By: Andrej Aplenc
I regularly follow reports on the hostages that Hamas is hiding in its tunnels. In total, they captured 251 people, 141 have been released so far, while incomplete reports indicate that 78 have been killed, and the fate of the remaining hostages remains unclear. I write this because these hostages are an example of a complete absence of fundamental moral principles. It is incredible that such things are happening today, despite all the declarations of human rights and freedoms, while the democratic West observes and does little – except, of course, for the current Slovenian government recognising Palestine as a state, even though it has none of the attributes of a state, apart from the terrorist army of Hamas.
Ancient Greek culture, which stemmed from Greek philosophy, knew nothing of such things. Of course, wars occurred between ancient Greek city-states, but they had two important principles: they returned the bodies of fallen soldiers so they could be given a proper burial, and they held the Olympic Games, during which all hostilities ceased. While we now imitate the ancient Greeks with the Olympic Games, from the perspective of human rights declarations and actual reality, this appears quite hypocritical.
Even in our small Slovenia, we have little to boast about in this regard. Unlike ancient Greek culture and its reconciliatory Olympic Games, we are still engaged in a kind of civil war, fought in more or less concealed ways, continuously fuelled by the so-called left, which has nothing to do with true leftist ideals. Instead, it is a rebranded representative of the former one-party regime. They do not even try to hide this, as shown by the current Minister of Culture’s visit to Čebine, where the founding congress of the Communist Party of Slovenia was held on April 18th, 1937. In this “democratorship” under the current government, we are still unable to properly bury all those who perished in the civil war. We have cemeteries for Italian and German soldiers, but not for all Slovenians. The remains from Rog are still in crates, and bones lie in more than 800 mass graves. Meanwhile, the Municipality of Ljubljana forbids the burial of Roma people, who were murdered during World War II, in the Žale cemetery.
Under the marketplace that Mayor Janković wants to excavate to build his parking garage, there are 280 graves of former wealthy citizens of Ljubljana. Their names are recorded in the archives of the Franciscan monastery, and many of their descendants still live, some abroad. Yet, in his grandiose plans for the garage, Mayor Janković has never explained what he intends to do with these graves. Destroying them without their descendants’ consent for a proper reburial would be an act of barbarism.
Everything I have written is quite depressing. However, things can be done differently. In the U.S., there is the National Military Park in Vicksburg, a city on the Mississippi River that saw fierce battles during the American Civil War. In this park, every U.S. state that participated in the conflict has a monument dedicated to its fallen soldiers. It is true that the American Civil War is much further in the past than ours, but one would think that we could at least start by properly tending to all graves.
Years ago, when summer trips to Goli Otok were organised, I once served as an informal guide on one of these trips, as I had been imprisoned there twice. During the boat ride, a small group played the accordion and entertained themselves. When I threatened to throw their accordion into the sea, they quieted down. People were beaten to death on Goli Otok in line with the Čebine culture. Can you imagine someone playing the accordion while visiting Dachau or any other concentration camp?
I believe we must start thinking differently. Our failed transition has distorted our moral standards. The current government is a prime example, with financial scandals piling up one after another. However, I believe that the vast majority of Slovenians are convinced that we must take a different path. The next government we elect will correct all the wrongs of our failed transition. Morally, we will return to where we were at the time of independence.