MEMORIES.E34 - Part 3. replies to Neel Sheth
Zvonko Springer (zzspri@COSY.SBG.AC.AT)
Sat, 8 Mar 1997 12:25:10 +0100
Hello Neel - for third time,
I'm afraid the Part 2. has been rather sombrous and tedious reading. It
happens to me often when my gloomy memories and experiences get over my
writing. I'll try better in this Part 3. which should contain answers to
your questions 13 through 20. First, may I add something to A12 from last
MEMORIES.E33 because I haven't replied accurately to that question.
Ad A12: I obviously have misunderstood what you meant as 'which opinions
changed'. In
case you have referred to persons, nationalities or events mentioned
in Q11 then my answer went amiss. Thus, my text under A11 is
in order where as the one of A12 is about different topic. IMHO the later
text needs some more precise explanation. My personal opinions regarding
social and economic changes required serious and far-reaching
modifications. I grew up in a civil (= buergerliche) family and in a
society providing for private ownership and enterprising. After WWII and in
the new socialistic' regime these merits had been gone being replaced by
all encompassing state's (= public) ownership and centralized banking and
enterprising. The dialectic materialism was the all round way of explaining
benefits of the new socialistic system which didn't tolerate any opposition
to it merits at all. I am afraid that explaining all this differences would
require quite a long discourse - completely out-dated after the changes in
Eastern European countries since 1989.
Q13: Did you have personal contact with our allies? What was that like?
A13: I didn't get even a chance reaching Allied Armies' units although it
has been our
aim to surrender say to British Army units in Carinthia. The retreat
of Croatian Army has been stopped by British units at Bleiburg on May 13,
1945 who had turned over their P.o.W. to Tito's Army. You'll find a rather
short description of that tragedy in my answer A12.
Q14: Did you know about the internment of Japanese-Americans? How did you
feel?
A14: Sorry, didn't know anything about - heard about many years later.
Q15: When did you learn about concentration camps? How did you feel?
A15: I suppose you ask about concentration camps for Japanese-Americans. If
you have
asked about working and concentration camps which had in existence in
Europe since 1930s then you should have asked
more specifically. When the war started in Yugoslavia on April 6, 1941 I
was 16 years old. I didn't know anything about such camp but got I first
hand experience soon after. During summer holidays in 1941 all students of
+15 years age had to undergo para-military service or go to work in a camp
for 2 months. My father had decided for me and I went in a camp working 8
hard hours sieving gravel (hand work only) and other builders' jobs. Thus,
my working for two long months under rather simple conditions had been as a
contribution for the new State - Independent State of Croatia (= 'NDH' had
been liaised to Nazi's regime in Germany). The other colleagues, who went
for para-military training, actually had been helping police and USTASHA
units in arresting, abducting and transporting suspects incl. Gypsies,
Jews, Serbs and others regime's opponents to camps somewhere - most of
these poor people perished for good.
Few months later, when the extermination of Jews and Gypsies became
obvious, our relatives and friends had disappeared over night -
then my father told me the full truth about probable existence of camps
for imprison persons. Yes, we knew about an existence of concentration
camps since late 1941 but nobody dared saying anything against or to oppose
atrocities. Many endangered persons went over to Partisans' movement to
fight the hated Nazi's regimes. Others remained at home trying hard how to
survive. For me came the moment of truth when I was called into military
service late 1943 which have had me fighting at the wrong side and for a
lost cause later.
Q16: What were you or what were you doing when you heard about the Japanese
attack on
Pearl Harbor? D-Day? VE Day? VJ Day? The death of FDR?
A16: Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was on Dec 7, 1941 at the time when
German Armies
had penetrated deep in Russia. The NDH's terror against all opponents
has been at its peak. We had hoped that America entering
into war would bring necessary changes by ending the war in not a too far
future. However, only on June 6, 1944 the Allied Armies landed on
Normandy's coast when we were on our way for a home-leave after 6 months of
military training. You may find more about what happened to me then after
in MEMORIES' archives.
On May 8, 1945 (VE Day) I was still with the Battery retreating
westwards when learned about the armistice. We were near Krapina (a town on
border between Croatia and Slovenia) then and being ready to fight our way
reaching any of Allied Army units to surrender. The first a-bomb fell on
Hiroshima Aug 6, 1945 when we have heard about the General Amnesty of
Croatian Officers. That day I was still in the P.o.W's camp at Kovin (East
Vojvodina, Serbia) which I would leave for good 8 days later. On Sep 2,
1945 which was VJ Day was back home nursing my physical and psychic wounds
and getting back to my senses starting a study at the University of Zagreb.
Q17: Describe your experience upon returning to the U.S. (parade? parties?)
A17: Cannot describe any of such experience neither parade nor parties.
There haven't
been any for the losers! Even the victorious Tito's Yugoslav Army did
bother much for parading or holding parties.The 4 year long war devastated
and ruined the country living the society's structure and economy in
rubles. I do not intend starting any arguments but, please Neel, you did
not parade or partied the returning GI's who had returned from Vietnam or
Somalia isn't? I would never forget how US's media shamelessly reported the
GI's landing on Somalia's coast - one must not do it that way at all. I'm
afraid that this is entirely different discourse about.
Q18: Do you still keep in contact with men in your former units?
A18: No - never had even the slightest opportunity of seeing or speaking to
any soldier
from the Battery. However, I still have personal contact with few
friends who were at the military training course in Stockerau 1943/4. Since
the recent developments in my home country Croatia (as from 1992) it has
become possible talking freely about that TABOO topic of the Croatian
Tragedy - Massacres of Bleiburg and Death Marches of 1945.
Q19: Did you get the G.I Bill? What did you use it for?
A19: Of course not! In Tito's Yugoslavia I was a suspected person due to my
past as a
son of a 'burgeois' layer (intellectual!) and being a survivor of a
top secret 'ethnic cleansing'. I have started studying in fall 1945 at the
Faculty of Technical Sciences in Zagreb and have graduated as Civil and
Structural Engineer in February 1952. That's a rather long and intriguing
story too.
Q20: How had the World War II experience affected your life?
A20: Well Neel, I believe that you have learned a little about of my life's
history by
now. Try to understand the circumstances and events which have stamped
the last years of a teenager. This teenager lost more than half of his
weight and was a human wreck when he got rescued from a marching column on
his 20th birthday. Yes, I have been reborn but my traumatic experiences
made me a more sensible, thoughtful and wise grayed young man.
Another young inquirer, Gabrielle, asked me sometime ago if I could
answer same question as your with ONE WORD only. I couldn't do it and
suggested for TWO WORD answer which I formulated as follows:
IRRECOVERABLE WASTE .. of lives - youths - loves - ideas - thoughts -
energies - values - natural beauties etc.
******
Thus, I have your 20 questions and I regret that my three part answering
became so very long. I hope that reading my answers has not been too boring
and totally out of your context. Let me know, please, if you would need
some explanations or clarifications regarding the probably confusing
matters I wrote about. Good luck and success in your study with best
regards from
Zvonko of the Oak Hill alias CROATIAN SOLDIER.