Lyenko Urbanchich: THE WHOLE TRUTH
"I must admit that what worries me is the success of the communists - the Jugoslav, the Soviet and Australian ones."
In the upcoming episode of The National Observer’s podcast ‘Backbench Drivers’ John Macgowan tells the story of the prolific Slovene nationalist-turned-Liberal Party Operative Lyenko Urbanchich. Lyenko came under attack both during his life and posthumously for his alleged connection to the German National Socialist forces during the occupation of Slovenia. Today The National Observer is proud to present the following previously inaccessible autobiography, and defence of Lyenko Urbanchich, written by the man’s own hand. Thank you to John Macgowan for obtaining this incredibly rare document.
Statement by LYENKO URBANCHICH
I was born 19 December 1922 in a small town Sabac on the river Sava in Serbia. My father was transferred there in the course of his duty as a public servant in the Ministry of Finance of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later to be renamed Jugoslavija which means South Slavia.
My father Franjo (Francis) and mother Milena were both Slovenes and Catholics. I was an only child and I was given the name Miljenko (in Croat) or Milenko (In Serbian). Sabac had in those days a small Slovene colony with a Catholic church and a Croat priest.
I later abbreviated my first name when I started to publish short stories under a pen-name, Ljenko Igorov which I have used ever since. My friends who have known me since before the war still call me Milenko.
When I was four, my father was retired prematurely due to wide unemployment and depression. We then moved back to Slovenia to a village called Logatec, my father's birthplace.
My mother, a woman of compassion and a lot of commonsense, came from the province of Gorica, the village of Sv. Kriz-Cesta (St. Cross-at-Road) in Vipava Valley. This Slovene province was given after WWI to Italy to compensate her for joining the Allies in that war. My mother's house of birth was burned down by the Germans in 1944.
My Father
My father was a fierce Slovene nationalist who could never accept the fact that Slovenes and Croat should live under Austro-Hungarian rule. His ideal was the unification with the Kingdom of Serbia into Jugoslavia. In Trieste where he served as a custom officer before and after WWl he was associated with other public servants, such as Czechs, Slovaks and Poles. They were all "plotting" against the Empire. But his hatred of German domination was never directed to any individual. He spoke fluently German and Italian. (My mother too spoke both languages.) He acknowledged the good points of the Hapsburg Empire, such as law and order, freedom of the press and solid correct administration and polished behaviour of the Empire military and naval officers, as well as public servants.
Trieste was a very cosmopolitan and prosperous seaport. Every ethnic group had its own centre of a cultural and political nature, as well as their own periodicals.
What the nationalists like my father could not swalow was the fact that a German speaking minority should rule over and treat a majority as second class citizens.
Young Falcon
Back in Logaetc, the little valige in the central province, 30 kilometres west of Ljubljana. I was sent to school at 6 and at the same time we all three joined the local branch of the Sokol organization. Sokol, meaning Falcon, was an all-Slavic physicultural and nationalist organization, founded in Bohemia a century ago. The uniforms were of pleasant beige colour and shirts were bright red, probably inspired by that great Italian patriot and general, Garibaldi, the idol of all suppressed European nations. The organization, based on self-discipline and national awareness produced the best athletes in Europe. Both the invaders and communists later disbanded it, although Sokol still exists in exile. Czechs and Slovaks jointly have a strong Sokol branch in Frenchs Forest. Some years ago I joined the same branch for sentimental reasons, renewing the oath to Sokol ideals.
Under the German occupation the leading members of Sokol were singled out, imprisoned, taken as hostages or in the best cases only expelled to Croatia. Many more went to Serbia. My close relatives in Maribor were given only 24 hours to prepare only what they could carry in their hands, and were resettled.
Communists used the members of Sokol in Slovenia as organizers and activists but after the war Tito's regime refused to revive this fine organization. The same fate was meant for Sokol in all communist-dominated countries. In Russia, of course, Sokol was disbanded when the Bolsheviks consolidated their power.
My last Sokol branch was in Ljubljana-Tabor. The president was a well respected and dignified civil engineer Ladislav Bevc. Some years prior to the war a very strong communist group infiltrated several branches. Tabor branch was the headquarters of their move. They were masquerading under the love for "Mother-Russia". Our argument was that Mother-Russia died in the Bolshevik revolution, 1917.
A very interesting incident was related to me by the late Milivoj Lajovic, the father of our Senator of the same name. Mr. Lajovic, senior, was also a prominent Sokol. About 1939 a group of Sokol went for a drink after a meeting. Among them was also the Judge Joze Rus. Since he was talking like a communist Lajovic told him so. Judge Rus became indignant and threatened to take Lajovic to court. But after the Titoists usurped power, the same Judge Rus confessed to being a member of the Communist Party since 1936. Lajovic, who was an industrialist, was sentenced by the communist regime to six years imprisonment "for collaboration with Italians and Germans and for giving the money to the Blue Guards" (The Bule Guards was the nick-name for the Slovene Royal Jugoslav Army in Homeland).
Tabor branch of Sokol produced a number of top communists of Titos' Jugoslavia. The most prominent among them is Mitja Ribicic who was at one time the Prime Minister of communist Jugoslavia. For a time Ribicic attended the same High School as myself. He did not talk much but he was full of the sarcasm so typical of many communists until they are in the underground.
Ribicic was for some years the chief of the Slovene OZNA, the predecessor of UDBA, the infamous political Communist police.
Ribicic's hands are literally dripping with the blood of his Slovene compatriots. Ribicic was, along with the late Edward Kardeli, responsible for the slaughter immediately after the war of 12,000 Slovene Domobranci, as well as numerous thousands of Croat and Serbian soldiers. It is Ribicic who is a true war criminal clad in the mantle of respectability as the new ruler of an oppressed communist Jugoslavia. It is therefore very sad to see the Australian Ministers of the Crown kow-towing to the representatives of the communist regime of Jugoslavia and paying compliments to the arch-war criminal Tito and his henchmen.
For King and Country
Germany, Italy and Hungary attacked Jugoslavia on 6 of April 1941. I was then 18 and a high school student. Hitler, provoked by the putsch of General Simovich, lost patience and attacked a weak and militarily obsolete Jugoslavia.
I, along with many concerned citizens, disagreed with this putsch. Firstly, because we knew how irresponsible it was to provoke a strong Germany who was marching through so many European countries. Secondly, the putsch was treason, fomented by irresponsible officers against a properly elected coalition government. The undisputed leader of Croats Dr. Vladko Macek was Deputy Prime Minister of that government. It is also very interesting to note that the architect of the whole catastrophe, General Simovich after the war betrayed his King by returning to live under Tito's regime.
