Od Redakcji: Dosyć często spotykamy się, ze strony naszych Czytelników, z prośbami o zamieszczanie tekstów dotyczących historii i myśli politycznej Bałkanów. Nasz francuski korespondent p. Antoine Ratnik przysłał nam tekst znaleziony na jednym z forów, przedstawiający testament gen. Slavko Kwaternika, jednego z dowódców chorwackich ustaszy.

Redakcja konserwatyzm.pl zachowuje i zawsze zachowywała głęboką rezerwę w stosunku do tych ruchów nacjonalistycznych, które zapędziły się w kierunku faszyzmu i kolaborowały z hitleryzmem, szczególnie wtedy, gdy ich działalność nosiła znamiona ludobójstwa. Dlatego też tekst ten należy traktować jako ciekawostkę historyczną. Konserwatyzm.pl nie identyfikuje się z chorwackimi ustaszami tak z racji ich zbrodniczej działalności, jak i z tego powodu, że w okresie II Wojny Swiatowej Państwo Polskie znajdowało się w przeciwstawnym obozie polityczno-militarnym. Gen. Kvaternika uznajemy więc za zbrodniarza wojennego, współwinnego za śmierć setek tysięcy ludzi. Oto jego b. skrócony życiorys (za wikipedią):

Slavko Kvaternik (ur. w 1878 r. w Zagrzebiu - zm. 7 czerwca 1947 r. w Zagrzebiu) – chorwacki działacz polityczny, jeden z przywódców ruchu ustaszy, minister obrony i głównodowodzący Chorwackich Sił Zbrojnych podczas II wojny światowej. Po zaatakowaniu Jugosławii przez Niemcy 5/6 kwietnia 1941 r., 10 kwietnia oficjalnie proklamował w Zagrzebiu powstanie Niezależnego Państwa Chorwackiego (NDH) i utworzył tymczasowy rząd. Następnie objął stanowisko ministra armii i jednocześnie głównodowodzącego Chorwackimi Siłami Zbrojnymi w stopniu marszałka. Był odznaczony Wojskowym Orderem Żelaznej Koniczyny 1 klasy, otrzymując także honorowy tytuł vitez (rycerz). Przybierający na sile konflikt z poglavnikiem Ante Paveliciem doprowadził do usunięcia go 4 stycznia 1943 r. z dotychczasowych stanowisk. Przeniósł się wówczas do Styrii. Wiosną tego roku wyjechał do Simmering, a pod koniec wojny do Bad Gastein, gdzie został aresztowany przez Amerykanów. We wrześniu 1946 r. przekazano go komunistycznym władzom jugosłowiańskim. Po procesie i skazaniu na karę śmierci został rozstrzelany 13 czerwca 1947 r. [http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavko_Kvaternik] 

1. Wersja angielska

My last message

I am so oppressed by sufferings of various kinds that I don't believe that I'll be able to endure this confinement much longer. It appears that I shall not be brought before the court again. Since they cannot find valid evidence to convict me of the crimes with which I have been charged, it is likely that they will simply dispose of me here in the prison. I have been given medicines which, I am told, will cure me of my physical ills; it seems to me that I am being poisoned rather than helped by these remedies.

I asked to be allowed to talk with Archbishop Stepinac. They would have allowed me this privilege had I been willing to agree to make undignified declarations and to meet other conditions that they demanded of me. Of course, I refused with indignation and contempt to oblige them in this matter. Then, when I requested a confessor, they brought to me a very suspicious fellow indeed. I addressed to him some question of general character concerning the principal teachings of the Catholic Church. Since he was unable to give me any kind of intelligent answer I refused to make my confession to him. Evidently he was an agent of the OZNA who was posing as a priest in the hope that he might be able to extract some kind of a compromising confession out of me. They tried this trick on me again, bringing to me a person who wore robes of a Franciscan. When I asked him to show me his Cross, he replied that he never carried one. He did not possess a stola either. Nevertheless I asked him to give me a prayerbook in order that I might prepare myself to make my confession to him. He told me that it was not necessary to consult a prayerbook before making the confession, so I sent him packing too. Afterwards I saw that I had done well for I had made my last confession to our beloved priest and national hero, Vilim Cecelja, and this is my last comfort as I prepare to make my exit from this hell.

