ENTHUSIAST WHO BEAT THE SYSTEM
Archivist of the Patriotic War
Nacional
Author: Eduard Šoštarić
03.08.2005. / Issue 507

The recent release of the videotape of the crime against the Srebrenica prisoners, committed by the Scorpion paramilitary group, and the recognition of several of the executors which were able to peacefully live in Croatia up until that point, has shocked the international community. The find of the videotapes of the war events as direct evidence in the trials against those accused of war crimes in the Hague Tribunal has become the top theme in the media over the past weeks.

Though there are institutions in Croatia such as the military museum and the Documentary Centre on the Patriotic War, which by their nature should possess a massive archive on the war, however, even ten years after the fact have not done so. This was also seen by the recent request from the Hague Tribunal which requested NET TV from Kutina to hand over a copy of the tape which was in the possession of retired HV Colonel and former commander of the defense of Sunja, Ivica Pandža Orkan. This tape reveals the involvement of the Serbian political leadership in the events in occupied Croatian territory.

For the past ten years, Pandža has been collecting videotapes and documents originating from the period of occupation of Croatian territory and it is certain that not a single institution or individual in the state has such a extensive archive of materials. Today he has over 600 videotapes about the Serbian occupation and a small truck full of original “Krajina” documents from the period 1991 to 1995.

In this interview for Nacional, Pandža commented on the newest Hague requests for handing over the videotapes, he speaks of his motives for collecting documents after the war and how he obtained them, and mentions interesting facts he came across while analyzing the collected materials.

NACIONAL: The Hague prosecution has recently requested the independent TV station NET from Kutina hand over the videotapes and films of the Serbian rebellion in Croatia that you and Pavle Vranjican made together. It is assumed that this filmed materials could be useful to the prosecution in the trials against Vojislav Šešelj and Slobodan Milošević. What do you know about that?

- I learned about the interest of the Hague prosecution for the videotapes that I collected and turned into a documentary film with my colleague Pavle Vranjican from the media. I was never contacted by the Hague or NET about that. That is not even necessary, for we are willing to hand over the all the videotapes and documents we’ve collected to the relevant state institutions and media which deals with investigating the Serbian occupation and crimes committed in the Patriotic War. The Hague Prosecution, by my assessments, is interested in compiling evidence against Vojislav Šešelj, particularly on the accusation that he was involved in the war in Croatia and that he actively participated. That also directly concerns the involvement of Slobodan Milosevic, for in some of the tapes, Šešelj glorifies Milosevic at a meeting in Glina, saying that the “people of Krajina” have Milosevic to thank for their “Serbian state” for he trained, equipped and financed it. We have many documents on the development of the air bomb launchers, in which the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Republika Srpska and the “Republic of Srpska Krajina” participated. These documents also contain a list of persons who were responsible for this project on behalf of the Yugoslav Army. It would be interesting to call such people as witnesses. It must also be noted that on one of the videotapes, Milan Martić makes a visit to the occupied territory in the area of Gvozd, addressing the members of the scouting-diversion unit of the 22nd Kordun Corps of the Serbian “Krajina” military and talks about the Great Serbia project, and connecting Serbia and “Krajina”.

NACIONAL: What made you get involved in collecting these documents after the war, this is a very demanding task?

- After the end of the war, in spring 1996 when I was still recovering from being wounded, I received the first videotape from one of my soldiers, a member of the scouting unit. This tape was about the Glina area in Banovina, on the occupation of the village of Viduševac where the Catholic Church was completely demolished. On the tape, the Serbian paramilitary looted the Church sacraments and other items. Some of these men could be seen on the streets of Glina after the war, living peacefully with the assistance of the Croatian state. That motivated me to dedicate myself to this unnatural phenomenon and to investigate whether this was just an isolated case or a regular occurrence in Croatian society. As a member of various veteran’s associations, I obtained many more similar tapes, and the collection of videotapes grew when the Croats from Bosanska Posavina moved to Banovina, for their found these materials in the houses. Up until 2000, I had collected about 100 such tapes. I had no experience with film and editing, and the government showed absolutely no interest in this materials, so I accepted this as a personal task, hoping that with time the attitude of the state towards the Patriotic War and our recent past would change, and that until then I would have to be persistent and patient.

NACIONAL: How did you meet Pavle Vranjican, your partner in the compilation of four documentary films on the Serbian occupation?

- I read his interview in the paper Ruža hrvatska, I think somewhere in 2000. Pavle spoke of his involvement in the Croatian military and how he recorded the events on camera. He also mentioned the late HTV cameraman Gordan Lederer, who died in the area of Kostajnica, which is where I am originally from. That was when I decided to do something, for Pavle had already made the film “Amarkord”, which did not contain my videotapes. Pavle instantly accepted my proposal and came to Sisak from Zagreb. We made the film “Amarkord 2” from about 15 tapes.

