The president of Croatia’s Bishops’ Conference has urged forgiveness and reconciliation during a Mass at Bleiburg in Austria to commemorate thousands of civilians and demobilised soldiers who were massacred after being forcibly handed over to communist forces by British officials in 1945.
“Bleiburg is a metaphor for the torture, persecution and death of vast multitudes of our compatriots,” said Archbishop Zelimir Puljic of Zadar. “But the times we live in require new people – a new and different Croatia and Europe.”
Preaching to 15,000 Croats at last Saturday’s Mass, Archbishop Puljic said the “collective suffering” inflicted by Partisans under Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito had been “concealed, defended or minimised” during four subsequent decades of communist rule. However, he encouraged Croats to view their fate “through eyes of faith and caution, hope and trust”.
Former supporters of Croatia’s Nazi-aligned wartime regime fled to Austria but were forcibly handed back by British officials, who only stopped the repatriations after many reports of atrocities. At least 70,000 men, women and children were killed in executions.
Loading ...
