Were ALL residents of Bosnia and Croatias fascists?

[Borba100@xxxxxxxxxxx]

n a message dated 03/09/2000 8:32:57 AM Eastern Standard Time,
jbm7@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:

<< So all the Albanians and Bosnians were fascists. I thought that Titos
 forces included members of all ethnic groups >>

Like du-uh.

When evidence is overwhelmingly against some people they do not change their
minds - they create straw man arguments, attribute these arguments to their
opponents, and claim victory. Really, how could ALL of any population be
fascists?  The problem is that different groups (as defined by class, culture
and circumstances, which vary) do in fact respond differently politically
e.g, the Italian fascists tried to curb the Kosovo Albanian atrocites against
Serbs - the Germans encouraged them.

Obviously if people SIMPLY responded to class the game would have been won
long ago.  Brecht said "If men would only use their ears they would know who
did what and to whom"  because they often DO NOT use their ears.  They use
what they werer taught and the Croatian society was unfortunatly taught by
the worst fascist Catholic Priests in the world.  NOT the liberation theology
priests, not even the priests we see in the US - fascist priests.  But this
was simply not talked about.  So the ghosts returned.

 Racism has proven to be the key weakness of the struggle for change
worldwide.  It is often the form that class hatred takes - for example, in
Bosnia the Serbs are disproportionately farmers and the Slavic Muslims  are
idsproportionately mi\ddlce class city dwellers for a good reason: conversion
was a means to escape oppression under Ottoman rule.

A key problem in Yugoslavia was the failure on ALL sides to recognize the
critical character of fighting racism.  This failure affected both
revolutionaries from the groups infected by racism and revolutionaries from
the groups who were its victims.

It is true that all ethnic groups joined the partisans.  It is also true that
a) the Albanians were the hardest to recruit (that's what partisan documents
report) that b) the Croatians joined mainly AFTER it became clear the Germans
would lose.  c) The Serbs were the vast majority of the Partisans until '43 -
indeed, when the Partisans and Cetniks worked together, at the start of the
war, they accomplished an unprecedented feat: they drove the nazi's out of
much of Serbia and some other areas.  This was essentially a Serbian effort,
in both groups. But it was NOT simply nationalism - because the communist
Partisans were largely Serbian.

These are facts. Challenge my interpretation if you will; I believe that many
of the Croatians who switched sides after '43 had mixed or predominatetly
fascist ATTITUDES.  The horror was Tito's line: join us and the past is
deleted. NO NO NO.  The past can never be deleted.  By pretending to delete
it, you give these ghosts great power.  They must be confronted.  The "easy"
way is the HARD way - in the end.  Have we learned nothing?

In the US I believe MOST whites including workers are at least SOMEWHAT
racist - the trick is to plan work so as to minimize racism and isolate the
racists.  This was not done in Yugoslavia.  A NATIONAL DISCUSSION of racist
attitudes should have been the key  educational effort of the Yugoslav State.
This had to include some punishment.  Mass participation in the punishment
would have been good.  The victimized must learn to raise their heads.  But
this was not done.Instead the CP pushed the existence of a mass-based fascist
movement in Croatia, B-Herz. and Kosovo under the rug.  Again: Tito had the
crevasses where the Serbian bodies were thrown in Croatia cemented over.
CEMENTED OVER.  How do you get around this FACT?  What does it mean except:
forget the past.  Don't try to punish the guilty.  Get over it.  Move on. Get
a life.  Meanwhile the murderer shares power with the victim.  He is
recognized on the street.  The relative of the victim averts his eyes.  The
murderer has won for the truth can only be discussed in private.

These are facts.   Baiting me by claiming my point is that all Croatians are
bad, or by claiming that it is Serbian nationalism to point out the existence
of anti-Serbian racism - which EVERYONE IN THE BALKANS KNOWS ABOUT - is
ludicrous.  And sure, some Serbs have responded to the ghastly world war two
experience (where they SAW ordinary Croatians, Albanian and Bosnian Muslims
participate in genocide - the worst in Europe occurred in the Independent
State of Croatia where CROWDS welcomed the German invaders in '41 - HUGE
SMILING RAPTUROUS crowds) the subsequent suppression of discussion (let alone
legal justice!), the obvious anti-Serbian bias of the new Yugoslav State,
which tragically also had many wonderful features, the incorporation into the
party apparatus of people WHO HAD BEEN FASCIST MURDERERS, -- some Serbs have
responded to this by losing sight of internationalism.  I am not a Serbian
nationalist, I am an internationalist. I have no particular interest in
Serbian culture., etc.  I am involved in this issue because it is the key
focus of the US assault on the world - that is, Serbia is the (heroic) point
of resistance, just as it has generally been for the past 100 or so years.

My point is: Internationalism requires opposition to racism in populations
like England, Orangemen, US (Indians, Asians, Black people, does the list
end), Germans (Serbs, Roma, Jews) Croatians (Serbs, Roma, Jews) and so  on.
Indeed, it is only by the heroic antiracist work by members of populations
infected with racism that the subject populations are able to see past THE
PAIN AND FURY to the possibility of internationalism and not be drawn into an
erroneous response.  AND on the other hand, the active, passionate attack on
racist lies by members of the group infected by racism helps the victims
reject self hate.  One of the things that sustains me is the letters we get
at Emperors Clothes from Serbs who feel a vindication that some Westerners
are telling the truth.

Best wishes,
Jared

PS - by the way, a large minority of Croatia and the majority of Bosnia-Herz.
during WWII were Serbian.  It is interesting that jbm7@tutor writes as if
these were Serb free entitites - it coincides with the Western press's
affirmation of racially pure enclaves, here and elsewhere.  Also: there WAS
no Bosnian state.  Bosnia-Herz. was a purely adminstartive creation of Tito.
Croatia existed as a state only under Hitler - that is, until now.