It is a well-known psychological
phenomenon that the more threatened someone feels, the more likely
he or she is to make threats or even violently attack the individual
or group that they perceive as responsible for ostensibly endangering
them. Thus I was hardly surprised to learn that at the end of last
week, a letter from the so-called “Anti-Jewish Movement” which
was sent to Zoran Pusic, president of the Civic Committee for Human
Rights which is the local partner of the Simon Wiesenthal Center
in our “Operation: Last Chance” project, threatened
to start murdering Croatian Jews if a single Croat is put in prison
because of “sick Jewish ideas.” In fact, these were
not the first threats which Zoran Pusic and I have received since
launching “Operation: Last Chance” in Zagreb on June
30. Quite a few threatening phone calls have already been received
on our infoline (01-617-1530 or 091-579-9020), practically from
the very first days, including express threats of violence against
us and assorted anti-Semitic epithets.
So why do Croatian extremists feel so threatened by “Operation:
Last Chance” and what precisely are the “sick Jewish
ideas” behind this project, which has already been launched
in eight countries (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Romania,
Croatia and Hungary). In this regard, the basic principle which
is totally anathema to the Ustasha supporters and sympathizers
is that the violent measures taken by the Ustasha against civilians
during World War II are crimes which must be prosecuted. This is
extremely difficult to accept for those who view the Ustasha as
heroes, but it has to be absolutely clear that their violent actions
against civilians constituted genocide and crimes against humanity,
crimes on which there is no statute of limitations.
In that regard, it is particularly important to reiterate several
cardinal principles of the activities of the Simon Wiesenthal Center,
the first of which is that the passage of time in no way diminishes
the guilt of the perpetrators of the crimes of the Holocaust. Thus
the fact that a criminal was able to escape justice for even fifty
years does not transform him or her into an innocent person.
The second principle relates to the age of the criminals. There
are those who say that since the perpetrators we are dealing with
have reached a relatively old age, there is no sense in bringing
them to trial. But we do not agree with such a position since there
is no reason why a healthy and mentally alert person should not
be held accountable for his or her crimes. In this regard, the
issue is not a person’s age but one’s health – mental
and physical. If Milivoj Asner is healthy and alert enough to play
an active role in public life – and even to go into hiding – there
is no basis of any kind to ignore his crimes.
Often these defendants make an effort to elicit public sympathy
by appearing to be as ill and unfortunate as possible, but any
empathy with them is totally misplaced. These were people who had
absolutely no sympathy whatsoever for their innocent victims – among
them women, children, the elderly and the handicapped – and
therefore are not deserving of any consideration. It is their victims
who deserve our sympathy and it is out of a sense of obligation
to them – among other important factors – that we undertake
the efforts to hold their murderers accountable.
Ultimately, we view “Operation: Last Chance” not only
as an effort to prosecute those guilty of the crimes of the Holocaust,
but also as a project which will help ensure historical accuracy
and assist Croatian society in confronting the crimes of the Ustasha.
In the long run, it will also help combat the traditional anti-Semitism
which still exists in Croatia today, even though the local Jewish
community is less then 5% of its prewar total.
Although there are numerous similarities in the reactions to “Operation:
Last Chance” in the various countries in which it has already
been launched, Croatia, to date has been the only country in which
we have received death threats. Perhaps that is because of Croatia’s
uniqueness in three other respects, which no doubt cause the right-wing
extremists many sleepless nights. Croatia is the only country in
which we launched the project with a fully-documented case of a
Nazi war criminal (Milivoj Asner) already in hand, the only post-Communist
country which has successfully prosecuted a Holocaust perpetrator
(Dinko Sakic) and the only country in which the head of state (President
Mesic’) has publicly endorsed the operation before it was
officially launched. These three factors are cause for the optimism
for “Operation: Last Chance” in Croatia and no doubt
cause for grave concern for these opposed, who foolishly hope that
threats of violence will scare the Wiesenthal Center and its Croatian
partners into dropping the project. I can state categorically therefore
that “Operation: Last Chance” will continue in Croatia,
as we are now more convinced than ever of its unique significance.
So if anyone reading this article has any pertinent information
or knows of someone with such knowledge, please call us at (01)617-1530
or at (091)579-9020.
Dr. Efraim Zuroff
Director
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