By: Jože Možina
Jože Možina recently published an answer to the primitive attacks on the show Utrip (Pulse) on his website, which we are publishing in its entirety below. “The attacks of the Association of the National Liberation Movement of Slovenia on me as the author of the recent episode of the show Utrip is worrying, as it reveals that this organisation is still unable to face the mistakes from its past and show compassion for the tragedy of the people who the liberation front was supposed to protect. The Association of the National Liberation Movement is also not in a position of moral authority, from which it could afford to point out the alleged falsifications of history being made on TV Slovenia, as it has been concealing the actual truth of what happened during and after the Second World War, which is inconvenient for them, and has been protecting the falsified history for decades now, regardless of the indisputable facts. In addition, it continues to support certain former members, who are being hailed as national heroes, despite the fact that they got their hands dirty with crimes – for example, some of them were involved in the genocide of the Roma people in 1942.”
The Association of the National Liberation Movement missed a great opportunity to finally accept the proven and testified truth. But instead, in the spirit of the past, they prefer to insult those who present these facts and testimonies to the general public. We know that we probably should not expect the truth from the people who lied for decades about the thousands of fallen Germans in Dražgoše and continued lying in the same manner for years after it was proven that the actual number of fallen occupiers was 26. But this very thing – truthfulness, or compliance with historical facts, would be healing for the divided body of our whole nation. And, after all, it would also be healing for the reputation of the partisan movement, as the realisation of the necessity of an apology for the inhabitants of Dražgoše, whom the fanatical commanders exposed to the announced terror of the occupier against their will and despite their requests, has become very apparent in recent years. Let’s hope that the apology happens as soon as possible because the ideological interpretations of the Dražgoše tragedy are finally over – the only people who still force themselves to “believe” them are probably those who also benefit from them.
The explanations in the sense of “we built a magnificent monument, we have invested in the epic and victory of Dražgoše for decades, and we will not let that be taken away” can be understood, but they cannot be supported. Let the truth take precedence over ideology, let the people of Dražgoše, who involuntarily paid the highest price for what happened, have priority over the politicians who come to Dražgoše once a year to lecture them and the Slovenian public on “how it was and how it will be.”
Human life was precious then, and it is still precious today. As a humane society, we need to become more civilised and listen to those who have been the biggest and, most of all, the involuntary victims here. The starting point is clear – as stated on the show Utrip: “Resistance against the occupier is highly ethically justified; however, sacrificing civilians against their own will is not.”
The people of Dražgoše also spoke up after the show Utrip
Among the hundreds of expressions of support that have been coming to the address of the author of the show Utrip on RTV Slovenia in recent days, there are also those written by the people of Dražgoše, which are therefore particularly interesting. One of the viewers of the show wrote: “A sincere congratulations for the extremely high-quality and professionally supported episode of the show Utrip on the events in Dražgoše. There is much more to be said about the post-war events in Dražgoše, the fear they endured during the construction of the new church, the detentions, to which those who thought differently than the people in power were being sent, including my father, who ended up there a few times, and so on. And there is lots to be said about what we experience when we have to watch the red stars of the National Liberation Movement, as well as their flags, on the monument (even if we only see them on the television). After the war, quite a few Dražgoše women refused to accept the pensions given out to the fighters of the National Liberation Movement, including my grandmother. I think it is pretty clear why.”
Record ratings
In the Association of the National Liberation Movement’s attack on the author of the episode of the show Utrip in question, the most telling thing is that at no point do they dispute any of the facts mentioned on the show. They write, accuse, falsify, make their own claims and answers about things that were not even mentioned in the show. And anyone who reads their attacks first, and watches the show later, can see that very clearly. The show has achieved record ratings, and it is available to watch online (in Slovenian) at this link:
https://4d.rtvslo.si/arhiv/utrip/174839845
And when it comes to the superficial claims of the Association of the National Liberation Movement that the “new truths about Dražgoše are being published without any journalistic or historical criteria,” I am going to respond with the obvious fact that the episode of the show Utrip from the 15th of January 2022 as a commentary is in line with all journalistic and historical standards. After all, this is also proven by the Association’s writing. If they had any real arguments, they would be concrete in their attacks on the show, but instead, they are offensive and abstract. And the statement that the claims made on the show “are not based on any historical facts” shows just how poorly prepared this bizarre attack on the author of the show Utrip and the locals of Dražgoše really is, as once again, they did not point out a single statement or claim that, as they said, is not based on historical facts.
Even the part of the Association’s attack which speaks of the “hitherto unheard of falsification of history” actually falsifies history itself. The author learned everything important about the tragedy of Dražgoše from the actual people of Dražgoše themselves, back in 2002, as part of a contribution for the television show Tednik (The Weekly), which the Association of the National Liberation Movement is well aware of. When that happened, they also pressured the management team of the national media outlet RTV, and another journalist, who filmed Vinko Hafner, had to go back to Dražgoše, to prepare a counter-contribution, but in the end, it was clear to the editor of the show Tednik that the new contribution would be the laughing stock, and therefore, he never published it. The Association of the National Liberation Movement is also well acquainted with the confessions of the Dražgoše residents Minka Habjan and Franc Kavčič from the show Pričevalci (Witnesses), which aired once again on TV Slovenia just a few days ago, and in which witnesses talk about the same things as with on the show Utrip, and more. Their testimonies, which are available in Slovenian on the following link: https://4d.rtvslo.si/arhiv/pricevalci/174314200, clearly present what happened to the people of Dražgoše and how the fanatical party leadership sacrificed them for its ideological goals. No one can dispute what those who have lost their fathers, brothers, their homes have to say – that is why they are cowardly attacking the author who presented the content to the general public. At least twice, the Association of the National Liberation Movement tried to cancel the show Pričevalci – it collected signatures, wrote petitions, and even had strong supporters within the RTV house. However, it failed because the public interest prevailed – the public’s right to learn more about our past and to learn the truth. A special contribution to the Association’s activities against journalistic and media freedom was also made at the rally of the Association of the National Liberation Movement against public television and my shows, which was organised in Koper in the summer of 2018, which was also analysed by the civil society in the article (written in Slovenian), which is published here: https://www.glasno.si/post/porocanje_s_protesta_borcev.
Of course, it does not make sense to respond to a mountain of accusations against things that were not even part of the show. However, in order to avoid the current manipulations and those that might come in the future, I am publishing the full transcript of the episode of the show Utrip in question, which you can read at this link (in Slovenian): https://jozemozina.si/mozina_drazgose_zveza_borcev_sd/