Croatian star’s gig sparks outrage
Greg Roberts
The Australian
October 31, 2007
SERBIAN and Jewish community leaders are outraged that the social arm of the Melbourne Knights Soccer Club is hosting a concert by a Croatian rock star with a strong following among neo-Nazi sympathisers.
The revelation follows the club’s apology for staging a concert for neo-Nazi skinheads at its North Sunshine complex this month.
A concert by Marko Perkovic will be hosted by the Knights-affiliated Melbourne Croatia Social Club at the complex on December 28.
Perkovic, Croatia’s top rock star, uses the stage name Thompson, in honour of the American-issued submachinegun of the same name that he carried as a soldier in Croatia’s war of independence against Yugoslavia in the early 1990s.
George Markovic, the publisher of Melbourne’s Serbian Voice newspaper, said the Knights should steer clear of extremist elements.
“People in our community are thinking of the Knights as the Gestapo Club,” Mr Markovic said.
Mr Markovic said Perkovic had been granted visas for previous visits to Australia, while Serb singer Ceca Raznatovic has been denied a visa in 2005. “It’s double standards,” he said.
B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission director Manny Waks said Perkovic’s visit reflected badly on the Knights and the Croatian community. “It is unacceptable,” Mr Waks said.
The Weekend Australian reported on Saturday that Melbourne Knights chairman Matt Tomas had censured his club’s social arm for providing a venue for the October 13 concert by skinhead [that is, bonehead] rock bands.
Mr Tomas yesterday again expressed exasperation at the Croatia Social Club.
“I can understand why people are upset and just wish the social club would focus on its football identity,” he said.
Croatia Social Club committee member [and former Football Federation Victoria VIP] Ivan Skunca said the club was not concerned about outside criticism.
“The Serbs can say what they like. It doesn’t bother us,” Mr Skunca said.
Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said Perkovic had yet to submit a visa application, but it would be carefully considered.
- NB. Stormfront Croatia is moderated by an Australian Croat named, appropriately enough, ‘The Croat’.
http://www.stormfront.org/forum/forumdisplay.php/stormfront-croatia-156.htmlSee also : Croatian Rock Band Comes to New York, Bringing Controversy Over Nazi Imagery, Fox, October 25, 2007 | Controversial Croatian rock musician who plays nationalist songs to appear in Ohio, AP, International Herald Tribune, October 27, 2007 | Prosecutors and defense launch appeals in 1991 massacre of Croats seized from hospital, AP, International Herald Tribune, October 30, 2007
Someone on Stormfront claims that this is from a Thompson concert.
[And they would be right.]
Yawn. I’d actually like to see a Thompson written song that is in anyway racist. Have any of you ever actually listened to his music or read his lyrics? That would be a no.
Steve,
I neither speak nor read his language. However:
This is becoming like that joke where the macho jock guy complains about all those gay blokes sucking his cock.
The songs you mention are Jasenovac i Gradiska Stara, and Evo Zore, Evo Dana. They are classic Croatian war songs from WW2. They are not Thompson written songs. Thompson has never written a song on his albums that inspires hate or pro Ustasa messages. Keep distorting the truth. I love how you keeping making mistakes, just like your previous one of blaming the Knights for hosting the neo nazi event, only to later back pedal. It would actually be nice for you to offer an apology for your malicious attack on the Knights.
The Knights have issued an apology for the gig.
That’s a silly argument, Steve. Many (most?) singers do not write songs.
You describe them as “classic Croatian war songs from WW2”, which is no doubt correct, but they are also pro-Holocaust songs. When Thompson chooses to sing them, and doesn’t discourage his fans from saluting along, he is choosing to support their pro-Holocaust message.
Stop making pathetic excuses for him.
Thompson is actually a band, a band that takes its name from the nickname of frontman Marko Perkovic ‘Thompson’. And most rock bands write their own songs RPC. You must only listen to manufactured pop if you think otherwise. Thompson has released 6 albums, all material written by themselves. None of their music contains hate or pro Ustasa material.
