ZAGREB, Sept 26 (Hina) - The Alliance of Croatian Antifascist veterans (SABH) stated today it supported the Croatian government's stance to have all crimes committed in Croatia from 1918 to 1996 investigated. It also advocates
truthful interpretations and objective assessments of events and people in modern history, including the Croatian Antifascist Movement from 1941 to 1945 and the post-war period. Government representatives recently announced possible indictments for war crimes committed during World War II, primarily concerning crimes committed by the partisans. "What we, participants of the People's Defence War (NOR) in World War II, object to are attempts of relativisation of fascism and antifascism and of equalising crime and victim," the SABH Presidency said in a statement signed by deputy chairman Vinko Sunjara. It is characteristic of the partisan movement that there were no killings of inno
ZAGREB, Sept 26 (Hina) - The Alliance of Croatian Antifascist
veterans (SABH) stated today it supported the Croatian
government's stance to have all crimes committed in Croatia from
1918 to 1996 investigated. It also advocates truthful
interpretations and objective assessments of events and people in
modern history, including the Croatian Antifascist Movement from
1941 to 1945 and the post-war period.
Government representatives recently announced possible
indictments for war crimes committed during World War II, primarily
concerning crimes committed by the partisans.
"What we, participants of the People's Defence War (NOR) in World
War II, object to are attempts of relativisation of fascism and
antifascism and of equalising crime and victim," the SABH
Presidency said in a statement signed by deputy chairman Vinko
Sunjara.
It is characteristic of the partisan movement that there were no
killings of innocent people, there were no mass murders, burning of
villages and retribution.
The partisans were, however, treated by the occupier and internal
political structure "as bands of terrorists to whom no convention
on international rights of war applied," and were mostly
imprisoned, and the wounded or sick killed until the end of war in
1945, the statement read.
"In this context, one should look at Bleiburg and everything it
represents," the SABH said, stressing the alliance did not justify
how the loosing army was treated after January 15, 1945, and
regretted the innocent victims executed without a trial.
Asserting it did not wish to prejudice the truths about Bleiburg,
the SABH said that as far as the alliance knows, "the partisans were
not criminals and nobody had planned the victims at Bleiburg, nor
had the Command, with Josip Broz Tito at the helm, ordered the mass
executions of prisoners without trials".
At the end of World War II, Croatian soldiers, fearing retaliation
by the then Yugoslav Federal Army, decided to surrender to English
Allies in Austria. They were followed by their families and
numerous civilians. However, according to a previous arrangement
with the partisans, the Allies handed them over to the partisans in
the Bleiburg field on May 14-15, 1945. Recent estimates state the
exodus included about half a million Croats. Many were killed or
died of exhaustion over the two days.
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