Nachricht Nummer : 514
Übertragungszeit : 4 min 38 sec
Nachricht von    : WAM@ZAMIR-ZG.ztn.zer.de (Wam)
Antworten an     : wam@zamir-zg.ztn.zer.de
Betrifft         : Zagreb Diary 2 September 1994
Kopienempfänger  : /REG/NEWS/DIARY/WAM, /APC/YUGO/ANTIWAR, /CL/EUROPA/BALKAN, /SOC/CULTURE/BOSNA-HERZGVNA, /SOC/CULTURE/CROATIA, /SOC/CULTURE/YUGOSLAVIA
Erstellungsdatum : 08.09.1994 11:28:00 S+2

Zagreb Diary

(Due to technical problems I can't spell check this text)

Zagreb, 2 September 1994

Dobar dan,

A nice party yesterday evening finished the summerschool. Some of the
planned programme parts has been proshoned to next year, but all in all
the human right part seem to have been very succesful, especially since a
lot of people from the movement were together at one spot. Most of the
participants were rather tired yesterday evening, not only from the
meeting by the way. A lot of people are tired here in Croatia, also me, it
feels already for months if I have no real energy anymore. It is just
going on with the day after day pattern, maybe this is what is called
burned-out, I am not sure. For months I had hardly the energy to write,
even when there was enough to write about.

Burn-out sounds like a very stupid disease, something you must be able to
protect yourself against. Hard to admit. Nevertheless I see so many people
around me with the same feelings, the same afraidness to get to much
involved again in daily work after the holidays (even when they are only a
few days in the sun), that I started to also look a bit at my own feeling
and fears, they are the same. We will see. Running activities here are so
complex, not only due to the war, but also because of all those stupid
things as fundraising and report making, in principle there is work enough
for two persons per person without all those bullshit. But let it be, it
seems the only way.

After the goodbye kisses and the waving on the quay we, about 10
participants from Zagreb, Split, Pula and Rijeka were on our way. In the
bar of the boat John Paul the second was smiling on us and some of the
people who live in the center of Zagreb start to tell about what has
happened with them in the last weeks. Those who are living near to the
route which the Pope is planning to take all the houses must have been
check already at least 2 times. Un-uniformed police seems to go from
appartment to appartment, without any official papers and make the people
clear that they better can let them in and check out the place, otherwise
they will have problems later. In the newspapers stand that this visit of
the Pope has the highest security from all the visit he made so far.
People expect that the coming week the security will be even higher and
that it will be easier to come in and out a well protected bank than in
and out the center of the town, we will see.

The last days I have been talking a lot with a guy with has the same last
name as the president of Serbia, althought he is a full blood Croat. His
grandmother even let him secretly be baptist when he still was a little
baby, just before she died she told him that she had done it and that he
was safe. Secretly since his father had some official function in those
days. And althought in Yugoslavia in those days churches weren't really
forbidden, a strong relation with a church was not really something which
was extremely helpfull to make a career in the socialist party dominated
power structures. Not that my friend is in any way active religious. Funny
to notice by the way that a lot of people who where formerly active in the
socialists party or other organs of the state and mostly were openly any
form of religion suddenly became in 1990 and later active in their
churches, but also that is another story.

Anyway this guy was making youth television programmes before the war,
which were popular among a lot of youngsters. When I asked around a lot of
people from whom I knew that they didn't knew him personal knew the guy
because of his programmes on in those days still Zagreb Television.
Directly after the elections the television started to change, more and
more it became a propaganda tool in the hands of the new elect
governement, aiming at the new revival of national Croatian awareness. Not
really because of the politics of his programmes, but simply because of
the fact that the central direction needed more television time for their
new programmes he got less and less time to fill and by the beginning of
the war only a few hours were left.

The war started and my friend got more and more problems. Due to his last
name (and maybe even because his first name is considered more as Serbian
than as Croatian) people in bars and discos started to react aggressively
on him. He became "Serb" and "Serbs" were not really popular, especially
when Serbian extremists started their actions in the Knin region and in
the eastern areas of Croatia. Lots of his former friends became more and
more radical "Croats". My friend however wanted to stay more or less
neutral. It was not his war, he didn't felt himself closely enough related
to the new wind of natiolism from any side which blow over the countries.
After some open fisically attacks in his former hang-outs and with the
possible mobilisation for the Croatian National guards hanging in the air
he decided that he better could leave the country.

So in the early days of the war he found shelter at friends in a
scandinavian country. He didn't apply for a refugee status, firstly since
he didn't wanted to be locked up in a refugee center and secondly since he
was afraid that one day the refugees would be send back to their home
countries again. And he wasn't so sure that his new country would be able
to understand his special situation, he was for them just like all others
a Croat from Zagreb and when the war was over or Zagreb was considered as
being safe again he would be send back. Send back to a place he didn't
feel himself safe anymore, not because of his "nationality" or his
"political believes", but simply becuase of his name and the fact that
people knew him.

So after a while he got the permission to stay and work in his new country
and for over two years he was washing dishes and simular dirty work to
finance his life. And that in country which during his stay economical
collapsed. The unemployment nearly tripled itself during his stay and
although it is still one of the only countries which takes in refugees
from this area, so not so hostile as some other European countries, living
in exile was not really where he was dreaming of. His changes to build up
a new future in his new country also were extremely limited, not really
speaking the languages and with a economical fall back in the country.

Last winter he decided to visit his parents in Zagreb and found out that
he really has missed his home city. But also that the hostile situation
has changed a lot over the last years. His old job was ofcourse not  
available anymore, Croatian television is not particular a place at the  
moment for experimental and avant-gard projects (as a whole Croatian  
televison became more and more commercial and depending on foreign  
series). In the time that he was gone more and more independent  
organisation has been build up. So after awhile he found work in one of  
the human rights organisations.

His only problem is that he is still more or less afraid to write his name  
fully. On the boat back to Rijeka we made a funny petitions towards the  
ships captain, with the reqeust to fill up the empty swimming pool on the  
boat. He makes his signature that way nowerday that you are not really  
able to figure out his last name.

This story is not unique, it basically shows that the situation improved  
in the last 2 years. More and more people are returning which went out  
because of simular reasons, but I must admit that lots of them only find  
work in the free sector (so in action groups or the new private sector),  
there is not really a job for them waiting in the still state own sector,  
which is still the majority of the available workplaces in Croatia.

Last but not least, I must be honest, not all people in Croatia with the  
simular last name had simular experiences. The main editor from one of the  
biggest state owned newspapers has for example the same name and it is  
funny sometimes to read his flaming articles against the president of  
Serbia. Another one is a famous swimmer from Split, who also has an  
obvious "Serbian" first name.


Mir od Mene,
            Wam :-)

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