The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire

Author(s): / Language(s): English

The report was "Laid before the Houses of Parliament as an official Paper and now published by permission Hodder and Stoughton, St. Paul's House, Warwick Square, London and at New York and Toronto" in 1916 This is a Digsimile-eBook-edition of the 1916 original, re-published in 2008 by TEXTOR VERLAG and the Central and Eastern European Online Lbrary, CEEOL. For the original edition Viscount Bryce had engaged the Arnold J. Toynbee (in the age of 25) as an editorial assistant. The editorial work on this report in 1915 marks the beginning of Toynbee's work for the intelligence department of the British Foreign Office

Ivan Stojković i njegovo doba

Author(s): Robert Holjevac / Language(s): Croatian

Ivan Stojković (ca. 1395-1443) was an extraordinary diplomat, multidisciplinary scientist .He was the first among catholic scholars who has written a tractate about the Church, an essay about ecumenical synods and a Biblical hermeneutics.

Kill the Wanderer. The Secret Archives of the Bulgarian State Security Services reveal the truth about Georgy Markov - murdered in London by a poisoned umbrella

Author(s): Hristo Hristov / Language(s): English,Bulgarian

“Kill the Wanderer” is a documentary investigation into one of the most emblematic crimes of the Cold War – the murder of the Bulgarian dissident writer, Georgi Markov, in London in 1978. Throughout the whole world this case acquired infamy as the “Bulgarian umbrella” murder. The assassination became an emblematic example of “wet operations” involving the secret services of the former Eastern Bloc. It recently became the subject of commentary in the media throughout the world after the death of the former Russian intelligence officer from the Federal Security Service and political émigré, Alexander Litvinenko at the end of 2006 in London, due to many of the similarities between the two cases. Although 29 years have passed since the murder and Scotland Yard still has not discovered the perpetrator, the leading opinion in the West is that the murder of the Bulgarian dissident was carried out by the Bulgarian Security Services on the orders of the then head of state in Bulgaria, Todor Zhivkov, with the assistance of the KGB. “Kill the Wanderer” for the first time calls upon specific archive materials to confirm this thesis. Hristo Hristov (1967) is one of the best investigative journalists in Bulgaria and has researched the crimes of the communist regime. He has published documentary books on the murders in the communist camps in Bulgaria (1944–1962) and on the kidnapping of the Bulgarian émigré, Boris Arsov by the Bulgarian State Security Services from Denmark in 1974. Work on the “Kill the Wanderer” took him six years (1999–2005) and as a court reporter he has reported on the Markov murder case since 1991. His book is based on a number of documents hitherto unknown, many of which are from the secret archives of the former State Security Services.

Zid je mrtav, živeli zidovi

Author(s): / Language(s): Serbian

Collected papers by seventeen authors on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. In addition to a foreword by the editor and the prologue (Vladimir Arsenijević, The Walls), thus volune contains the following texts: ”It All Began in Serbia”, ”Nenad Stefanov, ”Fobia of a German Europe – The Serbian Intellectuals and The Year 1989”, Katarina Luketić, ”The Past is our Future”, Vojin Dimitrijević, ”From a Drunkard and the Fence He is Clinging Unto to the last Valve on a Flute . The Human Rights in Serbia before and after 1989, Sabrina P. Ramet, ”The Yugoslav Crisis and the West. Avoiding Vietnam, They Stumbled into Abyssinia”, Ugo Vlaisavljević, ”From Berlin to Srajevo. Inner Borders and Outer Walla”, Jean -Arnault Derans ”From Gayimestan to Mirovac Wall. Kosovo 1989 – 2009Ć. Xavier Bougarel ” ‘The Revenge of the Village’, Between Sociological Reality and a Nationalist Myth” Žarko Paić, Melancholy and Revolution . Culture in the Post-Communist State of Siege”, Indiko Erdei, ” ‘It Takes Two to Tango’, Economy and the Idetity of the Serbs and the Slovenes in Post-Socialism”, Mikloš Biro, ”Communism has Fallen – Capitalism and Democracy are still on their Way. Svetlana Slapšak ”The Post’ War War of the Sexes. Misogyny, Feminist Gettoization and Responsibility Discourse in Post-Yugoslav Societies”, Vjekoslav Perica, ”The Twighlight of Panslavic Myths”, Miroslava Malešević, ” ‘Serbia is Stronger than Nokia’. Identity Politics in Post-Communist Serbia”, Eric Gordy, ”A Totally Personal Remembrance of Cold War, Yugoslavia, and Inexpensive (but good) Wine”, Mitja Velikonja, ”The Return of the Written Off. The Emancipatory Potential Of Yugonostalgia”.

