with rosaries in our hands," Kovač said.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 13 May 2022 - The 77th anniversary of the Bleiburg tragedy and what in Croatia is known as the Way of the Cross marches is being commemorated this month, with the central commemoration, to be held under the auspices of the Croatian parliament, set for 14 May at Zagreb's Mirogoj cemetery and in Udbina.

As part of this year's commemorative events, a mass will be served at the parish church in Bleiburg, Austria, at 6 pm today, and Croatia's Ambassador to Austria will lay a wreath there. The memorial service in "Hl. Petrus und Paulus" church in Bleiburg will be said in Croatian.

The central commemoration, including the laying of wreaths and Catholic and Muslim prayers, will take place at Zagreb's central cemetery on Saturday, after which mass will be celebrated at the Shrine of Croatian Martyrs in Udbina, some 140 kilometres south of Zagreb.

On 25 May, a commemorative gathering is scheduled to take place in the State Archive. On 29 May, Catholic memorial services will be held for the victims of the Bleiburg tragedy at Radimlja, Stolac, southern Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Since 1995, with a few interruptions during the SDP government in Croatia, the commemorations in the Loibach field near Bleiburg, in the southern region of Carinthia, have been held in tribute to tens of thousands of Croatian civilians and soldiers of the defeated pro-Nazi Independent State of Croatia (NDH) who surrendered to allied forces there in May 1945, but were handed over by British troops to Yugoslav forces. Some were executed on the spot, while many perished during so-called death marches back to Yugoslavia in the second half of 1945.

In 2020, Austrian parliamentarian parties requested an expert opinion on whether such gatherings in the Loibach field could pass the test of constitutionality.

A task force consisting of historians, jurists and Catholic Church representatives as well as local officials in that Austrian province concluded that such gatherings should no longer be held in Bleiburg.

The commission was set up in 2020 in accordance with the decision of the parliamentary parties ÖVP, SPÖ, the Greens and Neos, and the decision of that think tank was prompted by discussion on the political dimension of the commemorations in recent years.

In 2019 the Catholic Diocese in Klagenfurt withheld permission for a mass to be said by someone of the bishop's rank. The Roman Catholic Church in Carinthia turned down the request by the Croatian Catholic Bishops' Conference to hold mass at Loibach, claiming the event was used for political purposes.

On 22 March 2019, the president of the Austrian Bishops' Conference, Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, said Austria and Croatia should jointly deal with the historical issue of Bleiburg.

"I think we need a culture of dealing with history," the Archbishop of Vienna said after a meeting of the country's Bishops' Conference.

The cardinal said it would be good to form a joint commission that would deal with Bleiburg's "complicated history." "I think we need something like that, otherwise we will stay at the level of conflict," he added.

He concluded that for now Austria saw only a "fascist gathering" occurring at Bleiburg, while Croatia's focus was on the painful history of ancestors, the Austrian news agency APA quoted him as saying on that occasion. "Bleiburg symbolises a very painful period in the history of the Croatian people, with many thousands dead," he said.

Croatia protests to Austria over removal of historical coat of arms

On 5 May this year, the Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs lodged a protest note with Austria over the removal of the historical Croatian coat of arms from the monument commemorating Croats killed at Bleiburg in May 1945.

The monument is located on the private property of an Austrian association, the Bleiburg Guard of Honour, and the reasons for the removal of the coat of arms given by the Völkermarkt municipal administration "are unacceptable to Croatia from both the historical and the social and political point of view," the Croatian ministry said in a statement.

As regards commemorations held at Bleiburg, the ministry said that they must be dedicated solely to the memory of those killed and held as part of Requiem Mass for the thousands of civilian victims.

The Bleiburg Guard of Honour has removed the disputed inscription to avoid any connection between the inscription and the coat of arms, the statement said.

The protest note says that "the coat of arms itself was for centuries a constituent part of the heraldry of the Habsburg Monarchy and as such often displayed on various historical buildings and in historical documents, hence it does not and cannot have unconstitutional connotations."

The ministry also noted that "declaring the historical Croatian coat of arms a fascist symbol has done undue harm to the reputation of Croatia and the Croats living and working in Austria, and has created the impression that Croatia today uses unconstitutional symbols. Croatia strongly rejects such an interpretation."

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, 7 April 2022 - The central commemoration of victims of the Bleiburg tragedy and what in Croatia is known as the Way of the Cross marches, held under the auspices of the Croatian parliament, will be held on 13 and 14 May at Zagreb's Mirogoj cemetery and in Udbina, a town in Lika-Senj County.

Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković held a working meeting on the commemoration with representatives of the Croatian Bishops' Conference and the Honorary Bleiburg Platoon.

As part of this year's commemorative events, a mass will be served at the parish church in Bleiburg, Austria, and Croatia's Ambassador to Austria will lay a wreath there.

