No to rewriting the history - by Živadin Jovanović
Mr. Chairman,
Dear Friends,
First of all, I would like to thank the organizers of this extremely important Conference for the kind invitation and worm hospitality. It is indeed great honor to participate in the final events dedicated to the 65th anniversary of the Victory over Fascism and Nazism, under auspices of Federal Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. Heroic City of Moscow, symbolizes the greatest contribution of the former Soviet Union to the victory over Fascism and Nazism.
The Belgrade Forum for a World of Equals, an independent, non-party and non-profit organization, as well as the general public in Serbia, are profoundly worried by continued attempts of rewriting the history of the 20thcentury, distortion of the outcome of the Second World War and undervaluation of historic importance of the verdicts of the Nuremberg Trial., While appearing in various forms, fields and degrees, depending on the concrete circumstances, this process seems to be encompassing the whole of Europe and beyond, thus becoming global phenomena. It is necessary to note that it is progressing in parallel with some other processes such as transition of the former socialist countries and global economic crises compared by many scholars with the crises of the 30-ties of the last century. Another simultaneous process, worth mentioning is degradation of the role of United and the international Law Order established after the Second World War.
At the same time Europe and the world are undergoing the process of militarization, expansion of military installations towards East Europe is cross-netted by more foreign military basis today than at the time of the highest Cold War confrontation. World arms’ expenditure has risen to unprecedented 1.5 trillion USD per year, while military-industrial complex is privileged in decision making process and regarded as savor from further economic downfall.
Current world economic crises has already led to further widening of the gap between rich and poor, internationally and within individual countries, including reachest ones. High unemployment, misery and discontent have become worldwide reality causing deep social, political and moral problems, xenophobia and racism, including. From time to time, the public is told that certain nations have missionary role to “help” other nations to “democratize”, to adopt their system and values even by use of force if they deem it necessary.
These developments and practices represent very fertile soil for revival of ideologies of Nazism and Fascism, falsification of history, rehabilitation of those responsible for atrocities and war crimes during the Second World War undervaluation of the liberation struggle against Fascist occupiers.
Attempts to revise the outcome of the Second World War can be traced, with different extent and forms, in various fields, but first of all, in mass-media, education and history-science. They are also present in arts (films), TV series, sports, popular music. Some political parties in various European countries, as well as some national and international institutions, one way or the other, do contribute to revision of history, rehabilitation of collaborators, quislings’ formations and their leaders. In some instances, national and international judiciary is manipulated and abused for the same purposes.
Having regard aforesaid, revival of the Nazi and Fascist ideologies on such large scale can hardly be considered spontaneous. Therefore, it would be useful to explore and answer some questions, such as – what are the sources of financing of the revival of Nazi and Fascist ideologies? Then, is there a political will to adopt global response to the process of revival of these ideologies, or how to come to such a response?
Rehabilitation of Nazism and various quislings’ formations is particularly disturbing in the Balkans where the crimes of Fascist occupiers and their helpers were horribly cruel setting up death camps, encouraging civil war, redrawing state borders to install satellite states (“Independent State of Croatia”, “Greater Albania” from 1941-1945). Particularly worrying are false interpretations that the current attempts to rehabilitate quisling formations and downplay the role of anti-Nazi and anti-Fascist movements and Liberation struggle are part and parcel of democratization, reconciliation and modern, future oriented policies.
Yugoslav crisis of the 90-es gave a rise to revision of history. In fact, destruction of Yugoslavia was revision of the results not only of the Second, but also of the First World War, even of the Balkan wars.
Serbia has particular reasons to be worried about rewriting the history.
First, Serbia, within Yugoslavia, gave great contribution to the victory over Nazism and Fascism. However, people’s liberation struggle against occupying Fascist forces, close cooperation with other allied forces, particularly with Red Army of USSR, is often undervalued, neglected or distorted in mass media, education and political practice.
Second, Serbia suffered enormous human losses, far the most of 1.7 million of human losses of Yugoslavia. In fact, Serbs were the victim of genocide. Only in the concentration camp of Jasanovac, located in the Hitler’s puppet state “Independent State of Croatia” about 700.000 of Serbs, Jews and Gypsies were killed. There is a tendency to neglect, downplay, or distort real proportions of enormous human losses, in one hand and to downplay responsibility for unprecedented crimes against humanity, opn the other hand.
Third, attempts to rewrite the history concerns the results of the First World War, the set of Versailles agreements (Trianon). These attempts sometimes go thus far as to even accuse Serbia for the outbreak of the First World War as Richard Holbrook did in his book on Dayton!
