Austrian Police make Arrest over Nazi Salute at Bleiburg Commemoration

The central mass celebration on the Bleiburg field has ended, with the Austrian police arresting one person due to a Nazi salute

The central commemoration marking the 72nd anniversary of the Bleiburg tragedy took place on the Bleiburg field in Austria, organised by the Honorary Bleiburg Squad and co-organised by the Directorate of Pastors for Croats Abroad, under the auspices of the Croatian Parliament, Dnevnik.hr reported on May 13, 2017.

The Parliament delegation led by Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković and State Assets Minister Goran Marić as the emissary of President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, laid wreaths to honour the victims of Bleiburg. A wreath was also laid down by Vesna Cvjetković, Croatian Ambassador in Austria.

The commemoration organiser estimated around 15.000 people were present, citing the arrival of around 100 buses from Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina and around fifty from the rest of Europe.

Carinthia police reported the arrest of one person during the commemoration due to a ”Nazi salute” and estimated the presence of around eight to ten thousand people.

The commemoration began at 11:00 with a prayer at Unterloibach cemetery, from where a procession headed out to the altar space on the Bleiburg field.

The central mass celebration was led by Đakovo-Osijek archbishop Đuro Hranić, after which the commemoration continued with speeches from notable guests, representatives of sponsors and organisers and the laying of wreaths.

“Now that the truth, despite being hindered, is coming through, our prayer for nameless victims is under threat. All of you who bear this burden, I humbly ask to take no action to aid those who want to prevent the discovery of the truth about the victims. I ask of you to refrain from anything which could divert attention from uncovering the truth on victims and crimes of the totalitarian communist system,” said during mass archbishop Hranić.

Alongside Parliament Speaker Jandroković, present were also Deputy Speaker Milijan Brkić and MPs Miro Kovač, Ivica Mišić, Josip Đakić, Ivan Šipić and Zlatko Hasanbegović.

Hasanbegović was asked by journalists why, in his opinion, the Prime Minister Andrej Plenković is not present, to which he replied they should ask the PM, but did not criticise further.

 

 

Subscribe to our newsletter

the fields marked with * are required

Email: *
First name:
Last name:
Gender:	Male Female
Country:
Birthday:	[DD] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 [MM] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 [YYYY] 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

Please don't insert text in the box below!