Несврстаност

Author(s): Marija Krstić / Language(s): Serbian

The Last Superpower Summits. Gorbachev, Reagan, and Bush. Conversations that Ended the Cold War

Author(s): Thomas S. Blanton,Svetlana Savranskaya / Language(s): English

This book publishes for the first time in print every word the American and Soviet leaders – Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev, and George H.W. Bush – said to each other in their superpower summits from 1985 to 1991. Obtained by the authors through the Freedom of Information Act in the U.S., from the Gorbachev Foundation and the State Archive of the Russian Federation in Moscow, and from the personal donation of Anatoly Chernyaev, these previously Top Secret verbatim transcripts combine with key declassified preparatory and after-action documents from both sides to create a unique interactive documentary record of these historic highest-level talks – the conversations that ended the Cold War.The summits fueled a process of learning on both sides, as the authors argue in contextual essays on each summit and detailed headnotes on each document. Geneva 1985 and Reykjavik 1986 reduced Moscow’s sense of threat and unleashed Reagan’s inner abolitionist. Malta 1989 and Washington 1990 helped dampen any superpower sparks that might have flown in a time of revolutionary change in Eastern Europe, set off by Gorbachev and by Eastern Europeans (Solidarity, dissidents, reform Communists). The high level and scope of the dialogue between these world leaders was unprecedented, and is likely never to be repeated.

The Czech and Slovak Republics. Twenty Years of Independence, 1993-2013

Author(s): / Language(s): English

The essays in the book compare the Czech Republic and Slovakia since the breakup of Czechoslovakia in 1993. The papers deal with the causes of the divorce and discuss the political, economic and social developments in the new countries. This is the only English-language volume that presents the synoptic findings of leading Czech, Slovak, and North American scholars in the field.The authors include two former Prime Ministers of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, eight leading scholars (four Czechs and four Slovaks), and eight knowledgeable commentators from North America. The most significant new insight is that in spite of predictions by various pundits in the Western World that Czechia would flourish after the breakup and Slovakia would languish, the opposite has happened. While the Czech Republic did well in its early years, it is now languishing while Slovakia, which had a rough start, is now doing very well. Anyone interested in the history of the Czech and Slovak Republics over the last twenty years will find gratification in reading this book.

Identităţile Chişinăului. Ediția a doua

Author(s): Sergiu Musteaţă,Ion Tentiuc,Mariana Şlapac,Sergiu Bacalov,Valentin Tomuleţ,Maria Danilov,Tamara Nesterov,Alexandru Roitman,Ivan Duminica,Lucia Sava,Iurie Colesnic,Adrian Crăciunescu,Bo Larsson,Giuseppe Tateo,Dinu Poștarencu,Ana Carp,Iulian Rusanovschi,Aurelia Carpov,Lucia Argint,Vasile Ernu,Daniela Vacarciuc,Sergiu Nistor,Dorina Onica,Sergius Ciocanu,Cătălin Botoșineanu / Language(s): Romanian

Collection of articles on history, culture, architecture, urban development of Chișinău

Identităţile Chişinăului. Materialele conferinţei, 12-13 septembrie 2011

Author(s): Silviu Andrieș-Tabac,Ion Tentiuc,Valeriu Bubulici,Mariana Vasilache,Livia Sîrbu,Sergiu Bacalov,Lică Sainciuc,Mariana Şlapac,Ivan Duminica,Lucia Sava,Iurie Colesnic,Valentina Ursu,Ludmila Coadă,Vasile Dumbrava,Adrian Crăciunescu,Dinu Poştarencu,Ion Gumenîi,Alexandru Roitman,Silvia Scutaru,Alexandru Popa,Bo Larsson,Sergiu Musteaţă,Alexandru Corduneanu,Sergius Ciocanu,Ion Ștefăniță / Language(s): Romanian

The collection of papers on history, culture, religious, architecture and urban development of Chisinau.