And forth, during the last twenty years Serbia has been experiencing “in vivo” the revision of history of the 20-th century, the results of the two World Wars and even, results of the Balkan Wars: the second and third Yugoslavia has been destroyed in coordination of internal separatist forces and their foreign protectors, through the bloody civil wars. The role of neo-Nazi ideologies and its followers in separatists movements in this regard should not be neglected (“Ustashi” and others).
Kosovo and Metohija, the symbol of Serbia’s statehood, religion and culture, has been occupied through brutal 1999 NATO military aggression. While
under UN mandate and contrary to the UN SC resolution 1244 this Serbian territory has been stolen from Serbia and handed over to the leaders of international organized crimes, who are responsible, inter alia, for massive abduction of human beings and sale of human organs .
Serbian nation which had lived in Yugoslavia for over 70 years has been fragmented – part turned into refugees, part into new, openly discriminated national minorities, and part still remains deprived of the basic human rights in Kosovo and Metohija. Some Serbs are living in 21-rst century barbed-wired ghettos. Monuments of Serbian culture, 150 medieval monasteries and churches, even centuries old graveyards, have been destroyed while the Province has been under UN mandate. About 500.000 Serbian refugees and displaced persons are still in Serbia without the right to safe return to their ancestral homes in Croatia and Kosovo and Metohija.
In spite of all this, in the course of the last 20 years major western powers and huge propaganda machinery have been portraying Serbia as the culprits of the outbreak of civil wars in Croatia and Bosnia, for 1999 NATO aggression, for unilateral, illegal secession of Kosovo and Metohija 2008 - even for ethnic cleansing of Serbs from their homes and for genocidal crimes committed against them. The corporate capital dominated mass media attributed collective responsibility to Serbs and portrayed the late president Slobodan Milosevic as a dictator worse then Adolf Hitler himself. Hague tribunal established without legal basis in the UN Charter, in practice, turned into a political instrument of condemning Serbia’s civil and military leadership, rewriting the history of the Balkan, justifying NATO military aggression which led to unilateral secession of 15 per cent of Serbia’s state territory.
Support to the secessionist forces in former Yugoslav republics, in Kosovo and Metohija and satanization of Serbia and Serbs, is perceived by major part of Serbian public, by many other friendly nations, by independent-minded scholars in Europe, USA and the world, unjust, imperial practice in line with the slogan “divide et impera”, as revenge, be it for resisting to globalist hegemony, be it for Serbia’s historically verified contribution to the victory of Allies in both World Wars.
Nowadays, Serbia is undergoing blackmail to accept loosing Kosovo and Metohija in exchange for membership to EU! Apparently, in the interest of peace and stability! It should be noted however, that this is not immoral and illegal only, but dangerously counterproductive in relation to the peace and stability. It seems as if the 1938 Sudetes lesson has been forgotten.
Our priorities should be:
- Creative and active position in defending results of the two World Wars through encouraging historians, writers, journalists, schools in preserving the truth and resisting all kind of distortions and falsifications of the history;
- Government agencies should provide all necessary conditions for scientific institutions and civic organizations willing to engage in realization of concrete projects for uncovering the roots and objectives of falsification of history;
- Active role in all governmental and non-governmental forums, especially within the system of United Nations (ECOSOC, UNRESCO), through IPU and other parliamentary assembles;
- Upgrading awareness of the youth and students on the crucial importance of safeguarding the truth of the past and tragic consequences of Fascism and Nazism;
- Examining the role of education and viability of channeling certain initiatives through UNESCO;
- Strengthening the basic principles of the International World and Law Order established after the Second World Order, especially, reinforcing the prime role of UN Security Council, notwithstanding necessity for further development and adjustments of international institutions
Dear Friends,
Let me conclude, that Serbia and Russia have shared, more or less, the same ideals of freedom, independence and dignity, same destiny throughout the history, always being allies and never enemies one to the other. I am sure that this historic experience will be guiding our peoples in the future in common endeavors for Europe and the World without Nazism and Fascism.
Thank you.
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Gift for Mr. Chairman:
The book The Twilight of the West - NATO aggression - Never to forget: http://www.en.beoforum.rs/index.php/books-belgrade-forum-for-the-world-of-equals.html
1Address at the International Conference “World without Nazism: Global Goal of the entire Humanity”, held in Moscow on December 17th, 2010, under auspices of Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation
2Report of Hon. Dick Marty, Reporter of the Board for legal issues of the Parliamentary Assemble of the Council of Europe submitted to the Assembly in December 2010 for consideration and adoption at the session convened for January 25th, 2011.