NACIONAL: How was the film received in the places it was shown?

- This film was seen by about 50,000 people. It was shown several times in Vukovar, Pakrac, Petrinje, Sisak, Knin, Glina, Zagreb, Novska and a number of other places. After the screenings, there were numerous reactions, and the collection of videotapes began to grow unbelievably fast, as people who had seen the film wanted to give their cassettes, which were at home for who knows what reason. We never expected such a public response, but in all the places where the film was shown, there was barely even any standing room. We see waves of emotion, people recognized their former neighbours and friends, whose roles in the war had been unknown until these films were shown. This lead us to film another two documentaries “Komšije1" and "Komšije 2". The videotapes were more effective than any story, and this showed the crimes committed by the Scorpions against the Srebrenica prisoners. We are now preparing a fifth film, and who knows how many more there will be.

NACIONAL: Did you receive any new information in analyzing the videotapes and collected documents?

- The significance of the compiled documents is increasing and the Croatian state policy towards the Patriotic War and its victims is changing. The return of the former officials of the Serbian pseudo-state, the representatives of the assembly of the “Republic of Srpska Krajina”, the commander of its military formations has become not only a regular occurrence, but a desired one. Nikola Fićur, fourth on the list of SDP’s coalition partner SDSS for the Sisak-Moslavina County was the commander of the 3rd infantry division of the 31st Petrinje Brigade of the “RSK” army which attacked Sisak. It is interesting that one of the key members of SDP and the future Sisak mayor Davorko Vidović was involved in the defense of Sisak, and at one time was the commander which, among other things, defended the city from the attacks of the 31st Petrinje Brigade, commanded by Fićur. Now they are coalition partners. SDP has done nothing new that has not already been done by HDZ at the state level, where the votes of the SDSS and its former “Krajina” officials, means staying in power. Parliamentary representatives for SDSS Vojislav Stanimirović and Ratko Gajica, HDZ coalition partners, were also active participants and advocates of the “Krajina” project. Stanimirović also wrote for the publication Vojska Krajina and in the edition from October 1993 wrote, “the final bastion has fallen, the final stronghold of the Ustasha rule in Vukovar – the Vukovar Hospital. With its fall, the City of Vukovar, once a beautiful city, has been liberated.” In mid 1995, Stanimirović proved his belied in the unification of all Serbs in one state even after the defeat of the “RSK” army in western Slavonia when he was one of the main advocates of the urgent unification of “RKS” with “Republika Srpska” at a “RSK” assembly. Sanader’s coalition with SDSS at the state level lead to the appointment of Čedomir Višnjić as Assistant Culture Minister and Dr. Slobodan Uzelec as State Secretary for Science. Both men participated in the publication and editing of the book “Razgrtanje pepela" (Scattering Ashes) by Nebojša Devetka, who was responsible in “Krajina” for informing and propaganda activities as part of the “Krajina” General Staff and who sought financial assistance in Canada for Serbian exiles for the project of the “Krajina” state. I would prefer not to discuss the content of the book, but it will be perfectly clear for all those who read it. With such people in charge of Croatia’s publishing, not a single book on the Patriotic War will ever be released.

NACIONAL: Isn’t it strange that the Hague Prosecution is using your material in its case against former high ranking Serbian officials, instead of receiving that assistance from the Croatian state?

- The documents on the Patriotic War, audiotapes, videotapes, are all in poor condition to say the least. I am certain that there is not even accurate information on the number of persons killed in the war, military and civil victims, and their names. Ten years after the end of the war, the Republic of Croatia still does not have a single historical museum about the Patriotic War, and the Document Centre is still not functioning. I have been warning everyone about this for the past ten years, but few have taken me seriously. We have offered all the documents collected to the institutions of the Croatian state, the Croatian Parliament and the Interior Ministry, in order to prosecute those criminals and initiators of the terrorist rebellion. But it is though we live in some other country where our citizens did not pay for our freedom with their lives. Those who issued the orders and initiated the terrorist rebellion are today esteemed citizens of the Republic of Croatia.

NACIONAL: Do you believe that the attitude of the Croatian state towards the credible historical materials on the stormy period of creating the Croatian state will change?

- I cannot say for certain, for such announcements are common prior to the celebration of anniversaries of important events from the Patriotic War. When those commemorations past, the promises are quickly forgotten. Recently they contacted us to prepare a film for the commemoration of Storm in Knin, but I find that pointless. Two enthusiasts who do their work for free can certainly not achieve what the organizers and well paid systems that should be preparing this could.