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| Europe |
| Croatia removes memorials to Nazi collaborators |
| 2004-08-28 |
| The Croatian Police early Friday demolished two monuments honoring two senior members of Croatia's World War II Nazi quisling state. A plaque commemorating Mile Budak, who served as education minister in the German-backed 1941-1945 fascist Ustasha government, and a statue dedicated to a senior military officer, Jure Francetic, were ordered removed late Thursday night by an emergency Croatian government decree made in accordance with the constitution, which outlaws tokens of homage to fascism. Both high-ranking Croatian officials were active supporters of the genocidal Ustasha regime, which ruled the country from 1941 until 1945. "This government will not allow Croatia to be imprisoned by the past - particularly by negative notions - but will direct all its capacities toward the future," Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader said. "The monuments are contrary to fundamental elements of the Croatian constitution and damage the reputation and interests of Croatia," he added. The monument honoring the Nazi collaborator had been erected last weekend by a group of right-wing Croatian emigrants, still sympathetic to the ultra-nationalist Ustasha regime, while the statue had been standing still last year. The Los Angeles based Simon Wiesenthal Center, which had issued a public protest against the monuments, welcomed their removal as an "important and necessary step," and urged the government to proceed with its plan to legislate a prohibition on the use of Ustasha symbols as well as to increase Holocaust education. |
| Posted by:Mark Espinola |
| #1 "Croatia removes memorials to Nazi collaborators" Must have hurt like hell. |
| Posted by: Bryan 2004-08-28 2:54:49 AM |