Association for Croatian Studies

Spring 2000
Issue No. 34

CROATIAN PARTICIPATION AT THE 31st AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SLAVIC STUDIES (AAASS) NATIONAL CONVENTION IN ST. LOUIS

     At the 31st National Convention of the AAASS, held in St. Louis, Missouri (November 18 to 21, 1999), several topics concerning Croatia were presented. Two panels were solely dedicated to Croatian culture and history. One was entitledElinor Despalatovic The Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia, and Dalmatia Circa 1900: Politics, Culture, and Economics and the other Music and Drama in Croatia From the Middle Ages to the National Revival.

     The panel on Croatian Expressionism had to be postponed for the next year due to a very joyous reason; two of the scheduled participants, Dr. Aida Vidan and Dr. Gordana Crnkovic, were very busy with their newly arrived babies. Congratulations to Aida and Gordana, and to the fathers of their newborns as well!

     The Croatian Ethnic Institute and Croatian Schools of America and Canada sponsored the Croatian book exhibit during the Convention.

     The annual meeting of the Association for Croatian Studies (ACS) was held on November 19th from 4:15 to 6:15 PM at the Adam's Mark Hotel. The ACS's President, Dr. Joseph Bombelles, opened the meeting and in his remarks emphasized that the ACS is doing well and it is fulfilling its mission. Dr. Bombelles explained that he has been spending a lot of time teaching and working on various projects in Croatia and for these reasons he didn't have much time to dedicate to the ACS. He expressed his gratitude to Dr. Ante Cuvalo, the ACS Secretary, for his work on behalf of the organization during the last few years.

     Dr. Cuvalo, in his report, pointed out several facts concerning the ACS. The ACS has 108 due-paying members; 5 new members joined in 1997, 8 new members in 1998, 15 new members in 1999, and one member died in 1999. Two issues of the ACS "Bulletin," No. 32 (16 pages) and No. 33 (24 pages), were published in 1999. Three hundred copies were made of each issue and sent to our members, friends, and various institutions. For example, the Stanford University Library became a regular subscriber and it sent a $10.00 subscription. Also, the British Library in London has requested old issues of the Bulletin and asked to be on the permanent mailing list.

     Dr. Cuvalo gave a brief summary of the ACS symposium "Croatian Diaspora in the USA on the Eve of the Third Millennium," held at St. Xavier University in Chicago, on April 17, 1999. It was a very successful event and he suggested that the ACS should organize similar gatherings in the future dealing with relevant topics on Croatia. Such scholarly presentations and discussions not only shed more light on various issues but also help younger people to become more involved in cultural activities. Future events can be organized in American cities with larger Croatian communities.

     The ACS had close to $ 4,000.00 in the treasury in November of 1999.

     A discussion on panels for the next AAASS convention followed. It was agreed by the members that attended the annual meeting that the topic for the ACS sponsored panel will be the war-crimes tribunal at the Hague. Dr. Sally Kent's suggestion that some ACS future panels be organized together with other AAASS member-organizations on various common themes was accepted and she promised to organize such a panel for the next convention.

     At the end of the meeting, elections for ACS officers took place. Dr. Bombelles stated that he can not to serve as an officer ofJoseph Bombelles the Association any longer. Now that he is officially retired, he is involved in too many activities. The following people were elected as the new officers of the ACS: Dr. Ante Cuvalo, President; Dr. Nick Ceh, Secretary-Treasure, and Dr. Jasna Meyer, Vice President.

     Dr. Cuvalo is already well known to the ACS members and has served as Vice President, Secretary, and as the editor of the ACS Bulletin for the last few years.

     Dr. Nick Ceh received his PhD in history from the University of Illinois at Chicago and is presently teaching at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh. He is co-editor of two books and also co-producer of a documentary film on the war in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. For more information about Dr. Ceh, see the last ACS "Bulletin," p. 6.

     Dr. Jasna Meyer was born in the U.S., but raised bilingually and biculturally. Her mother, Nasja Boskovic Meyer, is from Split, Croatia, and her father, Dr. Arthur Meyer, is from St. Louis, Missouri. Jasna spent a couple of school years as a child in Split, and later studied ethnography at the University of Zagreb. Her M.A. and PhD are in Speech Communication from the University of Missouri-Columbia, where she specialized in intercultural communication and conversation analysis. Her M.A. thesis is titled: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Compliment Responses, and her dissertation is titled: An Analysis of Euro-American and Croatian Conversational Storytelling. Currently she is a faculty member of the Communication Department at Western Maryland College in Westminster, Maryland.

     After the annual meeting, a number of ACS members who attended the convention and a few friends from St. Louis went to the restaurant Kemoll's to partake in a "Croatian Dinner." It was time to renew old friendships and make new ones. For those of us who came to St. Louis from other places, it was an honor to meet and talk with some of the active members of the Croatian communityACS Members at the Croatian Dinner in St. Louis. Those were: Prof. Jasna Krizanec, Prof. Nevenka Mitra, Dr. Frances and Mr. Herry Irwin, Dr. Ksenija Kos, Dr.Danijela Mataic, Vivian Kuchner Sara, Judy Feldworth, Jerry Buterin, Dr. Nick Ceh from the University of Wisconsin, and Mrs. Jasna Lizatovic from Split. Special thanks to the Meyer family, Prof. Nasja, Dr. Arthur and Dr. Jasna, for their sacrifices in helping to make our stay in St. Louis very enjoyable. We are also very thankful to the young Croatian students, Christy Kranjec, Robert Matijasec, and Tomislav Matijasec, for helping with the book exhibit.

     It was good to see again Dr. Ivan Cizmic from Zagreb at the convention, as well as two other scholars from Croatia, Dr. Stanislav Tuksar and Prof. Hana Breko.

     

     AAASS 32ND NATIONAL CONVENTION ADAM'S MARK HOTEL, DENVER, COLORADO NOVEMBER 9-12, 2000

     The Adam's Mark Hotel is located on the 16th Street Mall in downtown Denver. The Mall is a mile-long pedestrian promenade with free shuttle buses, providing easy access to shops, restaurants, and entertainment. The room rate is $115.00 per night, single or double. You must say you are with Slavic Studies to obtain this special discount rate. You may phone 800-444-2326 or phone the hotel directly at 303-893-3333 and ask for reservations at extension 58 to make your reservation. Reservations may also be faxed to 303-626-2544. Book your room early!

     PANELS ON CROATIA The AAASS Convention Program Committee accepted the following panels proposed by ACS members this year's AAASS Convention: "International War Crimes Tribunal: Responsibilities, Expectations, and Doubts" organized by Ante Cuvalo. "Aspects of Music and Society in 19th-Century Croatian Lands" organized by William Everett "Catholic Music in Slavic Europe" organized by William Everett "Reimagining Croatia Through Documentary Films" - organized by Nick Ceh. "Habsburg South Slav Capitals at the Turn of the Century" Organized by Sarah A. Kent. "Education in Late Nineteenth Century Croatia" - organized by Sarah A. Kent.

     VI ICCEES WORLD CONGRESS

     The VI World Congress of the International Council for Central and East European Studies will take place in Tampere, Finland, from July 29 to August 3, 2000. For further information contact VI ICCEES World Congress Secretariat, Finish Institute for Russia and East European Studies, Annankatu 44, FIN-00100 Helsinki, Finland; Tel: 358-9-2285-4434, Fax: 358-9-2285-4431; E-Mail: iccees@rusin.fi; http://www.rusin.fi/iccees

     

     PRESENTATIONS ON CROATIAN MUSIC AT 1999 AAASS CONVENTION

     Four papers on Croatian music appeared on the program of the AAASS meeting held November 18-21, 1999 in St. Louis. On Thursday, November 19, William A. Everett (Conservatory of Music, University of Missouri--Kansas City) gave a paper entitled "Embracing the New: Contemporary Music in Croatia" on the session "Contemporary Music in Slavic Europe." Dr. Everett shared information on musical organizations and festivals (notably the Zagreb Music Biennele), composers, publishingPresenters at an ACS Panel companies, and scholarship in Croatia during the 1990s. Musical examples by Milko Kelemen, Adalbert Markovic, Zoran Juranic, Frano Parac, and Ivo Josipovic were included in the presentation. Hana Breko (Institute for the History of Croatian Music, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Zagreb) chaired the session.

