In the early 1990s, it was terribly difficult to be a Serb in Croatia. Innocent people were harassed and harassed in various ways just because they were Serbs, even though that was the only connection to Serbia they ever had. These Serbs were born in Croatia like their ancestors for many generations. One of these victims of Croatian war chauvinism was my master's mentor, now deceased Milenko M. In 1991, at the time when the war in Croatia began, Milenko found himself in America on a sabbatical that was to last several months. Due to the war, he extended his stay in America and came to Croatia a year or so later. As soon as he arrived, one of his close pre-war colleagues reported him to the police that he was at war on the Serbian side. The police knocked on the man's door and he was taken for questioning. When the police asked him what his nationality was, he answered "Serb". The inspector who spoke to him called on his colleagues to hear it with the words "Listen to this, the man says he is a Serb. We haven't heard that for a long time that someone has declared that he is a Serb. " It was completely clear to the police inspector during the investigation that Milenko was a victim of intrigue and ended his interrogation with the words "I was pleased to talk to you." Milenko replied, "Listen, I was very embarrassed." After that first visit, Milenko occasionally returned to Croatia for his vacation, but like some other Croatian Serbs, he never returned to live in Croatia.
Croatian anti-Serbian chauvinism was not completely suppressed even three decades after the war. Today, much of the world has an extremely anti-Russian mood. Given the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, this is understandable. Putin must not be stopped with weapons, because that would mean an escalation of the war and the Third World War, so the world is doing what it can. But where is the limit in how far it is wise and moral to go in condemning literally everything that is Russian? Here is an excerpt from an article by Croatian journalist Boris Dežulović.
“Prohibition of hostile media and writers? Italian writer Paolo Nori was due to give a series of lectures on Dostoevsky at the University of Milan-Bicocca, so he was informed that the lectures were being postponed 'to avoid any controversy in times of strong tensions.' "
“Prohibition of enemy culture? In the United Kingdom, the tour of the Russian State Ballet from Siberia was cancelled, the British Royal Opera House cancelled the visit of the famous Bolshoi Ballet, and the Prague theatre house MDP even cancelled the visit of the small Novi Sad independent theatre Trinidad. Why Novi Sad now? 'Because of Serbia's political attitude towards the war in Ukraine,' reads the official explanation of the Czech hosts."
Anti-Russian propaganda is extremely strong and even children are not spared. And now I wonder what Russian classics have to do with the war in Ukraine. And why should Dostoevsky suddenly become a forbidden topic? Not to mention that at some concerts Tchaikovsky's works were expelled from the repertoire.
Although I deeply sympathize with the attacked Ukraine, I know that Putin must be stationed in one way or another, and in the end I am afraid of this policy of hatred towards everything that is Russian. Many innocent people have fallen victim to that war around the world simply because they are Russian by nationality, although they fully condemn Putin's aggression. People all over Russia end up in prisons for their condemnation of the war and we must not forget or diminish that.
Kristina
Wednesday, March 23rd, 2022
Politika mržnje, gdje je granica?
Početkom devedesetih u Hrvatskoj je bilo strahovito teško biti Srbin. Nedužni ljudi su bili šikanirani i maltretirani na različite načine samo zato što su bili Srpske nacionalnosti iako je to bila jedina veza sa Srbijom koju su ikada imali. Ti Srbi su rođeni u Hrvatskoj kao i njihovi preci u puno generacija. Jedan od tih žrtava hrvatskog ratnog šovinizma bio je moj mentor na magisteriju, sad vec pokojni Milenko M. Milenko se 1991 u vrijeme kad je počeo rat u Hrvatskoj zatekao u Americi na sabatikalu koji je trebao trajti nekoliko mjeseci. Zbog rata on je taj boravak u Americi produžio i došao je u Hrvatsku godinu i nešto kasnije. Čim je stigao jedna od njegovih bliskih prijeratnih kolegica prijavila ga je policiji da je bio u ratu i to na strani Srbije. Čovjeku je policija pokucala na vrata i odveden je na preslušavanje. Kad su ga u policiji pitali što je po nacionalnosti odgovorio je “Srbin”. Inspektor koji je sa njim razgovaro pozvao je svoje kolege da to čuju uz riječi “Čujte ovo, čovjek kaže da je Srbin. To nismo već jako dugo čuli da se netko izjasnio da je Srbin.” Policijskom je inspektoru bilo potpuno jasno tokom istrage da je Milenko žrtva intrige i završio svoje ispitivanje riječima “Meni je bilo ugodno razgovarati sa vama.” Milenko mu je odgovorio “Čujte, meni je bilo vrlo neugodno.” Milenko se nakon te prve posjete povremeno vraćao u Hrvatsku na svoj godišnji odmor, ali poput nekih drugih hrvatskih Srba nikada se nije vratio živjeti u Hrvatsku.
Hrvatski antisrpski šovinizam nije u potpunosti ugušen niti tri desetljeća nakon rata. Danas veliki dio svijeta ima izuzetno antirusko raspoloženje. Obzirom na kontekst i Rusku invaziju na Ukrajinu to je razumljivo. Putina se ne smije zaustaviti oružjem jer bi to značilo eskalaciju rata i treći svjetski rat pa svijet čini sto može. Ali gdje je granica u tome do kuda je pametno i moralno ići u osudi doslovno svega što je rusko? Evo isječka iz jednog članka hrvatskog novinara Borisa Dežulovića.
“Zabrana neprijateljskih medija i pisaca? Talijanski književnik Paolo Nori trebao je na sveučilištu Milano-Bicocca održati seriju predavanja o Dostojevskom, pa je obaviješten da se predavanja odgađaju "kako bi se izbjegle bilo kakve kontroverze u vrijeme jakih tenzija".”
“Zabrana neprijateljske kulture? U Ujedinjenom Kraljevstvu otkazana je turneja Ruskog državnog baleta iz Sibira, britanska Royal Opera House otkazala je gostovanje čuvenog Boljšoj baleta, a praška kazališna kuća MDP otkazala je čak i gostovanje malog novosadskog nezavisnog teatra Trinidad. Zašto sad novosadskog? "Zbog političkog stava Srbije prema ratu u Ukrajini", glasi službeno obrazloženje čeških domaćina.”
Antiruska propaganda izuzetno je jako i toga nisu posteđena čak niti djeca. I ja se sad pitam kakove veze sa ratom u Ukrajini imaju ruski klasici i zbog čega bi Dostojevski odjednom trebao postati zabranjena tema? Da ne govorim da su na nekim koncertima izbačena djela Čajkovskog sa repartuara.
Iako duboko suosjećam sa napadnutom Ukrajinom i znam da se Putinu na ovaj ili onaj način mora stati na kraj plaši me ta politika mržnje prema svemu sto je rusko. Mnogi nevini ljudi postali su žrtve tog rata širom svijeta samo zato što su po nacionalnosti Rusi iako u potpunosti osuđuju Putinovu agrasiju. Ljudi širom Rusije završavaju u zatvorima zbog svoje osude rata i to ne smijemo zaboraviti ili umanjiti.
Kristina
Srijeda, 23. ožujka 2022.
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