Izvorni znanstveni članak
Međimurje and the »Refugees Crisis« at the Eve of World War II
Anna Maria Grünfelder
; Austrijsko veleposlanstvo u Zagrebu
Sažetak
The years between 1939 and 1945 habe always occupied center stage in scholarship on National Socialism. This war was the necessary precondition for the unprecedented movement of refugees, expelees and displaced persons, searching for asylum and protection in non-belligerant countries. The XX. century - the century of refugees: it is this leading idea to draw my researcher’s interest on the Jewish refugees in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Research interest in recent years have focused, for understandbale reasons, on the mainstream of emigration, towards Palestina, USA, Canada, Southamerican countries, Australia. Near half a million Austrian Jews found asylum in Oversea. Although it seems rather incredibly that fascist Italy was one of the first European countries to receive prosecuted persons, Jews as well as »Arians«, the number of Austrian Jews who survived thanks to Italian hospitality: This chapter yet demands profound researches. - Refugee politics of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia has been, until now - for comprehensible reasons - a »blind spot of perception«. As to Austrian historians, they have ignored Yugoslav archives. These rich and productive sources, documents from the royal authorities as well as those int he Banovine, particularly Croatia and Slovenia, draw my attention to the border regions of Prekomurje, Međimurje and Podravina, »promissed land« for some hundred Austrian, Czechoslovaque and Jews from Poland, who succeeded in escaping and to cross the Hungarian-Yugoslav border in the plain territory. Only few of them decided to stay in Hungary, although Hungary did not follow the antisemitic policies of the allied German Reich - but Hungary, quite similar to Italy and Yugoslavia, treated refugees - not only but particularly - Jews as highly undesidered guests.
Political preconditions and »guidelines« are one focus point int his thesis; the second one are the circumstances of Jewish immigration in Yugoslavia, with particular regard to the Hungarian-Yugoslav border region in Eastern Croatia, i.e. Medjimurje (including the Slovenian Prekomurje and the three-countries-frontier), as well as Podravina. This region between the Mura and Drava rivers had to face with the great challence, to receive refugees and to meet with all potential dangers imposed by the official attitude towards the refugee crisis.
»Refugee Crisis«: The exodus of German and Austrian Jews after the Austrian »Anschluss« reached a qualitatively new sense and unexpected dimensions that no one of the prosperous countries would like to deal with. The First (and last) International conference on refugees, Evan, July 1938. was a step closer to final capitulation in front of nationalsocialist exstermination programs, rather than an serious effort to resist and to save as may Jews as possible. It was the 80. anniversary of the First International Conference on Refugees in Evan (near Geneva, 6.7.-20.7.1938.), organized by the United States, as a direct consequence of the Austrian »Anschluss« and an enforced emigration wave, particularly its ashaming result (better: »non-result«). This could be summarizied with the words of the Canadian delgate »No one is to many for us«.
Within this framework, within Yugoslavia had to balance its politics between German pressures and humanitarian needs. How did the inhabitants of border regions, particularly those of remarkale immigration streams, deal with this conflict between opposite interest, a conflict which divised state authorities, produced grave psychological pressure on border and police officers in direct contact with desperate and exhausted refugees.
Facing these circumstances of Yugoslav immigration, the researcher felt obliged to point out, that the merits oft he population - who received, took care, supported, hidded illegal immigrants - have until now been widely underestimated. As a researcher, I must not ignore, that people took also advantage from refugees. Immigration has always been a »many-coloured« picture - Jewish immigration in Yugoslavia was an ambiguous proces: rigid laws and unflexibly crude security and neutrality politics at the one hand - economic-touristic and other interests at the other hand, and besides all of them local communities between humanity and profit: These are the »surroundings«: One of the reasons, why Yugoslavia has been ignored by Austrian and German historians, has been the conviction that Yugoslave archives do not contain relevant documents.However, they do - and it is a great satisfication to examine the plentity and variety of sources: Applications for legal entrance, rejection, illegal crossing border, support of the local population, allodgement, falscification and issueing of falsified documents....
My research resulted int he conclusion that Međimurje successfully met all these challenges, so that this region became one of the main direction for all those who had been refused by the Slovenian authorities at the Austrian-Yugoslav border. The author would like to pay attention to the humanitarian conduct of the Croatian and Slovenian population in Prekomurje, Međimurje and Podravina towards the problems with refugees, so that Čakovec, Koprivnica, Podravska Slatina, but also Ormoš, Maribor, Lendava, Kotoriba became mini- centres for refugee-care and social work. While the most rich countries in the World preceeded in a narrow-minded indifference towards the planned and - what is astonishing and well-known! - announced, never hidden exstermination program (»Endloesung«), a relatively poor country and its inhabitants at the border did not hesitate to proove support and solidarity.
Ključne riječi
Refugee; The Holocaust; Međimurje
Hrčak ID:
77752
URI
Datum izdavanja:
1.11.2009.
Posjeta: 1.821 *