Croatian President’s Reluctant Struggle Against Fascist Symbols

The HOS, significantly, wasn't just any nationalist militia. It was marked by its unapologetic defence of the World War II Nazi-collaborationist Ustasa movement. The HOS name itself is an allusion to a term used at the end of WWII by Croatian fascists, and its insignia includes the notorious 'Za Dom Spremni' ('Ready for the Homeland') slogan that is often considered to be the Croatian variant of the German 'Sieg Heil'.

HOS members used the Roman salute and wore black uniforms, its headquarters featured portraits of WWII Ustasa leaders and its paramilitary units bore the names of Ustasa generals. The attempt by the HOS and the Croatian Party of Rights to equate modern independent Croatia with the WWII puppet-state eventually forced the Croatian government to consider it more of a hindrance than help in the country's struggle for international recognition as a state independent of Yugoslavia.

By early 1992, HOS members were recruited into the newly-established regular Croatian Army and the paramilitary formation itself disbanded. So what was its insignia doing at a commemoration of events that happened in 1995, more than three years after the HOS had actually ceased to exist?

A legal way to celebrate the Ustasa?

Men wearing HOS T-shirts with the 'Za dom spremni' slogan at the Operation Flash commemoration on May 1. Photo courtesy of N1.

The HOS has been gaining popularity in recent years. Its flag with the 'Za Dom Spremni' slogan is often flown at sports events by right-wing fans and its coat of arms worn on T-shirts. It has probably experienced a sort of a revival as a nationalist symbol because it can at the same time serve as a clear nod to WWII fascism but can also provide plausible deniability for those who...