A few years before, when we as students demonstrated in the streets of Ljubljana against Hitler's rape of our Slavic sisters Czechoslovakia and Poland, we did not believe that this could happen later to us.
My father was a very keen supporter of the putsch, whilst my mother had misgivings about it. When Hitler occupied the demilitarized Rhineland it was the right opportunity for a relatively strong France to move in her troops, but unfortunately this was not done and the whole of Europe had to pay for this weakness later. But we chose this time to cut off our nose to spite Hitler.
Winston Churchill greeted Simovich's putsch. "Jugoslavia found her own soul", he said. This was a nice piece of rhetoric from a safe island, but the Royal Jugoslav Army did not receive a single piece of equipment nor did a single British soldier come to help us. What is more, Churchill later dumped the Royal Jugoslav Government-in-exile. He was rude to King Peter and dumped the War Minister of the same Government, who was the first guerilla fighter in Europe during WWII, General Draza Mihailovich. In Yalta, Churchill participated in the sell out to Stalin of the whole of Eastern Europe.
What was this war all about? No wonder our epoch produced so many cynics.
But - my country, right or wrong - I volunteered to join the Royal Jugoslav Army. When I started to prepare my rucksack, my parents became very worried. Must I be the first? Should not I wait until I am called in? After all I was the only child. I argued that in moments like this you do not wait to be called up since every citizen should know his duty. I also could not help reminding my father that he should not blame me for this; I did not support the putsch.
Thousands of young men assembled opposite Tivoli park on a gloomy April afternoon. An elderly officer of the reserve, dressed in a grey trench-coat, but not yet issued with either a uniform or pistol, except for his officer's forage cap, lifted his walking stick and shouted as loud as possible: "I am taking command of this contingent!"
We were ordered to form ranks of four. Menart and I, both over six feet, were at the head of the column. Little did I think at that time that 2 years later on October 10, 1943, we two would be again at the head of another column when we were forming the Slovene Domobranstvo. That would be the march which a man, who was not even born at the time when we did our duty to our country, would describe as an anti-Jewish demonstration. Little did I think that in 1979 in my new country such a man would be sitting in my judgment as Attorney-General of New South Wales.
We marched to the Central railway station, the relatives and the girl-friends came to see us off and then we entrained into goods carriages. The train stopped in Novo Mesto, where we were billeted in a public school. It was in Novo Mesto that a small group of communists started to sing the "Internationale", but it did not go down well with the majority who reasoned that you do not fight for your survival under an international banner. (My aversion to United Nations today is basically for the same reason.) There was a small scuffle.
On 10 April we reached Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. We were billeted in the barracks of "Zinjski and Frankopan", named after two Croat noblemen and heroes who were beheaded by the Austrian Emperor in the 17th century.
There we met the contingent from the province of Stajerska, a small unit which was already dressed in uniforms and issued with rifles.
Suddenly we heard some shots and somebody shouted:
"Germans are here!"
We were encircled by some civilians who came mainly to plunder, although some also had rifles. Many of us discarded our rucksacks since they would convey to the hostile Zagreb population what we were. Boris Anzlovar and I climbed the high fence, avoiding the main gate. Boris was a school mate of mine, he was an orphan, a brilliant student and linguist and unfortunately an asthmatic. We stayed together until our return to Ljubljana.
We walked through the streets in the city where we could see the fraternization of the citizens and German tank crews. Our morale was low and we felt like two hunted beasts.
It was dark when we knocked on the door of a college run by Catholic clergy. A priest in charge welcomed us, showed us into a dormitory and gave us food. There we found another two volunteers. One was Darko Schmidt from Logatec, the other was a student of law dolsek from Celje, who was one of those dressed in the uniform of Royal Jugoslav Army. The priest helped him by providing some pieces of civilian clothes. Zdolsek was very depressed, Darko Schmidt was crying. He was shot at when climbing the fence. The bullet missed him and made a hole in his water canteen instead.
The priest then wished us good night and assured us that we would be safe here because his good friend was now the chief of the new police force.
"I wish you a happy Easter. As for me, permit me to walk in the streets of Zagreb to celebrate the dawn of Croat freedom", he said and left.
Next morning we thanked our host. In spite of our serious political differences he remained in my mind as a true Christian.
All four of us then walked to the cathedral, hoping that we might meet somebody and obtain information on the general military and political situation in the other parts of Jugoslavia. We found no information, but Boris and I decided to walk south-east, to Bosnia, that exotic place of huge forests and mountains, where we were repeatedly told German tanks cannot advance.
11 of April was fine and windy. We walked and walked, until at a station we caught an overcrowded train. Boris was happily smoking anti-asthma cigarettes. The same night we met on the same train another four volunteers. Their object was the same.
Wiser than us, they had kept their rucksacks. They were well provided too and we shared the food with them. They were all known to me. One was Dubrovic and the others the three brothers Osredkar, including twins.
When we reached the river Una at the spot where it divides Hrvatska Kostajnica from Bosanska Kostajnica, we decided to cross it. Somehow we found a boatman who was willing to ferry us over for a reasonable sum.
Hands up in Bosnia
We felt happy and free when we jumped out of the boat on the muddy river bank. But our happiness froze suddenly when we heard from the bushes a very sharp and loud order: "Hands up!
We got them, bloody fifth columnists!"
Leading the patrol was a corporal, called "Spaniard", since he was fighting in Spain against Franco. He was dangerously drunk and trigger happy. With our hands still up we soon gave him a lecture on different languages being used in this kingdom.
It was a pity that while we could communicate with him he himself in his ignorance, we said, miserably confuses the Slovene language with German. He calmed down, became friendly and we were escorted to the Headquarters. Our hands were by then in the normal position.
We were brought before an impressive, tall commanding officer, Major Todorovic. He interrogated us in a very friendly way, then welcomed us and allocated us in pairs to 3 different companies, asking us to keep up the morale and report to him any defeatism. We were also issued with rifles and grenades, but there were no uniforms. We met another 2 Slovenes. One was a Lieutenant of the reserve, the other was a regular Sergeant who carried under his left arm a cavalry sword. When the war broke out he was on annual leave and now he was on the way to join his unit. He was from Maribor in the province of Stajerska. I only remember his first name Stanko.
The town of Bosanska Kostajnica was completely evacuated of civilians that night. There was a lot of machine-gunning between the two armies across the river throughout the night, and we lost several of our soldiers under German fire.
The next day Major Todorovic ordered all six of us under the command of Sergeant Stanko to take a horse-drawn cart loaded with some ammunition and retreat to the Kozara hills. Whilst retreating a German Stuka plane spotted our movement and soon we were pinned down by German artillery. It was our baptism of fire and it was not pleasant. Later I published in "Jutro" a short story about this experience.