I pray to God daily in behalf of our martyred people and for our poor, suffering Croatian land and my last prayer will be for them. Three days ago towards midnight a dark complexioned man, rather tall and with a savage look about him, came into my cell. While an escort stood awaiting him in front of the cell door, he began to load his service pistol with bullets in a most ostentatious manner. He told me that he had come to shoot me and asked if I wished to make any last wishes before he did so. I said to him that I had none and that I was thankful that by the infinite mercy of God my sufferings finally had reached their end. When he heard me speak thus the fellow left my cell uttering a variety of oaths and blasphemies that no one but a Marxist could think of. Despite what I said to him I did have one last request that I should have liked to have had granted. It was that Generals Percevic, Navratil, and I be allowed to wear Croatian military uniforms, even though they lacked our insignia of rank. This request was not granted for my captors said that they had no such uniforms. My appeal was made in accordance with internationally accepted conventions governing the rules of war, but it was to no avail. So we are not to be allowed to die as Croatians.

I am suffering a great deal from malaria and from spells of dizziness. My captors have been so kind as to give me various pills and shots - after receiving which I invariably feel much worse than I did before. One result that they seem to produce is vomiting. I believe that an important cause of my poor physical state is that I am not allowed to sleep. Every time that I doze off they shake me awake. I have the feeling that I am being poisoned too.

They have refused me the services of two physicians in whose integrity I have confidence. A friend smuggled a message into my cell. It was to the effect that I should ask for nothing. To request anything, whatever its nature, would be the surest way to get myself liquidated. As it is I have to sign records all the time. Some of these are supposed to relate to the "check-ups" that the doctors have given me; I don't even know what the contents of some of the "records" were. Unfortunately, I have neither the desire nor the energy to raise questions about anything any more. I am altogether apathetic.

I have friends outside who are willing to risk anything to get me out of here. They prepared a plan of escape for me. It was well designed and I think it would have worked. But I refused to try it for if I did escape, it might cost the lives of several young Croatians. In days to come Croatia will need new workers and new fighters. But I am a worn out old man who already has given all that he had to give for his people and nation. My day is done, and whatever good I have done, or whatever harm I may inadvertently have done, belongs now to the judgment of history. There is no point in causing any of my friends or young Croatian patriots in general to sacrifice their lives to save mine, which is much less valuable. Tito's people, like most cowards, are always trying to find excuses for perpetrating new massacres. I shall seek my happiness, not in escape from this jail but in life to come when I may meet again those Croatian officers and generals who were knifed or otherwise murdered in Belgrade, along with so many other Croatian martyrs. Let our blood be the last that suffering and oppressed Croatia has to shed before attaining the freedom and happiness that we have sought for her! I feel that what strength I have is giving out and I apprehend that my end is near. Therefore I am sending to you my dearly beloved, my last greetings.

All of my activities were designed to secure the freedom of my country. Still today I am conscious of what I did when I took upon myself the responsibility of proclaiming the national independence of Croatia. I did not take this action arbitrarily on my own account or in my own interests, nor on the advice or with the help of any foreigners whatsoever. Whoever asserts that I acted either in my own behalf or in that of foreigners does not comprehend the irresistible aspirations of the Croatian people to be free and master in their own homeland. Above everything else the Croatians want the national independence of their country. The uprising staged by Croatian troops in Karlovac in the fall of 1939 was a portent of things to come.

It was a clear sign that the tide of national feeling could not be dammed up by the artificial restrictions imposed by the Serbian dictatorship, nor could the course of this national tide be turned into the waters that the Serbians desired. From this day on it was evident that the fate of the totalitarian and aggrandised "Great Serbia", known to the Western World as "Yugoslavia," would be sealed by the bullets and rifles of Croatian soldiers who were only waiting for the right moment to strike at the hydra-headed monster of 1918.

