spiegel.de
12/09/2010
Killing Croatian Exiles
By Andreas Wassermann
Between 1970 and 1989, 22 Croatian exiles were killed in the former West Germany at the behest of the late Yugoslav leader Josip Tito and his country's communist party. Now the German federal prosecutor's office is looking into the crimes, while the interior minister is being asked to strip Tito of the German Order of Merit.
The wooden bar stands to the right of the entrance. Behind it is a shelf containing glasses arranged by size, with wine glasses on top and glasses for schnapps and water at the bottom. Next to the glasses are bottles of Slibowitz, a plum brandy from the Balkans. For Gojko Bosnjak, a 77-year-old retiree, the bar in the basement of his house on the Croatian resort island of Krk brings back memories of his days working in a bar in Germany. There is even an old jukebox. He created the room to resemble the Karlsburg, the establishment where he used to work as a bartender in the southwestern German city of Karlsruhe. The bar had the Balkan dish Cevapcici on the menu and Croatian exiles among its clientele. "It was an exciting time for Croatians in Germany," says Bosnjak, "but it wasn't exactly safe."
Particularly for him. He opens an album that contains photos of Bosnjak taken 37 years ago, when he had black hair and a muscular build. There are also photos of a pistol, a Beretta with a silencer. It is the weapon with which an informant for Yugoslav intelligence was supposed to shoot him in 1973.
Bosnjak was lucky. The hit man accidentally shot himself in the leg and Bosnjak managed to overpower him. In 1974, a jury court in Karlsruhe sentenced the would-be killer to 10 years in prison. "But the people behind the attempted murder," says Bosnjak, "were never brought to justice."...more...
The wooden bar stands to the right of the entrance. Behind it is a shelf containing glasses arranged by size, with wine glasses on top and glasses for schnapps and water at the bottom. Next to the glasses are bottles of Slibowitz, a plum brandy from the Balkans. For Gojko Bosnjak, a 77-year-old retiree, the bar in the basement of his house on the Croatian resort island of Krk brings back memories of his days working in a bar in Germany. There is even an old jukebox. He created the room to resemble the Karlsburg, the establishment where he used to work as a bartender in the southwestern German city of Karlsruhe. The bar had the Balkan dish Cevapcici on the menu and Croatian exiles among its clientele. "It was an exciting time for Croatians in Germany," says Bosnjak, "but it wasn't exactly safe."
Particularly for him. He opens an album that contains photos of Bosnjak taken 37 years ago, when he had black hair and a muscular build. There are also photos of a pistol, a Beretta with a silencer. It is the weapon with which an informant for Yugoslav intelligence was supposed to shoot him in 1973.
Bosnjak was lucky. The hit man accidentally shot himself in the leg and Bosnjak managed to overpower him. In 1974, a jury court in Karlsruhe sentenced the would-be killer to 10 years in prison. "But the people behind the attempted murder," says Bosnjak, "were never brought to justice."...more...
read more: spiegel.de
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