Sunday, August 12, 2018

Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) condemns appearance of neo-Nazi singer Marko Perkovic (Thompson) at the celebration of 2018 Croatian World Cup Football/Soccer Team in Zagreb.

The toxic appearance of neo-Nazi singer Marko Perkovic (Thompson) at the celebration of 2018 Croatian 
World Cup Football/Soccer Team in Zagreb. Compilation and commentary by Tomislav Djurdjevich from  American, Israeli, and Italian sources. #NeverForget Thank you! / Hvala!

World Cup. No performers or politicians were scheduled to appear. Thompson was a Croatian soldier 
in the 1991-1995 civil war in the former Yugoslavia. He named himself after a machine gun that he used to kill Serbs and others. Nazi salutes and slogans are key parts of his performance. Sadly, the Nazi salutes 
continue to be made by players and fans alike. I’ll document in this post.




(2) SWC Chief Nazi-hunter Dr. Efraim Zuroff notes Thompson’s songs about the infamous Jasenovac 
concentration camp and adjacent women’s concentration camp Stara Gradiska. For more info, I will include Dr. Zuroff’s Jerusalem Post op-ed from July 31 in its entirety as the end of this post. Israeli President 
Reuben Rivlin recently visited Jasenovac and an excerpt of his remarks is here.
(3) While the world celebrated victory over Nazism in 1945, Thompson disagrees. “‘45 was a bad year,’ 
Thompson sings. ‘It scattered us all over the world/now new descendants grow/the swallows have returned
home.’” Foreign Policy article “In Croatia, Nazi Sympathizers Are Welcome to Join the Party”.



https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/07/31/in-croatia-nazi-sympathizers-are-welcome-to-join-the-party-thompson-ustashe-fascism/
(4) Thompson fans making the Nazi salute at a past concert. SWC post referencing Response Magazine from the Fall/Winter 2007 – page 6


(5) 2018 :  Haaretz article with Thompson attending Croatian team celebration. The article asks the reader 
to imagine if Germany won the World Cup and invited a Nazi singer to perform at their victory celebration. I attended the 2014 World Cup Final in Rio when Germany beat Argentina 1-0. There were no Nazi salutes
and it was a wonderful celebration of sportsmanship. A Nazi singer could NOT perform in Germany as it is 
illegal there but NOT illegal in Croatia.
(6) 2012 : Mario Mandzukic photo during a Bayern Munich match against Nuremburg. His teammate and 
current Switzerland international player Shaqiri is on his right. Since making the Nazi salute is illegal in 
Germany, Mandzukic was fortunate not to go to jail.

https://www.giornalettismo.com/archives/2002298/mario-mandzukic-saluto-nazista

















(8) 2015 : “Croatia punished for swastika on soccer field” by Marissa Payne in The Washington Post on July 23, 2015. This incident was before a “friendly” match against Italy.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2015/07/23/croatia-punished-for-swastika-on-soccer-field/?noredirect=on











(9) 2018 : Croatian fan makes the Nazi salute during Nigeria match on June 16, 2018, during a substitution 
on the pitch in Russia. The man in the lower right center is raising his right arm; he has a checkerboard 
tattoo on both of his arms and is wearing a tie.




















(10) Conclusion : Germany learned from WWII and rejected Nazism. Croatia has yet to do so. This is an 
excellent background article. Croatia’s struggle with its past begins starts at the top with President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic’s. She invited right-wing TV personality Velimir Bujanec to her inauguration. Bujanec hasbeen pictured in a German Nazi uniform. Bujanec invited Thompson on his TV show and promotes his 
concerts. More details are below.












Sources :









Failure to Sincerely and Honestly Confront Ustasha Crimes

https://m.jpost.com/Opinion/Failure-to-sincerely-and-honestly-confront-Ustasha-crimes-563879

FAILURE TO SINCERELY AND HONESTLY CONFRONT USTASHA CRIMES

Thompson is notorious for his ultra nationalist lyrics and his glorification of Croatia’s notorious genocidal World War II Ustasha regime.

