[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 97 (Thursday, June 27, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1204-E1205]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       CROATIA CELEBRATES ANTI-FASCIST STRUGGLE COMMEMORATION DAY

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                       HON. GEORGE P. RADANOVICH

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 27, 1996

  Mr. RADANOVICH. Mr. Speaker, just last Saturday on June 22, Croatia 
celebrated its participation in the World War II antifascist movement. 
The Anti-Fascist Struggle Commemoration Day, a national holiday in 
Croatia, has been a tremendous success and courageous recognition of 
that ever-important victory over international tyranny some 50 years 
ago. I would like to formally recognize this event here in the United 
States House of Representatives, and commend Croatia for her gracious 
and dedicated efforts to securing and preserving world peace.

                  The Anti-Fascist Movement in Croatia

       Every June 22nd since independence, Croatia has celebrated 
     its participation in the World War II anti-fascist movement. 
     The national holiday, Anti-Fascist Struggle Commemoration 
     Day, marks the day on which in 1941 Vlado Janic led forty 
     Croatian anti-fascists from the town of Sisak to fight 
     against fascism, marking the beginning of the anti-fascist 
     struggle in Croatia.
       The President of Croatia, Dr. Franjo Tudjman, one of the 
     few European statesmen who is a veteran of the World War II 
     anti-fascist movement, has said on many occasions that the 
     anti-fascist struggle greatly contributed to establishing the 
     foundations of a modern, democratic Croatia.
       The following factors should be considered when examining 
     Croatia's role in the anti-fascist struggle:
       The Croatian anti-fascist movement was among the strongest, 
     not only in former Yugoslavia, but also Europe;
       Croatian resistance forces, as part of the democratic 
     coalition of anti-fascist powers, participated in the victory 
     over fascism;
       Croatians led the Croatian and South Slavic antifascist 
     movement;
       The resistance led to the creation of the Federal State of 
     Croatia by ZAVNOH (Anti-Fascist Council of National 
     Liberation of Croatia), constitutional foundations of 
     federalism, and the constitutional and legal basis for 
     Croatians independence today; and
       The guiding principles of the anti-fascist movement form an 
     integral part of the preamble of the Croatian Constitution.
       Croatia takes pride in the fact that one of the first 
     organized resistance units occupied Europe was Croatian. The 
     Sisak resistance unit engaged in several diversions on the 
     Zagreb-Belgrade railway, and by mid-September of 1941 had 
     grown to 77 fighters. By the end of 1941, 7,000 Croatian 
     anti-fascists had joined the armed partisan movement, rising 
     to 25,000 a year later, and to 100,000 following the 
     capitulation of Italy. By the end of the Second World War the 
     number reached 150,000. The overall number of Croatian 
     citizens that participated in the anti-fascist struggle is 
     estimated at 471,836, of which two-thirds were Croats.
       Last year, to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the victory 
     of the anti-fascist coalition in Europe, the Croatian 
     Parliament published a report that records the history of the 
     anti-fascist movement in Croatia from the 1920s onwards.

[[Page E1205]]

       The recognition of Croatia's participation in the anti-
     fascist movement is one of the pillars of a strategy aimed at 
     national reconciliation. Towards this end, President Tudjman 
     laid a wreath at the memorial site in Jasenovac on June 15, 
     1996 to pay homage to the victims at the Jasenovac camp, a 
     camp which has come to symbolize the evils of fascism and 
     communism. President Tudjman said; ``I have laid the wreath 
     as Croatia's President in memory of all victims of Jascnovac; 
     for the victims of fascism and the NDH (Independent State of 
     Croatia), but also for those who were executed by the 
     communist regime''.

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