Context Analysis & Chronology of the Security Sector Reform in Albania 1991-2009

Author(s): Arjan Dyrmishi,Besnik Baka,Mariola Qesaraku / Language(s): English

This study analyses the context in which the Security Sector Reform (SSR) has taken place in Albania since the fall of the communist regime. It has been conceptualised in three main periods, based on the social, political and economic perspectives that featured each phase during the process of Security Sector Reform. In this perspective, the beginning of the first period coincides with the collapse of communist regime in 1991 and ends with the 1997 crisis. Although Albania was never involved in the armed conflict and border reshuffle that featured the Former Yugoslav countries during the 90s, it largely suffered from backwardness and isolation, a legacy from the Cold War. This period was mostly characterised by the establishment of first generation reforms: the establishment of new institutions, structures, and chains of responsibility for the security sector. Nonetheless the process of first generation reform was not nalised, due to the crisis in 19971 which led to the collapse of the government. This represents the beginning of the second period: from 1997 to 2000. The third and final period efforts, namely the period from 2000 until 2009, seem to be more benefiting and realistic for the country considering the pace of SSR, contributing in the consolidation of the security sector institutions and governance.

Az út szélén

Author(s): / Language(s): Hungarian

The book contains three Holocaust narratives. They are the recollections of ordinary people whose experiences comprise their sole writing, story and message. The three pieces are not just the narratives of three different fates, but also present three different sociological backgrounds, all characteristic of Hungarian Jewry. And emphasis is placed on three different stages in the Holocaust narrative. Pál Kádár’s story (“A körgyógynapszámos” [The seasonal healer]) presents the life of a village doctor and his family – until their deportation to Auschwitz. The narrative featured in the collection’s title (Kornélia Terner: “Az út szélén” [At the edge of the road]) describes all three stages: the uprooting of a Jewish rural household, the events at Auschwitz, and the emotional difficulties of readjusting to ordinary life under the communist system, as well as the wounds that would not heal and finally the outburst after the last political upturn in 1989. Júlia Fodor-Wieg’s piece “Ezekből az emlékekből fogok élni” [I am going to live on these memories] describes the Holocaust as it was experienced by upper-middle-class Jews. The other great Hungarian narrative on the Holocaust is the hunt for men in the jungle of Budapest. The focus of her story continues until her departure from Hungary in 1957. She tells of the demise of a plundered Jewish middle-class, a great and credible document of the will and capacity for life. All three pieces bring us closer to ordinary people who are also heroes. Visual records of the destroyed world illustrate the book. In the epilogue The Holocaust as Narrative, János Kőbányai, who collected the memoirs, analyses and typifies the Hungarian Holocaust as a historical and cultural phenomenon on the lines of Imre Kertész’s “great narrative”.

Ústav pro studium totalitních režimů - Archiv bezpečnostních složek

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English,Czech

This prospect is a guide to the activities of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes. In the first part has been described the purpose of the establishing of the Institute for the Study of totalitarian regimes. Large space is dedicated to the introduction of the books and journals published in the Institute. The second part describes the function of the Security Services Archive.

Osud odbojové organizace Černý Lev 777 - Příspěvek k historii ozbrojeného odporu proti komunistickéme reïmu v Československu