JULY 31, 2018 21:48
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Croatia
VICTIMS OF the Nazi-backed Ustasha regime killed at the end of the World War Two lay on the ground surrounded by posing Ustasha soldiers near the Sava river in Croatia in 1945.. (photo credit: REUTERS)
Two noteworthy events took place in Croatia during the past month that reflect in a very significant way on the phenomenon of Holocaust distortion, which is so rampant in post-Communist Eastern Europe.
One of the events was attended by at least 200,000 people and viewed all over the world by millions of others on television and the Internet, while the other was attended by a small select group of prominent guests, was closed to the public and was hardly mentioned in the media. Both, however, are important, if we seek to understand the threat posed by the attempts to rewrite the narrative of World War II and the Holocaust in the region, and why the efforts to combat this plague have hitherto not been particularly successful.
The first was the public reception for the Croatia national soccer team held on July 16 upon its triumphant return to Zagreb following its surprising second-place finish in the recent World Cup competition held in Russia.
Although Croatia has an excellent tradition in many sports, no one expected its team to go as far as it did, knocking off highly favored Argentina and England in the process. The string of upset victories aroused tremendous support in the Balkan nation of only 4.2 million people, and an estimated 200,000 supporters showed up in Jelecic Square in the middle of Zagreb to greet their heroes.
Hoping to avoid any controversy, the organizers of the reception announced beforehand that no politicians or performers would appear, but that is not what happened.
Marko Perkovic, probably the most popular singer in Croatia, and better known by his nickname of “Thompson” (for the British machine gun he carried as a Croatian soldier in the wars of the nineties), went to Zagreb Airport to greet the players personally, and they asked him to accompany them and later sing two of his songs at the reception, which cast the entire event in a totally different light.
Thompson is notorious for his ultranationalist lyrics and his glorification of Croatia’s notorious genocidal World War II Ustasha regime, often opening his concerts with the Ustasha salute “Za dom spremni” (For the homeland ready). Thus, instead of being an uplifting celebration of Croatia’s magnificent World Cup performance, it became a neo-fascist extravaganza, with the players singing all the lyrics along with him by heart. No one openly protested his performance, and those criticizing it in the media and social networks, myself included, were subjected to derision and the usual nasty messages. And if anyone thought that Thompson’s popularity was primarily among the marginal elements of Croatian society, President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic herself has said openly that he was her favorite performer.
None of this is particularly surprising, since the failure to sincerely and honestly confront Ustasha crimes has plagued Croatia since it obtained independence. From the very beginning, president Franjo Tudjman adopted the ultranationalist narrative, and although his successor Stjepan Mesic was a staunch anti-fascist who unequivocally denounced the Ustasha regime, the ultranationalists continued to have power and influence, and the school system never took the measures necessary to effectively educate the younger generations about the horrific crimes committed by the Croatian regime against Serbs, Jews, Roma and its political opponents during World War II.
Even the museum at Jasenovac, the largest of the Ustasha concentration camps and the symbol of Ustasha cruelty and mass murder, presents a sanitized version of the events, does not have a single photo of any of its five commanders, all mass murderers, or any mention of the 1999 trial and conviction by democratic Croatia of Dinko Sakic, one of the commanders and a fanatic Ustasha.
All of these phenomenon hardly attracted any attention or criticism, with the exception of Serbia and some of the Jewish world.
In Israel, for example, Croatia was never taken to task for its serious failures in this regard, which is hardly surprising, since – at least for the last two decades, until the controversy over the recent Polish Holocaust bill – Israel never sought to combat Holocaust distortion in Eastern Europe in a serious manner.
THAT IS, until last week, when President Reuven Rivlin visited Jasenovac and delivered what most probably was the most important speech of his life on a Holocaust-related issue. In his words:
“The Ustasha regime, one of the terrible regimes which collaborated with the Nazis, emerged here in Croatia. We know that there were also others, but they were a minority. The [Ustasha] regime were active partners in the murders. There are those who prefer to repress their past and consider it a “black hole” which does not require examination or soul-searching. There are those who think, especially today... that the fact that they were under Nazi occupation frees them from any moral, personal or national responsibility for the atrocities which took place in their country....
“We expect to see the efforts of the Republic of Croatia to ensure that these historical black pages will not be forgotten. Confronting the crimes of the past is a long journey, which must be pursued with perseverance despite all the difficulties, with determination and courage. Croatia’s ability to deal with its past and not ignore the impact of the past constitutes a moral debt of every just society, and will be an important element in the friendship between Croatia and the State of Israel.”
In conclusion, Rivlin emphasized: “We are all obligated to make every effort to respect the memory of those murdered, and not to promote any legislation or blow or attempt to silence historical research about crimes by the Nazis and the regimes which were their allies. Only by honestly and courageously confronting the past and educating younger generations will we be able to promise in this terrible place that ‘Never Again.’” (Croatia recently passed a law closing personal files for longer periods of time, which might make research on individuals who committed crimes during World War II more difficult.)
For the first time in years, an Israeli leader makes the issue of historical truth an important element that will affect the bilateral relations with an Eastern European country whose nationals actively participated in the mass murder of Jews during the Holocaust.
Unfortunately, however, little notice was made in Israel of this wonderful speech. In fact, it was not reported in any of the major media, with one or two exceptions, and reverberated only in Serbia (Rivlin’s next stop), where it was warmly welcomed by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and given extensive coverage in all the media, which is par for the course.
Apparently, for Israeli politicians, Croatia doesn’t count like Poland, and until that changes, we will unfortunately be forced to live with the dangerous phenomenon of rampant Holocaust distortion throughout Eastern Europe, and the shameful silence of our political leaders.
The writer is the chief Nazi-hunter of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the director of the center’s Israel Office and Eastern European Affairs. His latest book, with Ruta Vanagaite, is Masa im ha-Oyev (Journey with the Enemy), which chronicles Lithuanian complicity in Holocaust crimes and the efforts of Lithuanian governments to hide the scope of local complicity.


