Event

8th-9th July 2025

Liberation or Enslavement? - Eighty Years after the End of the War in Europe

Zagreb, Croatia

Hotel Dubrovnik
Ljudevita Gaja 1
10000 Zagreb
Croatia

In Western Europe the end of the Second World War brought peace and freedom. In much of Central, Eastern and South East Europe, it meant the transition from one kind of totalitarianism to another, imposed by mass bloodshed and terror. Discussing and debating the reality of the revolution and repression which ensued, and their long term effect on society today, can make a major contribution to understanding the political and cultural problems we face.

Agenda

Tuesday, 8th July 2025 Wednesday, 9th July 2025

Tuesday, 8th July 2025
Wednesday, 9th July 2025

5:00 pm

Opening Remarks

Branka Lozo, Board Member of New Direction
Robin Harris, President, Centre for the Renewal of Culture (COK)

5:15 pm

Lecture 1

What the Communist Revolution in Yugoslavia entailed

Robin Harris, President, Centre for the Renewal of Culture, United Kingdom

5:35 pm

Lecture 2

With Tito and Stalin, two sons of the people

Perception and presentation of “comrade” Stalin and “brotherly” Soviet Union in Croatian/Yugoslav media and propaganda after the WWII

Mario Jareb, historian, Croatian Institute of History, Croatia

5:55 pm

Lecture 3

VOS, OZNA and UDBA – Communist Secret Police – in Slovenia, 1941-1990

Igor Omerza, writer - Slovenia

6:15 pm

Coffee Break

6:30 pm

Lecture 4

Communist-Soviet terror in Lithuania in 1944-1953

Arunas Bubnys, Genocide and resistance research centre of Lithuania, Lithuania

6:50 pm

Lecture 5

Communist revolution in post-war Europe. The Polish perspective and experience

Grzegorz Wołk, Institute of National Remembrance, Poland

7:10 pm

Lecture 6

Considering and confronting memories of the communist past

Rasa Čepaitienė, Institute of Lithuanian History, Lithuania

7:30 pm

Panel Discussion

The Reality of Communism

Robin Harris, COK (moderator)
Mario Jareb, historian, Croatian Institute of History, Italy
Igor Omerza, writer - Slovenia
Arunas Bubnys, Genocide and resistance research centre of Lithuania, Lithuania
Grzegorz Wołk, Institute of National Remembrance, Poland
Rasa Čepaitienė, Institute of Lithuanian History, Lithuania

10:00 am

Opening

10:15 am

Lecture 1

Evelyn Waugh and the Partisans

Mario Jareb, historian, Croatian Institute of History, Croatia

10:35 am

Lecture 2

Persecution of the Church in Croatia

Jure Krišto, historian, Bosnia and Herzegovina

10:55 am

Lecture 3

Liquidations and terror in Dubrovnik

Robin Harris, COK, United Kingdom

11:15 am

Panel Discussion

Communist Aims and Methods

Hrvoje Čapo, historian, Croatian Institute of History (moderator)
Mario Jareb, historian, Croatian Institute of History, Croatia
Jure Krišto, historian, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Robin Harris, COK, United Kingdom

12:00 pm

Lunch

1:30 pm

Lecture 4

Yugoslav state terrorism against the Croatian emigration

Božo Vukušić, Croatian Way of the Cross Association, Croatia

1:50 pm

Lecture 5

Communist repression of the Islamic community – Zagreb case study

Zlatko Hasanbegović, historian, former Minister of Culture of Croatia, Ivo Pilar Institute, Croatia

2:10 pm

Lecture 6

The fate of the Italians in Dalmatia and Istria

Marino Manin, historian, Croatian Institute of History, Italy

2:30 pm

Lecture 7

The Fate of the German Minority in Croatia and Yugoslavia at the End of the Second World War and the Immediate Post-war Period

Vladimir Geiger, historian, Croatian Institute of History, Croatia

2:50 pm

Panel Discussion

The Victims of Communism

Hrvoje Čapo, historian, Croatian Institute of History, Croatia (moderator)
Božo Vukušić, Croatian Way of the Cross Association, Croatia
Zlatko Hasanbegović, historian, former Minister of Culture of Croatia, Ivo Pilar Institute, Croatia
Marino Manin, historian, Croatian Institute of History, Italy
Vladimir Geiger, historian, Croatian Institute of History, Croatia

3:15 pm

Coffee Break

3:30 pm

Lecture 8

Liquidations and mass graves in Slovenia

Mitja Ferenc, historian, Slovenia

3:50 pm

Lecture 9

The Consequences of Bleiburg: Mass Graves in the Republic of Croatia

Amir Obhođaš, historian, Croatian State Archives, Croatia

4:10

Lecture 10

OZNA repression and persecution in Herzegovina in 1945

Hrvoje Mandić, historian, University of Zagreb, Croatia

4:30 pm

Lecture 11

Two models of retribution in Europe

Hrvoje Čapo, historian, Croatian Institute of History, Croatia

4:50 pm

Panel Discussion

Bleiburg and The Way of the Cross

Mate Ćurić, COK, Bosnia and Herzegovina (moderator)
Mitja Ferenc, historian, Slovenia
Hrvoje Čapo, historian, Croatian Institute of History, Croatia
Amir Obhođaš, historian, Croatian State Archives, Croatia
Hrvoje Mandić, historian, University of Zagreb, Croatia

Concluding Remarks