Bookocide in Croatia
| Native name | Knjigocid u Hrvatskoj |
|---|---|
| Duration | 1990—2010 |
| Location | Croatia |
| Motive | Anti-Serbian sentiment |
| Target | Serbian language books, books published on Serbian Cyrillic or ekavian dialect or published by non Croatian publishers and particularly ideological literature. |
| Organised by | Government of the Republic of Croatia |
| Outcome | destruction of about 3 million books |
| Arrest(s) | none |
| Suspect(s) | none |
| Accused | none |
| Convicted | none |
| Charges | none |
| Trial | 2, against those who objected bookocide |
| Verdict | 2, against those who objected bookocide |
| Convictions | none |
| Sentence | none |
The Bookocide in Croatia (Croatian: Knjigocid) or Bibliocide or Culturecide was the destruction of the books and book burning in the Republic of Croatia in period 1990—2010. The bookocide began in 1990, shortly before the Croatian War of Independence and lasted during the first 19 years after Croatia became independent in 1991. All destroyed books had one of following things in common, they were written on Serbian Cyrillic or ekavian dialect or published by non Croatian publishers and particularly ideological literature. The destroyed books were estimated to be around 13,8% of all books in libraries in Croatia.[1]
The Croatian Government justified this destruction of around 2,8 million books as being a regular procedure with outdated and unnecessary books.
Background (Independent State of Croatia)
During Culturocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia 450 Serb Orthodox churches and monasteries were destroyed along with monumental iconostasis, thousands of icons and number of manuscripts and books which included archival books about births, weddings and deaths.[2] The destroyed ritual items of great cultural and historical importance and beauty.[3]
During World War II, the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet was banned throughout the Independent State of Croatia. The Ustaše and their leader Ante Pavelić banned the use of the Cyrillic script. Based on this ban, during the World War II the Serbian Cyrillic books and archives were burned, especially in the region of Syrmia.[4]
Independent Republic of Croatia
In 1990, shortly before the Republic of Croatia became independent, the government-sponsored destruction of books began. The books were destroyed not only because they were written on Serbian language or Serbian Cyrillic, but in some cases simply because they were published by non-Croatian publishers or because they were labeled as an ideological literature.
In 1992 the Croatian Government issued Obligatory Instructions on Use of Library Found of School Libraries Croatian: Naputak za rad u knjižnicama osnovnih škola to remove literature published in Serbia or in Serbian language and Serbian Cyrillic script. In 1997 Croatian minister of finance Borislav Škegr stated that the Croatian Government will finance elimination of books on Serbian and similar languages from libraries in Croatia.[5] The Croatian Government justified this destruction of around 2,8 million books in period 1990—2010 with the regular procedure related to outdated and unnecessary books.
Books subjected to destruction
The books were chosen for destruction if they were authored by non-Croats, including Ivo Andrić usurped by Croatian literature as "Croatian Nobel prize laureate".[6]
Private libraries and collections owned by Serbs
Destruction of Serbian language books included books in private libraries, one of most notable being the case of the private library of Radomir Konstantinović in Rovinj, Istria.[7]
Reactions
Many notable intellectuals objected to this practice, including Milan Kangrga. Their objections were fruitless and in some cases they were punished for their objections. The most notable case is Kangrga who was put on trial for many years by Croatian judicial system without basic elements for the trial.
In 2013 the Anti-Cyrillic protests were organized in Croatia against the application of bilingualism in Vukovar, whereby Serbian and the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet were assigned co-official status due to the local minority population.
In 2014, the minister in Government of Serbia, Aleksandar Vulin, invited European Union not to be blind and deaf to the resurrection of Ustaše ideology in modern Croatia reminding everybody on the famous quote of Heinrich Heine, stating that they first burnt books and then people.[8]
Trials and convictions
Nobody was held responsible for this destruction of books. The only two trials organized because of the bookocide in Croatia were trials against people who raised their voice against the destruction of books. One was Milan Kangrga and another was Feral Tribune, who were both put on trial because of defamation. The court found them guilty because in the text authored by Kangrga and published by Feral Tribune, it was written that the books in Korčula Library were burned, while the books were actually destroyed on some other way. They were guilty because they did not emphasize the formal difference between burning and putting the books into garbage.[9]
See also
External links
References
- ↑ Adriana Piteša (13 July 2012). "KNJIGOCID - Lešaja: Devedesetih smo uništili 2,8 mil. 'nepoćudnih' knjiga". www.jutarnji.hr. Jutarnji List. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
Tijekom 90-ih iz hrvatskih je knjižnica, prema gruboj procjeni, odstranjeno gotovo 2,8 milijuna knjiga ili 13,8 posto ukupne građe.
