Serbia's Secret War: Propaganda and the Deceit of History (Eastern European Studies , No 2)

As for the foul attempt to make Croats and Serbs equally pro-Nazi nations, one need only to see the originally filmed documentary of the German army entering Zagreb and Belgrade. While in Zagreb (Croatia) the crowds are cheering and throwing flowers at the Nazis marching the streets, in Belgrade (Serbia), the streets are empty. Touche.

Sets the record straight (3/9 people found this helpful)

During the wars of 1991-95 in the former Yugoslavia, the military aggression of Milosevic's Serbia involved also a campaign of historical revisionism. Serbian nationalists falsified Yugoslav history, claiming that during World War II it was only the Serbs who had resisted the Nazis while the Croats, Muslims and Albanians had all been collaborators. In presenting to the world this dishonest picture of events, the Serbian nationalists sought to demonise their fellow Yugoslavs so as to justify their own war of conquest.

Dr Cohen's excellent book sets the record straight. As a Jew who is disgusted by the way Serbian nationalists exploited the history of the Holocaust for their own genocidal purposes, Cohen sets out to expose their historical revisionism and does so convincingly. He proves on the one hand that Serbian nationalists collaborated extensively with the Nazis; wartime Serbia's quisling leader Milan Nedic was one of Hitler's most loyal allies while the Chetniks of Draza Mihailovic joined with the Axis forces in attacking the Partisans and even handed over Jews to the Nazis. On the other hand, Cohen demonstrates the massive participation of Croats, Slovenes and other Yugoslavs in the Partisan resistance.

It would be wrong to conclude from this book that the Serbs as a people are somehow inherently pro-Nazi or prone to violence and aggression. The Serbs, like the Croats and Muslims, had their share of fascists and war-criminals; but like the Croats and Muslims they also had their share of anti-fascists and resisters. The xenophobic propaganda of Milosevic and his supporters in the West has done much to obscure the history of extensive COOPERATION between Serbs, Croats and Muslims that took place during World War II. In countering this propaganda, Cohen has helped to restore a more balanced picture of events.

Revisionism all the way (6/9 people found this helpful)

From reading Cohen's book, it is obvious that he has a personal grudge against Serbs as an ethnic group. His claim that the resistance against the Nazis was strongest in Croatia is pure fiction.

For a start, Milan Nedic's government was installed by the Nazis, not by the Serbian people. The Sajmiste camp in Zemun where 12,000 Jews were exterminated was part of the Independent State of Croatia, not Serbia. Cohen does not mention this.

Nedic's government was brought down in 1941, while the Ustasas in Croatia did not leave Jasenovac until 1945. When Tito arrived in western Serbia in 1941, the Partisan movement was already comprised of mostly Serbs. His belief that Bishop Nikolaj Velimirovic was a staunch anti-Semite is suspect. Why was he taken to the Dachau concentration camp near Munich if he was such a strong supporter of the Nazis?
Cohen also dishonours the memory of the dead with his revisionism by saying that only 50,000 Serbs were exterminated in Jasenovac and only uses up about 4 lines in the whole book when talking about Jasenovac, even though it was the worst concentration camp in the Balkans.

It is the equivalent to those fascist revisionists who claim that only a few 100,000's Jews perished during the Second World War. I'm sure such revisionism against the Jewish people would offend Mr.Cohen deeply since he himself is Jewish.

Is it truly a coincidence that Mr.Cohen, who 5 years prior to writing this book, had no interest in the Balkans and that it was published only a year after the 1991-1995 wars in Croatia and Bosnia, when anti-Serb sentiment in the West bordered on full-blown rascism and paranoia?

If you want to read a good book about the Second World War and what happened in the NDH, read:

Pure Ustashi Revisionism (6/7 people found this helpful)

This book is very misleading--as portrayed even by the jacket of the book. As a stamp collecter, I can tell you that the stamp on the jscket of the book was made in Vienna during the beggining of World War II for propoganda purposes, and in fact was never circulated in Yugoslavia--Moreover, the Croatian government provided the funds for the publishing of this distortion. Many books have been written since the breakup of Yugoslavia by all sides--and many are purely revisionist--hoping that becasue the Serbs are portrayed as the bad guys now, they must have been the bad guys before--and if they were not--at least it is a perfect time to revise history (Fact is close to 600,000 to 1 million Serbs were murdered by Croat Nazis in Jasenovac--source Eli weisel himself). Cohen seems to overlook that little tid bit of information. This propoganda is not worth paying money for.

This book is especially relevant today especially, (1/8 people found this helpful)

Does anyone remember in early April when Mrs. Milosevic said "there is no ethnic cleansing in Kosovo."

Now, the first lady of Yugoslavia said this. We must wonder, what do the Serbs say that we can believe?

Everyone should read books on the Balkans to gather a knowledge of the area, from all sides. But one thing that stands out, is that there has been alot of Serb propaganda during the recent events in the Balkans. This is shameful. We need to find out history. This book, if one reads it, delves into facts of the situation, such as Belgrade being declared the first city free of Jews. The Serbians had likewise set up concentration camps and their leader Nedic was associated with the Nazis.

This book is important, because it shows deceit. There now, is no doubt in the mind of the world, what the Serbs did in Kosovo. Yet, there has always been a number of denials and tall tales, for starters, how about the satellite photos they brought "experts" to analyze and show they had been tampered with. Sadly, this has been shown to be true. The same can be said of a dozen other incidences, Srebrenica, Markale, the atrocities on all side argument that the New York Times reported on a government document showed that 90% of all ethnic cleansing was committed by Serbian forces in Bosnia. Yet, integral to the arguments of the Serbs is to bring up what the opponents in their past did. Sadly, with the Albanians and Bosnians, they can not rely on such arguments. In this instance, it twists the truth and the death of many people has happened. This is beneath contempt in some ways, when we bear witness to genocide in our time.

I would recommend reading as much on the Balkans as possible, as wide as a spectrum as possible, rather than what is churned out like fast food as truth on the internet today which clearly qualifies as additional material for Serbia's Secret War, Volume 2.

Serbia's Secret War: Propaganda and the Deceit of History (Eastern European Studies , No 2)

Philip J. Cohen

Reader Reviews:

Propaganda and the Deceit of History - at least the title is right (0/0 people found this helpful)

Sets the record straight (3/9 people found this helpful)

Revisionism all the way (6/9 people found this helpful)

Pure Ustashi Revisionism (6/7 people found this helpful)

This book is especially relevant today especially, (1/8 people found this helpful)

Categories