And those 2 classic Croatian songs are about the war fought against the Serbs and communists, hence being war songs. They are not pro holocaust songs. Every nation has its war songs, you need to get over it. Also those are songs he has sung on a handful of occasions. But you probably didn’t know any of this given your clear ignorance.
So keep showing your ignorance RPC, maybe actually get informed about what you are talking about before opening that stupid mouth of yours.
G’day Steve,
On the subject of an apology, I have already written about the circumstances surrounding anti-racist activists obtaining information regarding the gig’s location on the evening of the gig, contacting the Melbourne Knights, and their initial denials; further, the manner in which it was eventually established that the MCSC was responsible, not the Melbourne Knights per se. Here’s a copy of the statement issued by the MK:
In addition, Mark Tomas, MK President, is on record (Neo-Nazis split Croat community, Greg Roberts, The Australian, October 27, 2007) as follows:
And further, in response to the scheduling of a performance by Thompson (Croatian star’s gig sparks outrage, Greg Roberts, The Australian, October 31, 2007):
You’ve yet to address Tomas’ remarks. AGAIN:
…or to answer any of the questions I have asked you inre this affair.
I repeat:
Yawn.
Bands regularly play songs written by other people. They do not do so if they do not like the song and support its sentiments.
“Jasenovac i Gradiska Stara” is a song about ethnic cleansing during World War II.
Thompson performed this song to sieg-heiling fans. They did not stop playing and tell the crowd that sieg-heiling is unacceptable (which is the bare minimum acceptable response, in my view). Rather, they kept playing and later said the sieg-heiling fans were proud Croation patriots.
Why don’t you have a problem with this?
It is not seig heiling you idiot. Last time I checked it was called the Roman Salute.
Wow.
Just… wow.
So RPC the Romans were Nazis as well were they. The Roman Salute is used by many nationalists across many races. Obviously you have serious [trouble] accepting people with a different political outlook to you. Just as you are a Croatian-hating bigot.
Wow, it’s been a while since a neo-Nazi trotted out the Roman salute line. The NZNF tried explaining away all the photos of their members sieg heiling a few years back as them just getting in touch with their Roman heritage.
We pointed out that this is a disingenuous explanation when they are also dolled up with swazis. The same is true of neo-Nazi Croats who give the “roman salute” while decked out in Ustasa uniforms.
You people have a hard time understanding that Nazism and the Ustasa are not the same thing. You fucktards label anything right wing as fascist or Nazi, has no ideological grounding. I might as well call all you leftys Communists. But you would probably take that as a compliment.
The Ustashi are fascists. And they were nazi collaborators.
Nazi collaborators yes, fascists no. You need to read up on political ideology and open your eyes.
You have no understanding of what was taking place in Croatia during WW2 and prior to it. Croatia had been forced into Yugoslavia in 1918 by the Treaty of Versailles. The first Yugoslavia (1918-1941) was ruled by the Serbian monarchy, it was nothing more than Greater Serbia. Croats were persecuted, there were massacres (not only against Croats) and political assassinations. The Croatian language, culture, traditions and religion was suppressed. Serbian culture, language etc was imposed. You leftys like to ignore this.
The Ustasa was started in 1929 as a reaction to this, it was a militant liberation movement in the style of the IRA and ETA, not a political organization like the Nazis or Italian Fascists.
The Croatian independence movement, meaning not just the Ustasa but beyond that, sought help from the West. The West as it likes to do ignored the pleas of Croatia. The Croatian cause had the support of the likes of Albert Einstein. As WW2 came you had the Communists moving [their] way through Europe. Croatia is left with only 2 options, lay down and accept Communist domination within Yugoslavia (meaning no independence) or gain Croatian independence by siding with the Axis forces.
