Nachricht Nummer : 401 Übertragungszeit : 4 min 4 sec Nachricht von : WAM@ZAMIR-ZG.comlink.de (Wam) Betrifft : Zagreb Diary on 8 February, 1994 Kopienempfänger : /REG/NEWS/DIARY/WAM, /APC/YUGO/ANTIWAR, /CL/EUROPA/BALKAN, /SOC/CULTURE/BOSNA-HERZGVNA, /SOC/CULTURE/CROATIA, /SOC/CULTURE/YUGOSLAVIA Erstellungsdatum : 09.02.1994 01:29:00 W+1 Zagreb Diary 8 February, 1994 Dobar dan, This morning just after finishing my mail on the network, I start getting back in the old rhythm, hope to keep it, outside the horn of a car blown. Outside was Klaus Vack, the both young Sven's (from Germany) and Reini, a doctor who work already two months for Nexus were waiting for me, so we went on our way to Pakrac. The wrote to the town was fast we past some convoys from UNHCR coming back from Banja Luka and other towns in Northern Bosnia, but for the rest the highway was nearly empty. We went on to Novska, instead of Kutina, since I wanted to show Klaus the other road to Pakrac, last time he came over Kutina and show the blown up Serbian villages and now I wanted to show him the villages on the Croatia side on the road from Novska to Lipik were heavy fighting has taken place. He told me that the first trip remind him on his small home town in Germany after the war, but he has to admit that this road were tanks has shot straight from the road into the living rooms made him even more remembering his youth. Arriving in Pakrac we meet up with Manfred in the Care office and with an ADR (German television) film crew, which is making a film about the volunteers in Skorpija. A few days ago I found in my old photo's a picture made from me in HVO uniform in the winter of '92 (I send it around as Christmas card) and I had that one with me to give it to Jura, the owner of Skorpija. He of course made a big smile, a peace activist in uniform, and put the picture on the big poster above the take with all the defenders from this part of Pakrac on it. So at last I also have my picture in the pub. After drinking a tea and having a short chat with the people from ADR about the things we are going to do tomorrow, we checked out the possibilities to go to the "other side". Manfred told me that the Croatian checkpoint in Pakrac really is a little strict the last days, after the UNPROFOR commander presented an official complain in our name last Friday that we would like to have less checks on the their checkpoint. Yesterday when he went over they more or less check his whole car and luggage. So we decided to drive back to Lipik and try our luck over their, Klaus brought for over 50.000 DEM of medicines for two medical posts on the Serbian side and didn't want to have to much problems today, since we had to manage without translators the whole day. In Lipik we of course passed the Croatian checkpoint "without noticing" it, I told the people on the checkpoint some weeks ago that if they don't tell me where their checkpoint is I can't stop for them and about 150 meter later we were already stopped by a car which passed us by in top speed. I recognised the driver, who was that police cop who used to work as guest worker in Germany, so I told him that I was together with some people from the town were he use to live. He didn't ask anything else than what is going on in that town at the moment and let us go. The next checkpoint was the Argentinean one, which had a lot more problem with 2 German cars with medicines and only one UN passport in it, but after they call up their commander and we showed that we were willing to open the boxes they let us go. Up the hill at the Serbian Krajina checkpoint I was surprised that the barrier was closed, normally it stands wide open. The guy at the checkpoint was really confused with the German cars and call for his chief. 10 minutes later two soldiers came walking up to road to bring us to the nearest militia station. There I got a long lesson in Serbian that we first had to get official papers in the Serbian part of Pakrac, before we were able to continue to Okucani. So we drove over the mud road to Serbian part of Pakrac in the hope to find the new mayor there and our translator. But unfortunately the mayor and the rest of the town council just left for Beograd in order to get Dzakula free (hopefully he is still alive) and nobody knew were the official stamp was or dared to take the risk to make official papers. Nothing else to do than first go to Dr. Peric, the 78 years old doctor in this part of Zagreb in his from a private house rebuilding medical posts. For the first time I found out that Dr. Peric actually speaks some words German and with some hand and foot work we could explain him that we brought the medicines he asked for. Reini, the doctor, was confused to see under which conditions, or rather no conditions this old man has to do his job. Dr. Peric also produced with a lot of xxx@&^%9* between and over the words a document with our pasport numbers and a lot of stamps on it stating more or less that he has asked us to bring medicines to Okucani. Leaving Pakrac on the way to Okucani we were stopped by a walking militia couple, who reported on his Motorola that he stopped two German cars, from the other side of the machine a short reaction came "Ustase", I gave the guys my letter which I got some days ago from their mayor and militia chief and the excused themselves and wished us a good trip. Reini however was very impressed being called an Ustase, since for the first time he realised how people on this side seems to mislike Germans. One hour later we passed the Serbian militia office again, this time nobody stopped us or asked for our papers and we continued our trip down to Okucani. And there on the medical post we heard that the Docters, who Claus wanted to see were all sick in bed at home and only some nurses were running the post. So the big talk of Docters among eachother couldn't take place. We dropped of the medicines, got the stamps on the form, had a fast drink in Simo's parents hotel and went on the highway back to Zagreb. The Serbian checkpoint near Novska waved us through, the UN checkpoint looked a bit strange and the Croatian checkpoint needed 70 minutes to decided to let us through, the Croatian police 250 meter further than the checkpoint also took 15 minutes but than the highway was clear for us.... 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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