Between April 6 and April 10, 1941, the most accurate and inspiring of national plebiscites in the history of the Croatian people was carried out. No one can hold this plebiscite against us for twenty-three years of slavery gave us the right and the obligation to free our people whenever the opportunity offered; to act in any other way would be to mark us out as a nation that does not deserve freedom. Those who are our friends will not hold our actions of 1941 against us for they know how much we had to suffer and how much we love our country. We were sorry that our goal of national independence had to be 

realised during a war that was not provoked by us, that we did not want, and in which we had no wish to be involved. Those who took our freedom from us and who tortured, hanged and murdered so many Croatian patriots between 1918 and 1941 bear the responsibility for what happened in 1941. This was the harvest they reaped for their persecution of us in and out of court, during church processions and funerals, and even at the election polls.

I am positive that the more talented statesmen in the western democracies foresaw - they must have foreseen - what was going to happen. After the assassination of Stjepan Radic, an Englishman himself admitted as much to me. Furthermore it ought to be remembered that when we struck in 1941, the United States of America was not involved in the war. We counted upon receiving moral aid and sympathy from this great and free nation, the greatest of world powers, which has given bread to so many Croatians. We had no reason to enter the last war which was a clash between the major powers of the world. All insinuations that we participated in the struggle in the hope of securing territorial gains, or in order to impose Croatian rule upon non-Croatian peoples, are base calumnies. 

I want to take this opportunity to admit one thing, which, in fact, I perceived clearly in the fall of 1939, and this is that Germany sinned greatly in attacking Poland. By so doing, apart from the wrong done to the Polish people and state, the defence of the West against Soviet Russian aggression was fatally weakened. In this first act of war the key to the eventual German failure is to be found.

Another fatal mistake made by the Axis was its treatment of Croatia and Slovenia. Particularly the demand made by Italy, or rather by the Italian Fascists, for our Croatian Dalmatia was utterly insensate. I never reckoned upon the Italians being so stupid as to grab the most purely Croatian and most culturally advanced of all Croatian provinces. In the seizure of Dalmatia I saw the greatest and most dangerous evil that could possibly have befallen us. This act demonstrated the basic inability of the Axis to settle world affairs wisely and honestly. I did what I could to impede the Italian takeover of Dalmatia and to prevent the other evils that befell us through our association with the Axis. I helped whomever I could help; I protected whomever I could protect. Everyone who has taken the trouble to inform himself as to my activities knows this well; above all, the good Lord, who is my best witness, knows it best.

I think that some of my collaborators and friends are still alive today. They know how, despite the pressure applied by the Axis Powers to make things take place in our country not according to democratic principles but in conformity with the practices that prevailed in the Axis Powers themselves, we never stopped working to effect our final liberation from their tutelage. I thought that Croatia, like Denmark and other small nations, would be able to find a haven of peach amid the whirlpool of war. It is too bad that Germany did not know how to conserve her great forces for the inevitable conflict with Soviet imperialism.

It pains me when I see who today are considered to be war criminals. For the guilt of the last war is almost as much Russia's as Germany's. After all, Germany's first ally in the war was Russia and it was Russia who partitioned Poland with her. I freely admit that I agreed to permit Croatian volunteer troops to fight against the Soviets in 1941 and in succeeding years in order that they might do their bit to free mankind from a great Asiatic lie, and from the greatest terror and slavery that ever has prevailed at any time anywhere.

I am a soldier and I do not like to discuss politics any more. However in this connection I have to add one last word and it is this: In essence the Croatian people are addicted to democratic principles. The greatest sons and most illustrious intellects of Croatia were permeated by democratic principles. Ante Starcevic, Stjepan Radic, and many younger men, who today are continuing to work for the salvation of Croatia, are numbered among them. Every Croatian knows that democracy is the primary conditions for the peace, happiness, and freedom of our country and people. Stjepan Radic knew how to express in a couple of words that which is engraved deeply upon the Croatian national soul. How proud we Croatian officers and political representatives were before and during World War I, when in Sabor he opened every speech he made with the words: "Highly Respected National Parliament!" May the Lord rest his soul; perhaps in a few days time I'll be in his company again! All that I did was done in the belief that I was acting for the good of my fellow Croatians and of our common fatherland. I am firmly convinced that when the Croatian people finally obtain the freedom for which they have fought and suffered, they will establish on our national territory a firm fortress of peace and progress. May God grant that this day of freedom will come soon! May the Croatian people as a nation emerge unscathed from this greatest catastrophe of all the centuries. May they never allow their enemies to rule over them! May they be wary of whatever the Serbs have to say to them, for the Serbs deceived us in the basest way right up to the final minute of the war. And still today, as exponents of Bolshevism, they are continuing to spread a network of poisonous intrigue in order to annihilate our Croatian land and national consciousness. My last greeting to all of my beloved ones, to my children first of all, and then to my friends and collaborators, my brother officers, and to all Croatian soldiers right down to that youngest Croat soldier who to the last drop of his blood will stand as a guard of the Eternal Croatia!

