Prethodno priopćenje
https://doi.org/10.21857/94kl4clw3m
Press and propaganda about Court for the Protection of the National Honour of the Croats and the Serbs in Croatia in 1945
Martina Grahek Ravančić
orcid.org/0000-0001-5945-8671
; Hrvatski institut za povijest, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sažetak
“The Court for the Protection of the National Honour of Croats and Serbs in Croatia,” established as a special court in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, was tasked with overseeing political, propaganda, cultural, artistic, economic, and administrative cooperation with the enemy and their collaborators. A significant number of indictments brought before this court held paramount political significance for the new government in Yugoslavia. For this reason, the matter of propaganda concerning the activities of the Court of National Honour was exceptionally crucial. The mere announcement of the commencement of the court’s operations held immeasurable significance. Articles exclusively featuring public prosecutors addressing the public had the most profound impact. Initially, there was minimal response in the reporting of cases, but starting from the second half of July 1945, articles detailing trials were published almost daily in Vjesnik, Slobodna Dalmacija, and Glas Slavonije. By analyzing press articles, we can readily gauge the intensity of the courts’ activities, the challenges they faced, and the most prevalent cases they handled. Economic collaboration with the occupier and their collaborators, particularly in the broader region of Slavonia, garnered the most attention in the press. Subsequently, there was a crackdown on the civil stratum of the population, including members of the NDH administration, followed by actions against members of the cultural elite, such as university professors. Some of these writings also delved into “horizontal cooperation” with the occupier, with a more detailed examination in smaller communities. Trials were often conducted in public, making it particularly crucial for the press to depict the prevailing atmosphere among the gathered crowd. Given that these were “people’s courts,” the opinions of the assembled audience undeniably influenced the verdicts. The judgments rendered by these courts resulted in exclusion from public life, the forfeiture of the right to hold public office, and the loss of all civil rights, including the ability to vote and run for office, as well as the rights to freedom, speech, and association. It represented a settling of scores with both real and potential adversaries of the new order. Due to the incompleteness of archival material regarding the Court of National Honour of Croats and Serbs in Croatia, contemporaneous press accounts serve as an essential source for gaining a more comprehensive understanding of the workings of these special courts in the immediate aftermath of 1945.
Ključne riječi
Courts for the Protection of National Honour; Yugoslavia; Croatia; press; propaganda; judiciary; verdicts; Communist Party of Yugoslavia
Hrčak ID:
312810
URI
Datum izdavanja:
30.12.2023.
Posjeta: 290 *