     On Sunday, November 21, the day began with a session devoted exclusively to Croatian music topics, "Music and Drama in Croatia from the Middle Ages to the National Revival." Three papers comprised the session: "Medieval Liturgical Drama in Croatia" by Hana Breko, "Renaissance Madrigals from Croatia" by Matthew Harden (Conservatory of Music, University of Missouri--Kansas City), "Music and Theater in Croatia during the 16th and 17th Centuries" by Prof. Dr. Stanislav Tuksar (Academy of Music, University of Zagreb). William A. Everett chaired the session.

     Ms. Breko presented an overview of the political and ecclesiastical situation in medieval Croatia before proceeding to a discussion of two liturgical dramas belonging to the Zagreb rite: Visitatio sepulchri and Ordo prophetarum. Ms. Breko continued with a description of Tractus stellae, the most famous medieval liturgical drama from Croatia. The play, to be performed at Matins on Epiphany, recounts the journey of the three Magi to Herod and to Bethlehem. Ms. Breko concluded her presentation with a video of the liturgical drama from a workshop performance by the ensemble Venance Fortunat. The presentation was filmed in Rovinj in 1994.

     Mr. Harden's presentation "Renaissance Madrigals from Croatia" placed Croatian works within the context of the 16th-century Italian-language madrigal tradition. Mr. Harden is a student in the interdisciplinary PhD program in music education at the University of Missouri--Kansas City. Mr. Harden focused his presentation on the work of fourVoyces - A Group from Kansas City composers: Motovunjanin, Bosanac, Petris, and Skjavetic. To complement the presentation, the Kansas City-based vocal ensemble Voyces performed live musical examples. The members of Voyces are Sara Oberle and Jennifer Rector, soprano, Laura Gayle Green, alto, Matthew Harden, tenor, and Aaron Beck, bass. The audience response to the live performances was quite enthusiastic.

     Dr. Tuksar's paper "Music and Theater in Croatia during the 16th and 17th Centuries" gave an overview of theater music during the Renaissance and early Baroque eras. Dubrovnik, not surprisingly, was the most important center for stage music in Croatian lands during the 16th century. In addition to Dubrovnik, Korcula, Hvar, Cres, and Trogir were sites of theatrical performances with incidental music. In the 17th century, as opera was being developed in Italy by Monteverdi and his contemporaries, Dubrovnik composers and audiences favored other types of music drama such as the pastorelle. Dr. Tuksar asserted that the primary reason for the different developments in Dubrovnik and Italy was the democratic socio-political structure in Dubrovnik as opposed to the patrician one in Italy.

     A display of publications and recordings by the Croatian Composers Society and the Croatian Musicological Society gathered a great deal of attention from audience members at both sessions. (Summarized by William A. Everett, Conservatory of Music, University of Missouri--Kansas City)

     DR. STANISLAV TUKSAR LECTURES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

     On November 30, 1999, the Department of Music of the University of Chicago presented a colloquium at which Dr. Stanislav Tuksar, a well-known musicologist from the University of Zagreb, talked about "Croatian 16th-Century Writers on Music." The gathering was attended by the university's graduate students in music and their professors, as well as other guests.

     After enlightening the audience about the Croatian cultural heritage in general, Dr. Tuksar presented the lives and works of the following Croatian writers from the 16th century who contributed to the understanding of music and music theories: Grisogono-Bartolacic (Federicus Chrisogonus), Zadar, 1472-1538): "De Musica integritate," in Speculum astronomicum terminans intellectum humanum in omni scientia. Venice, 1507; Bartol Djurdjevic (Bartholomeus Georgievits), Karlovac county, c. 1506-?1566): De Turcarum ritu et caeremoniis. Paris, 1545; Luigi Bassano, Zadar, c. 1510 - ?): I costumi, et i modi particolari de la vita de Turchi. Rome, 1545; Matija Vlacic (Matthias Flacius Illyricus), Labin, 1520 - Frankfurt/M., 1575: Ein buch von waren und falschen Mitteldingen. Hamburg, 1549; Pavao Skalic (Paulus Scalichius), Zagreb, 1534? - Gdansk, 1575: "Discursus Harmonicus," in Encyclopaediae, seu Orbis disciplinarum tam sacrarum quam prophanarum, Epistemon. Basle, 1559; Nikola Vitov Gucetic (Nicolò Vito di Gozze), Dubrovnik, 1549- 1610: Dialogo della bellezza. Venice, 1581, Governo della famiglia, Venice, 1589, and Dello stato delle republice, Venice, 1591; Frane Petric/Petris (Francisco Patrizi/Franciscus Patritius), Cres, 1529 - Rome, 1597: Della poetica, Ferrara, 1586; Faust Vrancic (Faustus Verantius), Sibenik, 1551- Venice, 1617: Dictionarium quinque nobilissimarum Europae linguarum Latinae, Italicae, Germanicae, Dalmatiae et Ungaricae. Apud Nicolaum Morettum, Venice, 1595; Miho Monaldi (Michele Monaldi), Dubrovnik, 1540 - 1592: Irene, ovvero della bellezza, Venice, 1599.

     This was a very successful event and hopefully only the first such presentation in many to come not only at the University of Chicago but also at other scholarly institutions in this country. A. C.

     THE TRIUNE KINGDOM CA. 1900

     At the 1999 AAASS National Convention in St. Louis, Marijan Despalatovic, Elinor M. Despalatovic, and Sarah A. Kent presented papers on the constituent parts of the Triune Kingdom ca. 1900. James P. Krokar commented on the panel.

     Marijan Despalatovic spoke on Dalmatia, starting with a quotation from Count Peter Goess in 1803: "There was no real governance [under Venice]; the rule was plunder, and that is why Dalmatia is not in such a ruinous state." Over the course of the nineteenth century, this situation did not improve, for the costs of the state bureaucracyAt a Croatian Panel rose and the situation of the peasantry became ever more perilous. By the end of the century, the Autonomists in Dalmatia had lost politically to the National Party, which promoted unity with Croatia, but Dalmatian Serbs by that time were increasingly oriented to unification in a south Slavic state.

     Elinor M. Despalatovic delivered a presentation on the little-known history of Slavonia, which was the breadbasket of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia. The population in Slavonia was less dense and more diverse than in Croatia because of the resettlement policies in the eighteenth century and the influx of settlers from other parts of the Austrian monarchy in the nineteenth century. The division of Slavonia into civil and military territory ended in 1881, but traces of that division were still apparent in 1900. Civil Slavonia was a land of great estates, mostly owned by magnates whose loyalty was to Hungary, not Croatia. Life was harder for peasants there, despite the good land. The former Military frontier had no noble lords and peasant communities owned half of the forest land. By 1900, Slavonia was still undeveloped economically but was better off than Croatia when one looks at quality of land, literacy, access to education, availability of doctors, and the adoption of modern farming techniques. Perhaps because of the ethnic diversity of the population, national identity in 1900 still tended to be regional.

     Sarah A. Kent delivered a paper on the role of Croatia in the integration of the three parts of the Triune Kingdom. Although the regional identity of Croatia in the nineteenth century reveals a considerable admixture of ethnicDrs. Kent and Ceh diversity, by the end of the nineteenth century Croatian regional identity was overshadowed by a Croatian national identity that attempted to blend the traditions of all three regions. Kent used as a primary piece of evidence the curtain that Vlaho Bukovac painted for the new Croatian Provincial Theater in 1895, which drew together real historical figures and cultural movements, but did so selectively. The curtain thus bespeaks the modernity of a distinctive but new synthetic identity that was to become the foundation for the creation of a unified territorial state. (Summarized by Sarah Kent)

     ACS MEMBERS

     William Everett Dr. Everett's article, "Continuing Traditions: Contemporary Music in Croatia," appeared in the 17 January 2000 issue of the on-line journal Central Europe Review (vol. 2, no. 2). The URL is: http://www.ce-review.org/00/2/everett/html The article provides an overview of contemporary music in Croatia, with sections on performing organizations and institutions, festivals, composers, music promotion, and scholarship.

     Mirjana Nelson Dedaic Our friend and an ACS member Prof. Mirjana Nelson Dedaic and her husband, Prof. Daniel Nelson, have moved to Germany, where they will live and work for the next three years. We wish them good health and a successful stay in Europe.

     NEW MEMBERS

     LINDA PESHA We apologize to Ms. Linda Pesha for unintentionally omitting her name from the list of new members in the last issue of the ACS Bulletin. The entire Pesha family has joined the ACS: Maria, Diana, Lisa, and Linda. Linda, sorry for the mistake and we cordially welcome you and your family to the ACS!