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Saturday, September 10, 2016

World Trade Center Memories and Nightmares - September 11th Remembered

"September 11th is a day of bitter reflection." George Fosty. My friend George said it best after that tragic day.
I didn't attempt Tunnel to Towers Run until the 13th time on Sunday, September 28, 2014. I didn't doubt myself physically but emotionally. I have run much longer and physically harder runs from -34.6 Fahrenheit (-37 Celsius) at the 2009 North Pole Marathon to +92 Fahrenheit at the 2004 Boston Marathon. The Tunnel to Towers Run was named after firefighter Stephen Siller who ran through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to save as many people as he could in the World Trade Center. The Run took me on a journey through the best and worst times of my life. I'll tell the story in chronological order with some flashbacks.


Shortly after moving from DC to NYC on March 31, 1996, I went to the World Trade Center to buy a PagerNet two way pager which was cutting edge at the time. I worked as a paralegal in the Bankers Trust Building at 130 Liberty Street right across from the World Trade Center. I then opened a bank account at Citibank. I grabbed a bite to eat at Sbarro's and checked out the Warner Brothers Studio Store. I then went to Sam Goody to buy some CDs and remember seeing a poster of the Notorious B.I.G. and Junior Mafia.

I soon moved to Ridgewood, Queens, and was a roommate of Milorad Ubiparip. My commute took me through B.I.G.'s Bed-Stuy neighborhood on the train on a daily basis. This was prior to its recent gentrification so it was much closer to the reality of his songs. I returned to the Banker's Trust Building after I got another temp assignment as coordinator of the Global Financial Management Training Program at Banker's Trust. I caught up with Sean Moronski after work at Tall Ships in late 1996.

After work one night, I went to a job fair and was offered a job with Olde Discount Stock Brokers. Olde was in 7 World Trade Center. The offer was mostly commission and the base salary wasn't much to live on. I also started to see the beginning of online trading and felt stockbrokers days were numbered. When I declined the offer, my career and life changed in that moment as I started to gravitate more toward IT. Soon thereafter, I worked on a intranet/Internet Quality Assurance for applications to be rolled out to external clients and internal Merrill Lynch users in the North Tower of the World Financial Center in the summer of 1997.

In late 1997, I was setup on a blind date by a "friend" who shall remain unnamed. But, the coffee shop in the World Trade Center had good hot chocolate, bagels, and cookies so I went back for lunch at other times.

