World War Two - episode 101

In World War Two Croatia was torn apart by warring factions, of which partisans, fascists (ustaše) and četniks were the most prominent. After the war, the četniks disappeared from the scene, only to reappear in the 1990s in Vukovar, Knin and other places that Serbian rebells considered theirs. The partisans and ustaše, however, never left the stage of Croatia's post war history. In a way the Second World War never ended here. Of course, in Tito's Yugoslavia ustaše were obviously the bad guys. Not without a reason: even the German Nazi's and Italian fascists who de facto ruled Croatia during WWII abhorred the cruelty of the ustaše terror against Serbs, Jews and anti-fascist Croats.
With Croatia's independence, the partisan movement was knocked off its pedestal. So far so good, one could say. However, the downfall of socialism went hand in hand with the rehabilitation of the fascist ustaše movement. Ustaše symbols can be seen on the streets and the Croatian equivalent of "Sieg heil" (Za dom spremni - Ready for the homeland) reverberates through the stadium when Croatia's national football team plays.
In the latest episode of the ongoing war between partisans and ustaše the main role is played by an new organisation with the lengthy name Croatian Ceremonial Association of World War Two and Croatian War of Independence Warriors of the Zadar District, conveniently abbreviated to HODB. So far the HODB seems to do little more than arguing over the question whether portraits of Ante Pavelić (the Croatian Hitler) should be classified as fascist or not. A strange question, considering the fact that on 28 December the HOBD will hold a Mass in Zadar to commemorate the day of Pavelić's death. Partisans, by the way, are excluded from HODB-membership.

Renovation of a Venetian bridge

When you drive from Zadar to the island of Pag, you will see this scene: bare islands of white rock, contrasting with the brilliant blue sea.
Pag is not the most touristic Croatian island, but it is a very nice and unusual place. Looking at the surroundings, one wouldn't expect to find on Pag the one and only Venetian bridge outside Venice (that's what I read, though such statements need to be treated with caution). I actually saw the bridge when I visited Pag town, but I must admit that I didn't take a picture. The bridge didn't look anything special. On the contrary, it looked nondescript. The 15th century monument was in a deplorable state.
Work has begun to restore the bridge to its former glory. The future looks less bright for two things that come to Croatian minds when Pag is mentioned. One is paški sir, the other paški sol. Paški sir is sheep cheese, a protected brand by Croatian but not European law. Croats are afraid that others might produce cheese and call it paški sir. I am not sure that will happen. Most of the protected Croatian brands are unknown outside of Croatia. Who has, for example, heard of drniški pršut or baški baškot? And paški sol? Well, it's actually salt from Tunisia.

Welcome IKEA, goodbye Graz

The Swedish retail giant IKEA has decided to come to Croatia. Earlier rumours had it that IKEA would build a branch in Zadar or Split, but the company chose a location just south of Zagreb. That makes sense to me. Zagreb has at least three times more inhabitants than Split and Zadar combined. True, the coastal cities attract many more tourists, but they are not coming for IKEA but for the beaches and the Mediterranean feeling.
Croats, however, do travel abroad to go shopping. In fact, there are even special bus services to Graz and Trieste that stop at shopping malls. Graz is a town of the size of Split, but has many shops Croatia does not have: Mediamarkt, H&M and IKEA, to name the most popular.
I once took that bus to Graz. At the end of the day, we gathered at the Opera House where an intimidating number of Croatian buses were waiting to bring us back to Zagreb. When our bus left, the lady in charge - or tour guide, if you like - grabbed the microphone: "We are first! Our bus is ahead of the others!" I was surprised see someone that excited, as Croats cannot be blamed for excessive punctuality. But then it dawned on me that all buses would arrive at the same border crossing and that non-EU buses are subject to severe scrutiny. If you are in the tail of the convoy, you may have to wait for hours and hours.
Upon arriving at the border, the lady told us: "Whatever you bought, don't say to the official that you didn't buy anything at all. Who would be empty-handed after a shopping trip to Graz?" After this useful advice she entered into negotiations with the border officials. After quite some time, she came back into the bus and said with a big smile: "No inspection this time! We can proceed! I think we can applaud for that!"A thunderous applause followed. I felt awkward and moved at the same time.
I guess the bus companies are not happy with IKEA coming to Croatia. Neither are Croatian manufacturers of furniture. I can see why. They never had to worry much about the price-quality relationship. That goes for many Croatian manufacturers. EU accession might knock a lot a people out of business here. Many Croats avow love for domestic products (domaće) but the lack of alternatives doesn't leave them much choice.