     JASNA KRIZANEC Jasna Krizanec is an instructor of Russian language at Forest Park Community college, St. Louis, Missouri. She received her B. A. degree in education from Harris Teachers College, St. Louis, and M. A. in Russian language and literature from Windham College, Vermont.

     NEVENKA MITRA Nevenka Mitra has a M.A. degree in education and Russian language. She has worked as a professor of Russian language and a translator before her retirement. She lives in St. Louis, MO.

     KSENIJA KOS, MD Ksenija Kos was born in Zagreb, Croatia. She completed her high school at "Pedagoski Obrazovni Centar Bogdan Ogrizovic" before entering University of Zagreb to study medicine. She obtained her M.D. in 1990, and subsequently entered postdoctoral studies at the Faculty of Natural Sciences in Zagreb. She worked as an Instructor at the Anatomy Department in the School of Medicine. During this period, she was seconded to the Psychiatric Division of the Croatian Medical Corps to help with psychiatric care of soldiers and refugees during the war in Croatia.

     In 1992 Dr. Kos traveled to the USA to take teaching position at the Department of Anatomy at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. She combined her teaching with neuroscience research at National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD. In 1993 she was appointed as a postdoctoral fellow at the Anatomy Department at Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, MD, and was promoted to a Research Assistant Professor in 1996. She held this position until summer of 1997, when she entered Neurology Residency Training Program at Washington University in St. Louis, MO. After finishing her residency, she intends to continue her academic career and practice neurology in St. Louis area. She intends to travel back to Croatia in August of 2000 with her fianc‚, Dr. Steven Bassnett, to get married.

     Dr. Kos is author of several scientific articles on development of the nervous system, and has co-authored two books, "Uvod u Ratnu Psihologiju i Psihijatriju" and "Medical Testimony of the Vukovar Tragedy", which deal with the medical and psychiatric consequences of the war in Croatia.

     MEGHAN HAYS Meghan Hays is a Ph.D. candidate in History at the University of Michigan--Ann Arbor. At the present time, she is writing her dissertation on women's education and national identity in 19th-century Croatia, and the gendered nature of the rhetoric on educational reform and secularization. She is focusing on the writings and contributions of three women in particular: Marija Fabkovic, Marija Jambrisak, and Milka Pogacic.

     DANIJELA MATAIC, MD Danijela Mataic is a physician in Internal Medicine Residency Training at Saint Louis University Hospital, in St. Louis, Missouri. She obtained her MD degree from the University of Zagreb School of Medicine in Croatia, in 1992. Following one year of internship in Croatia, Dr. Mataic came to St. Louis where she studied the lens of the eye and cataract formation as a Research Associate at Washington University School of Medicine. The results of her work were published in the Journal of Cell Biology (April 1997). She is a member of the American Medical Association and an Associate Member of the American College of Physicians. After finishing her specialty training in July 2000, she will be practicing Internal Medicine.

     Dr. Mataic's grandfather, Jure Mataic, lived in Chicago between 1914 and 1929, where he worked on railroad construction. During that period, he also lived in De Kalb and Aurora. He was a member of the Croatian Fraternal Union. In 1929, at the onset of the depression, he returned to Croatia where he got married and had four children, one of them was Danijela's father Dane. Her parents, Dane and Marija live in Zagreb, Croatia.

     ROBERT STALLAERTS Prof. Stallaerts is co-author of the Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Croatia (1995). He lives in Belgium

     

      IN MEMORIAM DR. CLEMENT S. MIHANOVICH 1913-1998

     The editor of the ACS "Bulletin" has just recently learned that a long time ACS member, Prof. Clement Mihanovich died in 1998. Although belatedly, we bring a short In Memoriam in honor of a man who was a true witness not only to his profession but also to his Croatian heritage, and who was a genuinely good human being.

     Clement S. Mihanovich, prominent US sociologist, researcher, writer, educator, administrator, and community leader, died on August 3, 1998 in St. Louis, Missouri.

     Professor Mihanovich was dean of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at St. Louis University in St. Louis, where he also taught until his retirement. In 1936, he wrote his MA thesis entitled "Americanization of the Croats in St. Louis." Two years later (1938), he received his Ph. D in sociology from St. Louis University. His numerous publications include over 130 articles in various professional magazines and journals and the following books: Americanization of the Croats in Saint Louis, Missouri, During the Past Thirty Years (1936, 1971), What Birth Control Is Doing to the United States (1936), Can We Kill Them Mercifully? : We Look at Euthanasia (1946), Whither Birth Control? : The Death of a Nation (1947), Current Social Problems (1950, 1956), Principles of Juvenile Delinquency (1950), Understanding the Juvenile Delinquent (1956), Social Theorists (1953), Marriage and the Family (1952), Guide to Catholic Marriage (1955, 1963), Papal Pronouncements on Marriage (1955, 1982), Glossary of Sociological Terms (1957), and assistant editor of The European Economic Community. He co-edited also The Croatian Nation in its struggle for Freedom and Independence (1955).

     Prof. Mihanovich was a co-founder of the Croatian Academy of America in New York in 1953 and he served in various capacities on the Executive Council of the Academy. He was also elected to the Sabor of the Croatian National Council, a world-wide organization that ceased to exist after Croatia became an independent state.

     With pride and pure simple love Prof. Mihanovich always spoke of his parents who immigrated to St. Louis, MO. from Zrnjica near Split. Besides his dedication and love to the scholarly profession, he loved his Croatian heritage and was exhilarated to see that the homeland of his parents became a free nation in his life time. He was truly a religious man and his Catholic faith sustained him and his family in good and bad times. His wife, his three sons, daughter, and grandchildren were the true love of his life.

     Dr. Mihanovich who set out to be a good man, became a great man and he will always be remembered with love and warm affection in the hearts of his family, students, colleagues, and numerous friends. Jasna Krizanec, St. Louis.

     DR. CLEMENT S. MIHANOVICH ON HIS CROATIAN HERITAGE

     Most of us have been born in poverty but reared in integrity. Many of us have illiterate but intelligent and astute parents.

      We were taught to be proud and never accepted a dole or charity during the so-called Great Depression. We were taught to serve God and the country of our birth and to honor the nation that sired our parents. We were imbued with the vigorous history of the Croats. We took pride in the beauties of the Dalmatian Coast, the towering peaks of the Dinaric Alps, the deep forests of Lika, the warrior-spirit of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the loveliness of Zagreb, the ancient and glorious history of Split, the splendors of Sibenik and Dubrovnik, idyllic atmosphere of the pear-like islands of the Adriatic. We listened to and read the epics of the Croats long dead but never forgotten. We memorized the great title of honor given to the Croats, "antemurale christianitatis" and we never tired of repeating it to our American friends. We sang the sad and happy songs of our ancestors. We danced the kolo and played the tamburitza. We listened to Croatian priests whose spirit of Christianity and Croat nationalism never waned. We attended a Croatian parochial school, learned the Croatian language and literature, prayed Croatian prayers, and sang Croatian hymns. We ate Croatian food, drank Croatian wine, attended Croatian festive weddings, joined the Sokol and the Croatian fraternal unions. We wrote for Croatian publications and acted in Croatian plays. We spoke Croatian to our parents and friends with a fierce pride in the beauty and expressiveness of the language. We buried our parents under the tricolor of the Croatian flag, with Croatian prayers on our lips, in a Croatian church, assisted by Croatian friends, and sprinkled their graves with Croatian soil. We wrote letters to relatives and friends in Croatia and received warmest greetings and deepest expression of love. We learned the names of our grandfathers and grandmothers, uncles and aunts, but we never saw them. The warmth and tenderness of grandparental love was denied to us. We attended Croatian picnics and galas and watched our parents eyes glisten with joy and longing for memories of their youth in the village of their birth. We were put to bed by rough and loving hands and lulled to sleep by a melancholy peasant lullaby. We were greeted by "Praise be Jesus Christ!" and we learned to reply, "May He ever be praised!" We never forgot the thundering expression "Bog i Hrvati!" once we heard it. Because we were Croats the Americans called us "pollocks" and "hunkies" but we never took these expressions lying down and came home, many a time, with a scratched face, a bloody nose, torn clothes.Book Exhibit

      We saw our fathers come home from work covered with grime and grease. Sometimes they were brought home with a broken limb. We cried when they cried. This was our life though most of us saw Croatia only in our mind's eye. Because of this life, we learned to love Croatia and the Croatians as deeply as we love our own America. We were always careful to see to it that our Croatian name was not only spelled correctly but pronounced correctly. We learned to fight for the Croatian cause, for the independence of Croatia, for the sovereignty of Croatia and its people. We propagandized the Croatian position, the Croat plea, the yearnings of our parents, the rights of our forefathers. By doing this some of us became "persona non grata" in what is now called Yugoslavia. We do not regret one moment of our existence. Our little hardships have strengthened our wills and polished our personalities. We have become a little stubborn and fiercely independent and self-reliant. We learned the true meaning of independence because we lived in an atmosphere that demonstrated to us what it means to be deprived of independence and driven from your home by a dictatorial foe. We, the American sons of Croat peasants, dedicated ourselves and our lives to giving our parents and relatives, even though they may now be enjoying life everlasting, the realization of their long dream and fervent yearning an independent state of Croatia so that their souls may rest in peace. We also dedicate ourselves and pledge ourselves to those Croats now living in and outside the homeland that we will never forget them and the cause that is uppermost in their minds. We only ask that all Croats forget their provincial and sectional and partisan differences, that they unite into a solid, cohesive group and all of us work for one goal and one goal only the liberation of the homeland.

