For 100 years now, discussions with completely opposite views about patriotism and terrorism in the Balkans continue and continue these days in Sarajevo and beyond.
When the members of the "Mlada Bosna" organization prepared the assassination attempt against the heir of Austria-Hungary, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, in Sarajevo, on June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Principi was arrested and tried as a terrorist, while he was considered a patriot, being glorified as such in Serbian folk poetry despite what followed after this assassination: the First World War.
Also, even after 100 years, despite what came out of what motivated "Mlada Bosnia", on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Princip's death, discussions about the qualification of his work were renewed: patriotic or terrorist? These days, this topic was raised in Sarajevo in two different aspects and in two different places.
On May 16, a mass was held in Sarajevo Cathedral at the request of the Croatian Government and the nationalist party HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) for the anniversary of the "Bleiburg Massacre" that took place from May 15 to 24, 1945. This mass was welcomes the huge protest of thousands of Sarajevo residents, who came out peacefully through the streets of Sarajevo with anti-fascist and anti-Nazi slogans. It is worth mentioning here that it was about the remnants of the army of the Croatian Independent State (1941-1945), which retreated with German forces and fleeing civilians towards the Austrian border in the first half of May 1945.
Although these forces crossed the border and reached the Austrian town of Bleiburt and surrendered to British forces, they, with the exception of the Germans, were forced to turn back and surrender to the Partisan forces, who unleashed mass murder against the "enemies of the people". either on the street or in the camps where they were placed as a sign of revenge for their crimes during the years 1941-1945 against Jews, Serbs, Bosniaks, KOHA reports.
This topic called the "Bleiburg Massacre" remained taboo in communist Yugoslavia, and it began to be recorded every year in the place of the event (Bleiburg) by Ustasha immigrants from 1951, and also from Croatia after independence in 1991. While in Yugoslavia, a lot of interest was shown for the war crimes in the KPS 19411945, spending a lot on various researches and publications, now came the turn for researches and publications on the victims of the "Bleiburg Massacre" which amount to about 50-70 thousand, although the figures are exaggerated up to 200 thousand victims. ..
