As expected, the Zagreb presentation of the book written by Esther Gitman Alojzije Stepinac -  Pillar of Human Rights (Kršćanska sadašnjost and Croatian Catholic University from Zagreb), has caused enormous interest. The readers know what to expect from this American historian of Jewish origin (and born in Sarajevo!), since this is not her first book about lessed Stepinac.

According to personal testimony, she is especially inspired by the fact that there are still so many stories about Stepinac being presented without any proof. Thereat Gitman points out historians from Israel, like Ephraim Zuroff and Godeon Greif. The “work” of this first one is known, of course, also in our and neighbouring countries.

Unfortunately! However, the author’s observation is very interesting, and she shared it before the book promotion with Croatian journalists, which came about during the research for the last book where special place was dedicated to the rescue of Jews in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Even the walls had ears

There is still great fear in people, she says, even though they have long been out of the communist system. “These people listened carefully if anybody is listening to them while they were talking about Stepinac, because they still perceived the subject as a taboo, something that was not publicly spoken of”, the American historian said. Fortunately, there are always those who are willing to testify the truth. Like, for example, Dr. Stjepan Steiner, who proves through documentation that Stepinac rescued hundreds of Jews.

Along with all this, the current book about Stepinac is also significant because it speaks of the (communist) anathema thrown on the Croatian people, through the constructed “Stepinac case”. Gitman points out, that the Archbishop of Zagreb realized that Nazi Germany had control over Pavelić and reminded that Stepinac expressed his concern to the leaders of the NDH about inhumane policies against Jews and others. The loss of human lives to many was horrifying and morally obnoxious in Croatia, so Croatians started writing petitions to their new authorities. Gitman, actually revealed in the Croatian State Archives, 420 petitions in favour of the Jews, signed by thousands of people.

Following this, we come to the (already) old question: Why is the truth about the Blessed Alojzije so difficult to emerge on the surface?! And why is the anathema of Ustashe so slowly being lifted from a whole nation?! It is clear why the Belgrade part of the archive related to the “Stepinac case” is hidden, but here are the documents that the American historian just published in Zagreb... And how many more are there at that address?!

In addition, it is a remarkable observation regarding the work of the Mixed Commission of Croatian and Serbian Experts who were studying the life of Cardinal Stepinac. Gitman believes that the commission should have a scientific approach. But, she testifies, the Serbs did not bring any documents to argue their allegations. “I wrote a lot, and supported every claim with the documents. From the footnotes in my books, you can see where these documents can be found. I hope and work with hope that one or two students who will study documents regarding the rescue of Serbs, search the archives for the documents of rescued Serbs, who were more numerous than Jews, primarily because there were more of them. Good work in this area could significantly reduce problems between Croats and Serbs”, believes Gitman.

Roots of hate

But, that will not be an easy job. The roots of the “problem” are, in fact, very deep and go to early-communist, more precisely the Bolshevik days in Broz’s Yugoslavia. British historian Robin Harris, author of the book Stepinac - His Life and Times, thinks that the attacks on Stepinac occurred because he was a Croat, a church dignitary and adversary of communist ideology. “I think it was very important for the Communists to attack Stepinac because it was clear to them that the Church would be the biggest obstacle to their regime.

Partialy, and this is my hypothesis, the Communists certainly wanted these lies to intensify the hate of the Serbian Orthodox Church toward Catholics, for it made them more likely to force them accept the atheistic regime. And that, unfortunately, succeeded. Serbs Orthodox hated more the Catholic Church than they hated the communists”, Harris testifies, noting that at that time – same as in Russia or Bulgaria - the Serbian Orthodox Church was filled with communist spies.

The current correspondence, actually the tone of the Serbian Orthodox Church, who announced the response to the Croatian bishops and their letter from November, for next week, shows how that matrix is still alive and that (still) today there is an anti-Croatian campaign.

Hysteria, to say exact. And that's why we must never give up on the search for the truth about Stepinac and his time. It is the only way that what is written in the book Alojzije Stepinac - Pillar of Human Rights will win, writes Esther Gitman: Stepinac condemned Nazism, Fascism, Communism and inhumane Ustashe regimen. During the war, he only adhered to one moral: there is really only one race, which is God's race.