‘Symbols of hate’: The lingering afterlife of Croatian fascism in Australia

. Three fans were also later charged by NSW Police for knowingly displaying a Nazi symbol without excuse, and have since pleaded not guilty.

But at the Melbourne Knights this year, six men were filmed on April 10 doing stiff-armed salutes as they sang a song extolling the Ustasha. Celebration of the creation of the Nazi-backed state of Croatia 1941-1945 at the Melbourne Knights soccer club in Sunshine in Melbourne on April 10 this year. Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Peter Wertheim has said any banning legislation must be flexible enough to accommodate the constant evolution of new hate symbols by neo-Nazi groups “as well as the symbols of political movements, such as the Ustasha movement, that were historically allied to the Nazi regime in Germany”.It’s hard to miss the imposing stone bust of Ante Pavelic in the lobby of Footscray’s Croatian Club in Melbourne.

After World War II, migration from the Balkans to Australia peaked. Many immigrants were strong opponents of Josip Tito, the communist dictator of Yugoslavia following the collapse of the Ustasha-led Croatia. Adolf Hitler greets Ante Pavelic, leader of the Nazi-backed Croatian puppet state, in Bavaria in 1941.

Operation Phoenix, involving 19 militants, prepared for months before entering Yugoslavia from Austria and hijacking a truck. In the style of Fidel Castro’s revolution in Cuba, a small group of militants tried to stir up locals to the cause. He says the diaspora in Australia is “atypical”, with some clear fascistic lineages for a minority in the community. “[Some] get fossilised in time still fighting the Serbs and Tito, even though it’s a lifetime ago.”

While he was condemned – Zagreb’s county court fined him for inciting racist hatred and he was banned from participating in 10 international matches – in certain circles, support for Simunic grew. Mark Biondich, a Canadian historian who has studied Croatian fascism and nationalism, says parts of the Croat diaspora have cultivated a memory of the war which downplays the atrocities committed by the Ustasha.

“There seems to be a lingering afterlife which features in Ustasha symbolism, banners and slogans at specific Croatian social events, such as football matches or meetings. Their afterlife may be perpetuated on social media websites,” he says.“Third-generation Croatian-Australians may or may not know the fascist record of Ustasha in power in wartime Croatia. Ustasha’s history is mythologised. This is part of their lost glorious past in a present where it has no meaning.

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