     From Balkania, April 1967.Book Exhibit

     

     NEW WEBSITE We are in the process of making a new website under the name of "Croatian Studies." The site will feature full length articles, book reviews, bibliography, new books etc. dealing with Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. It will serve as a major resource for all who are interested in studying Croatian history, economy, culture, language, and all other aspects related to Croatia and the Croatians. You can help us by sending us relevant materials for the site, retyping already published articles, or translating some important text from Croatian. Please, give us a hand! To find the "Croatian Studies" site on the internet please type: http://homepage.av.com/croatianstudies/files/ or even quicker: http://crostudies.go.to/ From now on, the ACS Bulletin will be posted on this website. Please take a look and tell your friends about the site.

     CONTRIBUTIONS

     Dr. Vlado Markovac $ 85.00
     Dr. Dinko Podrug $ 20.00
     We are thankful for their generosity!

     FROM ISRAEL In November 1999, we have received a letter from Dr. Maren Frejdenberg, Tel-Aviv University, thanking us for sending him the ACS Bulletin. He also informs the ACS members that he has published a book The Jewish life in the Balkans (Tel-Aviv, 1999). The price of the book is $35.00. It can be ordered directly from him: Dr. Maren Frejdenberg, 5 Hilel Ha-Za-Ken, 63309 Tel-Aviv, Israel. SUMMER SCHOOL - CROATIAN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE Croatian Heritage Foundation Recommends SUMMER 2000 For further information, please contact: Hrvatska matica iseljenika - Croatian Heritage Foundation, Trg S. Radi a 3, 10000 Zagreb, tel. (385 1) 611-5116 fax. (385 1) 611-1522, e-mail: skolstvo@matis.hr

     1. IN ZAGREB University School of Croatian Language and Culture, University of Zagreb and CHF. Dates: July 1-July 28

     2. IN SPLIT Summer Croatian Language and Culture School. Community College Split and CHF. Dates: July 22 - August 8

     3. IN ZADAR International Course of Croatian Language Lingua Croatica and CHF. Dates: July 30 - August 20

     4. ON BADIJA, ISLAND OF KORCULA (small island in the immediate vicinity of Korcula) SUMMER SCHOOL OF CROATIAN FOLKLORE Croatian Heritage Foundation Dates: August 1-12

     5. SUMMER 2000/2001 YOUTH EXCHANGE PROGRAMS

     

     SOMEONE YOU SHOULD KNOW MICHAEL MILKOVICH

     On February 13, 2000, the largest collection of Croatian naive art ever exhibited outside Europe opened at the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, FL. It is called, "The Fantastical World of Croatian Naïve Art" and it consists of 100 originalMichael Milkovich works by ten of Croatia's best-known naïve artists. They include Ivan Generalic, Josip Generalic, Mirko Virius, Emerik Fejes, Dragan Gazi, Mijo Kovacic , Ivan Lackovic, Ivan Rabuzin, Matija Skurjeni, and Ivan Vecenaj. The organizer and the prime mover of the exhibit is Michael Milkovich, director of the Museum.

     Mr. Milkovich was born in Vrlika, near Split, Croatia, and has lived outside his native country since 1951. He studied at the University of Zagreb, University of Madrid, Spain, University of Heidelberg, Germany, and Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland Ohio. Before he became the Director of the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Florida (1982), he served at various positions in different museums and galleries in the United States, including The Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis, Tennessee (Founding Director); University Art Gallery, State University of New York - Binghamton, Binghamton New York (Founding Director); Memphis Brooks Memorial Art Museum, Memphis, Tennessee (Curator of Collections); Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York (Curator of Collections); Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts (Curatorial Assistant). Mr. Milkovich also taught art history at various schools, including Oberlin College, University of South Florida, Memphis Academy of Art, Memphis State University, Rhodes College, Hamline University, and State University of New York. He has also published numerous exhibit catalogues, encyclopedic entries, and articles on history of art. He has participated in various archaeological projects in Croatia, Italy, Denmark, and Spain. Mr. Milkovich's awards include L'Ordre de Chavalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French government (1988) and he is a member of the American Association of Art Museum Directors, American Association of Museums, Florida Art Museum Directors Association, College Art Association of America, and Les Amis de Camille Pissarro, Pontoise, France.

     The President of the Board of the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Florida, writes...."During [Michael's] tenure, he has dramatically increased our exhibitions and educational programs and worked with the Board...to double the size of the building. We are now considering another building expansion, and Michael is once again providing invaluable advice and leadership.Woodcutters He has also consistently pushed us to have an international dimension, which complements our collection of world art.... The Croatian exhibition and the new millennium provide an ideal time to thank Michael for his extraordinary contribution to the Museum and the community."

     Our heartfelt congratulations to Mr. Michael Milkovich on his successes and especially on the wonderful exhibit of the Fantastic World of Croatian Naive Art!

     Address of the Museum: 255 Beach Drive N. E., St. Petersburg, FL Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 1-5 p.m. Sunday; and until 9 p.m. the third Thursday of the month. The exhibit will close on May 28, 2000. For information, call: 727-896-2667 or visit the Museum website, www.fine-arts.org Mr. Milkovich's e-mail address: michaelm@fine-arts.org

     DUBROVNIK CONFERENCE

     Dubrovnik conference on cellular signaling

     An opportunity for education of young scientists

     Dubrovnik and the surrounding area have been chosen, because of its exceptional creative ambience, as a preferred site for scientific gatherings by many professors and students from all over the world. Participants of the 2nd International Conference on Signal Transduction (ICST) will have a chance to experience this creative atmosphere in May 2000 in Cavtat near Dubrovnik. The ICST is an example of how a simple idea turned to a successful international collaboration. A challenge was to organize an international meeting in Dubrovnik that would attract world famous scientists in order to promote training and education of students from Croatia and neighboring countries. This idea became reality in October 1998 when Dr. Joseph Schlessinger, New York University (New York, USA), Dr. Kresimir Pavelic, Ruder Boskovic Institute (Zagreb, Croatia) and Dr. Ivan Dikic (Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Uppsala, Sweden) together with enthusiastic students from Ruder Boskovic Institute successfully organized the 1st ICST in Dubrovnik. The 1st ICST was immediately praised for its scientific quality and an unique opportunity for student's education. Its reflections are described by Nick Pullen and George Thomas in Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (1999, 1424 R1-R3): "In October 1998, Ivan Dikic, Kresimir Pavelic, and Joseph Schlessinger assembled an impressive list of scientists and research topics to stage the 1st ICST in Dubrovnik. Its purpose was to expose young students to exceptional science, especially those of Central and Eastern Europe. In the theme of signaling from the membrane to nucleus, the meeting's quality was underscored by an elegant insight into the seminal discoveries of Ed Fisher and Ed Krebs which culminated in their joint Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1992. Ed Fisher remarked that their success was owed to a stroke of good fortune; that while searching for the proverbial needle in the haystack they ended up finding something much more significant. The meeting for many of the participants was memorable not only for the science but also for the exceptionally beautiful surroundings. This meeting was an obvious success for different reasons. For the scientists of Bosnia and Croatia what became evident was that the value of such a meeting will best be appreciated if it is repeated again soon."

