Azal:

[lizard]

in the last week I've read two novels about the former Jugoslavia and I have to say you guys have the most fragmented bunch of identities ever!

Orthodox, Catholics, Muslims, Ustasha (sp) bosnians croats serbs herzogovogonovenians, gah I'm still confused!


Awesome symbols, the Crescent and the Cross
their kingdoms are the realms of graveyards.
Following them down the bloody river,
sailing in the small boat of great sorrows,
we must honor the one or the other.

Petar Petrovic Njegos, 1847

 

[xfer]

what's ustasha?

 

[lizard]

actually i think those were the muslims who massacred the Serbs in WWII in some concentration camp that starts with a J and had lots of vowels in the name...so brutal even the nazis wrote letters of protest.

 

[xfer]

are you talking about members of the Hanzar Division?

 

[lizard]

I don't know about that but they were muslim fascists.

 

[xfer]

the Hanzar Division (also spelt Handzar and Handschar) was a Muslim SS unit comprised of Bosnians, Palestinians, and others who were recruited to fight for the Nazis. it was assembled partially by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem al-Husseini, who was one of the advisors to the Germans during the architecture of the Final Solution and likely had a significant role in the planning.

 

[xfer]

anyway, the Hanzars spent 1944 (I think) roving around Serbia killing Serbs.

 

[lizard]

all this kind of gives you new appreciation for Tito, who held everything together.

 

[azal]

Ustasha is usually a derogatory term for a Croat.

The Serbian equivalent that croats use is Chetnik.

Yugoslavia was an experiment that was doomed to fail.

Even though life was really good in Yugoslavia during Tito's administration. (money, travel, high European fashion, etc, etc)

His policies are the main reason behind the situation in Kosovo.

He made statements like "I will be the godfather to ever 10th albanian baby."

40 years later, the ratio of Albanians to Serbians in Kosovo is 95% to 5%.