After temping at an insurance company a couple of blocks north of the WTC, I eventually got a full time job at a Wall Street law firm, Fried Frank (FF), on March 23, 1998. My manager Angela named Gilbert Luciano and myself as the "Twins" as we started on the same day. Fried Frank was about 9 blocks south of the World Trade Center.

Another opportunity to work in the World Trade Center came in August 1999. I interviewed with Baseline Finanical Services at 61 Broadway as they were packing to move to the World Trade Center. My prospective boss, Jonathan, had moving boxes in his office. Jonathan and the rest of the company moved to the 77th and 78th floors of the South Tower of the World Trade Center soon thereafter. Though I felt I had a good interview and my best friend from college Bob Farrell vouched for me, I didn't get the job. I was really upset that I didn't get the job; I found out two years later that it was the best thing that ever happened to me. The second plane had hit right very close to Baseline's offices in the South Tower. Jonathan escaped with jet fuel on his shirt but four people in Baseline didn't make it. Bob was thankfully safe as he was late to work after he voted before going to work on primary day. 

I left the FF Help Desk on November 8, 1999, and was succeeded by Carolyn Foster. I joined the FF IT Ops Team and settled in before the December 1999 Holidays Party at Windows on the World. The December 1999 and 2000 Holidays Parties at Windows on the World were epic. Since we had to cover 24/7, I always got to the party about 2 hours late. The parties were in full gear by the time I arrived. Chris would dance with all the women there including the lady who became managing partner a short time later. How did he do it? My manager, John, offered Pete his Amex card to go out afterwards. Forget partying, what about paying for the Microsoft Windows 2000 class I wanted to take?

In the Spring of 2001, I paid for the Microsoft Windows 2000 course on my own. I took it after work and sat next to Chapelle R. Sarker. Chapelle worked for Marsh McLennan in the North Tower of the World Trade Center. After working all day, she would elbow me in the ribs or shoulder to keep me awake especially while I was working on a public folder email restore on a multi billion dollar deal for our biggest client.

As spring became summer, we started the Exchange (email) part of the course that Chapelle said she would start back in September 2001. I never saw her again.

 I did more email and document restores during my time at FF. The most rewarding was one on a FDNY firefighter that one of the FF attorneys was doing pro bono work on. I needed to restore a previous version of a document. I found it and will never forget seeing the faces of the FDNY firefighter and his family. I was proud to play a small part in helping this family through that traumatic time.

When I went to pickup my Tunnel to Towers packet on Friday, September 26, 2014, I saw the re-building of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church at 130 Liberty Street where I used to work at Bankers Trust. St. Nicholas was in the parking lot next door but was destroyed by the falling South Tower on September 11. I attended the special memorial service inside of Ground Zero in December 2010, the Rally to Cut the Red Tape to rebuild St. Nicholas at Ground Zero in June 2011, and the special Ground Blessing Ceremony on Saturday, October 18, 2014.

St. Nicholas Ground Zero ceremony in December 2010.


Rally to Cut the Red Tape to rebuild St. Nicholas at Ground Zero in June 2011.

 After years of red tape and broken promises, there was a special Ground Blessing Ceremony on Saturday, October 18, 2014. I believe in God but not the Port Authority. When I can light a candle for Chapelle, Stephen and others who died on September 11 in the "new" St. Nicholas, I may get some closure to the part of me that died on September 11 as the World Trade Center was a place where I shopped, prayed, partied, dated, banked, ate, and nearly worked in.

After I finished running through the Tunnel, I immediately saw a banner of Stephen Siller on the right side. 


There were a total of 343 banners held by active duty and retired firemen honoring their fallen brothers.  This is my photo album from the 2014 Tunnel To Towers Run.

 I currently work a few blocks east of the World Trade Center. I took a break at work about 4 am on Friday, September 11, 2015, to tape this remembrance video from the roof of the building I work in.

 Condolences to the families of Stephen Siller, Chapelle R. Sarker, and all those who lost their lives on September 11 as well as in Benghazi in 2012 and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. There have also been dozens of people who have died from illnesses related to the cleanup at Ground Zero. May their memories be eternal.

