CROATIA UNCENSORED BY JERRY BLASKOVICH M.D.

REVIEW BY BRIAN GALLAGHER

 

Hrvatski Vjesnik (Australia) -The New Generation English Supplement, 19.12.08

 

Jerry Blaskovich is a well known name familiar to many in the Croatian diaspora. At the beginning of Serbia's war against Croatia in 1991, Jerry went to the war zone. His work there helped bring to public attention some of the horrors perpetrated by Serb forces against Croatian civilians.

Since then, he has written many letters and articles about Croatia - much of which were aimed at dealing with disinformation in the Western media about the war. Belgrade's propaganda machine had done its work well, causing confusion between who was aggressor and victim. The damage done persists to this day. And again, to this day, the Croatian government has failed to deal with such propaganda effectively.

Many splendid people in the Croatian diaspora had to thus do so. Jerry Blaskovich was one of the most prominent. And now a collection of his articles and letters have appeared in one convenient volume.

I am pleased to say I know Jerry, and his writing style reflects him - to the point. No waffle, no flowery language, and a certain firmness of opinion.

The collection provides a valuable insight not only to the war itself, but the information war as well. Jerry's letters often had to provide correctives and information to refute dubious assertions - well, lies more often that not. And there was - and still is - a lot of it. 'Croats are Nazis', 'Croatia's borders were set at the expense of the Serbs', 'fighting each other for hundreds of years', 'Croats ethnically cleansing Serb from 'Krajina' and so on...

There is of course, difficult material. His description of the horrors of Serbian war crimes against Croats at Vocin have particular effect - especially as he led a medical investigation into it.

The material does not simply cover the war - you will find material inside regarding matters such as Medjugorje, Croatia under communism and Cardinal Stepinac. But of great interest is his longer articles in the latter half of the volume, dealing with post-war Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Quite a few of these articles were published in the English language supplement of Hrvatski Vjesnik. And they covered issues and provided information that few wanted to discuss. The Quo Vadis Croatian Media? articles for example, shed some light on the Croatian media - who was providing funding and for what reasons.

Some of these articles covered areas that I too was writing about for Hrvatski Vjesnik, in particular about the Gotovina case and Croats in Bosnia-Herzegovina. So these were then and now of great interest to me.

My attention was drawn to the material about the various assault on Croats in BiH by the international community, in the shape of the Office of the High Representative. Remember the notorious Wolfgang Petritsch?

One in particular stands out for me, a piece published in 2002 regarding Petritsch's successor, the UK's Paddy Ashdown. I was prepared to give Ashdown a chance. After all, might not his devolutionary principles serve Croats well? Well, he soon forgot about all that.

Jerry was not impressed from the start. Whilst there is no evidence of Ashdown being anti-Catholic, and on the face of it he appeared more pro-Muslim than pro-Serb prior to his appointment, in the event Croats made no gain during Ashdown's reign - he even sacked a prominent Croat politician, raising a few eyebrows.

And Republika Srpska was certainly left intact, regardless of his clashes with Serb politicians. Jerry's essential point proved to be more or less vindicated - the status quo of Croats being in a disadvantaged position to the other groups was maintained, as it continues to be. After all, how often do we hear the Croat voice in western reports of political clashes in BiH?

This is a volume that the Croatian diaspora should buy, especially for younger people who may not remember some of the events dealt with within, and who may be confused by the often strangely hostile press Croats get. The many short items make for an accessible read, and the to the point - and occasionally strong - style will appeal greatly.

 

Published by Naklada Boskovic, ISBN 978-953-263-055-8