Nachricht Nummer : 515
Übertragungszeit : 4 min 16 sec
Nachricht von    : WAM@ZAMIR-ZG.ztn.zer.de (Wam)
Antworten an     : wam@zamir-zg.ztn.zer.de
Betrifft         : Zagreb diary 3 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 12:47:00 S+2

Zagreb Diary

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

Zagreb, 3 September 1994

Dobar Dan,

On the boat back from Split to Rijeka is is again clear that maybe not the
simular amount of tourists as before 1991 are travelling down the
Dalmatian coast, but that the amount of foreign tourist really has
increased this year. Even with the small attacks from probebly the Bosnian
Serb Army in the hills in the south of BiH on the Dubrovnik airport in the
last months more and more people are coming. Walking through the corridors
on the boat I am again surprised about same thing I wrote about just a few
days after I arrived here two and half years ago. Visiting other countries
in "war" around the world I was used to a hell of security. In Isreal my
bag was often checked, especially when I wanted to go in public places or
into international known tourist areas. Here in Croatia, hardly ever my
bag is check, or let's say next to never. On a boat like this, with a few
hunderd tourists on it and so many dark places where nobody ever seem to
come it looks so simple to leave a small bag with explosives behind. Not
to kill anybody, but just to completely scare off all thos eforeign
tourists. To get explosive in Croatia or to smuggle them into the country
is in mu opinion not so difficult.

I am writing this not to give people an idea. Those who in my opinion
would be likely to do such an action know the facts as well as I do. That
it is not happening surprises me. This wars are described as very dirty
and very unhuman. And in many ways you can find proofs for that, although
every war is dirty and unhuman. Besides the obvious things which went all
around the world, you can think about special type of mines in bright
colour thrown from helicopters on places where normally a lot of children
are coming, who are likely to pick up this devices, since they look like
toys. But besides a bomb attack on the Sarajevo bank, nearly 2 and half
year ago I never ever heard from this type of terroristic actions. I don't
really know how to explian that, since in many "ethnical" war terrorism is
one of the major methods to scare of the "enemy" and his possible sources
of income. Not only in Israel, but think about the IRA, ETA and all those
others.

Sometimes I think that the hate between the different "nations" is not
that deep as you may think in the first place. Terrorist actions ofcourse
take place, but always very close to the (former) frontlines. Never
howvere far behind those lines. It makes this wars not cleaner, but at
least life a lot more relaxed than other "troubles" zone, were you always
have to think about it, even in my hometown there was once such an
atmosphere, when 2 innocent bystanders were killed during a terrorist
attack of the IRA on UK soldiers in one of the bars they regularly came in
a town nearby. Every where were posters hanging that you immediatly should
inform the nearest police station if you saw some bag standing somewhere.

This are just some thoughts walking up and down the sleeping ship, we just
passed by Zadar and my sleeping place on deck has been completely washed
away by sudden rainfall. Yesterday evening we specifically asked if there
was any rain expected, but the crew promised us that the journey would be
dry. A fenomenen I often have experienced in this country, the weather
forcast makes often mistakes like this. Anyway the sky is dark of clouths
at the moment and in the lobby of the ship people are discussing that the
summer is really over now. It has been a very hot summer, the last months
were often horrible. Soon the rains will come and the cold weather, Vesna
and I must see if we can get some money safed to repair our roof, since in
some part of our appartment it is a heavy raining inside as it is outside.
And we will be by far not the only ones outside the war areas which have
this type of problems. The care taking of the houses under socialist time
was not particular the first priority. And with the average incomes
nowerdays it is still the closing point on the family and local budgeting
it seems.

We arrive early in the morning in a cloudy Rijeka, a town like all the
other big and old town around the Adriatic, but also elsewhere in former
Yugoslavia, which is in the 50'ties and 60'ties totally changed. That was
the period (like elsewhere in Europe, but maybe not so organised) that
people from the poor outskirts were organised replaced to the big cities
and housed in the familiar socialist housing blocks, which are so
significant for all the bigger towns, all the sky lines are distroyed by
heavy industry and woods of huge high houses (from far away they look some
how not that bad, but closeby you see that what we call "concrete-rot" are
eating them away).

Walking through the town I remember a discussion I had on Email about a
mounth ago. Somebody told me that he had heard that in Rijeka there were
at least 30.000 people which were still waiting to get their domovnica
(paper stating that the owner was living within the are of Croatia before
the war in 1991 started). I asked a little around and checked some public
information and came to the conclusion that that figure was toatlly
absurd. Rijeka had in 1991 205.000 inhabitants, from which about 10,9 % call
themselves of "Serbian" nationality. That would be about 21.000 people,  
from which obvious some must have left the country since them for  
different reasons. Even if you add the 3,9 % (roughly 8.000) of the  
population which call themselves in those days for different reasons  
"Yugoslavs" you don't make it up to 30.000. Considering that all other  
nationalities, basically Croats and Italians had no problem what so ever  
to get a domovnica and so probably a lot of the Yugoslavs and Serbs  
(especially in the last year) it is more likely that this figure is the  
figure for the whole of Croatia instead of Rijeka along.

Such stories proof once more how difficult it is to use figures in these  
war before you check them on their realistic possibility. And the problems  
is that most of those information reach people outside this country who  
are not so able to check them out and therefor misform the reality of what  
is going on in this areas.

Walking in the pedestrian zone of the town I see in the store windows of  
the town hall an exhibition against the atom bomb and wars in general. A  
kind of exhibition you often could find when this was still Yugoslavia and  
probebly this exhibitions has been touring around this country in those  
days as well. Anti fascism and Peace were often the magic words. This  
exhibitions however was put here a month ago during the international  
Hiroshima day. I don't really know how many people actually have been  
looking at it, but since I am standing there and obvious show a lot of  
interests in what I see some other people start to also take a look.  
Probebly they also remember those days before this wars when local  
authorities did their best to make people remembering things like this.

And ofcourse also here the posters with the pope. Back at the restaurant  
where my travel companions are sitting the discussion about all the  
internal diffuculties between the different groups in the movement are  
going on. At least this meeting on Brac brought some of individuals  
involved in those different groups together and they started to talk more  
informal together that only can have positive influences.

Mir od Mene,
            Wam :-)

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