Massacre classified for another 30 years?
Dear Mr. Poppert,
I hope you will not mind if I draw Your attention to some facts relevant for Your article “Croatians gather to mourn victims of 1945 atrocities”.
Firstly, even if we assume that according to Yalta wording “Soviet citizens” could have been applied to Croats (which isterribly far-fetched), one must bear in mind that *after that* UK and US reached an agreement (prior to May 3rd, 1945) that “that Croats should not (rpt not) be returned to Tito” (quote taken from cable of BAS Washington to War Office [F.O. 371-48819, R 9445/6/92], in which it was reported of State Department drawing their attention to this fact, and I believe this is another quote from the cable: “Personal for Gepp from Loup. See COS (W) 917 this message produced much embarrassment here.”). So, British Govt. may have upheld (even if this is questionable) Yalta agreement, but at the same time has breached later agreement with US as an ally that specifically pertained to this situation.
Secondly, according to British documentaries I have seen, British Army continued to deport Croats even after learning of their slaughter (to the point that a Welsh outfit that conducted ‘repatriation’ was on the verge of mutiny if ‘repatriation’ did not cease). I also believe British officers instrumental in making the decision to ‘repatriate’ Croats were later bountifully rewarded by communist regime (if I’m not mistaken F. MacLean recieved villa on Croatian <sic!> island of Korcula and gen. T. P. Scott a luxurious Packard motor-car). MacLean even co-signed petition of House of Commons to nominate Josip Broz for Nobel Peace Prize, even though Jasenovac continued to serve as death-camp for couple of years under communist regime (exclusively for Croats, 2/3 of inmates were civillians)!
In light of that, and quote of American scholar Oskar Gruenewald “Shady transactions (in gold, as admitted by Yugoslav communists) need to be investigated, such as alleged gold for Major Simpson in exchange for POWs and other payoffs to such figures as Brigadier Fitzroy Maclean…”, how surprising is it that UK authorities have recently decided to keep documents pertaining Bleiburg Massacre classified for another (IIRC) 30 years?
Best regards,
Tomislav Petricevic