Death to fascism, freedom to the people

"Death to fascism, freedom to the people!"[a] was a motto of the Yugoslav Partisans, first introduced by the Communists and afterward accepted as the official slogan of the entire resistance movement. During World War II and for a few subsequent years, it was also used as a greeting formulation among members of the movement, both in official and unofficial correspondence, often abbreviated as "SFSN!" when written and accompanied by the clenched fist salute when spoken (one person usually saying "Smrt fašizmu!", the other responding with "Sloboda narodu!"). Later, it was often quoted in post-war Socialist Yugoslavia.

History

The slogan was part of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia's 1941 call to arms for the people of Yugoslavia.[2] The Bulletin of the Partisan Supreme Headquarters used the slogan in its first issue dated 16 August 1941.[3] The August 1941 edition of the Croatian daily newspaper Vjesnik, then the primary media publication of the Partisan resistance movement, featured the statement "Smrt fašizmu, sloboda narodu".

The slogan became popular after the execution of Stjepan Filipović, a Yugoslav Partisan. Filipović was hanged in Valjevo by a Serbian State Guard unit.[4] As the rope was put around his neck on 22 May 1942, Filipović defiantly thrust his hands out and denounced the Germans and their Axis allies as murderers, shouting "Death to fascism, freedom to the people!". At this moment, a subsequently-famous photograph was taken from which a statue was cast.[5]

Reception

In a survey about hate speech conducted by the journal Politička misao in 2018, 47% of citizens in Croatia said they supported banning the public use of the slogan "Death to fascism, freedom to the people", while 41% were against its ban.[6] According to authors, advocacy of the ban among citizens can be explained by negative historical legacy and transgenerational traumas.[7]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Serbo-Croatian: Smrt fašizmu, sloboda narodu! / Смрт фашизму, слобода народу!; Slovene: Smrt fašizmu, svoboda narodu!; Macedonian: Смрт на фашизмот, слобода на народот!, romanized: Smrt na fašizmot, sloboda na narodot!

References

  1. ^ Deak, Istvan (2013). Europe on Trial: The Story of Collaboration, Resistance, and Retribution during World War II. Routledge. p. 159. ISBN 978-0813347899.
  2. ^ Jon C. Hopwood. "IMDB Mini Biography for Josip Broz Tito". IMDb. Retrieved 2012-04-14.
  3. ^ Zbornik dokumenata i podataka o narodno-oslobodilačkom ratu jugoslovenskih naroda. Vol. 2 / book #1. Belgrade: Vojnoistorijski Institut. 1949. pp. 17–18. OCLC 837183093.
  4. ^ Deak, Istvan (2018). Europe on Trial: The Story of Collaboration, Resistance, and Retribution during World War II. Routledge. p. 159. ISBN 978-0-42997-350-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  5. ^ Sinclair, Upton; Sagarin, Edward; Teichnerhe, Albert (1963). Cry for Justice: An Anthology of the Literature of Social Protest. L. Stuart. p. 438.
  6. ^ Blanuša, Nebojša; Kulenović, Enes (25 May 2018). "Hate Speech, Contentious Symbols and Politics of Memory: Survey Research on Croatian Citizens' Attitudes". Politička misao: časopis za politologiju. 55 (4): 180, 183.
  7. ^ Bačić, Mašenjka (22 January 2019). "Gotovo pola Hrvatske protiv slogana 'Smrt fašizmu, sloboda narodu'". Novosti.
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