Author(s): Tomáš Bursík / Language(s): Czech

This study describes the history of Černý lev 777 (“Black Lion 777”), one of the anti-Communist resistance groups in the former Czechoslovakia. The study is based on primary sources including the memories of the sister of one of the executed members of Černý lev 777, and also uses resources containing some characteristics of the more general relationships that relate to the topic of the third resistance in Czechoslovakia. Černý lev 777 proves that there were, and are, people who were not content to remain merely unresponsive victims of the Communist atrocities and decided to act. This meant taking a weapon and responding with adequate steps to combat the Communist totalitarian regime. From this viewpoint, the activities of Černý lev 777 in the broader Czechoslovak context may appear equal to those of, for instance, the Mašín brethren and others. Jiří Řezáč, Jaroslav Sirotek and Bohumil Šíma, the key representatives of Černý lev 777 and their companions responded to the Communist doctrine of class struggle in the same manner and decided to put up an active resistance. Stockpiling weapons, intimidating Communist Party officials, fighting to prevent the collectivisation of village farmsteads and attempting to establish links with foreign intelligence agents were some of the activities Černý lev 777 was involved in. Its greatest acts were the bomb blasts which destroyed the district committee offices of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia in Sedlčany in July 1949 and in Milevsko in May 1950. It was not until 5 years after the group’s first actions that the members were arrested, at the beginning of July 1954. Besides the members of the anti-Communist organisation, many other people, such as relatives, friends and people who had nothing in common with Černý lev 777, were arrested over a few weeks. Much is already known about the investigation methods of State Security Police (StB) in the first half of the 1950’s: long overnight interrogations, physical and mental stress, falsification of protocols, use of prison informers in the cells of detainees, etc. The three court hearings before the regional court in České Budějovice were merely a formality. They resulted in three death penalties (Jiří Řezáč, Jaroslav Sirotek and Bohumil Šíma) and many other heavy sentences. Many people were arrested for committing crimes which the court never proved. These processes were also used by the Communist propaganda to further intimidate those who refused to approve the so called “people’s democratic establishment”. Those sentenced in the trial of Jiří Řezáč and co. and in the subsequent trials of “František Nygrýn and Co.” and “Vladimír Hřebejk and Co.” passed through many Czechoslovak prison facilities in 1950’s and 1960’s. It was not only themselves but also their families that suffered. They were not fully rehabilitated until the 1990’s.

L'udáci a komunisti: Súperi? Spojenci? Protivníci?

