"Warning! Whitewashing of Ustasha history in progress": Strong reactions to Kolinda's statement

Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic said today that the Croatian people, in proportion to the overall population, contributed the most to the anti-fascist struggle in Europe. This statement has provoked strong criticism from the Serbian state leadership, but has also been strongly condemned by both the Serbian and Croatian public. The criticism was particularly sharp on Twitter.

Speaking at the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the start of the Second World War, held in Warsaw, Poland, Grabar-Kitarovic said that more than half a million Croats participated in the anti-fascist struggle.

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"We are here to pay tribute to all the victims of the war, both in Poland, which was the first to start fighting against Nazism, and in all other countries that stood up for freedom and peace in Europe and in the world. The Croatian people, in proportion to the population, contributed the most to the anti-fascist struggle in Europe, in which more than half a million Croatian citizens actively participated," Grabar-Kitarovic wrote on her official Twitter account.

Hrvatski narod je razmjerno broju stanovnika najviše pridonio antifašističkoj borbi u Europi, u kojoj je aktivno sudjelovalo više od pola milijuna hrvatskih građana.  #80WW2 pic.twitter.com/XAtW9aKe9h— Kolinda GK (@KolindaGK) September 1, 2019

This post has been met with a great deal of condemnation. One Twitter user posted a screenshot of her post, with "anti" crossed out in the phrase "anti-fascist struggle," announcing that he had "fixed it."

E, i to sam ti sredio. Nema na čemu pic.twitter.com/dNkjNFlJfa— Тајлер Дурден (@spacemonk011) 1 September 2019

Another wrote:

"Warning!!! Whitewashing of Ustasha history in progress."

pic.twitter.com/lOR1mLwHSH— Draško 🇷🇸 (@drasko69) 1 September 2019

One in a series of comments concerned the ratio between Partisans (Communist anti-fascist resistance) and Ustashas (Croatian fascists in power during the war):

"These (anti-fascist) Croatian citizens were all Serbs. The Ustashas, ​​who were collaborators of German Nazis and Italian fascists, had in their ranks 90 percent of all able-bodied Croats."

Ti Hravtski građani svi su bili Srbi. U ustasama, koji bili saradnici njamckih nacista i italijanskih fašista, bilo 90% vojno sposobnih Hrvata.— Zoran Petrovic (@wolfvillage1984) 1 September 2019

Quoting the Croatian president's statement that "the General and National Encyclopedia of Croatia (2005-2007) states the number of fighters in the anti-fascist struggle reached 150,000 at the end of the war," another Twitter user wrote:

"It seems, Kolinda, that a special edition has been printed for you, which is not available to us?"

U Općoj i nacionalnoj enciklopediji Hrvatske (2005-2007) navodi se da je broj boraca u antifašističkoj borbi dosegao na kraju rata 150.000.Izgleda, Kolinda, da je za vas štampano neko specijalno izdanje, koje nama nije dostupno?— Predrag Brajovic (@PredragBrajovic) 1 September 2019

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has also responded to the statement made by the Croatian president.

"It is disgraceful to compare Serbs and Croats when it comes to their contribution to the anti-fascist struggle in the Second World War," said Vucic.

Asked if the Croatian president's statement was meant to serve her election campaign, Vucic said he was embarrassed to even answer that question because, he said, "he might turn vulgar."

"Belgrade was liberated on October 20, 1944. On March 10, 12, and March 15, 1945, you have official statements from the commander of the Jasenovac concentration camp (in Croatia), who states that the Ustasha national boot in standing firmly in Jasenovac, and that it will not withdraw. That was six months after Belgrade was liberated... So much for who belonged to what movement," said Vucic.

Serb member of the Bosnian presidency Milorad Dodik said that Grabar-Kitarovic's statement was nothing but a case of the darkest historical revisionism, when attempts are made to adjust the past to the present geopolitical moment.

"All the heads of state who gathered in Poland yesterday know that the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) was a satellite of fascist Germany and that within that state, the greatest atrocities in the Second World War were committed against Serbs, Jews, Roma and other anti-fascists," Dodik told Srna news agency, RTRS is reporting.

(Telegraf.rs)