August 15, 1999 |
|
Italy foots the bill for Tito's ethnic cleansing
The Italian government has intervened to help thousands of exiles to win back homes they lost when the Yugoslav dictator Marshal Tito annexed the Istrian peninsula. In a forerunner of the horrors that have swept the Balkans since the collapse of the Yugoslav federation, more than 350,000 Italians were forced to abandon their homes between 1947 and 1954 to flee Tito's ethnic cleansing, in which more than 20,000 people were systematically executed. Almost 50 years later, Italy has offered to grant millions of pounds in compensation to give the Federation of Istrian Exiles the chance to buy back their property. "This is a tremendous window of opportunity to solve an historic problem," said Senator Lucio Todt, the president of the Federation of Istrian Exiles. In return for Italy lifting its veto on Slovene membership of the European Union, Ljubljana has agreed to offer Italian exiles first right of refusal when a house comes on to the market. While hundreds of former Italian houses remain abandoned in dilapidated Istrian villages, many are now "owned" by second and third generation Slavs. In such cases, the exiles have agreed to drop claims for their old property on condition they are given the chance to buy another house in Slovenia. "This decision represents a great sacrifice for us but demonstrates our willingness to reach a final solution to the Istrian Question," said Renzo De'Vidovich, a former president of the Istrian exiles federation. More than 25,000 exiles, living mainly in Trieste but also in Canada and Australia, have applied for the cash. After troops in 1954 took over the village of Momiano, just over the Slovene frontier, murdering the local Italian count and ransacking his house, the number of inhabitants dwindled to just over 100. But exiles have never abandoned hope of claiming back buildings they once called home; the door of each house is still tightly closed with a rusting padlock and chain. "I would buy back my house immediately. It would cost nothing to restore as a weekend retreat," said Luciano Parovel of Trieste, whose old house lies in ruins, weeds growing out of the roof and trees taking root in the kitchen. Mussolini annexed Istria, Dalmatia and Fiume during the Second World War (sic) but they reverted to communist Yugoslavia after 1945. Yet, when 350,000 exiles fled Tito's "ethnic cleansing", the Italian government failed to intervene. At least 20,000 ethnic Italians werepulled out of their beds in the middle of the night, tied together and hurled to their deaths into deep crevasses in the Istrian limestone, known as foibes. "Everyone talks about Bosnia and Kosovo as if ethnic cleansing was invented in the Nineties. But we were the first victims," said Mr De'Vidovich. Anita Derin, 65, was born into one of Capodistria's wealthiest families with a house in the town and a summer villa in the rolling hills overlooking the Adriatic. At the age of 12, communists expropriated her house. "I remember a partisan walking straight in and telling us that he wanted to choose a room," she recalled. "He went into my bedroom and said 'the bed's for me and the couch for my dog'." Within days of watching her pony slaughtered to help to feed Yugoslav soldiers, Anita and her family fled Trieste, and her parents both soon died of heart attacks. Most Italians know little of the atrocities suffered by the Istrian exiles because for half a century the national curriculum has whitewashed the subject. Now the negotiations between the exiles' federation and the government have agreed on taking the foibes into the classroom. But on compensation, the treasury has admitted that in 1954 the Italian state used Yugoslav cash intended for the exiles to pay its own war debts."Italy owes compensation to the exiles," a report said. Sen Todt has described the Treasury's offer of 24 billion lire (£8 million) over three years as "laughable". The exiles say the government had originally promised 5,000 billion lire (£1.6 billion). Even foreign ministry sources admit that the offer is "simply not good enough". But the government remains committed to finding a solution. "We badly want Slovenia to enter the European Union," said Andrea Romano, the diplomatic counsellor to the government on Istria, "so we cannot drag this problem into the future. Remember Europe solved the Alsace-Lorraine question between Germany and France. We want Europe to do the same for Istria." NOTE: This statement is not historically correct . Some of these lands became part of the Kingdom of Italy before WWII. Istria from 1919. Zara, the Islands of Cherso, Lussino, Unie, Sansego and Lagosta from 1920. Fiume from 1924. The Second World War-WW II (1939-1945) saw many changes of ownership of these lands after 1943. Tito's Yugoslavia annexed most of these lands after the end of of WWII. Istria is presently subdivided under three nations: Italy, Slovenia, Croatia Fiume and most of the historical Dalmatia is presently part of Croatia. |
This page compliments of Paolo Benoli
Created: Tuesday, August 3, 1999. Last Updated: Tuesday,
August 3, 1999. |