This is the reality, Croatia has been a pawn throughout its history being tossed around from one empire to the next. All the while our desire has been to simply be free, and see our beloved homeland have its independence. This has been a struggle we have fought since 1102 when we came under Hungarian rule. That’s an 800 year struggle, can you people even comprehend that.
To Andy.
It’s simple, you accused the Melbourne Knights of being to blame for the event. You were wrong, you should apologise. Are you that unreasonable that you are unable to accept that you have made a mistake?
You keep missing the point Andy. Should not the actual event, the neo-Nazi concert, be bearing the brunt of your attack? You have not done that, rather you have focused on the venue and completely ignored the event itself. That is just stupid and makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
I have seen the “they weren’t fascists, they were separatists” defence and it doesn’t hold water. Fascists are organised around an historical homeland, which does not necessarily match up with national boundaries. In most cases the proposed boundary was larger than the country concerned, but that’s not necessarily the case.
I have nothing against national liberation movements per se. I have something against fascist, nazi-collaborating national liberation movements.
Oh, and it’s disingenuous to suggest that the Ustashi are like the IRA or ETA. They are on opposite ends of the political spectrum.
Not everything is about left or right, my point is the Ustasa like the IRA and ETA was a liberation movement rather than a political party or ideology. The IRA and ETA may be on the left, but they are still nationalist organisations. Both organisations have widespread support amongst the Croatian right despite being on the left. It’s about the right to self-determination, that goes beyond the simplistic confines of the political spectrum.
Steve:
I’ve made a small number of posts on this subject. They are:
1) LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION! 2007 ISD GIG, TONIGHT!
2) Fascism versus Football
3) Ah, Melbourne: neo-Nazi concert one day; anti-Semitic assault the next
4) Stamp out racism! Thursday, October 25
5) Racism row over hiring (of Knights Stadium by neo-Nazi groups)
6) Neo-Nazis split Croat community
In the first entry, made on the night of the gig (October 13), I made note of the fact that it was being played at “a football (soccer) club located in the Melbourne suburb of North Sunshine”, and that this would harm the reputation of the Melbourne Knights. In the second entry, October 15, I referred to the gig as being a result of a decision by the Knights, and again argued that this was a major mistake, contradicted FFV policy against discrimination on the field, and was taking place during a period of increased ethnic and racial tension. The third entry, on October 18, ascribed responsibility to “the Melbourne Knights Football Club / Melbourne Croatia Social Club”, following my discovery of the possibility that one or both might be responsible for authorising the gig.
The fourth entry (October 22) simply promotes a protest (on October 25) at FFV, one organised with the intention of requesting/demanding that, in the absence of any official admission of responsibility by either the Knights or the MCSC, FFV conduct some kind of investigation in keeping with its mandate.
The fifth and sixth entries, published on October 25 and 26 respectively, reproduce media reports in which — finally — Melbourne Knights’ President Matt Tomas made a statement disavowing responsibility for the gig, expressing regret over its occurrence, apportioning blame on the MCSC, and declaring neo-Nazis to be what they are: scum. Further, Roberts reports: “Contacted by The Weekend Australian, social club manager Catarina Malacic denied the event was held. “There was nothing on at the venue that night,” she said. Later, club committee member Ivan Skunca confirmed the premises were booked for a concert, but said the club did not know who made the booking. “It was a mistake. Perhaps we had an obligation to check these people out and we didn’t. We apologise for that.””
In other words, I’ve reported the facts as I’ve known them, in good faith, and — assuming Matt Tomas’ and the Knights are doing the same thing — believe the responsibility for the gig now lies with the MCSC (despite Malacic’s lie).
In short: I have nothing to apologise for.
“You keep missing the point Andy. Should not the actual event, the neo-Nazi concert, be bearing the brunt of your attack? You have not done that, rather you have focused on the venue and completely ignored the event itself. That is just stupid and makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.”
