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bishop Vlado Košić #conspiracy #racist vijesti.rtl.hr

{Original text in Croatian; translation and explanations by me, Vman. The bolded parts in Košić's speech are ones that I considered especially WTF.}

THE SPEECH OF BISHOP KOŠIĆ
'Ustashism was not fascism, it was organized military action in the defense of Croatia as a country'

26th Oct 2017

The bishop of Sisak, Vlado Košić, gave a speech at the presentation of a book about Marko Perković Thompson* which was written by academician Josip Pečarić. Many media outlets have reported Košić's speech in which he made the claim that some people are forcibly trying to shut up both the singer and academician Pečarić. We relay Košić's speech in its entirety:

* {Vman's note: Thompson is a far-right singer notorious for his pro-Ustashe leanings. During World War II, the Ustashe were basically the Croatian equivalent of the Nazis. Anyway, here's Košić's speech:}

I wish we had more brave people such as the famed singer Marko Perković Thompson and academician Josip Pečarić.

Those who have no arguments would like to forcibly silence them: thus they ban famed singer Marko from having concerts, put forth criminal charges against him on count of public order disturbance, they defame his reputation and declare his work to be - outright fascist. Such people also use every means available against academician Pečarić just in order to silence him, they persecute his family, and - they most often ignore him.

However, both these great men - Croats and patriots - are people of whom our Homeland should be proud. Maybe in some future time, when we are freed of - as per the song of bishop Ante Ivas - all those traitors, perjurers, fraudsters, and also - as so poetically said by [far-right minor politician] Anto Kovačević - all the drpislavs {thieves}; only in a future, calmer history of Croatia will these great people of ours, Marko and Josip, be given their rightful place, a place of the utmost respect.

[...]

This book bears witness to the greatness of these two Croatian men, to honest men in dishonest times, to great men in times of small souls, to the audacity of the few who dare to be bold during times of betrayal. This is why their trail will be an inspiration to future generations, and in twenty or thirty years books will be written about them, films made and they will be an example of bravery in the struggle against the evil which is destroying the truth and our homeland.

[...]

Marko the singer and Josip the academician are being linked to the salute "Za dom spremni!".* It's interesting to note why this patriotic salute is being contested and by whom, and to note how the state reacts to it. Firstly, it ought to be said that this salute was spontaneously used during the Homeland War, and not only by the members of the Croatian Defense Forces (Hrvatske Obrambene Snage, HOS) who included it in their coat of arms, but also by the "Tigrovi" and the "Gromovi".** There are YouTube recordings of this. Interestingly enough, nobody was bothered by it at that time.

* {"Za dom spremni!" means "For home(land), ready!". This was the official Ustashe salute and is our equivalent of "Heil Hitler!"}
** {the Tigrovi (Tigers) and the Gromovi (Thunders) were respectively the 1st and 2nd Guards Brigade of the Croatian Army, and before it of its main predecessor force, the Croatian National Guard}

Likewise, nobody used to be bothered by the fact that Marko uttered that war cry in his first patriotic song, Bojna Čavoglave. The witch-hunt on both Marko and that salute began only two or three years ago, with everyone who used it being accused of ustashism and fascism. Firstly, it ought to be said that ustashism wasn't fascism, but rather an organized military action in the defense of Croatia as a country. Both Blessed Alojzije Stepinac and {Croatia's first president} dr Franjo Tuđman have spoken positively about the nature of the {WW2-era} state of Croatia. The Ustashe defended Croatia using all "permissible and impermissible means", which was a part of their oath.

That illegality, that is, those impermissible means are of course not acceptable to us as Christians. Neither are the crimes they had committed, and which the Church condemns, although it should be noted that they were an answer to the numerous Chetnik and Partisan crimes. But why did it, in recent years, come to the public political and police persecution of the "Za dom spremni!" salute and the people who use it - yet throughout the 25 years following the Homeland War this had not happened? Let's take a moment to remember the lawsuits against Joe Šimunić* initiated by the association 'Korak Ispred' from Rijeka, an association led by a Serb named Zoran Stevanović.

* {Joe Šimunić is a soccer player who landed into hot water when, during a game, he took a microphone and yelled four times "Za dom!", to which the audience responded with the second part of the salute ("Spremni!"). A video of the incident can be found here.}

Furthermore, let us remember that the Serbian politician Aleksandar Vulin repeatedly called out the current Croatia due to "ustashization and fascization". Other Serbian pro-Chetnik politicians did this as well. But it was actually the Croatian politicians who gave them cause for this when, led by the country's former President and then also the Prime Minister, they spoke of the "Ustashe viper" and accused Croats of "a turn towards ustashism". First they did this in the Jewish Knesset, then when the new government under the leadership of Tomislav Karamarko was being formed.

There was no evidence for any of this. On the other hand, there was more and more evidence that the governmental structures in Croatia still have plenty of UDBA* men and criminals - or their sons - who murdered many Croats, whether abroad, in Croatia or in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I too think that this loud witch-hunt for non-existent Ustashe was launched by the very people who were afraid of being subjected to lustration, which is increasingly being called for as a realistic and necessary option for Croatia's legislature.

* {UDBA is an acronym for the State Security Administration (Uprava držžavne bezbednosti), which was one of the names that was used for the state security service / secret police of socialist Yugoslavia.}

[...]

Anyway, I will openly say that the political demands of the representatives of the defeated Serb minority in Croatia, a minority which had - together with Serbia and the Yugoslav People's Army - initiated a rebellion against Croatia, are based upon myths and lies. They are now also supported by Serbia's official politics, because it is once again ruled by Chetniks. Unfortunately, they also have the support of the Serb Orthodox Church. These myths and lies include not only the interpretation of Jasenovac {as an Ustashe-run death camp for Serbs, Jews, Roma and political prisoners], but also the role of the Blessed Alojzije Stepinac, of the Srb Uprising which is actually a celebration of the massacre of Croats rather than of an antifascist revolution, then the statue in Banski Grabovac, as well as the fabrication of a non-existent camp for the killing of Serb children in Sisak.

[...]

Unfortunately our Croatian political scene is either powerless, or doesn't know how to answer all of these lies. A law should be passed which would state that all those who rebelled against the Republic of Croatia may not take part in any form of government; then, I think, it is necessary to request war reparations for the damage that the Republic of Serbia has caused to Croatia through its aggression, and this should be a prerequisite for any form of support for Serbia's entry into the European Union. Furthermore, it is necessary to remove the privilege for Serb children to learn a history of the Homeland War that is different than the historical truth; we should also forbid entry into Croatia to warmongers and those who spread lies - not only Serbian ministers and politicians, but also the representatives of the Serb Orthodox Church.

That is the only way a proud and victorious Croatia would act. It is the only way we could save that which we defended in the Homeland War, a war which must remain the only foundation* of modern-day Croatia. For this defense we should primarily thank the Croatian defenders, among whom we certainly include both Marko P. Thompson and academician J. Pečarić.

* {This is a very deliberate phrasing. He's implying that Croatia should give up claiming that anti-fascism as one of its foundations. By extension, he is also implying that the Ustashe movement should take its place. This subtext might not be obvious to someone who doesn't live in Croatia, but it is very clear to native people.}

Finally, I will reiterate one of the first things I said here: Oh, if only there were more people like Marko and Josip in Croatia!"