The central commemoration, including the laying of wreaths and a prayer, will take place at Zagreb's central cemetery, after which a mass will be celebrated at the Shrine of Croatian Martyrs in Udbina, some 140 kilometres south of Zagreb.

Participants in today's meeting underlined the importance of commemorating the victims in a dignified way to preserve the historical truth about the tragedy.

The event commemorates soldiers of the Nazi-allied Croatian Ustasha regime and civilians killed at the Loibach Field near Bleiburg, Austria in the aftermath of WWII, after they fled the areas taken over by Tito-led Partisans.

For more, check out our politics section.

ZAGREB, May 16, 2020 - Cardinal Vinko Puljic said at a mass for the Bleiburg victims in Sarajevo on Saturday that reconciliation could be built only on the truth and called for equal respect for every war victim, while thousands of people in the city centre honoured the victims of fascism in WWII.

The Archbishop of Sarajevo celebrated the service in the Heart of Jesus Cathedral as part of a commemoration organised by the Bleiburg Guard of Honour under the auspices of the Croatian parliament.

Puljic greeted everyone who joined in the prayer "for so many victims of violence."

He also greeted the bishop of Klagenfurt, noting that this year's commemoration could not be held at Bleiburg field in Austria because of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Today we remember all those killed in concentration camps, valleys, mountains and fields, from Bleiburg via Dravograd and Maribor, Ogulin and Gospic, Jazovka and the Macelj woods, Jasenovac and Glina, Kozara and Podgradac, Krizevci and Bjelovar to Srijemska Mitrovica, Sarajevo, Foca and Zenica," the cardinal said, calling for building a climate of reconciliation and restoring trust on the truth, however bitter it might be, and for ceasing with double standards when it comes to victims.

He said a mass for all victims of hate stirred special feelings and that this was why he accepted to celebrate this year's mass for the Bleiburg victims who, he added, were entitled to respect as any human being.

By showing victims their due respect and remembrance, we also show "respect for the price of the freedom we are living today," Puljic said.

The cardinal recalled the words of Pope John Paul II that the fate of peace depends most on the solidarity of the heart which, after spilt blood and hatred, entails the courage to forgive.

He also recalled that in 1995 all Croatian bishops honoured all innocent WWII victims because the right to life and dignity of every human person is protected by God.

"We owe every innocent victim equal respect. There can be no difference in that," Puljic said, adding that he was deeply distressed by the fact that the graves of those who died on death marches from Austria to Yugoslavia in 1945 and later had still not been found.

He said that those who did not want the truth stood behind the evil they defended because no crime could be defended and because crime could not be cured with crime.

The cardinal thanked genuine researchers and those looking for historical truth by gathering facts, saying it was the best way to stop manipulation.

Besides Puljic and several priests, the service was attended by only 20 persons, including Croatian Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina Ivan Sabolic.

The mass was held in a very tense atmosphere due to disputes between those who see it as a sign of respect for the dead and those who claim it actually rehabilitates the 1941-45 Nazi-styled Independent State of Croatia and the Ustasha regime.

Sarajevo was under a sort of siege today the police prevented pedestrians from coming near the cathedral and traffic in nearby streets since early morning.

During mass, a group of people came to the police fence around the cathedral to voice their dissatisfaction, carrying banners, one of which said "Fascists are not victims", and shouting "No pasaran".

Antifascists sing Partisan songs to commemorate victims of Ustasha regime

A mass rally was held outside the government and parliament buildings, organised by the SABNOR antifascist fighters' alliance. Despite the ban on gathering due to COVID-19, at least 2,000 people of all ages came.

Singing Partisan songs, they commemorated the victims of the Ustasha regime in Sarajevo during WWII, reading out their names and marching to the city centre and a monument to the Partisans who liberated the city in 1945.

Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe Ambassador Kathleen Kavalec and several diplomats laid wreaths and flowers at another monument to the Sarajevo victims of fascism and at the Jewish cemetery.

Our presence here today is a sign of respect which we feel for the victims and of our understanding for the pain their families feel, Kavalec said.

ZAGREB, May 14, 2020 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Thursday commented on the 75th anniversary of the Bleiburg tragedy, saying that a truly tolerant society could be built only by soberly looking at past trauma and by respecting every victim.

"Today, three-quarters of a century later, we remember that difficult chapter in Croatian history and we remember all victims. Today that is a moral obligation for the modern Croatia, which was built on the harmony and unity of the Croatian people in the Homeland War," Plenkovic said at a cabinet meeting.

We will be able to build a truly tolerant society only by soberly looking at past trauma and by respecting every victim, which was one of the main political messages of Croatia's first president Franjo Tudjman, who participated in Croatia's antifascist movement, Plenkovic said.