An absurd accusation. I’ve been monitoring these and other fascist groups for several years, and written about these and related subjects extensively. For example, I first wrote about this particular gig in June; four months ago. I’ve also been engaged in promoting a campaign to boycott the location of previous ISD memorial gigs in 2006, 2005 and years previous: The Birmingham Hotel in Fitzroy. I’ve written extensively on both Blood & Honour and the Hammerskins. (If you Google “Ian Stuart Donaldson”, one of my blogposts about him and related issues is one of the first to appear.)
The point of writing about the venue is because B&H and the Hammerskins attempt to keep it a secret. They cannot. Exposing the locations of their events embarrasses them and jeopardises future gigs. It also serves to let future venue owners and managers know that if they are willing to stoop to providing neo-Nazi scum with a platform, they too will be exposed to public criticism.
This is where the lines get blurred indeed. I’m sure that many people in Northern Ireland couldn’t give two fucks about the IRA’s fight for self-determination and would see them as nothing more than a gang of thugs with an agenda of power grabbing rather than liberation nowadays much like any other fascist organisation. Just hear what Irish anarchists have to say… Personally I think that nationalism of any kind is kinda mental – Left, Right or Indigenous for that matter. It’s all about the ‘Class Struggle’ baby, yeah.
All the best.
gregg.
That’s about as convincing as “they were playing with invisible yo-yos”.
The historical evidence for the role of the Ustase is pretty clear. It’s fucking disgusting to frame the murder of hundreds of thousands as part of a “liberation” movement for self-determination. Any sane person would be ashamed of this. Neither ETA nor the IRA come close to this level of monstrosity, which makes the comparisons inaccurate (and desperate). Oh, and for the record: fuck the IRA and fuck ETA.
The Ustase saw themselves as the exact equivalent of the NSDAP and were willing to go the extra mile to prove this; by murdering 77,000 Jews for example.
This above, from Principles of the Ustase Movement(1929), is your standard description of commonly understood fascism, only transferred to a Croatian context. Granted, Nazism is often conflated as the same thing, though outside of academic circles this is acceptable as part of the vernacular. As someone who has spent too much time having to read this shit at an academic level, I’m pretty comfortable calling the Ustase a fascist group. They’re not Nazis in the sense that they were not in the NSDAP, but they are in the sense that they are racist national-socialists and contemporaries of the Nazis who served in the same fucking army.
I think from now on Steve, I’ll be treating you with the contempt you deserve for that level of fuckwittery. I might bother to quote Pavelic’s ‘Aryan Decrees’ to embarrass you further if you continue this line. Though I think debate with you is a waste of time and energy.
Oh, and by the way, the Ustase did have an ideology. I just quoted some of it.
P.S. Thompson sucks.
Says a lot, you are clueless. Honestly, get over it. You didn’t give a shit when the Ustasha came out of Croatia in 1929 to butcher their enemies in the 1940s, so why do you care now? Lumpen you quote things you have no idea about, or who’s handled them: get some sense into that head of yours. The fact you call yourself an anarchist is quite telling, you need to grow up, and buy a dictionary. It’s about the right to self-determination. That goes beyond the simplistic confines of the political spectrum. Look at the past few weeks Lumpen, you have gone on a crusade against the Croatian community. You were wrong, you should apologise. Nazi collaborators yes, fascists no. You need to read up on political ideology and open your eyes. Are you that unreasonable that you are unable to accept that you have made a mistake? You are a Croatian-hating bigot. Read the comments comrade. Logic says yes, but instead what we have seen is idiots like you choose to go on the attack against the Croatian community instead. It is not seig heiling you idiot. It’s not my problem if you cannot read Lumpen you left wing faggot. But you probably didn’t know any of this given your clear ignorance. If you don’t like it maybe you should fuck off to some other country. They are classic Croatian war songs from WW2. You are a Croat hater, it’s as simple as that.
(Roman salute.)