     The 2nd ICST conference (May 26-31, 2000) will gather two Nobel price laureates Dr. David Baltimore (Caltech, Pasadena, USA) and Dr. Robert Huber (Max Planck Institute, Munich, Germany), 30 leading scientists and approximately 250 young scientists from all over the world. They will discuss recent discoveries and future directions in the biomedical research, in particular the identification and characterization of molecules that transmit signals across the plasma membrane to the cell nucleus. In this meeting, lectures will focus on various mechanisms by which these signals are transmitted, on their involvement in development of human diseases and on different approaches that could lead to design of novel medical treatments. The meeting's priority is training andDubrovnik education of young scientists from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other Central and Eastern European countries. The organizers have received significant financial support from the Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation and the Ares-Serono Foundation that will sponsor participation of these students (more info http://www.dubrovnik.net). The local ICST organizing board is preparing a half-day visit to Dubrovnik for all participants of the 2nd ICST to promote and emphasize Dubrovnik's cultural and scientific accomplishments throughout history. It is our belief that cultural reflections of Dubrovnik, a world heritage city, are best spread by those who come and witness and we hope that many of the ICST participants will come for another visit to Dubrovnik and Croatia in future. Ivan Dikic, Assistant Member and Group Leader, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research; Ivan.Dikic@licr.uu.se

     AMERICAN COLLEGE IN CROATIA The American College of Management and Technology (ACMT) is an institution of higher education located in Dubrovnik, Croatia. It was created in 1997 as a collaborative effort between the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) from New York State, USA and Veleuciliste u Dubovniku - The Polytechnic of Dubrovnik.

     An ACMT diploma is recognized both in Croatia and the United States because the school's curriculum conforms to the graduation requirements of both countries. Students actually receive two degrees the Croatian degree and the American Degree. Students completing the two-year program receive an Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S) degree from RIT. Students completing the four year program receive a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) from RIT.

     PROGRAM OF STUDY Tourism constitutes a vital part of the Croatian economy. The key to success in developing a strong tourist industry is educating young and ambitious people for management positions in service organizations. ACMT plans to achieve this goal through its program in Hotel and Resort Management a program within the Hospitality and Service Management Discipline. Due to the program's emphasis on Service Management, graduating students may also apply their knowledge to a variety of industries including banking and finance, retailing, insurance, real estate, and transportation. In addition, graduates may wish to continue their education, be it in Croatia, in the United States, or in any other country that recognizes American or Croatian diplomas.

     ACMT offers a unique cross-cultural experience for both students and faculty. RIT professors teach most of the core courses, while Croatian professors teach selected courses. Since all classes are held in English, an adequate level of language competency is required. The use of computer programs and other modern educational tools are an integral part of instruction.

     A distinguishing feature of the ACMT education is the emphasis placed on career-focused learning. This is reflected in the cooperative education requirement of the college. All students attending ACMT are required to complete a minimum number of work hours to receive their degrees. Students seeking the 2 year degree must complete 400 hours of work experience before they graduate. Students seeking the 4 year degree must complete 1600 hours of work experience. ACMT has developed outstanding relationships with both American and European companies who actively recruit our students for co-op experiences. Each year students are placed with companies such as Walt Disney World, Hyatt Hotels, Marriott Hotels, The Orchards Resort Hotel, Bank of Austria, Disney Cruise Lines, Carnival Cruise Lines, Dubrovacka Banka, Intercontinental Hotels, Sheraton Hotels, and others. Cooperative education provides an opportunity for students to apply the knowledge they have gained in the classroom to real-world problems. These experiences also help students to demonstrate a track record of successful employment and create opportunities for employment upon graduation.

     For further information see: www. acmt.hr

     FACE CROATIA

     Fund for Arts and Cultural Exchange Administered by Arts International Heathcote Art Foundation, Founding Contributor

     Program Description FACE Croatia is designed to provide grants to support the broadening of public awareness of and appreciation for Croatian art and culture, and to encourage the growth of Croatian arts philanthropy in both Croatia and the United States.

     Program Goals and Priorities Established by the Heathcote Art Foundation on January 11, 2000 to commemorate the birthday of its founder, Josephine Mercy Heathcote, FACE Croatia will support select arts and culture projects in Croatia and foster the exchange of professional contemporary artists between Croatia and the United States. FACE Croatia is designed to encourage tax deductible (for U.S. tax payers) donor advised contributions from private and public sources including individuals, private foundations, corporations and public sector donors. Through Arts International, FACE Croatia maintains an active database of information on Croatian artists, arts and culture organizations and their needs to enable donors to select projects of type, scope, and location suitable to their interests. Donors are not restricted to giving opportunities listed in the database and may use FACE Croatia to fund independent projects which are deemed by Arts International to fall within FACE Croatia's overall mission.

     The Role of the Heathcote Art Foundation The Heathcote Art Foundation is a private grant-giving foundation established in New York in 1964 which supports arts organizations that assist emerging artists of promise and those which promote the creation of new and innovative work across a broad spectrum of artistic disciplines. Heathcote has made a commitment to support FACE Croatia on an ongoing basis. FACE Croatia grants funded by Heathcote will reflect the foundation's central mission to support emerging artists and will be restricted geographically to eligible organizations in Zagreb and Dubrovnik in Croatia, and New York based arts organizations in the United States.

     The Role of Arts International promotes and supports connections and interchange in the visual and performing arts and informs audiences and public about the richness and diversity of cultural production worldwide. Arts International's current advised funds and regranting programs include private and public partnerships with The Ford Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, The Pew Charitable Trusts, The Rockefeller Foundation, Trust for Mutual Understanding, U.S. Department of State, and individual contributors to the arts worldwide, and as manager of FACE Croatia, the Heathcote Art Foundation.

     Applicant Eligibility FACE Croatia has two funding categories: Croatian Arts and Culture Projects, and U.S./Croatian Cultural Exchange.

     Part I. Croatian Arts and Culture Project Grants Any Croatian organization that qualifies as a charity under Croatian law is eligible to apply (museums, galleries, theaters, etc.). Croatian based non-governmental organizations (NGO's) engaged in arts and culture activity in Croatia are eligible to apply. The program is open to any arts discipline and/or cultural activity. Individual artists may not make direct application to the program and must be sponsored by an eligible organization.

     Part II. U.S./Croatian Cultural Exchange Grants Any Croatian organization meeting the eligibility requirements listed above may apply. Any U.S. based non-profit arts organization may apply. The program is restricted to professional artists and/or arts administrators and does not include education initiatives for students. Croatian artists permanently residing in the United States will be considered U.S. citizens for purposes of this program.

     There is no application deadline. Project proposals may be submitted at any time and will be reviewed by an advisory committee on a quarterly basis. Proposals should consist of a project narrative, organizational background including evidence of non-profit status, organizational and project budget, and three letters of recommendation from professionals in the field.

     For Further Information Contact: FACE Croatia, Arts International 251 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010-7302;Phone: (212) 674-9744; Fax: (212) 674-9092 facecroatia@artsinternational.org www.artsinternational.org

     * Mrs. Mercy Bona Pavelic is the president and treasurer of the Heathcote Art Foundation and the founder of the FACE. She is the descendent of a distinguished family from Dubrovnik.

     CROATIAN PHILATELIC SOCIETY

     NewsletterThe Croatian Philatelic Society, founded by ACS member Eck Spahich in the spring of l972 in Borger, Texas, provides a wealth of information on issues of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, the former Yugoslavia, and the Central European-Balkan area.

     The organization's official publication, the award-winning Trumpeter (Trubljac), is published quarterly and carries articles on philately, numismatics and other collectibles as well as news of the CPS and its members scattered in 32 different countries around the world. Membershipapplications may be obtained by sending a self-addressed, stamped envelope to CPS, P.O. Box 696, Fritch, Texas 79036-0696; e-mail: ou812@arn.net or visit the CPS website at www.dalmatia.net/cps/

      BITS AND PIECES FILM RED DUST The Croatian film "Red Dust" (Crvena Prasina), directed by Zrinko Ogresta, was awarded best foreign film at the "Worldfest Houston" festival held November 5 - 14, 1999. Twenty other foreign films were in the competition. Red Dust thus became the first Croatian movie to be awarded in the United States since Croatia became an independent nation.

     The film 'Red Dust' is an urban drama set in the early 90's. The film centers on Crni, a boxer from a suburban Zagreb club, who gets involved in the black market selling of cigarettes and upsets Mafia circles.

     WHEN THE DEAD START SINGING Another Croatian film, "When the Dead Start Singing," directed by Krsto Papic, was chosen as "Best Film" at the Ft. Lauderdale Film Festival and was nominated for the Academy Awards. It was a co-winner at the U. S. Comedy of Arts Film Festival held in Aspen, Colorado, February 9-13, 2000, it won "Best Director" award at the festival out of 480 film submissions.