Author(s): / Language(s): Slovak

Vznik Československa r. 1918 zastihol Slovensko uprostred procesu premeny z tradičnej na modernú občiansku spoločnosť. Narážali v ňom na seba dve protichodné tendencie: tiahnutie ku konzervativizmu sa odrážalo vo vysokej miere religiozity; modernizačná tendencia sa - okrem iných relevantných znakov - prejavila v prudkej, až agresívnej dynamike politického a verejného života. Obe poznačili aj „zžívanie sa“ domáceho obyvateľstva s vyspelejším a „modernejším“ českým národným elementom v novom spoločnom štáte. V podmienkach hospodárskeho liberalizmu a parlamentnej demokracie, vyznačujúcej sa na jednej strane rozsiahlymi ústavnými právami a slobodami, na druhej strane recipovanými zákonmi rakúsko-uhorskej monarchie, tento prechod nemohol byť priamočiary ani bezbolestný. Prežitá „Veľká vojna“ pustošivo vtrhla do myslí ľudí, narušila, ba prevrátila dovtedajší hodnotový systém a otriasla či aspoň spochybnila predtým nesporné autority: štát a cirkev. Spolu s pretrvávajúcou sociálnou a nacionálnou frustráciou „ľudových“ vrstiev, s ich neschopnosťou pochopiť objektívne príčiny a neochotou vyrovnať sa s pozíciou nerovnoprávneho článku v novom štátnom zväzku, bola aj kríza tradičných hodnôt živnou pôdou pre politický extrémizus - pravý aj ľavý. Zápas s nimi, trvajúci celé medzivojnové obdobie, československú demokraciu oslaboval, až napokon, vyčerpaná a opustená spojencami, podľahla zahraničnej agresii. V polohe dobovej ľudáckej resp. komunistickej rétoriky sú odpovede na otázky položené v titule zborníka pomerne jednoduché a priamočiare; v propagačných brožúrach, politických a verejných prejavoch, straníckej tlači atd. obe hnutia jednoznačne vystupujú ako programoví nepriatelia, nezmieriteľní ideoví protivníci. Na verejných zhromaždeniach organizovaných jednou či druhou stranou sa ich aktivisti navzájom potierali nevyberanými slovnými invektívami, medzi militantnými stúpencami oboch hnutí dochádzalo ku krvavým zrážkam. Naopak, tzv. „štátotvorná“ propaganda v nich rada videla otvorených či skrytých spojencov: pri podkopávaní „československej národnej a štátnej jednoty“, pri torpédovaní základov ústavnej demokracie a spochybňovaní samotnej existencie štátu, pri (domnelej či skutočnej) službe cudzím mocnostiam. Hoci obavy boli namieste, argumentácia vládnych strán bola často až bizarná, no aj kontra-produktívna, pretože skôr zahmlievala ako ozrejmovala nebezpečné spoločné črty pravej a ľavej opozície - symptómy totalitných ašpirácií, rozpoznateľné už od samého začiatku: príchylnosť k autoritatívnym či diktátorským zahraničným vzorom, k ich geopolitickým predstavám a akceptovanie nedemokratického, násilného „rozťatia“ latentných vnútorných problémov. Pri konfrontácii s prameňmi neverejnej povahy sa ukazuje, že skutočnosť bola oveľa zložitejšia a že vz^'ah ľudákov a komunistov bol v priebehu času značne premenlivý. Napriek príležitostným vzájomným „oťukávaniam“ a individuálnym straníckym „prebehlíkom“ tu rozhodne nešlo o spoluprácu v opozícii, hoci podobná, účelovo protivládna rétorika k takejto interpretácii akoby ponúkala. Možno potvrdiť, že od začiatku boli rivalmi: vo volebnej agitácii súperili o priazeň tých istých, t. j. najnižších a nižších stredných sociálnych vrstiev, ťažko zasiahnutých dôsledkami vojny a povojnového rozvratu, krízou tradičných hodnôt, v ďalších rokoch najviac postihnutých dopadom transformácie, modernizácie a racionalizácie a krízového vývoja hospodárstva. Je však zrejmé, že ich vzájomný pomer nemožno spoľahlivo určiť bez prihliadnutia k „tretiemu na ihrisku“. Tým boli tzv. „centralistické“ - občianske aj socialistické - koaličné strany, ktoré formovali a určovali charakter demokratického politického systému. Nefungoval bez chýb a rozhodne poskytoval dostatok dôvodov ako aj príležitostí pre nekompromisnú oponentúru. Spoločným úhlavným protivníkom oboch hnutí, ktoré sa etablovali na jeho pravom resp. ľavom okraji, bol liberalizmus, v ktorom videli základný princíp československej demokracie. Pritom komunistické hnutie v ČSR, a najmä v jej východných častiach, možno prinajmenšom od polovice 20. rokov minulého storočia oprávnene charakterizovať ako ľavý politický extrém, vzhľadom na otvorenú deklaráciu cieľov a prostriedkov: likvidovať pluralitný politický systém, zvrhnúť parlamentnú demokraciu cestou socialistickej revolúcie a nahradiť ju „diktatúrou proletariátu“. Jednoznačná kvalifikácia ľudáckeho autonomistického hnutia ako pravicového extrému však nemá pre medzivojnové obdobie opodstatnenie. Z hľadiska straníckopolitického spektra sa HSĽS deklarovala predovšetkým ako kresťanská, konzervatívna a národná strana a v oficiálnych vyhláseniach rešpektovala, i keď s rastúcimi výhradami, existujúci demokratický systém a režim. Na politickom spektrograme obsadzovala počas celého dvadsaťročia miesto od stredu doprava, i keď od samého začiatku v sebe zahŕňala aj extrémistické zložky, ktoré mali ambíciu aj skrytý potenciál v „priaznivých podmienkach“ ovládnuť celú stranu. Ak politickú