God and the Croatians!

Slavko Kvaternik

Tamnica, Veliki Tjedan, 1947.

Aneks.

( tekst  testamentu w oryginale)

Moja zadnja poruka
(zadnja izjava hrvatskog vojskovode Slavka Kvaternika)

Ja sam već toliko izmučen, da ne vjerujem, da ću biti kadar ovo dugo izdržati. Osim toga, po svemu izgleda, da neću biti više ni izveden pred sud. Vjerojatno ću biti ubijen u tamnici. Truju me s raznim medikamentima, a govore, da me liječe. Molio sam, da mi omoguće sastanak s nadbiskupom Stepincem, ali su ovi zato tražili od mene nedostojne izjave i stavljali uvjete, kakove samo mogu stavljati u srži pokvareni i zaostali bijednici. Naravno, da sam s indignacijom i prezirom to sve odbio. Tražio sam ispovijednika. Prvi put su mi doveli vrlo sumnjivu osobu kao svećenika. Na moja pitanja opće naravi o glavnim zasadama Crkve, nije mi znao odgovoriti, pa sam odustao od ispovijedi. To je bio (očito) jedan njihov agent, koji je mislio sve od mene doznati. Drugi put su mi doveli jednu osobu, obučenu kao oca franjevca, ali kad sam ga molio za križ, rekao je, da ga on nikada ne nosi, a nije imao ni štolu. Ja sam ga molio za jedan molitvenik, da se pripremim za ispovijedanje, pa mi je rekao, da to nije potrebno. Odbio sam i toga. Poslije sam vidio, da sam dobro uradio, jer se je ovaj prema tome i ponio kao pravi prostak, a ne kao redovnik. Bog će mi oprostiti, jer ja sam najbolje htio. Zadnji put sam se ispovijedio pred našim dragim svećenikom i junakom Vilimom Ceceljom, pa mi je to zadnja utjeha na odlasku iz ovoga pakla. Molim se Bogu svaki dan za naš mučenički narod i za našu ispaćenu Hrvatsku, za koju će ici i zadnja moja molitva! Pred tri dana došao je u moju ćeliju oko pola noći neki crnomanjasti čovjek, ovisok, surova izgleda i počeo je puniti nabojima jedan vojnički samokres. Pred vratima ga je čekala neka pratnja. Rekao mi je, da je došao, da me ustrijeli i da li imam kakove želje prije toga. Rekoh mu, da nemam nikakove i da je to samo milost Božja odredila, da u mojim rukama bude već jednom konac i kraj. Na to je isti napustio ovu ćeliju uz pogrdne psovke i uz jednu gadnu kletw. Zadnja moja molba bila je, da se dopusti meni i generalima Perčeviću i Navratilu, da nosimo kao vojnici hrvatske vojničke odore, pa makar i bez ikakvih oznaka, ali rni ni ta molba nije bila odobrena, jer da takovih odora nema. Uostalom, da to nije tako ni važno. Ja sam se pozvao na ratno pravo i medunarodnu konvenciju, ali ni to nije pomoglo. Ne dadu nam ni da umremo kao Hrvati.