We continued in darkness and next day we gave the whole load and horses to a Serbian farmer. He gave some bread and chunks of lard.
We continued on foot and we could observe from the hills on the road below long German motorised columns. We discarded our weapons and hit the road. Our object was Banja Luka which lies geographically in the centre of Jugoslavia. On our march we met disarmed Jugoslav soldiers being led into captivity.
After hearing so much about German atrocities we were surprised to see the soldiers so cheerful and friendly. Most were of my age and clean cut. The atmosphere reminded me of a boy scouts picnic, so much in contrast with what was to come.
We caught a train to Banja Luka, but we had lost hope when we did not find a trace of any resisting army. We heard over radio in German-occupied Banja Luka that the central province with Ljubljana was occupied by Italians, not by Germans, as we had expected. We decided to return home without delay. We were sorry for Sergeant Stanko who was from Stajerska province, which was not only occupied by Germans, but also annexed to the Third Reich.
I never saw Sergeant Stanko again. Boris Anzlovar soon disappeared from Ljubljana, but I met him again by chance in Milan in 1946. Dubrovic and the Osredkar brothers I saw occasionally in Ljubljana, the fourth Osredkar brother was with me in Gonars concentration camp in 1942.
It was a sunny day when we were greeted from the train in the outskirts of Ljubljana by the Italian green-white-red tricolours and patrolling military police, carabinieri, with their traditional napoleonic hats.
My parents were shocked when I knocked at the door of our flat at Tabor. Most of my volunteer friends came home much earlier and they thought that I was dead. There was another group that came home very late. These were volunteers who were caught by the new regime of Croatia. They were court-martialled as the "enemies of the Independent Croat State." Through the intervention of the Slovene writer Joze Velikonja they were finally freed after an ordeal. Communists killed Velikonja in 1945.
The Communist and Nationalist Views of the Underground.
Underground refers to clandestine activity directed against the governing authority - usually occupying powers. It includes sabotage, spying, raising funds and other material for guerilla units, propaganda, both by written word and whispering campaign, as well as pressure on the population not to succumb to the occupying forces and generally maintaining the morale of resistance.
The important question is what is the purpose of an underground movement? Our prime purpose was to prevent the total physical annihilation of our nation and ensure survival as a nation, and for that purpose to keep alive the structure and institutions which distinguish a nation from an amorphous mass of people.
The main purpose of our communist enemy was on the other hand to utilize the war and occupation to destroy those very structures and institutions to make it possible to usurp power after the defeat of the occupier.
Our purpose dictated that we should not indulge in provocations which would be of no military value and completely out of proportion to the damage brought upon our nation by the occupier's reprisals.
Our intentions were to use the same tactics as were used in France and other Western countries, namely to use guerilla units to tie up as many as possible of the enemy troops.
The second purpose was to maintain the guerilla units as a core of the insurgent army when the opportunity arose.
The communists on the other hand intentionally provoked the reprisals and retreated to save their own skins, leaving the civil population exposed to the revenge and ravages of the occupying forces.
As the occupying forces, as a rule, selected as hostages prominent people - professionals and community leaders, they played into communist hands by destroying their class enemies.
In this context my role was the same as those thousands of journalists and public servants in the occupied countries of West Europe inclusive of the mayors of the Channel Islands, townships and villages who were decorated after the war for the very thing I did, namely endeavouring to prevent the futile loss of life and destruction of property.
If things did not work out as intended, this was not of our making.
We were asked, no doubt, through the misleading reports of the likes of Philby, to surrender to the communists and to commit suicide.
As it happened in the parallel situation in Greece, the Nationalist forces, whose aims and objectives were identical to ours, received after the German retreat the unqualified support of the Western Allies and went down in history as heroes.
My activity was never considered traitorous by people in Great Britain who supported the Yugoslav Government-in-Exile.
We went to war on the side of the Western Allies, while Hitler and Stalin were still friends and the duly elected and constitutional government of Jugoslavia went into exile in London.
Now why should we who stayed behind because we had no opportunity to be evacuated or flee the country and join the Allied forces but remained loyal to our Government-in-Exile, be sacrificed and liquidated just because of the shift of allegiance of the Western Powers in the very last year of the War?
By staying where I was and by doing what I did I kept our Slovene spirit and our institutions alive.
Would I do it again? Yes. Even with the hindsight of today I would not act any differently, except perhaps more cleverly.
Hitler - Stalin Honeymoon
"It is now as clear as day that the British and French imperialists did not kindle a new war conflagration for the sake of defence of liberty, democracy, and independence of small nations, but for the sake of their colonial empire and hegemony." - "Kommunist", October 1946, - Organ of Communist Party of Jugoslavia.
The province of Ljubljana was occupied by Italians, Gorenjska and Stajerska by Germans, and the small province of Prekmurje by Hungarians.
It was in Prekmurje that there was a pocket of Hungarian speaking Jews, as I learned recently. The province was completely cut off from other Slovene provinces. This is important to stress, since we must not forget that I was accused by the communist press for being jointly responsible for the deportation of 90% of Jews in Slovenia.
The summer of 1941 was politically quiet in the province of Ljubljana. The communists were still propagating their anti-allies, "anti-imperialist front". Let us remember that Stalin and Hitler were still partners in crime. They split Poland between themselves. Whenever communists talk about war crimes let us be reminded of this Hitler-Stalin honeymoon.
On 22 June 1941, Hitler invaded the Soviet Union. Stalin was so surprised that he dismissed reports about the German invasion as warmongering propaganda, fomented by the "imperialists" - i.e. the allies. So much for the intuition and intelligence of that great genius, the leader and teacher of nations, deified by Tito until 1948 when the gangsters parted company.
From Anti-Imperialism to Anti-Fascism
"Stretch the gallows over the whole world! Your god is robbery, arson, murder!" - The battle song of Slovene communists, 1942. The author is Matej Bor.
Overnight the slogan of "Anti-imperialist front" changed into "Liberation front." The new greeting was: "Comrades, death to fascism - freedom to the people!"
Unfortunately like the animals in "Animal farm" many people forgot what the pigs from Kremlin had told them yesterday.
But in this struggle for freedom and liberation from fascism communists did not chose as their targets Italian and German invaders. Not at all! The targets were the nationalists, the royalists, the supporters of the Royal Jugoslav government in London.
One day a priest was killed, the next day a student leader from Catholic action, the day after a leading Liberal Sokol, then a village mayor or a teacher, then a solid farmer, or an industrialist.
Communist Morality
One whom they killed and worthy of special mention is Dr. Marko Natlacen, who was a leading member of the Catholic Party and the last Governor of Slovenia before the Nazi invasion.
Immediately prior to the invasion, Dr. Natlacen learnt that a book on the history of Slovene Jewry was about to be published.