 The Christmas Tree at the FDNY Ten House right across from the World Trade Center doesn't have ornaments like a regular Christmas Tree. It has cards and photos of the fallen on September 11th. 
It is often said that time heals all wounds. I don't know if that is true in this case. I wish Chapelle was still here to elbow me in the ribs to wake me up from this nightmare. 


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Monday, July 11, 2016

Rio 2016 Olympics Health and Safety Warning Letter to Novak Djokovic

Dear Nole,

 It was a pleasure meeting you after you defeated Andy Murray in a World Tennis Day exhibition match at Madison Square Garden in March 2014. I am one of your biggest fans. I had the pleasure of meeting your parents at St. Sava's in NYC in September 2010. Our mutual friend Dule took this picture of your parents and me.


I have attended several of your matches over the years including the 2015 US Open Final. I was one of the few of the "300" who was cheering for you. :-) I also had a ticket to the 2016 Roland Garros Final but could not attend due to a last minute work schedule change and the record floods in Paris. I did not sell my ticket and wanted to keep it as a souvenir of your incredible victory. 


 In a tennis calendar that is more crowded than usual, you are facing difficult choices about whether or not to travel to the Rio 2016 Games. I love Rio and have visited there twice for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Final and 2016 Carnival. I have a several friends in Rio and in São Paulo. I have a 10 year visa and plan to go back but NOT for the Olympics. I had a great #BucketList trip but was sick for a week after I returned. I was in the bathroom for 2 days straight and could only make it to the doctor for antibiotics on the 7th day of my illness. I thankfully did not get Zika but I had the worst stomach bug ever. That includes Girardia in the former Soviet Union in 1992 despite having water filter and drinking boiled water and vodka. The third worst illness was after finishing the 2006 Kilimanjaro Marathon and as there was no electricity in our hotel after I finished the race. 

 I have been to all 4 corners of the Earth and finished marathons on all 7 Continents and the North Pole. I have never been so sick as after I returned from Rio after Carnival in February 2016. I am advising you to please NOT to travel to Rio in August 2016.



(2) Safety : A second reason to NOT go to Rio 2016 is safety. Players and fans are warned by Rio's first responders that they will NOT be safe according this banner posted recently by first responders in the Rio airport. 



Welcome to Hell
Police and firefighters don't
get paid, whoever comes to
Rio de Janeiro will not be safe

 (3) History : Moreover, if you skip Rio 2016, you have an excellent opportunity to do what no one has done before, win the Career Golden Masters. You have 8 of the 9 excluding Cincinnati. Andre Agassi, Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal have 7.

Like you, I am a Serbian patriot. I co-organized and attended the anti-NATO demonstrations at the White House, Pentagon, United Nations, and elsewhere from the 1990s to the present day in NYC and Washington, DC. I know you are under lots of pressure to win gold for Serbia. However, it should not come at the risk of your family's health and safety. If you withdraw from Rio, you will not be alone. Top golfers such as Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, and Jason Day have dropped out of Rio as well as some of your tennis colleagues Dominick Thiem, Feliciano Lopez, and John Isner. Team USA Womens National Goalie Hope Solo has voiced concerns over getting Zika. Brasilian health officials have advised that there is virtually a zero chance. The cooler weather may help stop the spread of Zika but if one person gets sick, it will be one too many. Unfortunately, that has already come true. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is tracking 9 Zika cases in pregnant women as reported by the Washington Post. 1 baby was born with "severe microcephaly". There were 2 miscarriages and abortions each. 2 healthy babies were born. 2 women were still pregnant. 
There are no ATP points unlike London 2012 when Andy won 750 points. This is another reason NOT to attend the Rio Games. After winning Wimbledon, Andy has narrowed your Race to London lead to 815 points, 8,040 for you and 7,225 for Andy. If you win Cincinnati, you will add to your points total and extend you lead over Andy Murray. If you are able to stay #1 through the end of 2016, you will tie Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer for second place on the Year End #1 List. If you stay #1 through the end of 2017, you will tie Pete Sampras for first place on the Year End #1 List. It will also set you up to pass Roger Federer for Total Weeks at #1 at 302 in May 2018, God Willing!

