ANTI-FASCIST STRUGGLE DAY - COMMEMORATION OF SISAK UNIT

ZAGREB, June 21 (Hina) - On June 22, Croatia marks Anti-Fascist Struggle Day. On June 22 1941, the first anti-fascist unit in occupied Europe, the Sisak partisan unit, was formed. The central ceremony marking Anti-Fascist Struggle Day will this year also take place in the Brezovica forest near Sisak (some 50 km south-east of Zagreb). The first Sisak unit had 77 fighters and was commanded by Vladimir Janjic Capo and Marijan Cvetkovic. As it was made up mostly of Croats, the unit fought mostly on Croatian territory. Thirty-eight of its members lived to see the end of World War II. The formation of the Sisak unit marked the beginning of organised anti-fascist struggle in Croatia, in which, according to data by the Association of Croatian Anti-Fascist Fighters (SABH), more than 500,000 Croatian citizens actively participated. Some 230,000 people from Croatia fought in the National-Liberation Army (NOV), and 52 brigades, 17 divisions and five corps were formed on Croatian territory. For the sake of comparison, the NOV had 11 corps on the entire Yugoslav territory. Anti-Fascist Struggle Day has been marked since the establishment of the independent Croatian state. In the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY), Anti-Fascist Struggle Day in Croatia was marked on July 27 (Fighter's Day) to commemorate the first bullet fired in the village of Srb, although the formation of the Sisak unit had taken place more than a month before that event. (hina) jn rml