He learnt that the book traced in detail the Jewish connections and ancestry (through intermarriage over the centuries) of certain Slovene families, almost all of whom were then Catholic, as well as the few Jewish families of Slovenia.
Dr. Natlacen had the political intelligence to perceive that it was an ill wind that was blowing towards Jugoslavia, and that Hitler may well attack. Knowing what was happening to Jewry under the Nazis, he prohibited the printing of the book, lest it serve as a ready list for Himmler and his butchers.
If the Jugoslav communist Secret Police (UDBA) really believed that I was a persecutor of the Jews, then in what high esteem would they place Dr. Natlacen as a saviour of the Jews?
How did they show their esteem? We shall see.
But for saving innocent Slovenes who were Jews or partly of Jewish blood was not the only reason the communist UDBA had for being thankful to Dr. Natlacen.
For he, as Govenor of the Province, had the lists of names of Slovene communists from the files of the police. When the Axis over - ran Slovenia, the Italian occupiers asked at once for these vital lists. But Dr. Natlacen refused.
Morality and gratefulness are no part of the communist mentality and character. So they lost no time in murdering Dr. Natlacen, along with all these other non- communist members of the governing class.
Early "War Crimes Trials"
After the killing of each anti-communist the communist underground press would publish a report: "The traitor XX was sentenced to death by the Plenum of the Liberation Front, for collaboration with the enemy. The sentence was carried out on date so and so."
When the shocked population started to query the guilt of the executed person, the communist whispering apparatus retorted: "Surely he or she must have done something, they would not kill him or her just for nothing."
Communists also invented "Bela garda" (White Guard) and later "Blue Guard." White Guards were the anti-bolshevik forces who fought the bolsheviks from 1917-1920 in Russia.
Everybody who did not agree with them was branded by their underground press, and by their whispering apparatus as a member of Bela garda, a ficticious organization which helped the communists to create an atmosphere of fear.
When later, the anti-communists finally grabbed the rifles to defend their lives and property, they did not mind to be called by that name and they even proudly adopted it.
Petrova Garda
The nationalists were frightened. Many had to change their dwellings to avoid the communist bullets. Every anti-communist was a potential target. There were several groups in the nationalist underground. Some were even not connected with others, which had its own advantages, since what is not centralized cannot be so easy to trace and infiltrate. But for all their values, the nationalists did not have any tradition in subversion and illegal life. Communists already before the war built their own "bunkers" which were cubicles with false walls and concealed entrances.
The brunt of all nationalist underground activity was carried by the youth.
Sometime in July or August 1941 | contacted a group of young people, mostly students, some who were ex-volunteers, like Vladimir Menart. The group was named Petrova garda (King Peter's Guard). It was responsible for chalking on the city walls the initials PII (Peter the Second) topped by a crown. We also put out leaflets. Our activity immediately drew fire from the communist underground press. They called us Peta garda (Fifth Guard) i.e. Fifth column.
I learned very early that there is not always justice without the force to back it up.
One day when we were a bit stronger I approached Dr. Pestotnik who was a leading Sokol member in Tabor branch, the same branch that was so thoroughly infiltrated by communists.
He was very pleased to see the initiative of a young Sokol member and promised that he would give me in due time a good contact.
In the winter from 1941 to 1942 we organized the "purchase" of a good duplicating machine in order to expand our leafleting.
We loaded the machine on a sleigh and whisked it out under the noses of the Italian sentries guarding the High Commissioner's Palace. Unfortunately we could not find safe accommodation for it since we did not have a safe "bunker". We had to bury the machine under the snow in the courtyard of our flats.
There were other nationalist groups who produced good leaflets and periodicals. "Svobodna Slovenia" (Free Slovenia) was a very impressive duplicated periodical. Some of the people who were running it then, are still publishing it now, weekly in Buenos Aires. The Editor is Milos Stare, the President of the National Committee for Slovenia, a shadow government-in-exile.
Vladimir Menart is one of the Committee members.
I still did not get the contact from Dr. Pestotnik, but one day I was arrested by the Italian military. I was released the same day.
In March 1942 I was arrested again and this time they kept me in.
The communists planted with the Italians their own agents. One of them was a man by name Roman (no relation to Bishop Rozman) It was he who was pointing out from behind a screen in a marshalling hall those who were to be arrested.
In chains to Italian concentration camp
One day all prisoners were photographed, then handcuffed and put into chains in groups of six. A long column of Italian Army Red Cross ambulances transported us to Cekin, and after a month to the concentration camp Gonars on the plain of Friuli. In chains again we were marched from the nearest railway station to the camp, abused and even stoned by the local urchins.
Back home the communists were still killing the nationalists but perfidious Italian authorities retaliated, not against the killers, but by rounding up more of the innocent population and shooting them as hostages.
Contrary to what the communists are saying, there were hardly any communists among the hostages. Communist agents were doing a good job with Italians and later with the German Gestapo.
The second in command of Gonars concentration camp was Alpine Captain Macchi, a professor and principal of a private college in civilian life. He behaved like an efficient school master and he was popular as he was as fair as the war permitted.
Another officer on duty was Lieutenant Di Stefano. He was cheerful but became annoyed if we did not stand in a straight line as he had difficulty counting us on parade. I met Di Stefano by coincidence in a train in 1947 near Mt. Vesuvius. I recognized him and he invited me to his home for lunch. He was a solicitor.
But another Lieutenant Weiss, a red head from Trieste, was a sadistic type. He would stroll through the camp with a walking stick and he would beat anybody not quick enough to escape.
Captain Macchi was hanged as a hostage by the Germans in 1944, but Lt. Weiss was killed in action between Slovene Domobranci and an Italian communist partisan unit sometime late in 1944.
There was hunger in the camp and some of those unfortunates who did not receive monthly parcels were dying. We were not asked to perform any outside work. Italy had unemployed people - strangely enough - even during the war.
Each hut accommodated 100 inmates and it had a Capo and his deputy. They were appointed by the Italian command. Most of them were decent men, although here and there we discovered some of them stealing rations.
The small communist group was well organized. They kept most of the administration in their hands. Among other things they organized systematic stealing of parcels and channelled them into their ranks. Among them was also a man who was wanted by the Italians. One day one of the Osredkars brothers approached me and asked me whether his friends could count on my discretion not to betray a man who was a communist.
Osredkar defected from the nationalist ranks and joined the communists. I gave him my word and one night when a group of communists escaped through a tunnel they dug, that wanted man was among them. But this fact would not save me later from being slandered - along with other anti-communists - for being a fascist and an enemy of the people.
In the Autumn of 1942 the Italian authorities decided to relax the strong measures by releasing the inmates from various concentration camps in groups of one hundred. Late in October 1942 I was included in such a release, unfortunately leaving behind many friends, including Vladimir Menart.