Mučenje a ne liječenje

Trpim mnogo od groznice i omaglice. Daju mi neke pilule i neke injekcije, poslije kojih se još gore osjećam. Tako sam poslije toga povraćao i još se gore osjećao. Ne dadu mi ni spavati. Svaki čas, čim zadrijemam, bude me, pa me tresu i drmaju. Očito sam trovan. Tražio sam, da mi se pošalju dva liječnika mojega povjerenja, ali su i to odbili. Moj mi je prijatelj poručio, da više ništa ne tražim, jer bi ih to moglo potaknuti da me prije likvidiraju. Moram neprestano podpisivati neke zapisnike: tobože o mojem pregledu i druge, a da uopće ne znam njihova sadržaja, ali na žalost nemam ni volje ni smisla, da išta više ispitujem. Posve sam apatičan. Moji su prijatelji htjeli, da bježim. Stvar je bila dobro pripremljena, ali sam ja odustao, jer bi to moglo stajati nekoliko mladih hrvatskih života, a Hrvatska treba nove mlade radnike i borce. Osim toga bi i većina mojih prijatelja izgubila život, jer ovi podlaci i kukavice ne prezaju pred ničim, kad se sa prošlošću može naći povod za novo klanje. Ja sam i tako jedan iscrpljeni starac, koji sam već sve dao za Domovinu što sam mogao. Osim toga ne bi rado ostavio ni moje drugove Perčevića i Navratila. Biti ću sretan, kad na onome svijetu susretnern one hrvatske časnike i generale, koji su preklani smaknuti kao hrvatski mučenici u Beogradu. Neka naša krv bude zalog nove sreće i ,lobode napaćene i izmučene Hrvatske!!!

Gubim snagu. Moje djelovanje

Osjećam, da gubim snagu i bojim se, da ću skoro klonuti, pa zato evo Šaljem Vama, moji mili i dragi, moj zadnji pozdrav! Sve moje djelovanje bilo je upereno za slohodu moga naroda i moje Domovine. Ja sam i danas ~Vijestan svoga čina, kad sarn preuzeo vlast i proglasio hrvatsku državnu samostalnost. Ja to nisam učinio iz vlastite pobude, niti na nagovor i uz pornoć stranaca. Tko to tvrdi, taj nije razumio neodoljive čežnje hrvatskog naroda, da bude slobodan i svoj na svome. Hrvatima je prije svega - njihova sloboda!!!

Neodoljiva čežnja hrvatskog naroda za slobodom i samostalnosti
Već je pobuna hrvatske vojske u Karlovcu u jesen 1939• bila jasan znak, da se narodni val neće moći zadržati, a kamo li skrenuti u velikosrpske vode. Trebalo je računati, da je onoga dana, kada hrvatski vojnik dobije pušku i naboje, zapečaćena sudbina absolutističke proširene Srbije, zvane Jugoslavija. Od 5. do 10. travnja 1941. proveden je najtočniji i najveličanstveniji plebiscit hrvatskog naroda u njegovoj povijesti. Nitko to nama Hrvatima ne smije i ne može zamjeriti, jer je dvadesettrogodišnje robstvo dalo nama pravo da sve i u svako doba poduzeti možemo i moramo, da svoj narod oslobodimo. Inače ne bi bili narod, koji zaslužuje svoju slobodu. Ni naši veliki prijatelji to neće učiniti, kad znadu, koliko smo trpjeli i koliko svoju Domovinu volimo. Nama je bilo žao, da se je to moralo provesti u jeku jednoga rata, kojega mi nismo ni izazivali niti smo ga želili, a napose nismo htjeli u njega biti upleteni. Za sve to nose odgovornost oni, koji su nam oduzeli slobodu i koji su nas 23 godine mučili, vješali i ubijali sa sudorn i bez suda i u crkvenim ophodima i sprovodima, pa čak i onda kad je hrvatski narod stupio pred izborne žare, da vrši sveto pravo svoga suvereniteta. Siguran sam, da su najumniji političari zapadnih demokracija to sve predvidali i predvidati morali, a to mi je čak jedan umni Englez poslije umorstva blagopokojnog Stjepana Radića i sam priznao. Savezne Države Sjedinjene Amerike onda nisu bile još ni u rat upletene, pa smo računali uvelike sa moralnom pomoći ove velike i slobodne nacije i najjače sile na svijetu, koja je dala kruha tolikim Hrvatima.

Istočni grijeh osovine

Mi nismo imali razloga ulaziti u obračune velikih naroda u minulom ratu, pa je svaka insinuacija u tom pogledu infamna objeda. Jedno priznajem, da sam već na početku ovoga rata u jesen 1939. vidio, da je napadaj Njemačke na Poljsku bio najveća pogreška, jer je time bila srušena brana Zapada prema Sovjetskoj Rusiji. U tom činu ležao je njemački neuspjeh.

