Nachricht Nummer : 356 Übertragungszeit : 3 min 40 sec Nachricht von : WAM@ZAMIR-ZG.comlink.de (Wam) Betrifft : Zagreb Diary on 25 December, 1993 Kopienempfänger : /APC/YUGO/ANTIWAR, /CL/EUROPA/BALKAN Erstellungsdatum : 01.01.1994 00:51:00 W+1 Zagreb Diary 25 December, 1993 Dobar dan, Happy Christmas, John Happy Christmas, Yoko So this is Christmas and a happy new year. Yes you may think that that dinner at Zdenko's place was the last think we did yesterday, but when we came to the centre of time at 10.30 the Holy night was still young and in Skorpija there were at least 60 or more people gathered. From a part of I know that they live (now) alone in Pakrac, a part who didn't have Christmas (yet), some people who you always will find in Skorpija, even at Christmas evening and of course the volunteers. But coming in I saw that also two Polish UNCIVPOL agents had decided not to go back to Daruvar and to stay here in the holy night. Further on I recognised the commander from the local ArgBat troops. Vesna and I entered the place and we immediately got a lighter pressed in our hands from Jura, the green Skorpija lighter (with holy Christmas and happy new year on it (Sretan Bozic i Nova Godina 1994)), which is known as a kind of speciality, a very famous souvenir from Pakrac, the last days, Jura didn't make enough to give everybody, so only the "special" guests get one. Since I helped to make Skorpija about the only bar in Croatia, especially outside Zagreb and Dalmatian Coast, which is known on about every continent of the World (I don't know if anybody on Antarctica read my diary, no GreenPeace left the place I think the changes are rather low), so I got my lighter. It was hot, but we had drink enough to sweat it out, the music was nicely all in Croatian (normally you have top 40 music during the day and 60'ties music late in the evening) and the whole place was swinging like hell. Greorg who went in with us had to get use a while to the fact that most of the dancing and obvious not so dry men had their pistols and revolver hanging at their belts and in the pockets. "They are not in uniform", he said. "That is not necessary, everybody know that they are police, so why to wear an uniform". During the day we already heard a lot of fire-work (also some hand-grenade and automatic riffles), but now the sound outside the bar was a bit at last Saturday afternoon. That sound attracted the UNCIVPOL agents, the UNPROFOR commander and some of the local agents, since it was too hot inside, Vesna and I went also outside. I can't remember who started to shoot, but after a while their were at least 6 persons standing with their revolver in their hand having a competition who could empty his magazine the first. Among them some with very heavy, a kind of dirty Harry, calibre's. Jura couldn't beat them with his pistol, so he went back inside, through the door with the big poster, on which the Croatian police ask every body friendly not to use weapons in the Christmas night, to get his automatic riffle in order to settle the competition. After his salvo the rest decided that it was too far walking to get their guns in order to beat Jura and give up, the whole concert took about 15 minutes, but left to whole road full shells. 20 Months ago I probably was shocked by some thing like this, now I stood their laughing and enjoying the wild west (how soon you get used to the absurdity) Back in Skorpija two reserve police agents tried to climb up the take in order to dance there, but Jura, going through the night as always on coffee and orange juice already saw his famous picture coming down and got them down without using any form of violence. The dancing went on, in and outside the pub on the road, in the snow which started to fall a bit after mid night, but changed soon into rain. At mid night every wished each other a peaceful Christmas and the dancing and singing went on. Although the shooting it was one of the most peaceful Christmas night I ever experienced, not one moment was their a spark of aggression in the air or a bad word I realised when I walked with Vesna to the office house at 4 o'clock. We are in the front-line, with almost people from all continents and local people representing almost all different nationalities without Croatia and it was just a big party altogether. How would it be tonight in Sarajevo and in the other places in BiH. This morning or rather afternoon we came back in Skorpija for the breakfast coffee, in front of the pub I recognised the different shells and we took them inside in order to figure out who has shot the most and from where that munition is coming from anyway. We came in with about enough copper in our hands to drink each about 3 coffee's or maybe even more, bullets are not the cheapest fire-work. Jura was just leaving, to his bed, the last guest from yesterday evening just left and the pub was already looking if nothing special had taken place last night. When Manfred and his girl friend arrived on his way to the office in Opcina and we told it what happens after he went to Daruvar he was sorry not to have stayed for at least a hour more, in Daruvar most UNPROFOR soldiers looked at little bored, they are the unlucky ones who have to be here with Christmas. They all looked a little strange when I announced that Vesna and me went for a walk through the town, but I wanted to see the Christmas tree in front of the hospitals, heard that it already became a kind of official inter-cease-line provocation. Mir from somewhere in Hrvatska, Wam ------------------------------------------------------ "Zagreb Diary" can be found on a lot of different electronic networks, it is copyright free and can be ported to any network or other means of communication you like, but please drop my a line, you can reach by sending a message to wam@zamir-zg.comlink.de . Zagreb Diary is dedicated to Tyche, Pjort and Rik, so that they found out what there father have been doing all that time in Zagreb. Financial support for Grassroot relief work in Croatia or BiH can be send to Kollektief Rampenplan (atn. Lylette, Postbox 780, 6130 AN Sittard, Netherlands, tel:. +31-46-524803 and fax: +31-46-516460 or to Zagrebacka Banka, Zagreb, accountnr.: 2440291594, to Kat, Pieter Jan Herman Fredrik, Brace Domany 6 6fl nr3 (postbox 33), 41000 Zagreb. Please notify me if you send or have send any donations. 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