Later I wrote a short story about Gonars for 'Jutro'. It passed the Nazi censorship because I had changed the time and location to old Russia.
Invitation to the hills.
When I returned home, my father was watching me constantly in case I would like to eat more than a starved person is permitted to in order not to harm oneself.
Soon I returned to the High School, but in no time an acquaintance by name Pavsic who had also been a volunteer in the Spring of 1941, visited me and urged me to join the units of the Royal Jugoslav Army (Chetniks). These units were under the supreme command of General Draza Mihailovic, the Minister of War in the Royal Jugoslav Government in London. At this time Churchill was a loyal ally. Mihailovic's H.Q. was in Serbia.
I knew how sad my parents would be and I realized that it would be best to leave for the hills without taking my leave of them. When I asked this recruiting officer what are we going to do with the communist units who were also in the hills at that time, he answered that this was taken care of and that there existed a truce between the two camps.
I did not like this idea of a truce with such tricksters as communists. I contacted other friends from Petrova Garda who agreed with me that we could not trust the communists. True to their form, communists in alliance with the Italian armed forces, tanks and artillery at the collapse of Mussollini's regime in September 1943, overpowered these royalist units and killed every single officer and soldier - so much for the "truce!"
I continued my schooling until the capitulation of Italy in September 1943. Then with my friends in the underground I decided to join the newly created Slovensko Domobranstvo - The Slovene Home Guard.
In "Slovenski Obzonik" (Slovene Horizons in Australia) in 1975 I described a certain period of the civil war and occupation. This revue was edited by myself and printed in the Slovene language.
The publisher was the "Agency for Free Slovenia." It was partly financed by a group of Slovene nationalists in N.S.W. With hardly an exception they are all Liberal supporters or members of the Liberal Party today. Helping me and writing his memoirs was also Joze Kosorok, a man from Stajerska Province who was drafted into a German Panzer unit, but whilst on leave deserted to Tito's communist partisans. Kosorok regretted being used by them and after the war escaped from his homeland and now lives in Sydney. Another contributor was Vladimir Menart. (Kosorok's statement is enclosed.)
Walker in League with Communists
In the same revue, "Slovenski Obzornik", I published some photographs relating to the period 1943-45. One photograph depicting an orderly march of the volunteers for Slovensko Domobranstvo, was described later by the Labor Attorney-General of N.S.W., Mr. Frank Walker as an anti-Jewish demonstration. All this disinformation was given to Mr Walker by the Jugoslav communist regime.
Even taking into consideration the political past and present of this Labor Minister, who represents the radical left in the A.L.P., this disinformation does him an injustice. But if that means that Mr. Walker will in future chose his friends more carefully, it could be only a partial satisfaction to me.
If Mr Walker wants to prove that he is a man of honour, he should be strong enough to stand up in the Parliament and admit that he misled the Parliament since he was misled in turn himself.
Mr Walker must by now realize that with communist friends he does not need any enemies.
Nazi Censorship
In "Slovenski Obzornik" I also touched on the Nazi censorship.
This usually made publication by any Slovene patriot during the civil war and foreign occupation a nearly impossible job.
Sometimes the author was luckier than on other occasions. It depended also on the personality of the censor, his mood, intelligence and commonsense, as well as his willingness to understand the Slovene position; to understand the cruelty of civil war, our status as a conquered and split nation, our inner loyalty to the King and to our Government-in-exile; to understand that our stand against communism is the only common ground we had with Germans at that time.
When one wrote about bolshevism, one censor or another would usually add a hyphen and the word "Judeo". Many times the censor would also add "Freemasonry." But let me also explain the meaning of Masonry on the Continent. Firstly our Masons were affiliated strictly with the Grand Orient Lodge which - I found it our later - has no connection with Anglo-Saxon Free Masonry. I understand that Trotsky was a member of that Paris-dominated Grand Orient Lodge. Secondly our Masons did not admit their membership.
There were no recognizable temples. They were very anti-Catholic in a country like Slovenia which was 99% Catholic. It is therefore understandable that our clergy always warned against these secretive people. Thirdly our Masons were all people of substance one way or the other; no bricklayers needed to apply. I now see that there are two types of Masonry, so do the Slovene clergy in Australia - on several occasions they have hired the Masonic Halls for their social functions.
Many times the censor would end an article with a stereotype sentence such as "for a new Europe under the leadership of Adolf Hitler."
The words "chetniks" and "partisans" were usually deleted by the Nazi censors and in their place they would use the word "bandits" in order to create the impression that there was not any ideological opposition to the Third Reich, but rather only bands of malcontents and rebels.
I am quoting from "Slovenski Obzornik" a typical case, that of Karl Bratusa:
Naturally we also had difficulties with censorship. We understood that the Germans protected their interests. But we also wanted to protect Slovene ones. Let me quote only one example of German naivety, inconsistency and incomprehension. Karl Bratusa who had founded the Druzinski Tednik with a partner already before the war, was its editor. Even though this weekly was popular and entertaining, Bratusa was a first class newspaperman. His style was understandable to simple readers but valued also by university professors.
On one occasion he wrote an article in which the following sentence appeared:
"Every Slovene household, which will be destroyed during the civil war - win who may
- our nation will itself have to restore."
The censor added "and with the help of the German soldier". Bratusa became angry and made the censor aware of it, but it was already published. The censor eventually saw the senselessness of the phrase in such a context.
How many such battles were fought and won behind the scenes and from underground!
Regarding unfavourable remarks about the Jews one must view them in the same light. Moreover any propaganda against the Jews would fall on infertile ground and would not harm a single Jew since it is a well known fact that Slovenia, (apart from the area ceded to Hungary) and in particular the Province of Ljubljana to which our Press was restricted, had virtually no Jews at all.
As I said in the beginning of this Statement, Mr. Goot himself cites one authority for this.
I did on two occasions voluntary criticise the Allied bombing of Slovenia and other parts of Jugoslavia. We were specially annoyed since the planes rarely hit German military installations.
Communist for the Fuehrer
A very interesting case connected with German censorship was that of Stanko Virant who was the Chief Editor of "Jutro". This daily paper of Ljubljana was established after the First World War and was the official mouthpiece of the Slovene Liberal Party of which my father was a member. The Liberal Party was in several ways similar in outlook to the Liberal Party of Australia. It stood for free enterprise, nationalism, King and country. It was strongly pro Allies. There were also strong elements of small "I" liberalism in one regard, namely in the opposition to the Catholic clergy. It was also centralist in contrast to the Slovene Catholic Party which stood for greater local autonomy. Their mouthpiece was "Slovenec", a daily which also survived through the Axis occupation.