     Two Croatian ‚migr‚s return to their homeland longing for love, their families and a peaceful life. One of the men, who emigrated for economic reasons, plans to return in a coffin - even though in perfect health. This way, with a death certificate in his name, he can receive a pension from the German government. The other emigrated for political reasons and is still being hunted by a member of the secret police who is eager to kill him in order to retire with "merit." With the involvement of the German Mafia and a careless undertaker, things get complicated - and hilarious.

     To top it all off, far from Croatia being the peaceful haven the two friends had dreamed of, they return home to discover that the war just began on their very doorstep.

     MIRJANA: ONE GIRL'S JOURNEY This documentary about a Croatian refugee in California has received good reviews. It's a movie for older children.

     BOGORODICA The winner of the 1999 Grand Prix Festival of Croatian Film in Pula was Bogorodica ("The Holy Virgin") by director Neven Hitrec. The success of Croatian film this year is reflected in numerous invitations from abroad.

     DUBROVNIK VEDUTTAS OF BEAUTY Created by Baldo Cupic, received the "Dujam" Trophy and Plaque and was proclaimed as the best national tourist movie at the 1999 International Tourist Film Festival in Split.

     CROATIA SO CLOSE AND SO BEAUTIFUL Produced by the Croatian Tourist Association, received the best 15 minute tourist movie award at the 1999 International Tourist Film Festival in Split.

     APPRENTICE HLAPIC The Strange Adventures of Apprentice Hlapic, the most popular Croatian animated film, has made it to the Disney Channel. The film is based on a Croatian classic of children literature written by Ivana Brlic Mazuranic and was directed by Milan Blazekovic. The film was acclaimed throughout Europe and many other countries around the world.

     THE HISTORICAL BATTLE OF MARCO POLO The Historical Battle of Marco Polo, by Croatian screenplay writer and director Baldo Cupic, was awarded as one of the three best historical documentaries for 1999 at the International Festival of Film and Video Creativity in New York. This is the world's largest festival of documentary film. This film from Croatia, one from Canada, and one from United States were selected as the best from 1,214 films shown at the festival.

     VISNJIC'S STAR RISING Lately, young Croats in the United States have become faithful watchers of the weekly TV drama "ER," because one of their own, Goran Visnjic, has become a star of the show as a Croatian doctor, Dr. Luka Kovac. This Croatian will appear in the upcoming feature film, "Committed" and his other film credits include "Practical Magic" and "The Peacemaker." He has also starred in three Croatian feature films, and made his American motion picture debut in the critically acclaimed drama, "Welcome to Sarajevo."

     CROATIAN TECHNICAL EDITOR WINS EUROPEAN NEWSPAPER DESIGN AWARD Mario Rosanda, the designer and technical editor of the Croatian daily paper "Glas Istre" has won the 1999 European Newspaper Design Award. Rosanda won the award for the drawing illustrating an article on a world exhibition on the Maya culture, which was staged at Palazzo Grassi in Venice, Italy. The competition included 161 papers from 21 European countries. The awards was presented on February 4, 2000 in Aachen, Germany.

     ITALY PASSES LAW TO PROTECT CROATIAN LANGUAGE In November 1999, the Italian parliament accepted a law that will protect the Croatian language, one of the 12 historical languages of the Apenin Peninsula which the law aims to preserve. These language groups, including Molize Croats, will be able to study in their own language during primary and secondary schooling and use their language in the court of law.

     CROATIAN ART TO BE RETURNED? In his speech (December 1999) to the UN General Assembly Dr. Ivan Simonovic, the Croatian Ambassador to the U.N., stated that 66 museum buildings were destroyed, 45 museums and galleries were robbed; 6,551 pieces of art were taken, 1,430 destroyed, and 728 damaged by the Serbian forces during the war of Croatia's independence.

     FRANCISCAN LIBRARY BOOKS IN SARAJEVO BEING RETURNED The entire collection of about 25,000 books from the library of the Franciscan School of Theology in Sarajevo was taken by the Serb forces in June 1992. The library, as well as other school buildings, were left by the Serbs in ruins in 1996. Since then the school facilities have been renovated and, since mid-December 1999, the books are being returned to the rightful owner. It is not yet known how many books have been destroyed or are missing.

     CROATIAN WRITER WINS A PRESTIGIOUS AWARD In October 1999, Dubravko Jelacic Buzimski, received a prestigious international award given biannually by the Bologna-based foundation "Serra" for short stories inspired by the spiritual values of Christianity. The award was named after the Catholic missionary and thinker Junpero Serra. Jelacic's story "The Spitting of Christ Anno Domini 199 (Nineteen Ninety Something)" shared the second award with the story "French Cut" by Italy's Monica Pistolato Nogarotto.

     DISCOVERY OF FIRST CROATIAN DICTIONARY IN SHTOKAVIAN The first Croatian language dictionary written in the Shtokavian dialect was discovered (July 1999) by Rev. Andrija Nikic in the library of the Franciscan monastery in Omis, Croatia. It is a Latin - Italian - Croatian dictionary written by Rev. Ljudevit Lalic (Lodovico da Arcigovina di Rusichi), who was a little known Franciscan friar from the Ruzici village in Herzegovina.

     Two works by Rev. Lalic were found. One is of moral and pastoral nature (Instruzione de Confessori - Book About Confession) and the other, a particularly important script is called "The Wealth of the Slovin (Slavic) Language or Dictionary" in which the "Words of Latin-Italian and Illyrian [old Croatian] are pronounced" (Thesaurus linguae illyricae sive Dictionarium Illyricum. In quo verba latino-italice et illyricae redduntur. Labore fratris Ludovici collectum). The dictionary contains 22, i.e. 23 letters: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, X, Y and Z. The script has no page numbers. It is bound in 61 laggins, each containing between 16 - 32 pages, 20 X 14 centimetres. The script is over 1,900 pages long. It must have been completed some time between 1680 - 1696. This dictionary is the most monumental find of the Franciscan lexicographic 'Shtokavian' dialect, up to now. 'The Wealth of the Slovin (Slavic) Language or Dictionary' is the first dictionary written by a speaker of the 'Shtokavian' dialect. Due to the fact that this is one of three Croatian dialects (Shtokavian - standard, Kajkavian - Zagorian and Chakavian - Croatian coast), which makes Rev. Lalic's dictionary the oldest Croatian 'Shtokavian' dialect dictionary.

     BOOK REVIEW Stipo Sosic, The Road to Hell and Back (Chicago: Croatian Franciscan Press, 1999), 137 pp., photos, appendix.

     Father Sosic's account of his internment in the Serbian camps of Keraterm, Omarska, and Manjaca is a valuable contribution to the literature on suffering and the human spirit. Like Viktor Frankl, Sosic discusses life in a death camp, and like Frankl, he draws conclusions that stress our need for meaning and faith in hopeless situations.1 Frankl lived through Auschwitz as a Viennese Jew and a psychoanalyst; Sosic experienced the Serbian camps as a parish priest from Ljubija, a small town in anStipo Sosic's Book ethnically mixed area in Bosnia. But the conditions in the camps, the brutality, the efforts to destroy the human spirit, and the faith in human dignity and a greater Good which saw both men through were similar. For Frankl, meaning was crucial, for Sosic, prayer was "a cure for all wounds" and faith in God and the actions of good men his salvation. (pp. 117, 122-3)

     Frankl was interned because he was Jewish, Sosic because he was Croatian. Both men describe extreme crowding and vicious brutality. Keraterm had no running water and only one toilet for 600 inmates. (pp. 43-4) Sosic estimated that over 3,000 men were killed in Omarska, "a factory of crimes" and "the most horrible of all the concentration camps." (p. 51) He lost 20 kilograms and was tortured to the point of welcoming death as a release. (pp. 61-2, 71) During the transfer from Omarska to Manjaca, prisoners were stuffed 98 to a bus and left for two days with windows closed and no water. (pp. 94-5) At Manjaca, 4,500 men were crammed into seven stables, with little food, no running water, and poor sanitation. Those who rebelled ended in the "confinement cell," a dank, flooded cell. (pp. 102, 108)

     Like most personal accounts, Sosic's story is anecdotal, not analytic. Yet his experiences fit into a larger literature and a larger human experience. Brutalized, he was grateful to a Serbian officer who treated him as a human being. (p. 103) With little hope of release or survival, he and other inmates expected too much from journalists, the Red Cross, and Orthodox prelates. But none of the visitors witnessed the tortures and murders nor did they do much more than register the suffering of the inmates, who were too frightened to speak to them. (pp. 84-5, 111, 113-115)

