Dave Emory’s entire lifetime of work is available on a flash drive that can be obtained here. [1] (The flash drive includes the anti-fascist books available on this site.)
Listen: MP3
Introduction: For decades, we’ve been researching the Croatian fascists known as Ustachi. (There are various spellings–one will see “Ustashe,” and other variants.) Holding sway in Croatia after the German invasion of Yugoslavia, they were supported by the Vatican [4] and incorporated into the GOP [5] ethnic outreach organization after the war [6].
Following the breakup of Yugoslavia [7], “neo-Ustachi” elements returned to power in Croatia [8]. A Croatian football (soccier) player recently stirred up those revanchist sentiments [9] following Croatia’s defeat of Iceland in a World Cup qualifying match. Joe Šimunić led the crowd in the “Za Dom Spremni” Ustachi World War II political cheeer.
Bob Dylan made a reference to the Ustachi slaughter of Serbs (as well as Jews and gypsies) by the Ustachi. Subsequently, Dylan was charged with a hate crime by France/EU!
Note that:
- Bob Dylan is an American citizen–NOT a citizen of an EU country.
- Rolling Stone is an American periodical–NOT one based in an EU country.
- What Dylan said is NOT illegal under American law.
- This has profound implications for international law.
Program Highlights Include: Germany’s profound role in precipitating the breakup of Yugoslavia; pro-Ustachi sentiments of Marko Perkovic–a popular Croatian rock star; pro-Ustachi chant led by a Croatian soccer player following that country’s World Cup qualifying victory over Iceland; support of the Vatican for Croatian secession; Croatian ethnic cleansing of Serbs; the blessing of neo-Ustachi cadre that were undertaking the ethnic cleansing of ethnic Serbs during the Balkan wars of the 1990’s; American Croatian celebration of the April 10 Ustachi holiday (it celebrates the German invasion of Yugoslavia in World War II).
1. In an interview in Rolling Stone magazine, Bob Dylan made a reference [10] to the Ustachi slaughter of Serbs (as well as Jews and gypsies) by the Ustachi. Subsequently, Dylan was charged with a hate crime by France/EU!
Note that Dylan is not a resident of an EU country, Rolling Stone is not based in an EU country and what Dylan said violates no American laws.
To people who follow the pronouncements of Bob Dylan, his comment in a Rolling Stone interview in September 2012 suggesting that American blacks could sense whether whites had slave-master blood “just like Jews can sense Nazi blood and the Serbs can sense Croatian blood” may have seemed just the sort of vaporously impressionistic, emotionally pointed kind of thing that Mr. Dylan has been known to say for decades.
But to the Representative Council of the Croatian Community and Institutions in France, an organization that looks after the interests of France’s 30,000 Croatians, those were fighting words. Now they have led to Mr. Dylan, who built his early career singing songs that denounced racism, being charged under a French law prohibiting “public insult and inciting hate.”
On Tuesday, Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office in Paris, told The Associated Press that the French government had filed preliminary charges. Mr. Dylan’s last encounter with the French government was just over two weeks ago, when he was awarded the Legion of Honor, France’s highest prize.
The French government must have known that the charges were brewing when they gave Mr. Dylan the award: Vlatko Maric, the secretary general of the council, announced in November 2012 that his group had filed a complaint with the French government. That complaint led to the current charges. . . .
2. Next, the program excerpts FTR #48 [8], setting forth the brutal substance of the Ustachi regime during World War II. The text excerpted is Wanted: The Search for Nazis in America [11] by Howard Blum.
3. Further developing the political underpinnings of the Post-World War II Ustachi revival, the program excerpts more of FTR #48 [8], highlighting the significant role of the Ustachi in the GOP’s ethnic outreach organization [6]. The text excerpts are from The Secret War Against the Jews [12] by John Loftus and Mark Aarons.
4. Underscoring the extent to which Ustachi elements took root in the U.S. the broadcast excerpts FTR #49 [5]. The excerpt includes a pro-Ustachi activist promoting the April 10 Ustachi holiday on a progressive radio station in the Bay Area. Eventually, Ante (Jackovcevic) went to work for the Croatian cultural ministry in the “new” Croatia.