Some directors of "Jutro" went into exile. One of them, Dr. Milko Brezigar, I met in Rome in July of 1945. He was very helpful to me and he was informed about the situation at home. He never returned and died in exile some years ago. Dr. Brezigar and I discussed the staff of "Jutro". I told him the case of Stanko Virant who switched during the civil war to the communist side. It was Virant who was going out of his way to please the narrow minded group of German censors by inserting in many of the articles the most pro-German phrases. This information I received from a censor by the name of Mitterhammer, a suave Viennese who spoke the Croat and Serb language fluently since his father was with the Austrian administration in Bosnia until 1918.
Mitterhammer was trying to understand the Slovene problem in the new circumstances. I got the impression that he was not a blind National Socialist. But he too was toeing the official line.
Although the readers were conditioned to read between the lines by ignoring the bad lines, Virant's intention was to compromise the cause of the Nationalists and Slovene Domobranstvo by inserting these pro-German phrases which worked very much in favour of the communists.
Virant who was going out of his way to please the narrow minded German occupants by the order of the Slovene communist underground, became a hero! But we, the royalists, who, with the consensus of the Nationalist underground, did our best under duress, became in the books of the new Jugoslav communist regime, traitors and war criminals.
One could, of course ask: Why write at all in such unfavourable conditions?
The answer is this. It was very important for our morale even if we had to swallow some unsavoury German phrases. Our people learnt to read between the lines, ignoring the pro-Nazi content.
The same technique was being used by all patriots throughout German occupied Europe at that time.
The Allies abandoned General Mihailovich although he was still the Minister of War in the Royal Jugoslav Government in London. The material heip to the communist side from the air became stronger and stronger.
With material help came also very strong propaganda in the Allied Press and especially in Radio London. Today this does not come as a surprise when we know about the Philby-Burgess-Blunt group which was shaping foreign policy at that time.
By not writing anything the Nationalists would be double losers.
What was happening in Ljubljana during the war cannot be compared with life on Martin Place in Sydney. Unless one fails to discern these facts, one could not comprehend the basics of any history.
Behind the Scene
In my article of "Slovenski Obzornik" I was limited in space as I am limited now, since long reports probably would not be read.
But after 40 years more interesting details come back. I wrote about General Rupnik, but I would like to add two more observations.
On the mantlepiece of the fireplace in his home I noticed he displayed some photographs. One of them showed the General in the company of King Alexander I who was assassinated in Marseilles in 1934. The fact that some visiting Germans would not appreciate such mementos, apparently did not worry the General.
Two girls who belonged to the nationalist underground kept company with Rupnik's widowed daughter Ksenija. They told me that Ksenija once mentioned as a matter of fact, that "we are keeping our father's Royal Jugoslav uniform in the cupboard ready for the time when King Peter will return from London. Then daddy will be only a soldier again, since he became a politician out of circumstance."
On another occasion when we were saying good night in the corridor of Rupnik's residence, there were also present these two girls - some called them 'ladies in waiting' - as well as General Rupnik and his wife Olga, a very fine Russian noblewoman who came to Jugoslavia after the bolsheviks defeated the Whites.
There were also the daughter Ksenija and a young writer Nikolaj Jelocnik.
Mrs. Rupnik brought up a very delicate subject. When the Germans approved the flying of the Slovene white-blue-red tricolour in 1943, they insisted that official buildings also must fly the German flag if the Slovene one is flown. This regulation was observed only in a few cases, but otherwise the German flew on the buildings occupied by them their own flag and they did not bother about our flag. General Rupnik's residence as well as his car were flying both flags. It was precisely this which Mrs Rupnik did not approve of. The situation in the corridor was painful and delicate but we all were pleased to ventilate this bothersome problem.
General Rupnik was annoyed with the criticism by his wife and he let her know it in an abrupt manner which was not in his nature. But abruptness could mean frustration.
Then the General added in order to support his stand: "I also salute with a stretched hand in order to relieve all of you from doing so."
We quietly accepted his argument, but we were not convinced.
I wished that this matter would have been brought up by some senior political figures more of the General's vintage at the time. I myself am also frustrated today that | - at the age of 22 - did not do my share, collect the courage, run the risk of being an impertinent young man, and use some suitable occasion to give him my 'considered' opinion without being asked to give it.
Gestapo moves against Domobranstvo
The two 'ladies in waiting' were one day in 1944 arrested by the Gestapo and sent into a German concentration camp. General Rupnik did everything to save them but the Gestapo insisted that they worked for the London-based Royal Jugoslav Government which was against the interests of the Third Reich.
Neither of them survived the German concentration camp. Is this evidence that General Rupnik was a Nazi?
At the same time there was arrested by the Gestapo a group of the officers from Domobranstvo and the Nationalist underground.
Among them was the second-in-command Colonel Ernest Peterlin. Our Nationalist underground found out later that Slovene communist agents who were working for the Gestapo were responsible for the loss of these fine patriots.
About one third of these officers survived German concentration camp at the end of the war only to be forcibly whisked out under the noses of the Allied troops and sent to Ljubljana. The new communist regime then staged a mock trial and nearly all of these survivors of the German concentration camp were sentenced to death as "fascists, war criminals, enemies of the people and traitors."
That is communist morality.
Bargaining over an SS Division
There is another battle which was won behind the scenes by good patriotic Slovenes. The Germans were starting to reproach the leadership of Domobranstvo and General Rupnik for not having contributed a single unit to be trained as a Slovene SS to fight on the Russian front. They pointed at other European countries which had contibuted contingents. I myself also overheard SS Lieutenant Wolfs boasting that a high-ranking officer had promised him he would create a "Karst SS Battalion".
I at once passed this information on to General Rupnik and my contacts in the Nationalist Underground. All the forces were put into action to frustrate this plan.
The Slovene SS was never created, but the bargain that the Germans wrought from us was an unpleasant piece of symbolism - an oath of loyalty from the Domobranstvo to the German occupation forces.
This was a nasty kind of bargain and a very bitter pill which the Domobranstvo had to swallow in oder to survive. But it is equally true that it did not have any practical damaging consequences, as would undoubtedly have resulted from the transformation of the Sloven Domobranstvo into an SS force.
This oath was supposed to safeguard the German backs in case the Allies landed in Slovenia. The oath temporarily shocked and demoralized Domobranstvo and our Nationalist Underground.
In July 1945 in Rome Dr. Miha Krek, an ex-member of our Royal Government-in-Exile, told me how demoralizing this news was for the Government, especially since there were differences in the Government itself on other issues, one being the Croat question vis a vis the Serbian minority on the territory of Croatia.
