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The day of the anti-fascist struggle
Not just a Croatian holiday
How many of you had heard of this holiday before? I hadn’t until I moved to Croatia, and then I was captivated by it. Such strong wording for a holiday, so direct, and marking a day I had never learnt about.
It was the day (22.06.41) when the first recognised armed movement against the fascists started in Yugoslavia. A group of 79 people, coming from different countries, joined forces to resist the local nationalist state, the NDH, the Croatian version of Nazi Germany.
Here we are 79 years on, and seemingly split albeit on softer lines.
Ubi Srbina
If you’ve ever been to watch a football match here, be it a local one or a national one, there’s a chance you would have heard the above phrase, meaning ‘kill the Serb’. This blatant racism and hatred is rarely challenged, it’s more likely to have other people joining in.
I’ve had many discussions with Croatians here about their feelings about Serbia and Serbians. There are those that say how they have great friends from there, that they used to work side by side before the Croatian War of Independence, and that we are all individuals. Then I’ve had those who wish them all ill, despise the country and the people within.