stranu charakterizuje okrem programu a organizačnej štruktúry vôľa súperiť o politickú moc, potom táto vôľa nechýbala ani ľudákom, ani komunistom. Kým však ľudová strana počas trvania predmníchovskej republiky čoraz vehementnejšie a agresívnejšie presadzovala svoj nárok na väčší podiel na moci, komunistická strana od samého začiatku cielene smerovala k prevzatiu absolútne celej moci v štáte a k jej podriadeniu potrebám „proletárskej revolúcie“； nech už to aktuálna taktická línia otvorene priznávala alebo, naopak, zastierala. Do novej roviny sa vzťah ľudákov a komunistov dostal po vyhlásení autonómie Slovenska 6. októbra 1938, odkedy HSĽS závratným tempom uskutočňovala demontáž československej demokracie, smerovala k monopolu politickej moci na Slovensku a završovala svoju vnútornú fašizáciu. Predchá-dzajúce spoločné postavenie legálnej parlamentnej opozície sa už prvými opatreniami autoritatívneho Tisovho ľudáckeho režimu zásadne zmenilo na protiklad medzi štáto-stranou a ilegálnym subjektom, vytlačeným mimo politického systému. Narastajúca perzekúcia komunistov po zániku druhej ČSR a počas trvania vojnovej Slovenskej republiky, v ktorej pro-nacistické Tukovo krídlo neustále posilňovalo mocenské pozície a presadzovalo totalitný charakter štátu, je zmapovanou (no aj deformovanou) témou. Neprebádaná je dosiaľ otázka vzájomnej infiltrácie ľudáckeho straníckeho a štátneho aparátu bývalými komunistami a naopak, ilegálnych komunistických a odbojových štruktúr ľudákmi. Takisto novou príležitosťou je skúmanie totalitných praktík a agitačno- propagačných techník „získavania“ národne saturovanej spoločnosti pre proklamované „národné“ ciele ľudákov, v konfrontácii s praktikami a technikami uplatňovanými komunistami po druhej svetovej vojne, v mene „socialistických“ cieľov, na ceste k monopolu moci a po jej uchopení. Na tomto poli doterajší výskum pokročil najviac, vďaka dlhodobej spoločenskej objednávke a záujmu na odhaľovaní zločinov komunizmu. Porovnávaciu rovinu vzájomných vzťahov ľudákov a komunistov tu poskytuje jednak známa činnosti retribučných súdov a bezpečnostných orgánov pri „vyhľadávaní“ a potieraní „zahraničných fašistov a ich domácich pomáhačov“, jednak tiež novo otvorená otázka „dlhých tieňov“ ľudáckej minulosti nad a vo vnútri totalitnej komunistickej strany po februárovom prevrate r.1948. Základ publikácie Ľudáci a komunisti: Súperi? Spojenci? Protivníci? tvoria vystúpenia prednesené na rovnomennej vedeckej konferencii v Banskej Bystrici v dňoch 30.11.-1.12. 2005, ktorú usporiadalo tamojšie pracovisko Historického ústavu Slovenskej akadémie vied v spolupráci s Katedrou histórie Fakulty humanitných vied Univerzity Mateja Bela. Otázku „styčných plôch“ fenoménov ľudáctva a (boľševického) komu¬nizmu slovenská historiografia - pod ideologickou kuratelou vládnucej strany - v minulosti buď celkom obchádzala alebo neprijateľne deformovala. No aj v zmenených spoločensko-politických podmienkach ju dlhší čas nechávala na okraji bádateľského záujmu a prenechávala jej interpretovanie viac či menej zaujatej publicistike. Publikované príspevky, prepracované do podoby vedeckých štúdií a vybavené poznámkovým aparátom, odkazujúcim na zásadné, dosiaľ nepublikované pramene, tak prinášajú množstvo nových poznatkov a otvárajú celkom netradičné pohľady na problematiku. Viacerí autori tu predstavili výsledky svojho najnovšieho výskumu v rámci spoločne riešeného projektu Vedeckej grantovej agentúry SAV č. 2/4183/24 „Radikálny socializmus a komunizmus na Slovensku v rokoch 1918 -1989. Spoločnosť medzi demokraciou a totalitou“. Záverečné slovo prof. Zdeňka Kárníka bilancuje výsledky takmer päťročnej spolupráce českých a slovenských historikov na široko koncipovanom projekte Grantovej agentúry Akadémie vied Českej republiky č. A8063101 „KSČ a radikálni socialismus v Československu 1918 -1989“. Podujatie sa sústredilo na analýzu a komparáciu oboch politických hnutí, ich programov, pôsobenia a ich vzájomných vz^'ahov v meniacom sa spoločensko- politickom kontexte, ako bolo naznačené vyššie: -ako strán operujúcich na pravom resp. ľavom okraji politického spektra predmníchovskej Československej republiky, súčasne využívajúcich a zneuží¬vajúcich systém parlamentnej demokracie; -vo vzájomne obrátených roliach totalitnej štáto-strany a perzekvovaného ilegálneho politického subjektu, aké zaujímali v podmienkach ľudáckeho režimu počas druhej svetovej vojny, resp. v povojnovom období na ceste komunistov k totalitnej moci a po jej ovládnutí vo februári 1948. Autori statí v predstavovanej publikácii netvoria názorovo jednoliaty celok, ani neuplatňujú rovnaké metodologické prístupy. Ponúkajú analytické sondy do jednotlivých oblastí, umožňujúce skôr komparáciu stanovísk oboch strán než syntetizujúci celospoločenský pohľad, čo napokon zodpovedá novosti otvorenej problematiky. Pokiaľ niektoré čiastkové závery pôsobia provokujúco - potom to tak má byť: zmyslom a cieľom publikácie je pozvať širokú historickú obec k argumentovanej diskusii o nadhodených otázkach.