Dr. Krek told me not to try to convince him about the loyalty of Slovene Domobranstvo to the Slovene and Jugoslav cause, since he never had any doubts about it. Just that the anti-communist forces in Great Britain lost one more weapon in the fight against those in the British Government who were helping Tito's communists.
Now that we know that Philby, Burgess, Maclean and Anthony Blunt were not only Soviet spies but that they were also evaluating and shaping the foreign policy of Great Britain at that time, Dr. Krek's words stand before us as clear as the sky on a sunny day.
Nazi-Communist Truce in 1944
Late in 1944 both the Germans and Tito's partisans became very concerned about the anticipated British invasion on Jugoslav Adriatic Coast. This mutual fear compelled the Germans and Tito to reach an agreement binding both parties to a truce which was proclaimed by the S.S. General Odillo Globocnigg who was the German military commander for Adriatic Coast.
Naturally this Nazi-Tito truce brought a considerable amount of concern in the Slovene Domobranstvo. There was a secret, alert of both Domobranci and the Royal Jugoslav units in the hills going so far as seriously contemplating the resistance to the Germans troops in the case of any dangerous situation.
The S.S. General Rosener after a short delay assured General Rupnik that this agreement did not bind the Province of Ljubljana under his military command.
For one reason or another the Globocnigg-Tito truce withered away since the British did not disembark, making both the Germans and our communists happy, but not us Nationalists.
Orwell Animal Farm
George Orwell who put many nails into the communist coffin, one of the strongest being called "Animal Farm" cannot be accused of being a "right-wing extremist" as he fought on the Popular Front side against Franco in Spain.
The following was written by Orwell as part of an Introduction to Animal Farm but was rejected by the publishers until it appeared in the New York Times in 1972: "A particular glaring case was that of Colonel (later General) Mihailovich, the Jugoslav Chetnik leader. The Russians, who had their own Jugoslav protege in Marshal Tito, accused Mihailovich of collaborating with the Germans. This accusation was promptly taken up by the British press. Mihailovich's supporters were given no chance of answering it, and facts contradicting it were simply kept out of print.
In July 1943, the Germans offered a reward of 100,000 gold crowns for the capture of Tito, and a similar reward for the capture of Mihailovich. The British press "splashed" the reward for Tito, but only one paper mentioned (in small print) the reward for Mihailovich; and the charge of collaborating with Germans con-tinued. Very similar things happened during the Spanish Civil War."
The Slovene Domobranstvo was organized on a volunteer basis. But for some it was also a convenient place if they did not want to serve in the German Todt organization. Domobranstvo wore Slovene insignias and officers eppaullets were very similar to the Royal Jugoslav ones. Domobranstvo was under the command of Slovene (also a few Serb and Croat) officers. The commands were given in the Slovene language. Saluting was until the end, even after the attempt on Hilter's life in July 1944, in a military style, not the fascist style.
The Slovene Dombranci never did anything detrimental to the Allies and indeed on several occasions with the co-operation of our underground saved Allied pilots who were shot down by German and parachuted on the territory under our control.
I am enclosing one affidavit by U.S.A. Air Force Captain Maurice Brash who was saved by a Sergeant-Major of Domobranstvo, personally known to me.
The Infamous Z 360
In the "Z 360 document" which was supplied prior to August 1979 by the Jugoslav communist regime to a number of recipients, including Mr. Mark Aarons of the A.B.C.'s "Broadband", it was stated inter alia that Urbanchich:
Was imprisoned in an Italian concentration camp.
Was working during the war for the Nationalist Intelligence Service.
Was a member of the Nationalist Underground under the supreme command of General Draza Mihailovich.
This shabby and clumsy communist product is a mere indictment of myself by a communist kangaroo court in Ljubljana in 1946.
Is Tito's Ambassador prepared to state that General Draza Mihailovich, the War Minister in the Royal Jugoslav Gernment in London, was also a Nazi?
Some Samplings from the Nationalist Underground.
One should not imagine an underground as a storm water and sewerage canal system, although these underground places also served their purpose at times, as in Warsaw during WWII.
Underground members worked in their comfortable offices just as well as in factories, administration, police and other armed forces.
The Underground was not magic, always working perfectly and efficiently. Its members were ordinary people as well as very capable and courageous; some were cowardly and weak; some were forceful and highly intelligent; and some were below average. There were strong and weak links: some were indiscreet - just as fatal as were the infiltrators from the Gestapo or from the Communists. (The latter were prepared without hesitation to inform on the Nationalists.).
Not everything was done on specific orders since on many occasions there was no time to consult when opportunities suddenly presented themselves. Just as after every battle there are many generals who know how they would have won, so it was with our struggle. Some members and groups would always grumble and "talk back". We also were a coalition underground, composed of various views and political parties.
The Underground became so wide that a lot was done by consensus, by the silent communication which develops from togetherness and a common philosophy.
The Underground became a way of life.
Here are only a few examples of the Nationalist Underground:
In the summer of 1941 nobody recruited me - it was I who recruited others (see 'Petrova garda - above).
In late 1943 Vladimir Menart in turn linked me up with others because he had found in the meantime many good contacts and became very successful in organizing a number of very dedicated young nationalists.
When Captain Maurice Brash of the U.S.A.F. bailed out in 1944 he was saved by a Domobranstvo Sergeant-Major - who was personally known to me - Rudolf Hirschegger. It took several soldiers and civilians to carry out this risky operation, and this was not a lone instance. (An affadavit by Captain Brash, given to Hirschegger, is enclosed).
Plenicar in $42 of his Statement (attached) mentioned that his illegal unit at one stage was looking after no less than a dozen British airmen. We Nationalists risked our lives in hiding these airmen in spite of the suffering caused to our population by Allied bombing (see "Nazi Censorship" above). On several occasions the Slovene Domobranci (who never did anything detrimental to the Allies)co-operated with our Underground in saving allied pilots.
Dr. Bano was our man right at the top, sitting in the Secretariat of General Rupnik. In 1944 Dr. Bano was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Dachau. He survived and I had lunch with him in Trieste in 1945 (see Plenicar's Statement, $30). Arrested with him were two girls (the
"ladies-in-waiting" referred to in "Behind the Scene" - above who did not survive.A group of 50 officers of the Slovene Domobranstvo, including the 2IC, Colonel Peterlin, were arrested by the Gestapo in 1944 and sent to a German concentration camp. only a minority survived (see 'Gestapo Moves against Domobranstvo'- above)
One day one of the very active members of our Underground by the name of Troje came to my office. He was being sought by the Gestapo. Together with Vladimir Menart we whisked him out of Ljubljana into one of the Royal Jugoslav Army units.
The information obtained from SS Lieutenant Wolfs was another case showing how small pieces can be pasted together and used. Through the efforts of many dedicated people Slovene Domobranstvo was never transformed into SS units (see "Bargaining over an SS Division - above).
