Croatian National Resistance

The Croatian National Resistance (Croatian: Hrvatski narodni odpor, HNO) was a terrorist Croatian Ustaše emigrant organization which sought to destroy Yugoslavia and to establish an independent Croatia, according to the vision of Ustaše leader Ante Pavelić and ideology of Mile Budak.[1] It was founded in 1955 by escapee Maks Luburić, former Ustaše guard of the Jasenovac concentration camp, before he was killed by Yugoslav secret police (UDBA).

The HNO was heavily involved in racketeering, attempted murder, extortion, hijacking, terrorist bombing, and other violent crimes. After Luburić's death, his successors on the organization commanding post, sought out criminal organization ties with La Cosa Nostra, the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and the Croatian Mafia in San Pedro. The organization was also once active in the United States and its targets were Yugoslav travel agencies and diplomatic facilities.[2] The HNO had stated that:[3]

"[We] regard Yugoslavism and Yugoslavia as the greatest and only evil that has caused the existing calamity [...] We therefore consider every direct or indirect help to Yugoslavia as treason against the Croatian nation [...] Yugoslavia must be destroyed - be it with the help of the Russians or the Americans, of Communists, non-Communists or anti-Communists - with the help of anyone willing the destruction of Yugoslavia: destroyed by the dialectic of the word, or by dynamite - but at all costs destroyed."

The HNO was banned in Germany for terrorist activities and operated between legitimate emigre functions and a thuggish underworld. Its leaders tried to distance the organization from the acts of the so-called renegade elements that hijacked international flights and served prison sentences for extortion. It embraced a radical nationalist ideology that differed only marginally from Ustaše ideology.[4] A number of terrorist attacks against Yugoslavia were organized by the Ustasha emigration including Miro Barešić's killing of ambassador Vladimir Rolović.

The organization published its own magazine, Drina.[5] It existed until 1991.

References

  1. ^ Janke, Peter (1983). Guerrilla and Terrorist Organizations: A World Directory and Bibliography. Macmillan. p. 113. ISBN 0029161509. 
  2. ^ Wolf, John B. (1989). [0306431238 Antiterrorist Initiatives]. Plenum Press. p. 30. 0306431238. 
  3. ^ Bellamy, Alex J. (2004). The Formation of Croatian National Identity: A Centuries-Old Dream?. Manchester University Press. p. 93. ISBN 071906502X. 
  4. ^ Hockenos, Paul (2003). Homeland Calling: Exile Patriotism and the Balkan Wars. Cornell University Press. p. 23. ISBN 9780801441585. 
  5. ^ Grubisa, Damir (January 14, 1989). "Yugoslavia Ad Came From Nazi Terrorists". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/14/opinion/l-yugoslavia-ad-came-from-nazi-terrorists-154189.html.