- ↑ (Давидов 2015, p. 10)
- ↑ (Давидов 2015, p. 10)
- ↑ Muzej žrtava genocida; Srpska književna zadruga; Odbor SANU za sakupljanje građe o genocidu protiv srpskog naroda i drugih naroda Jugoslavije u XX veku (1995). Genocid nad Srbima u II svetskom ratu. Muzej žrtava genocida i Srpska književna zadruga. p. 55.
Анте Павелић за- конску одредбу о забрани ћирилице . . . Овај државнички гест показао је видне резултате: на све стране НДХ, а нарочито у Срему, спаљују се ћириличне књиге, уништавају се архиве ....
- ↑ Jakšić, Božidar (8 October 2013). "Knjigocid u Hrvatskoj: Hronika sramnog vremena". www.slobodnaevropa.org. Radio Free Europe. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
Dragoceno je svjedočanstvo, koje navodi autor, izjava ministra finansija Republike Hrvatske Borislava Škegra iz 1997. godine da će se sredstvima državnog proračuna finansirati biblioteke da iz knjižnih fondova izbace knjige na srpskom i sličnim jezicima“, objašnjava Jakšić.
- ↑ (Kangrga 2002, p. 102)"Evo, koji su to za ustašku svijest (kao i nekada u NDH) nepoćudni pisci, naši i strani (izuzimajući ovdje hotimice baš srpske pisce!): Oscar Wilde, Ivo Andrić (koga inače hrvatska literatura svojata kao hrvatskog pisca, Bože dragi, pa on je ipak "hrvatski nobelovac", zar ne!?), Ivana ... "
- ↑ Visković, Velimir (23 August 2015). "Hrvati spalili 3 miliona knjiga srpskih pisaca" [Croats burned 3 million books authored by Serbs]. Novosti (in Serbian). Belgrade. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
- ↑ Opačić, Tamara (2014). "I Sisak je imao Mengelea" [Sisak had Mengele too] (in Croatian). Croatia. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
- Europa u koju Srbija želi, i u kojoj Hrvatska već jest, ne može biti slijepa i gluha kada se ustaška ideologija ponovo rodi, pojavi i progovori. Onaj tko razbija ćiriličnu ploču samo zato što jedan narod baš tim jezikom govori i piše, razbio bi i dječju glavu samo da može i da se ne boji da će biti kažnjen. Ne može onaj tko razbija ćiriličnu ploču misliti da to neće izazvati zlo, silu i nasilje. Jer ne zaboravimo, prvo su palili knjige, a onda su palili ljude, poručio je Vulin.
- ↑ Adriana Piteša (13 July 2012). "KNJIGOCID - Lešaja: Devedesetih smo uništili 2,8 mil. 'nepoćudnih' knjiga". www.jutarnji.hr. Jutarnji List. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
Zbog uništavanja knjiga (i spomenika) nije, međutim nitko odgovarao. Vođena su samo dva sudska procesa, oba vezana uz ozloglašeni slučaj korčulanske knjižnice pod ravanteljicom Izabelom Skokandić, zapamćen kao slučaj “djevojčice sa žigicama”....U prvom se tužilo Milana Kangrgu, u drugom Feral Tribune - one koji su kritički progovorili o slučaju odstranjivanja knjiga na Korčuli, a sudac je presudio da se radilo o kleveti, jer nije naglašena formalna razlika između spaljivanja i bacanja knjiga u kontejner.
Sources
- Kangrga, Milan (2002). Nacionalizam ili demokracija. Razlog. ISBN 978-953-6985-01-2.
- Давидов, Динко (2015). Independent State of Croatia: Total Genocide, 1941-1945. Svet Knjige. ISBN 978-86-7396-536-9.
Further reading
- “Bibliocide-Culturecide: Where One Burns Books, One Will Soon Burn People,” published in 2003 by the Serbian Cultural Society “Prosvjeta” (Srpsko kulturno društvo Prosvjeta)
- Ante Lešaja's volume about the destruction of books in Croatia between 1990 and 2010, Knjigocid. Uništavanje knjiga u Hrvatskoj 1990.-ih (Libricide. The Destruction of Books in Croatia in the 1990's