Zapadni grijeh osovine

Druga kobna pogreška osovine bio je njezin postupak prema Hrvatskoj i Sloveniji, a napose neopravdani zahtjev Italije ili bolje rečeno talijanskih fašista za našom Dalmacijom. S tolikom ograničenošću istih, da će posegnuti za najhrvatskijim i najkulturnijim pokrajinama Hrvatske, nisam nikada računao. iJ tom sam vidio najveće i najopasnije zlo, koje nam se je moglo dogoditi i koje je temeljito kompromitiralo sposobnost osovine, da razborito i pošteno uredi svijet. Ja sam sve poduzeo što sam mogao, da spriječim ovo kao i druga zla, koja su nas bila snašla. Komu sam mogao, tome sam pomogao, a koga sam mogao zaštititi, toga sam zaštitio. Svaki onaj koji je pratio moj rad, to dobro znade, a od svih to najbolje znade dragi Bog, koji mi je najbolji svjedok!!! I danas po mom mišljenju živi još nekoliko mojih suradnika i prijatelja, kojima sam sve to bio povjeravao. Usprkos svega toga i usprkos pritisaka osovinskih sila da se i kod nas, umjesto po demokratskim principima, vlada po propisima osovinskih sila, nismo nikada mogli ni smijeli prestati raditi na našem konačnom oslobadanju Mislio sam, da ćemo i mi po uzoru Danske i drugih, naći svoje mjesto mira u torn ratnom vrtlogu. Šteta je da Nemačka nije mogla sačuvati svoje velike snage za obračun sa Sovjetskim Imperijalizmom. Boli me duša, kad vidim koga se sve smatra za ratnog zločinca, a za minuli rat nemalo je isto toliko kriva Sovjetska Rusija, koja je bila prvi saveznik Njemačke s kojim je raskomadala Poljsku! Priznajem, da samm pristao, da se hrvatska dobrovoljačka vojska bori protiv Sovjeta, pa da i ona doprinese svoj obol za oslobadanje čovječanstva od jedne velike azijatske laži i najvećeg terora i robstva, koji su do sada ikada i igdje postojali.

Hrvatski je narod prožet demokratskim načelima

Ja sam vojnik i ne bi rado o politici više govorio, ali još moram jednu svoju reći. Hrvatski je narod u svojoj biti bio uvijek demokratskih načela. Najveći njegovi sinovi i najsvijetliji umovi, bili su prožeti demokratskim principima u davnini, pa sve do naših dana. Od Ante Starčevića do Stjepana Radića i onih mladih, koji i danas rade na spasu Hrvatske. Svaki je Hrvat svjestan da je demokracija prvi uvjet njegova mira, sreće i slobode. Pokojni Radić je znao sa par riječi u Hrvatskom Saboru izreći ono, što tako duboko
leži u duši narodnoj. Kako smo mi hrvatski časnici za vrijeme Prvog svjetskog
rata i prije znali uživati i biti ponosni, kad je on svaki svoj govor u Saboru znao započeti riječima: "Visoki državni sabore!" Bog mu dušu pomilovao, možda ću već za nekoliko dana biti s njime! Sve što sam radio, radio sam u najboljoj vjeri, da to činim za dobro naroda i Domovine. Duboko sam uvjeren, da će hrvatski narod, kad opet dode do svoje slobode, stvoriti na svom području najsigurniju tvrdavu mira i napredka. Dao Bog, da to naskoro bude! Neka hrvatski narod iz ove najveće katastrofe svih vijekova izade sačuvan! Neka nikada ne dozvoli neprijatelju da mu zavlada! Neka više nikome ne vjeruje, jer su nas Srbi najpodlije prevarili i varali do zadnjega časa, pa i sad kao eksponati boljševizma žele rasplesti svoju otrovnu mrežu i tako uništiti našu Hrvatsku! Moj zadnji pozdrav svima mojima, počam od moje djece, mojih prijatelja i suradnika, mojih časničkih drugova i svih hrvatskih vojnika, pa sve do onog najmladeg hrvatskog vojnika, koji će do zadnje kapi svoje krvi i uvijek izdržati na mrtvoj straži - Vječne Hrvatske!

BOG I HRVATI !!!

Slavko Kvaternik

Tamnica, Veliki Tjedan, 1947.