In the hierarchy of Hell that created the Holocaust, one group of killers stands out as more vicious, murderous, and bloodcurdling than all others. Who were they? Where did they plow their killing fields? How and why did they come together to sear a chronicle of atrocities a magnitude worse than Auschwitz? The answer: None were more savage than the Ustasha of Yugoslavia, a Muslim-Catholic alliance of Nazi killers so gruesome and beastly that even Berlin shrank in horror at the slaughter. This berserk army of ghastly murderers, the Ustasha, and three related crack divisions of Arab-Nazi Waffen SS comprised of tens of thousands of Muslim volunteers, terrorized people of all faiths in Yugoslavia. In large measure, these murder machines emerged through the efforts of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin al-Husseini. The Grand Mufti was on a mission to accelerate the extermination of all Jews everywhere. His partner was Adolf Hitler — personally. NDH President Pavelic declared early on, “This is now the Ustasha and Independent State of Croatia. It must be cleansed of all Serbs and Jews. There is no room for any of them here. Not a stone upon a stone will remain of what once belonged to them.” He later assured, “The Jews will be liquidated within a very short time.” To this end, more than 20 Ustasha concentration camps were established for the killing process, manned by combined Catholic and Muslim forces. The most notorious of these camps was the hellish complex known as Jasenovac, considered by many to be more sadistic than Auschwitz by an immeasurable magnitude. Gas chambers were not needed. All death was personally inflicted.Mass throat-slittings at great velocity were achieved with a small hand blade wrapped tight to the wrist and dubbed the “Serbcutter.” They were specially designed and manufactured for the purpose. One night, guards at Jasenovac wagered amongst themselves to see who could cut the most throats with their Serbcutters. Guard Petar Brzica, a Franciscan priest, was determined to prove his skill, which he did by slicing the throats of an estimated 1,360 defenseless inmates. Guard Ante Zrinusic lost the bet by only cutting the throats of about 600 helpless prisoners. Guard Mile Friganovi was close behind the winner, murdering only about 1,100 Serbs that night. NDH president Pavelic himself once showed a journalist a wicker basket filled with some 40 pounds of eyeballs. Pavelic joked that he could make an oyster stew with them.Women were carted away and raped endlessly until their captors were finished — at which time they were horribly mutilated for souvenir body parts. “A good Ustasha,” Pavelic told his troops, “is he who can use his knife to cut a child from the womb of its mother.”Cruel and inhumane as the Nazis were, they retreated in wide-eyed astonishment when they learned of the joint Catholic-Muslim Ustasha atrocities. German General Edmund Glaise von Horstenau, the commanding officer of the region headquartered in Zagreb, reported back to Berlin, “According to reliable reports from countless German military and civil observers during the last few weeks, the Ustasha have gone raging mad.” He added, “The Ustasha camps … are the ‘epitome of horror!'” In revulsion, Glaise von Horstenau wrote, “The most wicked [concentration camp] of all must be Jasenovac, where no ordinary mortal is allowed to peer in.” Hermann Naubacher, Hitler’s personal assistant for the Balkans, called the Ustasha exterminations “a crusade that belongs among the most brutal mass-murder undertakings in the entire history of the world.” Naubacher somberly added, “According to the reports that have reached me, my estimate is that the number of those defenseless slaughtered is some three-quarters of a million.”
TODAY’S INDEPENDENT STATE OF CROATIA IS THE COPY OF THE NAZI PUPPET STATE OF SOME FIFTY YEARS AGO. THE COUNTRY HAS THE SAME: NAME, FLAG, NATIONAL EMBLEM, NATIONAL ANTHEM, CURRENCY, UNIFORMS (BLACK SHIRTS). Franjo Tudjman was a monster, but he was our/not mine!/monster.
TODAY’S CROATIA IS A CARBON COPY OF ITS NAZI PREDECESSOR!…https://zlj13051967.wordpress.com/2019/04/14/croatian-nazis-the-worst-monsters-the-world-had-known/