In Western Europe, the victory over fascism 75 years ago was key for establishing democratic orders which, in the post-war years, embarked on reconciliation, economic recovery and unification to bring Europe lasting peace and prevent any future conflict, he said.

In Central and Eastern Europe, the end of WWII brought the defeat of the fascist terror and horrors of war, yet it did not bring democracy but new totalitarianism, i.e. communism, which was defeated only with the fall of the Berlin Wall, Plenkovic said.

In 1945, after the defeat of the Independent State of Croatia, which was also Croatia's fate, which was deprived of freedom and democracy for another 50 years, he added.

While the end of WWII in Western Europe marked the end of unprecedented horrors of war and fascist crimes, in which the Holocaust holds a special place, in Croatia May 1945 was also synonymous with horrible post-war communist crimes, Plenkovic said.

Tens of thousands of people, disarmed defeated troops, as well as many civilians who were running away from the establishment of the communist regime, were killed without trial and buried without a grave from Bleiburg to Tezno along the Way of the Cross, he said.

That happened also after the official end of WWII and that mass crime, as well as the persecutions and arrests of all so-called class enemies and persons of different views and reprisals against the Catholic Church, caused anxiety and fear among a large part of the Croatian people, Plenkovic said.

The rigged post-war trial of the Blessed Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac, although he spoke up many times against all forms of discrimination and personally saved many Jews and Serbs, additionally compromised the then authorities and principles of justice, he added.

That is why in present-day Croatia, the relationship towards that fraught and multi-layered period of Croatian history is painful and traumatic, despite it being clear that thanks to the antifascist movement and resistance against Nazism, Croatia came out of WWII as a winner, the prime minister said.

It is up to us to build on those foundations a European Croatia founded on democratic values, to build a society that promotes the culture of remembrance, tolerance and mutual respect, he added.

"We owe it first and foremost to ourselves and especially to our youth so that, with a composed look on the past and optimism for the future, unburdened, we can build an even better Croatia."

ZAGREB, April 21, 2020 - This year's memorial ceremony for Croatian soldiers and civilians killed at Bleiburg, Austria in 1945 has been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, organisers announced in a statement on Tuesday.

The decision was made at a conference call by the Bleiburg Guard of Honour on Monday after the Austrian government restricted the right to public assembly and the governments of Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina restricted travel abroad or transit through their respective countries.

The statement said that an alternative programme to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Bleiburg tragedy would be announced in due course.

The commemoration is held annually in Loibach Field near Bleiburg, Austria for soldiers of the Nazi-allied Croatian Ustasha regime and civilians killed there at the end of World War II.

More Bleiburg news can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, March 12, 2020 - Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković on Thursday met with representatives of the Church and the Honorary Bleiburg Platoon about the organisation of the 75th Bleiburg commemoration in Austria.

This year's commemoration should take place on May 16 under the auspices of the Croatian parliament. The participants in the meeting said its taking place would depend on developments with coronavirus.

They underlined the importance of constant contacts between Croatia and Austria in preparing the commemoration and of holding a dignified event by respecting the law and prohibiting the display of unacceptable symbols.

There will be no political speeches at this year's commemoration either, it was said.

The commemoration is held annually in Loibach Field near the town of Bleiburg, Austria for soldiers of Croatia's Nazi-allied Ustasha regime and civilians killed there at the end of World War II.

Last year's gathering was held under tighter security after Austria added symbols of the 1941-45 Independent State of Croatia to the list of banned symbols from the Nazi period.

More Beiburg news can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, August 1, 2019 - A court in Klagenfurt, Austria on Thursday sentenced a 48-year-old Croatian citizen to 18 months' imprisonment for repeating the offence of displaying Nazi symbols, i.e. showing the Hitler salute at this year's Bleiburg commemoration, Austrian media reported.

The man pleaded guilty and said the Hitler salute would be "perceived more mildly" in Croatia, but conceded that he had drunk too much and done a "really stupid thing."

He has been in custody since mid-May. Two months of the 18-month sentence are non-suspended.

Prosecutor Christian Pirker said the salute was a deliberate act of provocation because it was done after the commemoration.

Judge Gernor Kugi took the perpetrator's high intoxication as a mitigating circumstance and called the sentence as "preventative" for participants in future Bleiburg commemorations.

The commemoration is held annually in Loibach Field near the town of Bleiburg for soldiers of Croatia's Nazi-allied Ustasha regime who were killed there at the end of World War II.

This year's gathering was held under tighter security after Austria added symbols of the 1941-45 Independent State of Croatia to the list of banned symbols from the Nazi period.

The Croat sentenced today was the only offender at this year's commemoration. Last year, seven persons were arrested for displaying Nazi symbols.

More news about the Bleiburg commemoration can be found in the Politics section.