 Rio is not your last chance at gold. You can still win it in Tokyo in 2020. Staying at #1 is more important than gold. It focuses the world attention on you and Serbia. During the 2014 floods, you asked the world media to pay attention but the often twisted media focus more on who is #1 than the suffering of those in need. I apologize for the cynical view but it is my observation as a one time newspaper journalism major. 
I ask you to please do the following :

 (A) Play Toronto in late July. 
(B) Skip Rio from August 4 to 14 and rest.
(C) Play Cincinnati from August 14 to 21.
(D) Rest for a week. 
(D) Play the US Open from August 29 to September 11, God Willing. 

 Conclusion : You are under lots of pressure to win gold for Serbia. It is admirable to play for one's country but your health and the health of your family are much more important. I thank you very much for considering my argument. I respect whatever decision your reach. Please give my best to your parents, Jelena, Stefan, brothers, and entire family.

Puno pozdrav,

 Tomislav S. Djurdjevich
New York, NY
@tomdjurdjevich

Sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/29/sports/golf/jason-day-zika-rio-olympics.html?_r=0

 http://m.indiatvnews.com/news/world-welcome-to-hell-rio-protest-banner-shocks-visitors-337067?utm_source=https://t.co/0zvo7w7lyf

Ministro diz que risco de contaminação por zika vírus no Rio 2016 é "quase zero"

http://ultimosegundo.ig.com.br/igvigilante/saude/2016-06-10/ministro-diz-que-risco-de-contaminacao-por-zika-virus-no-rio-2016-e-quase-zero.html

 The Promise Rio Couldn't Keep

http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/14791849/trash-contamination-continue-pollute-olympic-training-competition-sites-rio-de-janiero

ATP Total Weeks at #1.

U.S. details 9 Zika pregnancies: 2 abortions, 2 miscarriages, 1 baby with ‘severe microcephaly’

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/02/26/after-zika-diagnosis-at-least-two-u-s-women-chose-to-have-abortions-cdc-says/

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/23/nyregion/zika-virus-baby-microcephaly-new-york.html?em_pos=large&emc=edit_ur_20160723&nl=nytoday&nlid=58161127&ref=headline&_r=0


UPDATE : After I wrote this post, the New York Times published this photo of a baby with a small head caused by microcephaly related to Zika.
 
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Wednesday, January 13, 2016

David Bowie (1947-2016)

David Bowie was one of my favorite artists. I never saw him live in concert but I heard him when he was performing near the building I used to work in May 2002 in downtown Manhattan. It was a free concert encouraging people to visit downtown Manhattan less than a year after September 11. I couldn’t get out of work on time to see him in person but I was glad to hear his music. He had many great songs. My favorites were "Heroes", "Changes", "Let's Dance", "China Girl", a Christmas medley with Bing Crosby, and many more. His encouragement was one of the reasons that I moved from Manhattan to downtown Manhattan in May 2003 and stayed until early June 2005. 

Another David Bowie related story was when I met Iggy Pop in late 2009 at a book signing in downtown Manhattan. During the Question and Answer period afterwards, I asked Iggy about his time in West Berlin, Germany. He talked about David and the time they spent there in the 1970s. He loved it there and said it was like NYC with a fraction of the people and cars. 

Before running the 2004 Berlin Marathon, I visited the former site of the Berlin Wall. David had performed there in 1987. The music was cranked loud so people on the eastern side of the Wall could hear it. A week after David’s performance, President Reagan told Soviet Premier Gorbachev to “Tear down this wall”.  It was gone two years later on November 9, 1989.



In addition to being a great singer, David was a great actor. IMDB lists 40 acting credits. My favorite was his portrayal of Nikola Tesla in The Prestige (2006). This is a photo of Tesla and David from Pinterest. 






These are some great video and photos from the film. Short video of David walking through electricity.  Some still photos from Pinterest. 



Thank you for the music, movies, and memories! #RIPDavidBowie 

====

Sources











Music from David Bowie Channel on YouTube.com.

Please visit the Tesla Science Foundation to learn more about Nikola Tesla.  



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