Knjigocid-Uništavanje kniiga u Hrvatskoj 1990ih

Author(s): Ante Lešaja / Language(s): Croatian

Postoje tekstovi – zbirke dokumenata, prikazi nekog događanja i sl. – kojima je potrebno pridodati »riječ unaprijed«. Razlozi mogu biti razni, a autor ih je dužan navesti. Svrha je ovog Uvoda da olakša čitaocu razumijevanje pozicije s koje sam prišao koncipiranju teksta i obradi konkretnog predmeta. A predmet kojim se bavim je uništavanje knjižne građe u Hrvatskoj od 1990. do 2010. godine, dakle, u razdoblju od dvadeset godina.Dva su osnovna razloga zbog kojih sam se tim fenomenom počeo baviti. Jedan, inicijalni, moja je osobna povezanost sa slučajem koji je kroz brojne napise postao poznat kao »bacanje knjiga u kontejner za smeće u Korčuli«, a drugi je iznenađujući intenzitet netrpeljivosti prema Drugome i isključivost – politička, nacionalna, etnička i ideološka – u vrijeme »prevrata devedesetih«, s pripadajućim i već puno puta u povijesti viđenim tragičnim posljedicama – ubijanjima, razaranjima imovine i uništavanjem spomeničke baštine. Stoga je i uništavanje knjižne građe u Hrvatskoj, u mjeri u kojoj ga je bilo i kao samo jedno u nizu sličnih povijesnih iskustava, zadobilo svoju »povijesnu obilježenost«.

Bolesna vremena

Author(s): Milan Gavrović / Language(s): Croatian

Moto za ovu knjigu preuzeo sam od »Duhovne republike Zicer«, osnovane u klubu Zicer u Novom Sadu još godine 1992. s ciljem da spriječi mobilizaciju za rat koji se vodio u Hrvatskoj. Jugoslavija je tada već bila raskomadana, bile su prekinute komunikacije između novih država, a sve informacije strogo kontrolirane i cenzurirane. Tako sam za tu »republiku«, koja je bila dio širokog antiratnog pokreta u Vojvodini, doznao tek u ljeto 2014. iz tjednika Novosti, koji je prenio dio teksta iz projeka »Living Together« (Živjeti zajedno), financiranog od Europske unije. Naravno, patetična optužba tog mota nije sasvim pravedna, točnije, ne odnosi se na sve ljude. Nasilje, zločini i laži proizveli su kolektivnu paranoju, a nacionalizam je jedan od njenih najstrašnijih oblika. Osim toga čini se kako je u prirodi čovjeka da kao normalna prihvaća pravila uspostavljena u sredini u kojoj živi, iako se ona ponekad mijenjaju nevjerojatnom brzinom. Dra-matičan primjer je njemačka zdravstvena služba koja je već na početku Hitlerove vladavine, /kao normalni dio brige o zdravlju nacije, prihvatila kastraciju svakog tko je bio proglašen psihičkim bolesnikom. Ponašanje mnogih ljudi kod nas, u proteklih četvrt stoljeća, slijedilo je isti obrazac. Ali za one koji se smatraju mislećim dijelom nacije i koji su imali prilike govoriti, gornji moto ima punu vrijednost. Nije zanemariv ni broj onih koji su toga bili svjesni, a nisu šutjeli, iako su bili izloženi raznim pritiscima i šikaniranjima. Istovremeno su vladari novih država počeli kontrolirati sve medije i javne tribine na kojima su postali dobrodošli samo zagovornici nacionalističke mržnje.