     Sosic and his parishioners tried to hold on to their human dignity. But those who fought back, were killed. Others despaired, because although intellectuals and community leaders were marked for death, violence and death were largely random. So some took their own lives, others betrayed those dearest to them a father his son, a brother his brother simply to survive. (pp. 130-1) After his release, Sosic even saw a Serbian nurse abuse a wounded Croatian soldier.2 Through it all, he remained a priest who prayed for deliverance and forgiveness for both victim and tormenter. (p. 89-90) He concluded that only good and evil exist, "there is no in-between," and if evil triumphs, good disappears. (p. 127)

     We tend to view such accounts as descriptions of tragic and extraordinary experiences with no relationship to our lives. But this is an illusion. Frankl noted that camp life intensified our appreciation of our own past lives, and Sosic observed that in camp prayer had a special intensity. In effect, the camps push our human propensities toward good or evil to logical conclusions. Our tendency to look the other way when our fellows suffer was evident in the failure of journalists and Orthodox prelates to risk themselves to help those in the camps. Our tendency to give in to mob behavior was clear in the attack on a prisoner by Serbian women and children, who "tore the poor man apart like a scalded hen."3 The use of children and youths to torture and kill prisoners shocked Sosic, who pitied "those middle aged men who used these innocent children for their evil ends" and condemned "this kind of war, in which young men are forced to kill and commit heinous crimes" as more evil than conventional wars. (pp. 49, 121) Yet children have been taught to kill in many places, and in our own ghettoes we have created a culture in which children are so brutalized that they kill as a matter of course. We blame them for their acts of violence, but Father Sosic pitied his tormentors and his fellow who invented crimes to explain their own internment and torture just as the victims of society's failures are held personally responsible for sufferings inflicted by social and political systems.4

     Although Father Sosic believes we all can choose good or evil, the atrocious behavior of Serbian guards and civilians was not a manifestation of extraordinary evil, but of what Hannah Arendt called the banality of evil. When a culture accepts unethical patterns of behavior and rationalizes immoral actions because they serve a goal, then evil wins. In Bosnia, virulent Serbian nationalism led to war and atrocities. "For fifty years Serbs have been preparing themselves for Greater Serbia," Father Sosic writes. To realize their goal, they would "stoop to the most heinous actions that would leave any normal man dumbfounded." (pp. 126-7) This book will leave some dumbfounded, unable to believe that our fellows could behave so badly. But it should be read as a lesson, not a tale of unique moral evil. Father Sosic has done all of us a great service, no matter our nationality. By sharing his experiences with us, he reminds us how fragile is our civilization and how precious our humanity. James J. Sadkovich

     1 Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning (New York: Washington Square Press, 1946/1984), passim, esp. 136-8. If suffering and death have no meaning, Frankl concluded, there is no meaning to survival, "for a life whose meaning depends upon such a happenstance as whether one escapes or not ultimately would not be worth living at all." People must be allowed to suffer nobly, something modern society does not allow, and something that those in places like Auschwitz or Omarska would not allow. Like Sosic, Frankl implies that only by finding meaning in suffering one can overcome it.

     2 Sosic, p. 125. Brutalizing patients occurred elsewhere in Bosnia, e.g., Maurizio Cucci's interviews, in Bosnia. Le vittime senza nome (Milan: Mursia, 1994), pp.13-32.

     3 Sosic, p. 98. The incident was not unique. Jean Bethke Elshtain, Women and War (New York: Basic Books, 1987), pp. 167-8, describes an attack on two Indian prisoners by the women of Marblehead on a July Sunday in 1677. "Then with stones, billets of wood, and what else they might, they made an end of these Indians...we found them with their heads off and gone, and their flesh in a manner pulled from their bones."

     4 Sosic, p. 129. "When a man ascertains that there is nothing he could charge himself with [to explain why he was in camp], he feels even more miserable." In effect, lack of meaning created misery, which Frankl, pp. 128-30, labeled an "existential vacuum." For our tendency to blame victims, see Alexander Werth, Russia: Hopes and Fears (New York, 1970), pp. 80-5, and Ji Pelikn, ed.., The Czechoslovak Political Trials, 1940-1954 (Stanford UP, 1971), pp. 28-9.

     The book can be ordered from Ante Cuvalo, 19121 Wildwood Ave., Lansing, Il 60438; Tel/Fax 708-895-5531; E- mail:cuv@netzero.com Price: $10.00

     

     PUBLICATIONS NEW ISSUE OF THE JOURNAL OF CROATIAN STUDIES

     Volume 38 of the Journal of Croatian Studies has just been issued. Published by the Croatian Academy of America, the 175-page volume of the Journal features the following articles:

     "Odessa in 1917 From a Croatian Perspective," by George Grglica, presents a discussion of the recruitment of Croatian volunteers by the Yugoslav Committee during WWI for the Yugoslav Legion. Among other things, it focuses on the treatment of Croatian POWs in Odessa, Russia by Serbian army officers.

     "The Croatian Nation During World War II, 1941-1945," by Jere Jareb discusses the role of the Ustashe, the Croatian Peasant Party and the Communist Party in Croatia during WWII. Jareb's conclusion places primary blame for Croatia's fate following the war on the shoulders of Pavelic. He further questions Macek's wisdom for having withdrawn from active politics in 1941.

     Marta Mestrovic Deyrup contributed an article entitled "The Croatian Collection at the New York Public Library" which examines some relevant Croatian materials at the research library in NYC.

     Finally, the volume contains an extensive book review of Miljenko Grgic's Glazbena kultura u splitskoj katedrali od 1750 do 1940, by Zdravko Blazekovic, a review of Marcus Tanner's Croatia: A Nation Forged in War, by James Sadkovich, and reviews by Stan Granic of Stj. Mestrovic's Genocide After Emotion, Miro Kacic's Croatian and Serbian: Delusions and Distortions, Branko Franolic's Croatian Glagolithic Printed Texts Recorded in the British Library General Catalogue, and Petar Zrinski's Moj drago srce. Pismo Petra Zrinskoga Katarini Zrinski u suvremenim prijevodima, ed. by Drazen Budisa and Frane Paro.

     The Journal of Croatian Studies is the only English language scholarly journal dedicated to Croatian history and culture. The Croatian Academy of America was established in 1953 and has published the Journal since 1960. Members of the Academy receive the Journal free of charge. Individual issues of the Journal may also be purchased from the Academy.

     For information about becoming a member, please contact the Academy by e-mail at croatacad@aol. com or at The Croatian Academy of America, P.O.Box 1767, Grand Central Station, NY, NY 10163-1767. JCS on the web: http://www.dalmatia.net/croatia/history/journal.htm John Kraljic

     CROATIAN LANGUAGE ADVISER

     Croatian Language Adviser published by the Institute of Croatian Language and Linguistics, Skolske novine and Pergamena is the work of 12 authors. The aim of this book, which has 1666 pages, is to try to solve all language problems on all language levels, from accentuation and orthography to morphological, lexical and syntactical problems. The book consists of two main parts. In the first part the authors give theoretical explanation of various problems on all language levels and explain the theoretical conception and practical solutions of the Adviser.

     The second part of the Adviser is a dictionary that has 81000 entries. It deals with all words which can present a problem for Croatian speakers, i.e. words that have orthographic problems, e.g. rendgen (not rentgen or rengen), potpredsjednik (not podpredsjednik), Madjar (better than Madzar); lexical problems e.g. words of foreign origin which can be replaced by Croatian words: informacija - obavijest, paginacija - obrojcivanje, oficir - casnik; words which do not belong to standard Croatian uslov (this sing means "must be replaced by") uvjet, preduzetnik poduzetnik etc.; words which can be accentuated in more than one way, words which have some morphological problems e.g. kabel plural kabeli (not kablovi), Podravka dativ Podravci (if it is an enterprise) and Podravki (if it is a woman form Podravina) and syntactic problems.

     This book is very useful for all writing in standard Croatian, especially translators, writers, reporters, editors etc. It doesn't require any specific linguistic education from its users.