5. Excerpting FTR #532 [4], the program takes stock of the profound Vatican support for the Ustachi. Eventually, the Vatican escape networks (“ratlines”) helped Ustachi leader Ante Pavelic escape to Argentina, where his storm troopers became personal bodyguards for Juan and Evita Peron.
6. Profound support for neo-Ustachi elements came from Croatia’s World War II ally and protector, Germany. Following the end of the Cold War, Germany was instrumental in supporting Croatian independence and arming the armed forces of that nation. Excerpting FTR #154 [7], the program accesses an essay by T.W. “Bill” Carr titled German and U.S. Involvement in the Balkans: A Careful Coincidence of National Policies.
7. A popular Croatian rock singer–Marko Perkovic–embodies Ustachi political themes.
“A Croatian Rock Star Flirts with the Nazi Past” by Nicolas Wood; The New York Times; 7/1/2007. [13]
For the Croatian rock star Marko Perkovic, it is a routine part of his performance: He shouts a well-known Croatian slogan from World War II and his fans respond with the Nazi salute.
On a hot Sunday evening last month, thousands did just that in a packed soccer stadium here in the Croatian capital. Photographs from the concert show youths wearing the black caps of the Nazi-backed Ustasha regime that ruled Croatia, and which was responsible for sending tens of thousands of Serbs, gypsies and Jews to their deaths in concentration camps. [This total is drastically understated–D.E.]. . . .
8. Lyrics of Perkovic’s band Thompson underscore the neo-Ustachi nature of his act, a very popular one in the “new” Croatia. Note the glowing references to the Ustachi Jasenovac and to Ante Pavelic.
“Thompson (Band)”; Wikipedia. [14]
. . . In 2003, a recording of Perković performing a modified version of the song “Jasenovac i Gradiška Stara” was made public by journalist Matija Babić.
The lyrics included:
Jasenovac i Gradiška Stara, to je kuća Maksovih mesara
U Čapljini klaonica bila, puno Srba Neretva nosila
Sjajna zvijezdo iznad Metkovića, pozdravi nam Antu PavelićaWhich roughly translates to:
Jasenovac and Stara Gradiška, that’s the house of Maks’ butchers
A slaughterhouse in Čapljina once there was, many Serbs floated in the Neretva (river)
Shining star above Metković, send our greetings to Ante Pavelić.There’s also a controversy with a song called “Evo zore, evo dana!”
The lyrics included:
Oj Ustaše braćo mila, duboka je voda Drina.
Drinu treba pregaziti, i Srbiju zapaliti.
Which roughly translates to:
Hey, Ustashas, my dear brothers, Drina river (a natural border) is deep.
We should cross it, and burn Serbia!
9. Exemplifying the resilience of Ustachi political sentiments in the “new” Croatia, we note an Australian-born Croatian soccer player’s leading of the “Za dom spremni” Ustachi chant from World War II.
Joe Simunic was suspended by FIFA for doing this.
This is video of Australian-born Croatia defender Joe Šimunić leading fans in a chant after Croatia beat Iceland to qualify for the world cup. “For the homeland,” Šimunić calls, and the crowd responds, “Ready!” But it’s more complicated than that.
The salute—“Za dom spremni”—dates back to the 19th century, giving Šimunić plausible deniability. But it only became famous, and notorious, during the Second World War as a symbol of the Ustaše, a fascist and ultranationalist group that ruled Croatia as a Nazi puppet state and advocated and undertook genocide against Serbs, Jews, and Romani.
Think of it as the equivalent of “Sieg Heil”. The Croatian Constitution does, banning it in certain instances. So do FIFA and UEFA, who have previously fined the Croatian Football Federation for the chant’s use by fans, often accompanied by the Nazi salute. (As in many Eastern and Southeastern European countries, soccer and ultranationalism have a cozy, complicated relationship.) . . . .
. . . . . Damnit, we could have had adorable little Iceland in the World Cup instead. Now we just get fascism.