Izbjeglička naselja u Srbiji: Narod koji je preživio

Author(s): Bojan Munjin / Language(s): English,Croatian

During the last war, in the beginning of the 90s, there were around 400 000 Serbs who escaped Croatian territory and most of them ended in Serbia where they, in smaller or bigger groups, live in metropolitan areas, cities and villages even today. Those smaller groups of mostly compatriots are united by the sad destiny of refugees, solidarity and memory of homeland. Almost a half of this half a million population lives in Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in villages mostly built on their own on empty fields, on the outskirts where initially there were no conditions to develop a civilized lifestyle. Those settlements live as a memory of self-sacrifice of population torn from their root, left with nothing and forced to undertake a precarious road to a new environment. It should be emphasized that most of the refugee settlements in Vojvodina and elsewhere aren't slums or ‘empires of poor’, but solid houses that children leave every day to go to school, their parents to go to work and earn their daily bread and the eldest do their best to help as much as they can. In the moment they were built, those houses witnessed blood, sweat and tears of their household members because suffer and trouble are in common to almost every one of the half a million of Serbs who came to Serbia from Croatia. Psychologically, we can never measure the amount of negative energy accumulated among the Serb refugees from Croatia during the mid-90's which resulted in many diseases, death and existential traumas, however, there was also a strong will to survive; the Serb refugees from Croatia managed to sustain and initiate a new life in Serbia.

Priče iz izbjeglištva: Više od tragedije

Author(s): Bojan Munjin / Language(s): English,Croatian

For years it has been emphasised that after the Operation “Storm” at the start of August 1995, some 250 000 Croatian citizens of Serb nationality were expelled from Croatia, probably in order to highlight the sheer scale of the drama of that moment and of the people who fled. Unfortunately, the number is far greater: more than 400,000 Serbs left Croatia during the 1991-1995 war that raged on the territory of this former Yugoslav Socialist Republic. In the beginning, ever since the HDZ party came to power in 1990, they had been coming in Serbia quietly ”with two suitcases and a back¬pack“. They started coming after the first layoffs, after threats below their windows and nasty looks from their neighbors, from anonymous tele¬phone calls and graffiti on the walls containing the letter “U”. It was a time of nationalist triumphalism, a time of invoking ”Croatia within its historic and ethnic borders”, a time when (the first Croatian president) Franjo Tuđman cried out a sentence that is still quoted today, that the ”NDH was also an expression of the Croatian people’s historic will”.

Slike povratka: Banija i Kordun

Author(s): Vladimir Jurišić / Language(s): English,Croatian

A man can be deprived of his house and land, he can lose money and health and homeland, but something will always remain to provide strength and will for a new start. But take away a man’s dignity and there will appear an emptiness that nothing can assuage, and it will fill him with disappointment and anxiety. Thus he will lose the last foot¬hold from which he has drawn the strength needed to overcome all the trials and tribulations, to stay and survive.

A View from Brussels. Secret NATO Reports about the East European Transition, 1988–1991

Author(s): / Language(s): English

“It is not easy to predict the future course of events, which will depend to a large extent on the overall political situation in the USSR” is the cautious evaluation of the confidential expert report for the North Atlantic Council in October 1989. In 1988‒1991, the relationship was fundamentally transformed between the Western alliance system led by the United States and the East European socialist bloc dominated by the Soviet Union. The military, political, cultural, and ideological confrontation – with the weakening of Moscow and the collapse of its empire – was replaced during a few months by a new type of cooperation of the parties separated previously by the Iron Curtain. The eight reports from the NATO Archives (formerly classified confidential), published in the present volume for the first time in English, illuminate the East European events of these four eventful years from the perspective of expert advisors of the alliance. How were these dramatic changes in Eastern Europe perceived and interpreted in Brussels?