Nachricht Nummer : 292
Übertragungszeit : 3 min 33 sec
Nachricht von    : WAM@ZAMIR-ZG.zer.sub.org
Betrifft         : Zagreb Diary 27 October, 1993
Erstellungsdatum : 02.11.1993 15:11:00 W+1

Realname: Wam Kat

Zagreb Diary 27 October, 1993

Dobar dan,

More and more rumours in the air, the war in this area will start at the 
15th of next month. It is not the first time that we get the tip that the war 
will start in a few weeks, surely the first time that people have pin 
pointed a date on. There is nothing wrong with this rumours, there are 
always around. Vanja told that during the shelling of Osijek you heard 
also a lot of those rumours, about when the shellings should take place. 
On a certain day somebody told such an prediction and it came out, not 
so hard, since nearly every day there were shellings. One of the people 
he told it to went to the police and told that the guy had contacts with the 
"enemy", how could he otherwise know that a shelling would take place. 
This guy, who went to the police, has not often wasted his time in the 
future listening to rumours.

And how often I have said it and will say it again, war is rumours, at 
least for a big part. War is never really knowing what the true is, you are 
always in a state of finding out your own way between all the des-
information which is coming to you. And that is far more than 
propaganda. Rumours are those things which are handling just what the 
propaganda is not telling. And since you never know the true real you 
are thinking, brainstorming about it all the time. It is hard to keep your 
mind open and clear. It is understandable that people break in this fight 
to be straight in your mind. Being paranoid is not so strange if you are 
feeling surrounded with powers which you never really will understand 
and neither their doings.

In the late afternoon suddenly I smell gas coming from the first floor and 
since my noose it not so good it really had to be strong. Some people 
went down to find out if something in basement was leaking, but couldn't 
find anything.  So they went outside and found out that the smell there 
was even stronger. From people who came back from the town we heard 
that the whole town was full with gas smell, but that everybody normally 
was smoking. Later we found out what happened, the gas company had 
connected our "new" house and some more this afternoon and during 
that operation they connected a part of the town from which not all the 
gas pipes in destroyed houses had been disconnected. 

Just before the evening Vanja returned from an informal drinking 
session I agreed upon on Sunday, but she had to go alone, when she 
came there there was not much time anyway. Our friends had some 
other friends over and had to go to a meeting of the defenders of Pakrac 
that evening. He told Vanja about the meeting which took place 
yesterday at the town hall in Pakrac. Goran already told me that a lot of 
official guest arrived at the Opcina and that HTV had their camera's 
there. But the talks between the local authorities from both sides of the 
cease fire line have started again. One of the major point was water and 
that seems to be solved now, or at least in a higher level of being 
solved. 

The other burning point, using the high between Novska and Nova 
Gradiska (Through Serbian Krajina) seems also been agreed in 
principle. From the Krajina side the demand came that checkpoint for 
passport and tax have to be opened on both sides of their region and 
that demand resulted in some laughing in our volunteers room. If train 
tracks are being blown up on the Croatian side, we can more or less 
imagine what kind of UNPROFOR protection will be neccessary before 
one Croat with a Croatian registration plate go all the way from Zagreb 
to Slavonski Brod, without making the detour near Kutina. Not the 
reality, just the rumours will be enough to keep them away from that 
road.  

In the evening another three times week meetings, this time the main 
point on the menu was a discussion about the radio. The four Austrians 
has arrived and we invited them to introduce themselves and explain to 
the people why they are here. It is not normal that three military draft 
resisters are doing their civil service in a warzone. The discussion went 
over the point, how far you can go in telling about yourselves and your 
aims to come here. Can they tell about civil service laws and reasons in 
Austria or should they include the situation in Croatia as well. Telling 
about refusing the army in an area were every second person have 
fought in a war to defend their own house is softly a little strange.

And what about the work they and we are doing on "the other side". We 
are talking about and we pass the line, but should we be open about it 
on the radio. The reactions after the first official visit of the volunteers 
for three hours on the "other side". is still in our blood and the new ones 
have heard about it. But that are also rumours, we don't really know 
what would happen at this moment. What will happen if we are tell about 
this part of our work on the radio. We don't want to keep it a secret, but 
why waking up sleeping dogs. Most people already know about it 
anyway, that is not a reason to promote it every time over and over 
again. Maybe that will change soon, who knows..... 

An hour later a beautiful programme was designed by a subgroup and I 
think we will beat ourselves tomorrow on the radio, we have again a lot 
to tell (?).

Bok I Mir from Zagreb,

							Wam
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