Memorisana kolektivna trauma kao činilac nacionalnog identiteta

Abstract

During their existence and historical confirmation on the Balkan Peninsula, the Serbs were exposed to great suffering by those who sought to conquer these regions. This suffering was especially pronounced in the twentieth century, in which a full blown genocide was committed against the Serbian people in the Independent State of Croatia. After the Second World War, in the communist Yugoslavia, that great national trauma was suppressed and minimized. Instead of the truth, an ideological lie was created which is being repeated to this day in order to diminish the numbers of the Serbian victims. The elucidation of this historical truth is a topical issue, because after half a century, the Ustasha ideology, new crimes and pogroms against the Serbian people reappeared in order to create an ethnically cleansed Croatia. The victims were declared aggressors, and their mass killing and expulsion is celebrated today as the biggest national holiday. This sacralization of crimes whose historical depth hides a total genocide against the Serbian people has become the most important factor of Croatian national and state identity. The questionability of this monstrous project requires an adequate response. In this paper, the author proves that such a response can only be a complete remembrance of this trauma as a factor of the Serbian national identity.