Jugoslav Communists Silent about their War and Post War Crimes
Since 1945 Tito's UDBA has been murdering prominent anti- communists in the Free World.
Some years ago Tito's whispering apparatus tried to blame these gruesome acts on a Serbo - Croat feud. It worked for a while until both Serbs and Croats - their political differences aside - began to realize that it is the Jugoslav communist UDBA who is killing both. The pattern is: one Serb, then one Croat, followed by another Serb and so on. The list is impressive.
The victims are killed by bullets or knives, some are strangled. Some of the latest victims were a Serbian journalist in U.S.A. Kasikovic. The communists also knifed to death his nine year old step-daughter. This crime was followed by the murder of a Croat writer Busic in Paris.
When is the bell going to toll next in Australia?
In 1962 there was an attempt on my own life. The Darlinghurst Police Station Detective - Sergeant Hammer conducted the inquiry. One of the Assistant Police Commissioners is fully familiar with the case. The would-be assassin was identified but he was not convicted. He was a young man from Slovenia who prior to this attempt was spreading the word, i.e. among Slovenes in Sydney that he had been trying to find me since I killed his father at St. Urh, near Ljubljana, a place I never visited. At that time I was already well known to the Slovene community in Australia since I was publishing my own periodical 'Zar', hardly a need to search for me!
Neither should it come as a surprise if one day it is established that those 'Croat terrorist camps where they plan to blow up the dams' were only the clumsy work of communist UDBA.
A Slovene Parliament Meets
On 5th of May, 1945 a Slovene Parliament met in the strictest secrecy at Sokol Hall at Tabor, Ljubljana. Present were many prewar Slovene members of the Jugoslav Parliament and a number of prominent political leaders and members of both major parties.
"Slovenec" brought on the front page a proclamation which ended with these sentences:
Long live a United Slovenia!
Long live the Federative Kingdom of Jugoslavia!
Long live King Peter II!
Long live the Allies!
Only some of the copies reached the readers but the bulk was confiscated by S.S. General Roesener.
Unfortunately this event had only a symbolical meaning.
The same night I put on a makeshift Royal Jugoslav uniform with insignia incorporating Serb, Croat and Slovene coat-of-arms, on the breast of a crowned double-headed eagle. With a small group I went in the National House (Narodni Dom) opposite Tivoli park in order to obtain weapons.
The building was occupied by a unit of Serbian Royalists who withdrew from Serbia before the Soviets installed in Belgrade their obedient dictator Tito.
The Sergeant queried our request and wanted more identification. His face became familiar to me.
Suddenly I uttered "Oh, no. Not you again!" He was the same trigger-happy corporal, "the Spaniard" who nearly shot me dead in Bosnia in the Spring of 1941.
We embraced each other and spent a few hours in each other's company. So "the Spaniard" who once fought against Franco, then against Germans, threw in his lot for the King against Tito.
The next morning, on Sunday 6th of May we entrained, heading for Austria. There we were stationed in a courtyard of Spittal-on-Drava. Not far away were Ukrainian nationalists. The Air Force was dropping supplies in a nearby paddock, once killing one of the Ukrainian horses.
The bulk of the units of Slovensko Domobranstvo were encamped on the field of Vetrinj. The British commanding officer told them to lay down their weapons. In the following days the troops were told to prepare to be transported to Italy to join other units of Domobranstvo, as well as Royal Jugoslav units. The senior officers mistrusted the British commander, but when he gave them his word as an officer and gentleman that they will be transported to Italy, the entraining started.
The British soldiers then bolted the doors of goods carriages and the train then began to head not in the direction of Italy, but to communist Jugoslavia, where power drunk hordes of half wild Tito's partisans took over.
Then the Slovene tragedy started: plundering, insulting, torturing, shooting, butchering and finally the massive graves in the caves of Koceve forest - a Slovene Katyn.
One train followed another.
Several books were written about Kocevie as well as other numerous graves in Croatia and Serbia.
12,000 Slovene soldiers, civilians, women and babies were butchered without any trial by Tito's "liberators."
About these post-war crimes the Jugoslav communist regime is silent. The press in Australia supported and financed by the Jugoslav communist regime published in Serb or Croat language is also silent.
Slander
A photograph supplied to the Australian press by the Jugoslav communist regime showing an S.S. Lieutenant leading a company of Slovene Domobranstvo is not a fake. However it is only one part of the truth. An N.C.O.'s company from the training course was also taking part in a parade. The S.S. officer was an instructor in this training course. This picture was intended to create in the reader an emotional impact but it should not be confused with the good content - a very noble bunch of Slovene nationalists.
Not all units of Domobranstvo attended the infamous oath-taking ceremonies. Some of them were spared just by good luck. Some absented themselves. I was one of the latter.
I personally never swore any oath whatsoever to Hitler in spite of what the communists are saying!
My late father who served the Austro-Hungarian Emperor as a public servant and had to swear his allegiance to a ruler he never loved told me that this fact never bothered him since his oath was of no meaning to him.
Perhaps that republican member of the Socialist left, the Attorney General Mr. Walker, who as a Minister of the Crown has sworn an oath of allegiance to the Queen, would understand the feelings of those fine boys of the Slovene Domobranstvo who had to swear to something and to somebody they did not believe in.
Communist slander never discourages me. Neither the slander from various leftists of different brands. But I must admit that what worries me is the success of the communists - the Jugoslav, the Soviet and Australian ones, in stampeding well intentioned journalists and above all, some elements of my own Liberal Party.
I left my homeland when I was 23. Today I am 57 and I have spent 30 years in Australia. I served this country well. Especially I served Australia through the Party of my choice. Has it been 15 years?
Communist slander never worried me. On the contrary, I would not be pleased if communists of any description, including those sitting pretty in the A.B.C. paid compliments to me. In such cases I would immediately prick up my ears and ask myself "Lyenko, what wrong are you doing to the cause of the Free World?"
Conclusion
Here then is the greater part of my Statement. I have canvassed many aspects not only of my life but also of the era in which 1 lived, hoping that through these insights you will gain an understanding of the situation of the Slovene people, caught as victims in both the middle of a World War and a Civil War.
From these notes you will see why it is that I emphatically repudiate the accusations of "Nazi Collaborator" and of being an anti-semite.
You also have the benefit of several other Statements from such distinguished men as:
Mr. Dusan Plenicar
Mr. Franc Grum
Mr. Dusan Lajovic
Mr. Vladimir Menart
and others.
I am still working on a few points which perhaps need some further amplification.
If there is any matter arising out of any of these Statements, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Finally may I thank you for your helpfulness and understanding.
Lyenko Urbanchich, 24th February, 1980