Who are bothered by the partisans: About half of the anti-fascist monuments in Croatia have been destroyed or damaged

And this June 22, "Day of Anti-Fascist Struggle" is celebrated in Croatia. And since independence in 1991, roughly half of the country's anti-fascist monuments have been either destroyed or damaged.

Where the Neretva "kisses" the Adriatic Sea, there are Ploče. Since 1976, the "Revolution" memorial park has been located in that Dalmatian port city. In that plaque park, the victims of fascism are honored.

Some of the leading partisans from the Neretva valley, i.e. national heroes, also received busts - their heads were then placed on specially designed pedestals. The pedestals are still there, but not the heads. In the summer of 1991, at the beginning of the war in Croatia, some people destroyed two heads. No one in Ploče wants to say who those people were. And later, their descendants took off the heads of the other partisans and "stored" them somewhere at home, Vedran Sršen, an author and activist from Ploce, tells us.

Srsen is furious about the destruction of the anti-fascist heritage and the glorification of Ustasha fascism in his homeland. That is why in April of this year he asked the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia to answer, as he says, the question of whether the Ustaše were fighters for Croatian freedom, that is, whether the Republic of Croatia should celebrate May 15 and whether that date is in in accordance with the Constitution?

It is a day that is officially called the "Day of Remembrance of Croatian Victims in the Struggle for Freedom and Independence". On that day in 1945, near the Carinthian town of Bleiburg, the Ustashas, ​​fascists who until then had fought on the side of Nazi Germany, surrendered to the victorious army - Tito's partisans. And the partisans killed many of them.

"But", emphasizes Sršen, "the Ustashas did not fall for the freedom and independence of Croatia." They were puppets of the German occupiers." By commemorating that day, "Ustasha crimes against Jews, Serbs, Roma and anti-fascist Croats are relativized", according to Sršen.

Already in 1989, Srsen was involved in the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) of Franje Tuđman (1922-1999), which advocated for the independence of Croatia by all means. Tuđman, who was elected president of Croatia in 1991, himself fought with Tito's partisans, and later rose to the rank of general of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA). But some key people with whom he connected in the eighties and early nineties of the last century had a completely different past: they were supporters of the Ustasha regime, and then, after several decades of living in emigration, they returned to their homeland. And they were determined to leave their mark on the new, independent Croatia.

Between the antifa tradition and the Ustasha salute

And since then that country, which is still ruled by the HDZ, juggles between fascism and anti-fascism. On the one hand, June 22 is the Day of the Anti-Fascist Struggle, and on the other hand, half of the 7.000 anti-fascist monuments from socialist times have been destroyed or damaged - among them some precious works of modern art.

So far, no one has been held accountable for the destruction of the monument. In addition, there is a constant discussion about the fascist greeting "Ready for home!" It is actually forbidden, but it can be used on some occasions.

Vedran Sršen turned his back on HDZ a long time ago. He has been criticizing his former party for years for its attitude towards the past. In Gradac, a coastal town a few kilometers north of Ploče, Sršen leads us to a place with a beautiful view of the Adriatic Sea. There used to be a monument of the famous Croatian sculptor Antun Augustinčić.

The pillar with the relief is intact, but the impressive figure of the partisan fighter has been lying on the ground for 30 years. It is heavily damaged. One day at the beginning of 1992, Croatian soldiers who were fighting the Serbs in the vicinity came to Gradac. They tied Partizan with a cable and dragged him with a military truck, ignoring the protests of local residents. "What did the partisans do to those people," asks Sršen. The vast majority of the inhabitants of that region were on the side of the Partisans during the Second World War.

Democracy without partisan monuments

Near Ploče, in the middle of the Neretva delta, is the small town of Opuzen. A small town where all traces of the monument erected by Opuzen in 1978 in honor of his most famous son have been lost. Stjepan Filipović was a member of the Yugoslav partisan army, a metal worker who became a battalion commander. He was hanged by order of the German occupiers in 1942 in Valjevo. There is a well-known photo in which Filipović with a noose around his neck is standing under the gallows, his hands raised in the air as he calls for resistance against the occupying power. One woman immortalized that moment, the statue became an icon and today it can be found in the Holocaust Museum in Washington.

Filipović's monument in Opuzen was detonated by several young men in 1991. They were paid for that by the powerful HDZ members. Descendants of the partisans who live in Opuzen and are involved in the restoration of the monument, do not want to reveal the names of those young men. They say the time is not yet ripe for that.

Filipović is not at all interested in some new young men on the main Opuzen square. Just like the antifa tradition and Tito's Yugoslavia. They tell us that all partisan monuments should be "removed". This is democracy, they claim with a smile.

A symbol of resistance and freedom

At the same time, outrage is growing in the country over the destruction of anti-fascist monuments. Zagreb art historian Davorka Perić launched the "Refreshing Memories" initiative. Among other things, she advocates for the restoration of the monument to Filipović in Opuzen. It is a universal symbol of resistance and freedom, she claims.

The remains of the destroyed monument, which were saved and hidden by the residents of Opuzen, were exhibited by Davorka Perić in Zagreb - against the wishes of the long-time mayor of Opuzen. In addition, her initiative networked with other groups. Among them is VEDRA from Split, an association of war veterans from the early 90s in Croatia. That organization was founded a few years ago with the aim of defending anti-fascism as one of the foundations of today's Croatian state.

Some new winds are slowly starting to blow in Opuzen as well. In the meantime, the local HDZ members even changed the general urban plan, so the land on which the monument to Filipović was located was turned into a business zone - in order to prevent reconstruction in the same place. But in the recent local elections, the town got a new mayor. It is the independent candidate Ivan Mataga. When it comes to the monument to Filipović, Mataga is ready to talk. The cards are being shuffled again at this moment in the Neretva valley.