     Order from Institute of Croatian Language and Linguistics, Strossmayerov trg 2, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia. Tel. 385-1-481-6215, 481-6217, 481-6218; Fax 481-6216; E-mail: ihjj@jezikoslov.ihjj.hr

     

     Goldstein, Ivo. Croatia A History. Translated from the Croatian by Nikola Jovanovic. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1999. xi 281 p. Paper US $22.95 Cloth US $60.00 Send your orders to: Direct Mail Manager, McGill-Queen's University Press, 3430 McTavish Street, Montreal, QC H3A 1X9, Canada; Fax (514) 398-4333; Website at http://www.mcgill.ca/mqupress Or from Robert G. Dennler, College Textbook Marketing, 2835 Aurora Ave. #115-365, Naperville, IL 60540, Tel. (630) 716- 9258 Fax (630) 718-9259 Email: rdennler@aol.com

     Ivo Goldstein (born 1958) is a Professor of Medieval History at the University of Zagreb and former Director of the Institute for Croatian History of the University of Zagreb (1991-6). "Could become a standard work.... The book is modern, written in a detached professional manner." Chris Cviic, former editor of The World Today)

     Carmichael, Cathie, compiler. Croatia (Bibliography). World Bibliographical Series Volume 216.Oxford, England, Santa Barbara, California, Denver, Colorado: Clio Press, 1999. xxv 194 p.

     Meier, Viktor. Translated by Sabrina P. Ramet. Yugoslavia A History of its Demise. London and New York: Routledge, 1999. xvii, 280 p. $27.99; Order from Robert G. Dennler, College Textbook Marketing, 2835 Aurora Ave. #115-365, Naperville, IL 60540, Tel. (630) 716-9258 Fax (630) 718-9259 Email: rdennler@aol.com

     Yugoslavia: A History of its Demise tells the story of the disintegration and collapse of the former Yugoslavia. Commencing with the death of Tito, Viktor Meier discusses the role of the regions of Yugoslavia, including Macedonia, and in particular emphasizes the crucial part played by Slovenia before the outbreak of war in 1991. Drawing on federal and republican archives, especially in Slovenia, he analyses sources which are not officially open. He also discusses: the legacy of Tito's regime, the constellation of personalities who dominated the Yugoslav stage during its dismemberment, the beginning of the end, in the late 1980s, when the military initiated a policy of permanent threat against Slovenia and the Serbian leadership worked to liquidate the autonomy of Kosovo, attempts to find a peaceful solution, including the proposal for a Yugoslav confederation, political conditions in Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Western policy toward Yugoslavia's disintegration.

     "Relativism is beguiling, because it seems so 'fair'. But relativism is also facile, offering the appearance of wisdom for those who lack either the time or the patience to sort out the facts. Viktor Meier's "Yugoslavia: A History of its Demise makes a major contribution toward torpedoing relativist analyses about the Yugoslav crisis." Sabrina P. Ramet

     Viktor Meier was Balkan correspondent for 30 years on the Neue Zrcher Zeitung and, from 1975 to 1993, on the Frankfurter Allemeine.

     Andric, Miro. Croatia's Undersea World. Zagreb: Car Herc, 1999. 278 p. PriceCroatia's Undersea World $ 49.95. Order from: Car Herc, Strmeckoga 6a, 10090 Zagreb, Croatia, Tel/Fax 385 1 348 3097, E-Mail: miro.andric@zg.tel.hr

     This unique book contains more than 700 photographs taken in more than 150 Croatia's undersea locations. Miro Andric's camera captured more than 400 known and less known species, however there is also a significant number of species spotted for the first time.

     The scientific and popular style, and colorful design make it a beautiful gift to a nature lover, and at the same time the artistic photographs of the author document the heritage of Croatia's undersea realm. The book is also a pledge for preserving and bestowing the forthcoming generations with Croatia's undersea heritage.

     THE DONALD W. TREADGOLD PAPERS

     A publication series The Donald W. Treadgold Papers in Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies, created in honor of Prof. D. W. Treadgold, is published by the School of International Studies at the University of Washington. Sabrina P. Ramet is the Editor. Twenty one issues have been published up to date, and three new issues are forthcoming soon. Several of them deal directly about Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the former Yugoslavia. Subscription for 10 issues is $45 US. Back issues can be ordered. For further information contact the editorial office: (206) 543-4852 Fax (206) 685-0668 e-mail: treadgld@u.washington.edu or visit the Treadgold Papers at: http://weber.u.washington.edu/~reecasf/treadgol/html

     You might be interested in the following issues: Cushman, Thomas. Critical Theory and the War in Croatia and Bosnia. 50p. (July 1997); Conversi, Daniele. German-Bashing and the Breakup of Yugoslavia. 81 p. (March 1998); Maimark, Norman M. Ethnic Cleansing in Twentieth Century Europe 54 p. (October 1998); Hodge, Carole. The Serb Lobby in the United Kingdom. 97 p. (September 1999).

     Milan N. Vego. Austro-Hungarian Naval Policy: 1904-14. Portalnd, Ore.: Frank Cass, 1996. xviii, 213 pp. $ 47.50, hard bound. $22.50, paper. Reviewed in Slavic Review, vol. 58, no.4, Winter 1999, pp.900-901.

     Tomizza, Fluvio. Materada. Evanston, Ill, London: North Western University Press; Turnaround, 2000. p. 168.

     Sonje, Velimir. Croatia in the Second Stage of Transition, 1994-1999. [?]: 1999. p. 62.

     Krokar, James. Liberal Reform in Croatia, 1872-1875. New York: P. Lang, 1996.

     Macan, Trpimir. Rt Ostra u povijesti i politici. Zagreb: Matica hrvatska, 1998. 144 p.

     Bilandzic, Dusan. Hrvatska moderna povijest. Zagreb: Golden Marketing, 1999. 835p.

     Sunic, Tomislav. Cool Croatia. Glastonbury, England: Vineyard Books, [1999]. 60 p.

     Sunic, Tomislav. Fragmenti Metapolitike ili (prilozi hrvatskoj politickoj kulturi?). Zagreb: K. Kresimir, 1998, 212p.

     PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED

     Sego, Kresimir. Zavjetni Kovceg. Mostar: DHK HB, 1999. 100p.

     Group of Authors. Dossier. Crimes of Muslim Units Against the Croats in BIH 1992-1994. Mostar: Center for Investigation and Documentation Mostar, 1999. 222p.

     Hrvatski iseljenicki zbornik 2000. Zagreb: Hrvatska matica iseljenika, 1999.

     Croatian Almanac 2000 - Outstanding American and Canadian Croats. Chicago: Croatian Franciscan Publications and Croatian Ethnic Institute, 2000. 221p.

     Danica 2000 - Hrvatski katolicki kalendar. Zagreb: HKD Sv. Jeronima, 1999.

     Zbornik Krsni Zavicaj Br. 32. Humac: Franjevacki samostan Humac, 1999.

     Marulic Nos. 5 and 6, 1999 and No. 1, 2000. Zagreb: HKD Sv. Jeronima.

     New Books From Croatia, September - December, 1999. BTS-Books Trade and Services. Books - jounrla - Serials For all publications in Croatia contact: BTS-Knjiga trgovina, Donji precac 19, Zagreb. Tel 385-1-455-4921; e-mail info@btsltd.com Visit their website: www.btsltd.com

     AN INTERESTING COINCIDENCE?Richmond University

     Did you know that the University of Richmond, Virginia , has the "Croatian grb" (coat of arms) as its emblem? Is this a coincidence or was there a "Croat connection" in selecting the symbol? Thanks go to our friend Professor John Treadway, Department of History, University of Richmond, for pointing out this interesting trivia.

     MEMBERSHIP DUES

     The number to the right of your name on the address label indicates the year when you last paid your membership dues.

     If you haven't paid, please do so.

     If you are not a member of the ACS, join our group of professionals who are either of Croatian background or American scholars who are doing research in the field of Croatian Studies. You do not have to be in Slavic studies to be our member! All you need is an interest in Croatia and the Croatians. Both current members and other interested persons are asked to use the membership form on the back of the Bulletin and mail it in with your membership dues. Your cooperation is needed to keep our mailing list up-to-date.

     If you would like to support ACS activities, especially in helping scholars from Croatia to participate in the annual AAASS conventions, your financial donations will be greatly appreciated. Keep in mind that the ACS is a non-profit educational association; dues and donations are tax-deductible.

      ACS MEMBERSHIP FORM

     Membership dues for 2000:
      Regular Membership $ 30.00
      Retirees and Students $ 15.00
      Tax-deductible contribution accepted!

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     Bulletin Editor
      Ante Cuvalo
      Association for Croatian Studies
      19121 Wildwood Ave.
      Lansing, IL 60438
      Tel/Fax (708) 895-5531
      e-mail: cuv@netzero.com