CROATS COMMEMORATE VICTIMS OF BLEIBURG AND WAY OF THE CROSS

BLEIGURG, May 12 (Hina) - Many Croats gathered in Bleiburg on Sunday to commemorate victims of Bleiburg and of the Way of the Cross. Present at the event were also members of the Committee for Commemorating the May 15 and representatives of the Croatian Parliament headed by president of the Parliament Vlatko Pavletic. #L# On May 15 1945 the remainder of the Croatian National Army, together with many civilians began to withdraw to Austria and surrendered to the Yugoslav People's Army. Tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians were killed. The Croats were slaughtered near the Austrian town of Bleiburg. Those who were not killed immediately were forced to walk up to 700-800 kilometres with mass executions on the way, organized mostly by Serbian partisan officers. Croatian history calls this event the Way of the Cross. The ceremony began with the Croatian national anthem and a minute of silence for all those who interweaved their lives into the Croatian state. A priest of the Croatian Catholic Mission in Klagenfurt, father Sebastijan Golenic, addressed the people, saying that the Bleiburg Field was a holy place and that Croats who had found themselves in the middle of World War ll. through no fault of their own, paid an enormous price. He added that the life and the martyr's death of a large number of Croatian sons and daughters who had given their lives for the greatest ideals of man, their homeland, people and faith were remembered with sadness, but also with pride. The president of the Croatian Cultural Society, Petar Milos, addressed the people on behalf of the honorary platoon. "We are gathered on this field of tears and blood to commemorate the victims of Bleiburg and the Way of the Cross," president of the Croatian Parliament, Vlatko Pavletic, said. A Mass was then served by father Sebastijan Golenic. (hina) lm 121416 MET may 96